“This is exactly like being a little kid,” a playing companion observes with a smile on her face. This companion played “Mortal Kombat” (1992) back in the day because her brother made her; she feels this way about “Mortal Kombat” (2011) because of a minorly astounding fact: “Mortal Kombat” is back.

The surprise isn’t that they rebooted the franchise and called it by its original name – that happens all the time, and with little success (paging “Sonic the Hedgehog” from 2006). The surprise is that the reboot is actually good.

Recommended Stories

Jocelyn Benson wins Michigan gubernatorial race, continuing historic Democratic streak

Trumpworld searches for scapegoats after blue wave wipeout

Democrats cap off midterm night to remember as they clinch 218 seats to win House to go with Senate sweep