《真人快打》的游戏主体是一对一的单挑战，而在九代中，比赛将会在单一的战斗行星上展开，这也是许多粉丝强烈要求出现在本作的特点，让游戏有更暴力的视觉呈现。平面的战斗环境加上3D的角色成像形成了2.5D主体。根据国外杂志的情报指出，在比赛发生的行星上会让玩家在打斗时有更多的变化效果。

不同于之前的作品，九代的四个按钮分别对应了不同的肢体，著名的《铁拳》系列也有着同样的概念。超级量表则用来强化战斗体验，不论是施展连续技，或是遭到对手攻击，这个量表都会累积。超级量表能够充能三个阶段，它可以用来强化必杀技、中断连续技、或是让角色发动超必杀技(X-ray Moves)。在超必杀技发动期间，游戏视角将会透视遭到攻击的对手体内，让人清楚看见骨断肉碎的画面。 After centuries of Mortal Kombat, Emperor Shao Kahn has finally defeated Raiden and his allies. Faced with extinction, Raiden has one last chance to save Earthrealm. To undo the Emperor's victory, he must strike Shao Kahn where he is vulnerable…the Past.

Driven by an all new graphics engine, the fan favorite series is back and presented in more gory detail than ever before. Mortal Kombat (known as Mortal Kombat 9 by the fans) introduces a number of game-play features including t