FINISH HIM! Mortal Kombat General Thread

[boj0]

Mortal Kombat, the controversial fighting game series first released in 1992, has been one of the premier fighting franchises.

With the awesome re-boot of the series with Mortal Kombat (taking place over the first 3, but still being the 9th game proper), now is a great time to have a thread about it.

This thread is dedicated to general discussion about the series proper, lore, spin-offs, online requests and general thoughts about the use of the letter "K".

I'll get the ball rolling: How do people feel about the new direction of the story?
I, for one, welcome our new Cyborg Sub-Zero.

[Lord Loss]

I don't own any fighting games, so I'm probably going to get my hands on either a Mortal Kombat game (maybe the new one) or a Soulcaliber one, or Marvel vs Capcom. Any reccomendations?

[Fri]

Have you ever played mortal kombat before? Whether I find mortal kombat good or not,I dont' think mortal kombat would be fitting for a starter on your fighting game collection. Soul calibur or marvel vs capcom would be better for your condition right now. Soul calibur if you want some intuitive weapon-based fighting, marvel vs capcom if you want to see deadpool team up with rockman to beat up magneto or something.

[Talkkno]

Is their a way to turn off the gore?

[Rae Artemi]

Is their a way to turn off the gore?

I'm going to assume this is an ironic question, as it made me laugh. The gore is pretty much what defines Mortal Kombat.

[Comet]

I'm going to assume this is an ironic question, as it made me laugh. The gore is pretty much what defines Mortal Kombat.

While this is very much true, I used to think that the thing that defined Mortal Kombat was Sub Zero and, to a lesser extent, Scorpion. I mean, sure, the blood was cool and all but to my innocent child brain it was the ninja dudes that made the original game awesome.

On a MK related note, anyone seen the webseries "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" airing on YouTube? They're up to episode 3 or so and I think it's pretty good stuff (I've only seen the first two eps, mind). It's basically Mortal Kombat re-imagined as a sort of more down to earth, but still very silly, modern day action-fest. I loved it when it was nothing more than a spoof trailer, but now that they got the green light to produce a whole serial of the stuff, I have to say I'm pretty happy for the team.
A word of warning, though, in the regard that there seem to be both uncut and censored episodes floating on the 'web. The censored stuff bleeps out swearing and edits out particularly gory scenes, which is a bit of a headscratcher when it comes to Mortal Kombat.

[MrPig]

I, for one, welcome our new Cyborg Sub-Zero.

Personally I miss Cyber Smoke :(

[Talkkno]

I'm going to assume this is an ironic question, as it made me laugh. The gore is pretty much what defines Mortal Kombat.

I was thinking of getting it if their was a option to turn it off, since their isn't I guess not.

[BladeofOblivion]

I don't own any fighting games, so I'm probably going to get my hands on either a Mortal Kombat game (maybe the new one) or a Soulcaliber one, or Marvel vs Capcom. Any reccomendations?

This is a rather biased place to ask, isn't it? :smalltongue:

I'd actually recommend Soulcalibur II, if you can find it and own a last-gen system. Surprisingly Intuitive and Well-balanced game, and probably better than the later installments as long as you don't mind the graphics.

[Lord Loss]

I've been stocking up on PS2 gems recently I'll be sure to add that to the list. Thanks for the replies everyone, so far Soulcalibur seems more appealing to me based on the descriptions.

[Tengu_temp]

I was thinking of getting it if their was a option to turn it off, since their isn't I guess not.

Nope. And why'd you want to? If you take the gore away, you just get a below-average fighting game.

[Talkkno]

Nope. And why'd you want to? If you take the gore away, you just get a below-average fighting game.

*Shrug* That's not what I've heard, EG: Angry Joe. I just don't like excessive gore that's all.

[Tengu_temp]

I don't know about the most recent one, but I played quite a lot of Mortal Kombat 2, 3 and 4 in their time, and gameplay-wise, they're buttonmashers with very little actual tactics - there were many better fighting games back then, and many more came out in the meantime. And I don't think if the new MK cares as much about revolutionizing the series as it does about bringing its visuals to the standards of the modern era.

