During the recently concluded Summer Game Fest, one of the biggest highlights and surprises of the show comes in the form of the Mortal Kombat 1 world premiere gameplay video, presented by none other than the legend himself, Ed Boon.

Judging from the video alone, this latest show of gameplay exceeded expectations, showing a fast-flowing, combo-based system that impresses with brutal strings and bloody hits.

Classic fatalities such as Sub-Zero’s spine rip make a comeback along with some brutal and ridiculous finishers including Johnny Cage’s walk-of-fame face plant fatality, which evokes some serious laughs. The X-Ray combos still exist, and they’re hype as all hell.

Another mechanic we’re excited about in Mortal Kombat 1 is the introduction of Kameo Fighters, which selects a classic character from a previous installment to participate in your matches. These Kameo Fighters will introduce a whole new style of play for Mortal Kombat 1, adding a layer of frenetic action seen in other fighting games such as Marvel vs. Capcom and Tekken Tag Tournament. More Kameo Fighters will be introduced as the season progresses.

So why Mortal Kombat 1? As seen at the end of Mortal Kombat 11, Liu Kang transcends the previous universe as a Fire God and is now a protector of the current continuum that revamps the timeline, where, for example, Sub-Zero and Scorpion are now brothers.

Mortal Kombat 1 releases on September 19 on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.