MKA has it's faults, but it's new gesture system on the Wii makes for an easily accesible, surprisingly fun experience
MKA for the Wii is a mixed bag. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well the Wiimote setup works. The trick is to press, and hold the B trigger AT THE SAME TIME AS you do the gestures, not before. I've read a lot of reviews before writing mine, and I have to say that most of the complaints about the gestures being spotty, are probably due to this fact. Once you master that timing, it becomes fairly simple to do the special moves, and even the fatalities. (More on that later.) MKA cut out one of the three fighting styles from each character, so the game is now less "Dial A Combo" happy. That doesn't mean they don't exist, and several years after MK5 sort of reinvented them from MKT, they seem stale when compared to other fighting games. Thankfully, though just the fact that a lot less of them exist makes the game more accesible to newcomers, or those who haven't played MK since it's 2D heyday. The Wii version makes it even more accessible yet with the Wiimote. Again even the fatalities become less of a chore. Some will complain that the Fatalities in MKA have no identity because they aren't character specific. This is partially true. You won't see the outlandishly silly fatalities from the original MK games. That's because MKA has replaced those with a feature called "Kreate A Fatality". Here you chain specials together up to ten (Although hardcore types can in fact crank it to eleven)
Moves that will culminate with a gory murder. In it's defense, while not everyone has a unique finisher, MK5, and 6 fatalities had lukewarm receptions anyway, and the KAF makes the showboating less cumbersome as none of the character's finishers had the same movement from game to game anyway. On the Wii, chaining them together was pretty seamless for me, and I was torso ripping, and decapitating in no time. The trick is you do have a timer between moves, so there is some skill involved.
Midway also added a "Kreate A Kharacter" mode in the vein of THQ/Yukes WWE games. Though not as refined, you can make a fighter of your own imagination, and they give you enough to recreate other fictional characters should you choose to do so. (I was able to create a decent SKELETOR after playing through the arcade mode a few times)
Playing through other modes earns you Koins much like the last two MK games, and you can use them to buy things not only in the Krypt (Which returns) but in the KAK mode too. Ultimately, this mode isn't as fun only because you can't create more than one character. Had Midway taken a page from Yuke's this mode combined with the new fatality mode would have given the game a little more charm for those of us who like interpromotional fights, or inside jokes with our friends. Maybe in the next MK
Konquest mode also returns. This explains the story of Taven, and his evil brother, How they've been reawakened by their ancestors to try to stop the coming of Armageddon. In this mode you play a more streamlined Shaolin Monks styled action game which is a Godsend compared to the MK 5 Training styled Konquest, or the MK6 Action RPG styled Konquest modes.
It fits the universe better, and it's infinitely more fun. It's only real shortcoming is how short it is compared to something like MK SM
Motor Kombat replaces the MK6 minigames Chess Kombat, and Puzzle Kombat. It's not too bad for what it is, a small diversion, and it has superdeformed cute fatalities that occur when your kart wipes out, but after a race or two you'll wonder why you just didn't play Mario Kart instead. It is easy to collect koins in it however, so some may want to spend a few minutes playing it to get Krypt money.
Speaking of the Krypt, it's back, and less of a pain this time. Each tile tells you exactly what it is so you don't need to worry about blowing a bunch of money on something corny. In fact there's also only one Koin type, so no more worrying about having the wrong color koin if you were meticulous about unlocking everything in MK5, and 6 this little sticking point could take you months. You can also get most of the krypt items in the Konquest mode, so the krypt is already a lot less monotonous. It is a shame that they''re very few tongue in cheek krypt items however. No you won't be watching "Cooking with Scorpion" I'm afraid. But thankfully, at least unlocking secret characters, and backgrounds is less of a hassle.
Mortal Kombat Armageddon isn't a perfect fighter, it still has some of the dated "Dial a Combo" play carried over, the character models haven't changed much, and some will likely complain about unique finishers being gone.
But with that said it's refinements bring the compexity down to a comfortable level for those without Barry Allen fingers. The Wii Version makes the game even more accessible yet. MKA for the Wii could very well be the best MK game since MK II. If you're a hardcore Mortal Kombat fan, all of the characters, and refinements will certainly appeal. If you love Mortal Kombat, and have friends who feel fighting games have become too complex, the Wii edition of Mortal Kombat Armageddon will certainly fit the bill