[Triscuitable]

I was thinking of getting it if their was a option to turn it off, since their isn't I guess not.

It's in there, surprisingly. You just have to work for it.

[Lord Blace]

I'm really disappointed that Cyber Sub-Zero got a bad ending in ladder, w/o narration even! AND Baraka with a POSITIVE ending? WAT!

I love story mode though, and I mean, Johnny Cage. I mean, srsly. Johnny Cage in story mode = the best.

[boj0]

I don't know about the most recent one, but I played quite a lot of Mortal Kombat 2, 3 and 4 in their time, and gameplay-wise, they're buttonmashers with very little actual tactics - there were many better fighting games back then, and many more came out in the meantime. And I don't think if the new MK cares as much about revolutionizing the series as it does about bringing its visuals to the standards of the modern era.

They may not be the most balanced games out there, but the recent game has made great strides compared to the previous entries.

[Fri]

The one I grew up with was ultimate mortal kombat 3. Man, that was the time. We're completely bad at playing fighting game at that point, mind you, so I don't think we like it because it's a good ifghting game :smallbiggrin:

Anyone remember the super ultra bad platformer starring sub-zero?

[Winthur]

I don't know about the most recent one, but I played quite a lot of Mortal Kombat 2, 3 and 4 in their time, and gameplay-wise, they're buttonmashers with very little actual tactics - there were many better fighting games back then, and many more came out in the meantime. And I don't think if the new MK cares as much about revolutionizing the series as it does about bringing its visuals to the standards of the modern era.

MK4 sucked, and MK2 and MK3 still have some sorts of tourneys, at least in the MK fandom.

I, personally, think that MK2 is a pretty good game even now, simply because it doesn't focus on combos and other flashy moves, it's more about timing than anything else. And you can also pull out someone's spinal cord. MK3 was a bit more on the button-mashery side, but that isn't necessarily bad.

[boj0]

So speaking of being a more "legitimate" fighter, I'm watching a recording of the MK9 tourney at PowerUp 2011; this is getting into serious contender territory.
Apparently MK9 was built with tournament play in mind, not just blood and gore :smallsmile:

I'm practicing a lot with Kung Lao before I go online, and I better start getting used to seeing some pretty ridiculous Subs and Reptiles, Cage is waaaay better than I thought he would be (who would of thought that the two biggest butt monkeys in the series would be top contenders?)

[Tengu_temp]

I, personally, think that MK2 is a pretty good game even now, simply because it doesn't focus on combos and other flashy moves, it's more about timing than anything else.

Timing is an important element of all good fighting games. And for me, flashy moves are what makes a fighting game - it's one of the reasons I consider Guilty Gear and BlazBlue to be among the best, though not the only one.

[Winthur]

Timing is an important element of all good fighting games. And for me, flashy moves are what makes a fighting game - it's one of the reasons I consider Guilty Gear and BlazBlue to be among the best, though not the only one.

You rip out somebody's spine, somebody's beating heart, how flashy/edgy/whatever CAN you get? :smalltongue:

[Tengu_temp]

You rip out somebody's spine, somebody's beating heart, how flashy/edgy/whatever CAN you get? :smalltongue:

That's just the fatalities. Guilty Gear has explosions that cover the whole screen and extremely fast and elaborate multi-attack special moves. And that's just the generals because we'd spend the whole day on specifics, especially when the weirder characters enter focus.

[Freylorn]

You can take my opinion coming from a big fan of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - Mortal Kombat is a good fighter. A damn good fighter.

I actually find myself playing it a lot more than GG, BB, or MvC3 - though you can take that for what its worth.

[Otogi]

What's everyone's view on Deadly Alliance and Deception? I tended to like them, but they weren't so well received I heard.

[Freylorn]

What's everyone's view on Deadly Alliance and Deception? I tended to like them, but they weren't so well received I heard.

