Six days. That's how long before Mortal Kombat X, the highly anticipated fighter from NetherRealm Studios, makes its way to store shelves and digital download platforms. In six days, there won't be any more roster reveals, character leaks, or weekly Kombat Kasts - just hours upon hours of brutal, bloody fighting on consoles and PCs everywhere. Six days.

But why wait? Not only are some players getting their hands on Mortal Kombat X early, thanks to retailers who broke the in-store street date, but the Mortal Kombat X mobile game is live on the Apple and Android app stores right this second. The portable game may not offer the complete Mortal Kombat X experience, but it should tide over players who want to get back in the arena with their favorite characters as quickly as possible.

As described before, the Mortal Kombat X mobile app continues Warner Bros. Interactive's efforts to bring fighting titles into the mobile space. They started with Injustice: Gods Among Us and continued with WWE Immortals. Now, Mortal Kombat X builds on those games' foundation, trading the traditionally complex control scheme found in fighting gamess with a simple, touch-based interface.

As it turns out, Mortal Kombat X's controls are even simpler than those of its predecessors. While WWE Immortals let players choose between light attacks (tapping) and heavy attacks (swiping), Mortal Kombat X only lets players tap; the game decides when it's time for a heavy attack, and pauses the action accordingly. As in the previous games, players can block by pressing two fingers against the device, and can unleash special moves after filling a meter at the bottom of the screen.

Like Injustice and WWE Immortals, Mortal Kombat X also provides players with plenty of opportunities to spend real-life money on virtual fighters and items. Sadly, Mortal Kombat X emphasizes micro-transactions even more than past Warner Bros. Interactive games. In Mortal Kombat X, characters are divided into three tiers: bronze characters, who are no-name extras; silver, which contains the main Mortal Kombat X characters in their standard forms (like, say, Sub Zero without his mask); and gold characters, who are "special" versions of the cast. Only gold characters can perform fatalities.

While packs of silver characters can be purchased via Koins, which are rewarded during the game, gold characters cost Souls, which seem much harder to come by. Gold characters are also absurdly expensive: a $9.99 in-app purchase still won't give players enough Souls to buy a gold character pack.

That's too bad, because the Mortal Kombat X mobile app has a big effect on the main game. Unlocking a special character in the app also unlocks a special skin in the console game, and the mobile title contributes to Mortal Kombat X's ongoing metagame, Faction Wars, although that feature won't be active in the mobile game for, well, six more days.

Mortal Kombat X finally reaches the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 14. The mobile edition of the game is available now.

Source: iTunes Store