If you're like me and were born into the '80s and grew up in the '90s, there was no forbidden fruit in the world of gaming more tantalising than the gleefully gruesome Mortal Kombat series. I was never really allowed to play the game as a child, you know, with the responsible parenting thing that more gamer parents should look into, but I always found a way to get my spine ripping fix in the arcades or at a friend's house. With the new remake of the Mortal Kombat series heading back to its roots, it's safe to say that this game made my inner child weep tears of joy, as disturbing as that may sound.

Forget about the three dimensional instalments of the series from the last decade. This new Mortal Kombat is a welcome return to its two dimensional roots. This simple decision surprisingly enough allows for deeper strategy, while being welcome to newbies. This new title is simply about one on one, or two on two fighting, and all its modes branch out from this simple gameplay concept. Forget about unwelcome gameplay mechanics like alternate stances, weapons, and free running through arenas that, at least in my opinion, have poisoned the series in recent years.

The face buttons on the controller correspond to your basic attacks, with each button reflecting a limb on the characters. The R2 button blocks, R1 throws, L1 allows you to tag your partner in, and L2 is used for special moves that I'll touch upon in a bit. The game is heavily focused on combinations of hits with well timed taps of the face buttons. It's a more in depth system than the dial-a-combo moves of Mortal Kombat 3, and clearly rewards skill without having to memorize pre-determined button combinations. Special moves have also been simplified from past instalments. Simple quarter circle or back-toward motions will have you pulling off special moves with ease. A quick and well thought out tutorial makes the system easy to learn as well. Even better, all the moves are accessible by pausing the game.

As you land and block moves, you'll fill a three-tiered meter at the bottom of the screen. Using a single tier will allow you to accent special moves with extra damage and hits by hitting the R2 button as you complete the move. Using two tiers of the bar will allow you break a combo ala the Killer Instinct franchise in the mid nineties. Breaking a combo is as easy a pressing towards and R2. By using all three tiers, your fighter can unleash devastating X-ray moves that show in gruesome detail the damage you're doing inside and out. Eyes get gouged, spines and rib cages get snapped, and limbs are bent and broken the wrong way. These moves drain a huge portion of the health meter, and can easily turn the tide of a battle. They're not fully unstoppable, and can be blocked or avoided if your timing is right.

As brutal as the X-ray moves are, they pale in comparison to the over-the-top fatalities available. Characters get ripped in half, decapitated, dismembered, and blown apart in gruesome detail. In another nice touch, fatalities are no longer the incredibly difficult moves they were in past games, and even friends of mine who have never played a game in the series were able to pull them off. You can pause the game as it tells you to finish your opponent and double check the move. I can't believe I'm saying this yet again after all these years, but this Mortal Kombat is the most gruesome game I've ever played, even more so than Dead Space 2. At least here, the brutality is played for laughs as much as cringes.

With a strong and addictive fighting engine in place, it also bears mentioning that the game is positively dripping with fan service. Every character from the first three Mortal Kombat games of the '90s is present and accounted for. I had a blast playing with updated versions of my favourite characters like Scorpion, Kitana, Smoke, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, and Jax. Nearly all the characters are unlocked off the bat as well. PlayStation 3 owners also get a special treat in God of War's Kratos, a character who fits the brutal Mortal Kombat universe like a bloody glove. It bears mentioning that this game likes to show off the female form, and every female character wears the skimpiest of possible outfits. Little is left to the imagination and if misogyny isn't your thing, you may find yourself turned off by the scantily clad characters. I was able to get over that by the fact that female characters hold their own in battle and kick just as much ass as the men.