Wouldn't be able to tell ya, this is the first Mortal Kombat I've really played since the old NES/SNES days.

[Deth Muncher]

I'm just saying, I love Cyber Sub-Zero in the new one, since Cyrax was already becoming my favorite character, and now he gets all the lolpwnery of Subzero? Do want.

[boj0]

What's everyone's view on Deadly Alliance and Deception? I tended to like them, but they weren't so well received I heard.

Deception gets a lot of flak for having the most asinine story mode ever, as well as a main character who is just shy of slug level intelligence and some other head-bangers. DA was alright in my opinion, solid story premise and it brought MK back into the lime light. Armageddon was utter trash that deserves to go die in a fire, ungodly bad story, horrible gameplay and so many carbon copy fighters that 60+ toons felt like you were playing about 8. I actually wrote a paper in my Game Theory class about how MK: Armageddon was the worst game I've ever played, so I'm a little biased.

[BladeofOblivion]

Deception gets a lot of flak for having the most asinine story mode ever, as well as a main character who is just shy of slug level intelligence and some other head-bangers. DA was alright in my opinion, solid story premise and it brought MK back into the lime light. Armageddon was utter trash that deserves to go die in a fire, ungodly bad story, horrible gameplay and so many carbon copy fighters that 60+ toons felt like you were playing about 8. I actually wrote a paper in my Game Theory class about how MK: Armageddon was the worst game I've ever played, so I'm a little biased.

Wait...

Armageddon WASN'T a Parody?!

The only thing that made that game vaguely playable was being able to mix and match everyone's moves/weapons/parts on a custom character!

[Zevox]

So, thanks to a tip from a friend about a store I could get the game for effectively half-off, I picked up the new Mortal Kombat last Saturday and have been playing it in my spare time since.

As far as the actual fighting goes, eh, it's okay. It feels more like Street Fighter than my preferred BlazBlue or Marvel vs Capcom mechanics, but I'll take it over Street Fighter without any hesitation. I could go into detail, but I doubt many would care. One thing it does different from other 2D fighters I've played that annoys me though is the block button instead of blocking when you hold back on the control stick - that's a big pain to get used to, and in general seems like it ends up taking a bit longer to get my guard up even now that I'm adjusting to it. Don't know why they did that, and I wish they hadn't.

Anyway, I finished the story mode today. Gotta give them an "A" for effort - that's an extremely cinematic, decently lengthy story mode in a genre that often doesn't even bother to include one at all. The story itself... well, it's cheesy and stupid when you stop to think about it, but enjoyable in a B-grade action movie kind of way. Could've used fewer padding fights (pointless misunderstandings, villains randomly showing up to fight you and having no impact on anything when you beat them), but it certainly had some good moments, including to my surprise the ending. Although...
I do have to wonder how they'll continue the series given how things went down in the end. With the only survivors being Raiden, Johnny Cage, Sonya, Quan-Chi, Scorpion, and presumably some of the series' B-list villains that we didn't see killed, well, that's not much of the core cast left. There'd need to be one hell of a lot of resurrections to continue with most or all of the series' major characters being in future games.
Couple of annoying things though: the unlockables being unlabled and mostly consisting of concept art. Especially with how the are you unlock them in is set up, forcing you to slowly scan the area for each tombstone/body/whatever to do the unlocking, this is annoying as hell. It really sucks that you have to look up a list online to make sure you unlock the stuff you actually want first (i.e. fatalities, alternate costumes).

The other is the fatality inputs. Some of them aren't bad, but the motions required and specific distances you have to stand at are unnecessarily complicated. What's the point? They're strictly there for a little extra visual flair at the end of the fight, so why not make them as simple as doing a special move, or a super move in other fighting games at most?

