Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition!
Welcome back everyone to Rate the Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11 Edition. Today we'll be taking a look at the ruthless criminal known as Kano. If you missed the last blog post, we went over D'Vorah, the female Kytinn who managed to score a perfect 10 outta 10 from me. Check her out if you're interested and without further ado, let's being with Kano.
Kano, Leader of the Black Dragon
Kano as he appears in Mortal Kombat 11. |
In Mortal Kombat 11, both a younger version and older version of the character exist and work to help Kronika with her plans. Having been promised that their clan would become the world leader in basically anything black market related, the two agree to work for Kronika. Spoiler alert: It does not go well for them.
Appearance
Present day Kano (Top) vs. Past Kano (Bottom) |
As I mentioned above, both future and past Kano are available as skins that you can equip in this game. What's great about his younger appearance is how it's an exact replica of how the character looked back in Mortal Kombat 3, down to the lack of any hair and his clothing preferences. Variations of these two appearances come in the form of Kano either adding a shirt under his cybernetic heart or not having one at all. While I see what they were going for, it kinda feels lazy.
In the end, I'll reward Kano a 7/10 for his appearance, which is held back by the lack of creativity when it comes to the variations of each timeline's Kano.
Equipment
Kano's iconic cyber equipment are fully customizable in this game and include his cybernetic eye and cybernetic heart. On top of that, his knives can also be customized. Below is a video that showcases all of Kano's unlockable equipment and a list of my favorite items.
Eye Shields
- Maxitronic Catalyzer
- Russian EKSK Outlaw
- Downhearted
- Red Eye Mine
- Multiocular Razor
- kill u tonight
- Klassic Kano Prime
- Scanning Darkly
Cybernetic Hearts
- Laser-Blade Circular Saw
- Hubcap Style
- Molten Heart
- Dragon Stalker
- Heart of the Crossworlder
- Motherboard & Shield
- Klassic Pad 9219
- Kard-Carrying Gangster
- Future According to 1994
- Skin Toaster
Shanks
- Stolen From Quan Chi
- Warlock Dagger
- Lethal Lightwing
- Black Dragon Utility Knife
- 9219 Irradiated Carbon Blade
- Me Mum's Old Club
- Lowlands Copperhead
I think a lot of these were designed with the same thought process behind it as Johnny Cage's gear. It seems that there's gear made specifically for young Kano and older Kano. I'm quite a fan of this thought process, so I gladly welcome this decision. You can also tell that the developers had a lot of fun naming these items, especially with names such as kill u tonight and Future According to 1994.
Really nothing to complain about here, which earns Kano's equipment a 9/10.
Really nothing to complain about here, which earns Kano's equipment a 9/10.
Moveset
Kano's cruel and psychopathic nature really shines through his moveset. With cybernetic enhancements such as his eye and heart, it should come as no surprise that this madman would find a way to modify them to help him out in battle. Some of Kano's special moves include:
Kano clearly doesn't fight fair. Admittedly, that's what makes him such a fun character to use, to see all these different, messed up ways you can hurt your opponent. I'll rate his moveset a solid 8/10.
- Black Dragon Ball: A strange move where Kano rolls himself up into a ball and propels himself forward at the opponent. Maybe it's best if we don't ask how it works.
- Optic Blast: Kano fires out a laser bolt from his cybernetic eye.
- Snake Bite: Kano leaps at his foes and drives his blades into their chests.
- Rack Off: Allows Kano to counter the opponent's basic attacks.
- Molotov Cocktail: Kano throws a burning bottle of alcohol at his opponents. The bottle explodes on contact with the ground and the fire will linger in the area, burning the opponent if they stand in it.
Kano clearly doesn't fight fair. Admittedly, that's what makes him such a fun character to use, to see all these different, messed up ways you can hurt your opponent. I'll rate his moveset a solid 8/10.
Fatalities and Fatal Blow
Fatality #1, Last Dance:
- God, I love this fatality. It perfectly captures who Kano is as a character: A demented criminal who gets off to the sickest things. The cherry on top of it all is the music that plays in the background while Kano and his opponent dance. Just absolutely brilliant. 10/10.
Fatality #2, Face Like A Dropped Pie:
- Oh man, this fatality just plain sucks. What's sad is that it could've been a great fatality, honestly. The thing that absolutely ruins it is the fact that the opponent's head explodes at the end of the final headbutt. It would've been so much better if Kano continued to headbutt the opponent's lifeless body as the screen faded to black. That would've made the fatality great but as it stands now, it gets a 3/10.
Fatal Blow, Not Here to F*ck Spiders:
Who is next? That's a very good question. I really don't know at the moment because I'm planning on taking a bit of a break from this blog. I certainly do want to continue with it, but there are a lot of characters I have yet to play as, so I feel I should take the time to learn them before attempting to review them.
With all that being said, thank you to those who found this blog interesting and worthy of your time to read. Hopefully what I've said has inspired you to either try out a certain character in Mortal Kombat 11 or if you don't have the game, perhaps I've convinced you to go a try it out. Whatever the reason may be, thank you for reading and until next time, always be prepared to test your might!
- Kano's fatal blow is just so dirty and fits in line perfectly with his character. The gut stab, the kick to the ribs (my favorite part), and the stab in the throat all just add up to one hell of a great fatal blow. 10/10.
Closing Thoughts
If you like playing as and rooting for the bad guys, Kano should be your right hand man, implying he doesn't stab you, of course. I personally feel that Kano is a bit underrated, as I haven't seen him being used that much in tournaments, but hopefully that'll change soon once more people start to pick him up and give him a shot. Kano gets an 8 out of 10 from me.
Who's Next?
Who is next? That's a very good question. I really don't know at the moment because I'm planning on taking a bit of a break from this blog. I certainly do want to continue with it, but there are a lot of characters I have yet to play as, so I feel I should take the time to learn them before attempting to review them.
With all that being said, thank you to those who found this blog interesting and worthy of your time to read. Hopefully what I've said has inspired you to either try out a certain character in Mortal Kombat 11 or if you don't have the game, perhaps I've convinced you to go a try it out. Whatever the reason may be, thank you for reading and until next time, always be prepared to test your might!