While the game is undoubtedly brighter and more colourful than MK11, the characters are of exceptionally high quality with expressive faces, realistic-looking skin and outfits with plenty of texture detail. It's nice to see a game that runs near identically on Xbox Series X and S, with only resolution differing. On Series S, 1440p is common during cinematic sequences but drops to around 1080p are typical during battle - although at least graphical settings look identical between the two platforms. On Series X, the game aims to deliver a full native 4K, though dynamic resolution is in play with pixel counts coming in slightly below 2160p depending on the action.

Once in the game, it's clear that Mortal Kombat 1 looks a lot better in motion than the low-bitrate YouTube trailer suggested. Nailing that transition between menu and battle is key when it comes to building energy for the battle to come, and it's clear that engineering for SSD-equipped consoles has made a huge difference. There are no cuts here - it's just a straight line from menu to battle. Once you hit that button, the two fighters exchange words and the camera pulls out to reveal the fighters in the selected stage. With the camera zoomed in, the background is out of focus, but you'll notice it change based on the stage you're currently highlighting. You choose your fighter and Kameo, then marvel as the two competitors assume MK3-like poses. It starts the second you find a match - the two default fighters emerge from the treeline and the selection window appears seamlessly. Mortal Kombat 1 treats you to one of the finest transitions from selection screen to fight that I've seen. Here's the full video production of our early MK1 analysis.

Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kenshi and Kitana are the four main options, with three Kameo characters: Kano, Sonya Blade and the cigar chomping Jax. When you first boot the game, you're greeted by a gorgeous native 4K background with crisp menu elements, with two modes (an offline four fight ladder and an online mode) and seven characters available for the stress test. What makes this release particularly interesting is developer NetherRealm's decision to move to Unreal Engine 4 - rather than sticking with their own UE3-derived tech or jumping to the more advanced Unreal Engine 5. I joined the test on Series X and Series S and have some thoughts on how MK1 is shaping up, from early resolution and performance numbers to more subjective impressions of the graphics and technology that power the game. This past weekend only reinforced that fact with the release of the game's first network stress test, giving gamers around the world the chance to try out the latest in Mortal Kombat. With only a few months between its announcement and 19th September release date, Mortal Kombat 1 feels like a masterclass in how to reveal a new game.

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