Character-wise, I've mostly played around with Sub-Zero in training mode, since he's pretty much what defines Mortal Kombat for me. Got a nice BnB combo with him that does 32% if I get it right too (I still often miss the timing of the last hit, but it still does 25% then). From story mode the other characters I liked playing and will likely look into were Cyrax, Kitana, Stryker (much to my surprise), Cyber Sub-Zero (of course), and Raiden. Guess I'll have to try the villains in arcade mode or something, since you only played heroes in story mode.

Oh, a question: does anyone know how to use the "turn off blood" option? I unlocked it, and want to use it if only so my characters don't become completely drenched in the stuff in training mode, but can't figure out how to activate it. I saw in the gallery that it's a "combat code," but can't find anywhere to put in such a code.

Zevox

[Freylorn]

Zevox, the Kombat Kodes are for multiplayer. During the loading bar, each of the two primary players can press Square, Triangle, or Circle (or their X-Box equivalencies) in order to input the kode. Note that both players must have the kode put in, as it alters the properties of the match, so it's something both people must agree to.

In terms of the block button, I actually like it. I agree it takes getting used to (I come from a Guilty Gear background in fighters myself) but for this game, I think it works due to the massive amount of teleports that land the opponent behind you.

[Zevox]

Zevox, the Kombat Kodes are for multiplayer. During the loading bar, each of the two primary players can press Square, Triangle, or Circle (or their X-Box equivalencies) in order to input the kode. Note that both players must have the kode put in, as it alters the properties of the match, so it's something both people must agree to.
Really? So there's no way for me to disable the blood for training mode? That sucks.

Actually, I'm confused as to why they'd do it that way to begin with, as opposed to having some sort of "match options" section for setting up how the match's alternate rules will work in advance instead of requiring this silly code stuff. Or why it wouldn't be enabled for single-player modes.


In terms of the block button, I actually like it. I agree it takes getting used to (I come from a Guilty Gear background in fighters myself) but for this game, I think it works due to the massive amount of teleports that land the opponent behind you.
MvC3 manages to have those without requiring a block button. Phoenix and Dante in particular teleport fast and can port directly behind you no matter where you are, while Deadpool and Wesker can do so depending on your position. (The other teleporter, Dormammu, can teleport behind you automatically as well, but ends up a bit too far away to take advantage of it.)

Zevox

[Freylorn]

Oh, I know it works just fine in MvC3. I'm not arguing that a block button is superior - merely that it's not actually a detriment. I find both work just fine for their particular games.

[Dragonus45]

So after three hours trying to kill Shao -MotherF!@#$%^%CHEATING MKWALKING !!@@##$!@# HOLE- Khan ive seen the hopeful sequel hook and i must say that the story mode of this game might just be the best thing to ever happen to a fighting game. Also Johhny Cage LIVES!!! He finally gets some respect, even if it does directly lead to the deaths of pretty much everyone else. I cant wait for a chance to play this online, its goona be great.

[Zevox]

So after three hours trying to kill Shao -MotherF!@#$%^%CHEATING MKWALKING !!@@##$!@# HOLE- Khan
:smallconfused: Seriously? I mean, it took me several tries the first time too - still does when I'm playing characters I'm not familiar with and/or who can't teleport - but Shao Kahn shouldn't be that hard. Abusing AI problems with him (particularly how he reacts to projectile spam) is a breeze, and with how slow most of his attacks are teleporters can basically eat him alive for free by teleporting every time he starts to do anything.

Zevox

[boj0]

Shao Kahn easy mode: projectile spam, combo during taunt, back the @#$% up, rinse and repeat.

[Lord Loss]

I went with Soul Calibur IV, as suggested and I love it! I've been using Cervantes and continually trashed my dad with him, until he strated using him too, which turned it into a game of whoever hits first wins (keeping the other guy stuck on the ground until he's dead) most of the time... any idea on how to counteract this, with or without Cervantes?

[BladeofOblivion]

I went with Soul Calibur IV, as suggested and I love it! I've been using Cervantes and continually trashed my dad with him, until he strated using him too, which turned it into a game of whoever hits first wins (keeping the other guy stuck on the ground until he's dead) most of the time... any idea on how to counteract this, with or without Cervantes?

