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Question What makes MK9 stand out?

Saltea Moonspell

"Mind Over Matter" I dont mind, and X dont matter
Mk9 had a neural centric play style and characters typically only had a low or overhead that led to a combo, but not both and one was unsafe. Character game plans had a hard counter that they had to overcome. You typically had to rely of whiff punishes and stagger pressure to open up your opponent. The poke counter poke meta was one of my favorite infra asked of the game.

Even though Nightwolf was bottom 3 in mk9 I loved his style. Nightwolf had high shoulder that can be neutral ducked for full combo and no 50/50...but I could bait you into neutral ducking and try to catch you with b2 or lightning. If I baited you then I outplayed you, if I hit you with shoulder its your fault cause it's so easy to counter.

If Mk9 top tiers were in MKX...I strongly feel that cyrax and Kabul would only be upper mid tier. Kenshi might be slightly higher but not much.

That tells me all I need to know about MKX top tiers and the game as a whole
I'd say "well said" but some may say otherwise.
 
There was a real love in the community for mk9 that I didn't feel we had for injustice. I can't speak for mkx because I kind of got out of the scene before it released. Mk9 would of been one of the best fighting games ever if we just got at least one more patch. I would of NEVER went to injustice and I know a lot of other people would of stuck with mk 9 as well. If we all would of stuck with mk9, I definitely believe it could of been at evo again this year and the level of play would be off the charts by now.
 

just_2swift

MK1 is the best MK period.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I swear I remember hearing somewhere that nrs couldn't fix a lot of the shit in mk9 because of how the game was coded and it would have been a pain in the ass for them to fix. Again I don't know what my source is so if anyone who knows better wants to correct me feel free.
@NSR
 

Rathalos

Play Monster Hunter!
Correct me if I'm wrong but I swear I remember hearing somewhere that nrs couldn't fix a lot of the shit in mk9 because of how the game was coded and it would have been a pain in the ass for them to fix. Again I don't know what my source is so if anyone who knows better wants to correct me feel free.
From NRS themselves.
Either interpreted through Tom Brady, or by random crap in stream chats, it's been so long since then I don't remember the full details.

They basically couldn't fix the input bug, player 1 advantage, and meter drain glitches via patches.
And they were somewhat limited to how they can buff or nerf characters from a hotfix.

A final patch would not have saved MK9, it straight up needed a new revision, and that sadly wasn't in the works.
 
From NRS themselves.
Either interpreted through Tom Brady, or by random crap in stream chats, it's been so long since then I don't remember the full details.

They basically couldn't fix the input bug, player 1 advantage, and meter drain glitches via patches.
And they were somewhat limited to how they can buff or nerf characters from a hotfix.

A final patch would not have saved MK9, it straight up needed a new revision, and that sadly wasn't in the works.
That's not true. Nerfing kabal, nerfing kenshi a little, and taking out the cyrax reset alone would of saved this game for me and many other people.
 

BanTheTesters

“My AGENT is tougher than you...”
Moderator
So what makes MK9 stand out? What is the X factor about that game that people genuinely have a passion for?
A couple of reasons but the main one to me being the over all production value was good.

It was a really cool feeling to see old midway/NRS stuff inmk9...like toasty for example. You remember how people were going NUTS once they found out toasty was back in the game via the demo?

Youve got cool stuff like challenge tower, youve got the mid versus screen combat codes, even Dan "Toasty" Forden came back to actually help COMPOSE the music as opposed to taking a sound direction role like hes been doing since injustice (listen to have even though the music in mk9 are old classics redone they still have that memorable quality).

And most of all the game wasnt taking itself seriously...none of this gloom and doom type stuff...bright colors and stages for the most part, the HUD itself is multicolored and not grey,black, and white.

And the fact that ed and the team head said there were secrets we had not even found yet...like the toasty boost...the game had been out for YEARS before ppl found that out...it was all so amazing.

I guess in a sense it "felt" like an MK game...not saying MKX doesnt to a certain extent but yea..mk9 felt right in a lot of ways. It felt like they had a fucking blast actually making the game.
 

Rude

You will serve me in The Netherrealm
Because there's no reason to

Competitors play for medals and money
The Smash Community supported itself without medals or company provided pot bonuses for years. Were they any less competitive than anyone else in the FGC?

At the end of the day, no one is making a career of the FGC, even NRS pot bonuses are peanuts to the competitive League/Starcraft/etc players. That's where the real money in competitive gaming is, not the FGC.

http://www.esportsearnings.com/leagues/102-mlg-pro-circuit
 
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Sugarwatermixlegit

Bruce Campbell 4 MK!!!
The roster was near perfect. A cast of fan favorites and two guests that fit MK perfectly. It just needed more DLC, a few more new characters and more arenas.
 
Example of a top player using top tier and still has to work for his win in MK9.
^This was absolutely great to re-watch after all these years. It was play like this by @16 Bit and others that inspired me to pick up the Princess in that game, and she became my best. Not to this level, but enough that I was able to dominate all my friends.

For me, what made Mortal Kombat (2011) so great was it was the right game at the right time. I had been out of the genre for years and this brought me back in, being deeper and more "skill" based than other games I had been playing over the last few years.

For almost the first year I just played casually, but when I realized how much more I could learn about the game, how it was easy to learn but hard to master and the more you put in the more you could get out of it, I simply kept putting more time into it and learning more and more and getting to be the personal best that I could be.

