Mortal Kombat X: Tanya (DLC) Review

Mortal Kombat 9 had a season pass that allowed access to four extra characters that were released shortly after the game released and Mortal Kombat X is getting the same treatment. This time we already know the four characters however - Jason, Tanya, Predator and Tremor - which is a plus if you ask me. It's much more appealing to know the characters that I will be getting before forking over my money for a pass. Anyway, the second character that has been released for Mortal Kombat X is Tanya.

Tanya is probably best known as being the backstabber from Mortal Kombat 4. I mainly remember her for her surprising ending in MK4. She was also in MK: Deception while armed with new tonfa weapons. If you're familiar with Tanya from the MKX story then you'll remember that she had a lighter complexion and lost her white eyes with no pupils, but Netherrealm has decided to redo her with her more classic look of having darker skin and white eyes with no pupils now that she is released. Basically, she looks different in the story compared to her appearance on the selection screen. Her variations in MKX are Pyromancer, Kobu Jutsu and Dragon Naginata

Pyromancer is closest to the MK4 Tanya. She has two different ways of throwing fireballs in the air and on the ground that greatly mimic the way Johnny Cage tosses his fireballs in his A-list and Fisticuffs variations. Pyromancer also has a dark shroud move that encases the opponent in a purple aura upon hit and allows Tanya to take off an extra 10% of damage with her next fireball attack. Dark aura seems to last until the opponent is hit with a fireball. Pyromancer is a very zone-heavy version of Tanya overall.

Tanya's Kobu Jutsu variation arms her with two tonfas much like she was in MK: Deception. This variation has exclusive tonfa combos and a tonfa strike that can be linked into more tonfa hits much like Fei Long's three-hit special move from Street Fighter. She can toss her tonfa and dive down from the air with a tonfa lunge. The Kobu Jutsu version has some of her best mixups with all the extra combos that she gets and seems to be her easiest variatio to use overall.

The Dragon Naginata variation is my personal favorite Tanya variation. She comes equipped with a spear in this version and has several combos and normals involving her spear that give her some great range. This version plays a lot like a mix of Kilik from Soul Calibur and Yoshimitsu from Tekken. She has a move where she stands on top of her spear as it is plunged into the ground and you can branch out into many other attacks from this stance. She can hit an opponent overhead, low, mid or cancel the attack from the stance.

Tanya's fatalities and brutalities are all pleasing. I have to give Netherrealm credit for coming up with some very gruesome and fun fatalities for her. Besides her variation moves, she still has her cannon drill-like attack, her cartwheel split and she now has a teleport that carries her into the air or further forward while in the air. She can connect a meter burn teleport with a normal teleport! She's definitely a hard character to contain thanks to her teleports. She may be flashy, but she's hard to play since her combos are not easy to link and she doesn't have long strings in any variation. Compared to Jason, she is a lot harder to play and far from a "pickup and play character" that Jason's slasher variation is. Tanya is a very rewarding character however and a welcoming addition to the roster.

The Good:
+ 3 very unique variations that are both old school and new
+ Good fatalities and brutalities

The Bad:
- Her fireball in her pyromancer variation has nearly the same animation as Johnny Cage's fireballs which seems lazy

Final Rating: 90%