The addition of these kombatants brings the roster count up to 37 total characters. It’s a lot to choose from, with a lineup consisting of classic fighters like Johnny Cage and Scorpion and guests like RoboCop and Spawn. It’s an impressive gallery, but one that still feels a little odd with exclusions like Reptile and Goro. Perhaps a Kombat Pack 3 will rectify some of these oversights (and add another guest character or two like the long-rumored Ash Williams from The Evil Dead), but for now, it’s hard to express much disappointment in the characters present.

One of the less noticeable changeups with the Ultimate Edition upgrade comes in the form of krossplay support. Much like Fortnite and Call of Duty before it, MK11 now allows players on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S to duke it out online against one another. This alteration has made the online landscape a much more bountiful one, with a broader range of players across all skillsets. This is a much-needed quality of life adjustment that may go unnoticed to many, but one that drastically improves the health and long-term viability of the community.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition is quite clearly a means of selling the same game to those that have (for whatever reason) not yet taken the gore-filled plunge into NetherRealm’s latest fight title. Despite this, the entire package remains a forward-thinking and user-friendly initiative. Essentially, this is a free rebranding that offers an optimized experience (and the option to then purchase the three new fighters) that doesn’t force consumers to re-buy the entire game again. Publisher WB Games deserves kudos for applying a much more consumer-friendly, piecemealed rendition of the Street Fighter iterative formula to Mortal Kombat, with a complete package that screams “get over here” to those that have yet to dive in.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a copy of the game on PS5 for review purposes.