You know, we really should have a Soulcalibur thread here somewhere.

I recommend learning Siegfried or Nightmare, and using their reach to crunch Cervantes into chewy bits. Works like a charm for me.

[Dragonus45]

:smallconfused: Seriously? I mean, it took me several tries the first time too - still does when I'm playing characters I'm not familiar with and/or who can't teleport - but Shao Kahn shouldn't be that hard. Abusing AI problems with him (particularly how he reacts to projectile spam) is a breeze, and with how slow most of his attacks are teleporters can basically eat him alive for free by teleporting every time he starts to do anything.

Zevox

The thing is i can beat him on the arcade mode on hard with no trouble when i use Kabal, or Johhny Cage, or Stryker or other people, but Raiden just seems to be impossible for me to use.

[boj0]

The thing is i can beat him on the arcade mode on hard with no trouble when i use Kabal, or Johhny Cage, or Stryker or other people, but Raiden just seems to be impossible for me to use.

If you're talking about beating Kahn in story mode that's a whole 'nother situation; he's going god mode during this fight (ironic considering he fights Raiden). The same princable applies: spam projectiles, and back the @#$% up. However don't even try to get in close, back up and teleport if he gets too close. You'll need to be more defensive since he will taunt much less.

[Zevox]

Huh. So, does Mortal Kombat's online just suck or something? Because last night a friend and I were trying to play each other online, but we kept getting errors saying "this session is no longer available" when we tried to accept each others' invitations to play. We live only a couple of miles apart, and have played each other in MvC2 and 3 regularly for probably half a year now (and wound up playing MvC3 last night instead with no more trouble than the usual minor lag), so it's definitely not a problem on our end.

I mean, I was expecting some lag of course, but for the game to not even be able to connect us in the first place is pretty bad.

Zevox

[Tokuhara]

I've got the privilege of beating every Mortal Kombat game to date with the same 3 characters (game dependent of course), and I'll say this: I really dig the "return to basics" philosophy the newest one has. Minus the goofy names of Fatalities of course.

[boj0]

Problems

MK has horrible online, however:
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp261/boj0/professor-farnsworth.png
Good news everyone! Klassic kostume pack to be released in two weeks! (http://twitter.com/#!/MK_MortalKombat/status/73072323728646145)

[pendell]

I was thinking of getting it if their was a option to turn it off, since their isn't I guess not.

I could have sworn that the very earliest Mortal Kombat releases came in multiple versions -- the arcade version which was indeed bloody, and the home version which was heavily sanitized for a younger audience.

I encountered MK at age 20, saw Raiden get knocked into a pit of spikes, and decided I wanted no part of this game. I like tournaments, and I like war. But as far as I'm concerned the two do not mix. Killing an enemy you've already defeated seems to me the height of bad sportsmanship.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Zevox]

I could have sworn that the very earliest Mortal Kombat releases came in multiple versions -- the arcade version which was indeed bloody, and the home version which was heavily sanitized for a younger audience.
Yes and no. The censorship was only for the Nintendo console versions (SNES, I think, though maybe the earliest was on the NES). The Sega Genesis version had the blood. This was probably one of the origins of the portrayal of Nintendo systems as "kiddy" and the like.


Good news everyone! Klassic kostume pack to be released in two weeks! (http://twitter.com/#!/MK_MortalKombat/status/73072323728646145)
Meh. I already have Katana's classic outfit (apparently the version sold at Toys-R-Us came with the code for that), so I'm good. I would maybe consider getting Jade or Mileena's if I played them, if only because their classic outfits aren't as stupidly skimpy as their normal ones, but I don't play them (Mileena is one of my worst characters in fact). I do play Sub-Zero and a little Scorpion and Ermac, but Sub-Zero and Scorpion's current outfits aren't much different from their classic ones, and I prefer Ermac's current look to his classic one. So nothing I'd pay for.

Zevox