I was even interested in going to my locals and playing to get even better, had even contacted @NeoRussell about the scene, but sadly I suffer from a chronic health condition that was messing me up at the time and I wasn't able to do so. Loved watching the TTT matches though.

And that brings me to another personal point, how since I could get the game for my Vita, I could play it anywhere, and it proved a solid distraction for me mentally when I was ill and my insides felt awful. That's a huge bit of thanks to the game from me, as no other game I was playing at the time was able to do this.

In terms of social, more of my friends were playing it too, mostly Online, but I had more people to play with. Every Sunday night was Kombat night for a long time.

As to the discussion regarding Mortal Kombat X, I love that game too, and I only have the PC version. I'm not sure it'll ultimately have the same nostalgic feel for me as Mortal Kombat does, which I played for four solid years, but it's still a really fun game and plays very different.

Is one "better" than the other? That's subjective. Each belongs to their own moment in time, and I'm a different person myself now than I was in April 2011. My own experiences, expectations, life situation, etc. has changed. I don't expect any game to ever capture what Mortal Kombat was to me then because it was the right game at the right time.
 

The Abbot

Unit LK-52O
In line with the whole point of this thread. MK9 hype was way different.

I remember when Detroitballin brought out Ermac vs CDJr at MLG. That match was unforgettable and I have yet to have that same excitement in MKX tourneys.

It's got a whole different feeling to it. Hearing the sound of Scorpion uppercuting SZ at the load menu gets me hyped.

Again, I play MKX and enjoy it, even if I play Triborg(all) and they bashed my character just after releasing him but even my 8yr old enjoyed MK9 more than MKX and he could care less about AAs, footsies, 50/50s, etc.
 
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Rude

You will serve me in The Netherrealm
Nobody is gonna name names out of respek. As a point, Sonic tried to avoid playing Alien for a more honorable win at Evo but had to finish it with Alien after TekkenMaster had him on the ropes. Also, Khaotik made the argument earlier about Dragon only playing top tier and didn't show much with the other characters he played. Not to take away from Dragon cause he is a phenomenal player.


This would be nice but the level of play and competition wouldn't be what it was for many reasons. MK9 had a huge offline scene that was actually necessary due to the NETCODE. We had VSM, GGA, EGP, TTT, etc. There were more I can't think of off the top of my head. Point being, that's how you leveled up. You can't play MK9 online with top players. Hell, some players even refuse to play online period.

So this side tourney stuff would be great but the scene is not the same without the support of the entire MK community and not just to few that are willing to play on the side for the love of the
A lot of household names started out as online warriors in MK9. Shujinkydink was one, Curboluscious, Forever King, quite a few others.

The net code was ass, absolutely. Buuuuutttt....the only thing keeping the game dead is everyone's unwillingness to play it, despite it allegedly being the best.

To be clear, I like all three NRS Fighters. I have my preferences, but I like this game as well. So understand I'm not coming from a place of hate for this game or any other.

If the argument is that there's no momey to be made playing it, if you're into the FGC for a payday, you're doing it for the wrong reason.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
The most logical post in this thread is by M2Dave. In fact he somehow has become one of the most level headed posters on the website. Close this thread. Close TYM.
Thank you, and congratulations on the job! I hope Paulo and Steve keep your anti-zoning zealotry in check, though.

Only Mortal Kombat 9 can make an anti-zoning zealot and an anti-rush down zealot bond.
 

AGRxShiroKuma

The White Bear
This thread makes me want to hook up my n64, xbox 360, and xbox one again so I can play through all of the mortal kombat games again. I really appreciate these games even though they have all done something to piss me off but what's a little bit of salt from time to time. I think this weekend I'm going to play through all my mortal kombat games using subzero just so I can appreciate them all again. Back on the subject of Mk9 and Mkx I love them both but mk9 holds a special place in my heart because that's what got me wanting to play competitively. I remember seeing tom brady using subzero and I couldn't believe the character could do all that so it motivated me to get better and keep practicing. Mkx I really love because it gave me variations. I just love the whole concept of it. Sure subzero doesn't have the best variations all around but I still use all of them and play through endless everyday with each variation of his. I can't speak on the whole Alien this anti air that comments because when someone jumps I just try to uppercut that's what my dad always taught me haha and Alien I just try my best to fight him.
 

trustinme

xbl-OBS trustinme
Mk9 had a neural centric play style and characters typically only had a low or overhead that led to a combo, but not both and one was unsafe. Character game plans had a hard counter that they had to overcome. You typically had to rely of whiff punishes and stagger pressure to open up your opponent. The poke counter poke meta was one of my favorite infra asked of the game.

Even though Nightwolf was bottom 3 in mk9 I loved his style. Nightwolf had high shoulder that can be neutral ducked for full combo and no 50/50...but I could bait you into neutral ducking and try to catch you with b2 or lightning. If I baited you then I outplayed you, if I hit you with shoulder its your fault cause it's so easy to counter.

If Mk9 top tiers were in MKX...I strongly feel that cyrax and Kabul would only be upper mid tier. Kenshi might be slightly higher but not much.

That tells me all I need to know about MKX top tiers and the game as a whole
What about that ex choke to counter kevos ex teleport though!
 
The games have different archetypes I suppose.

MKX is a very offensive game. The neutral, rather TYM wants to believe it or not, does play out pretty well. It's just that when you get hit one time, it could be over, due to the offense. It has issues like neutral armor, some safe 50/50s that remain in the game, a couple jump ins that honestly aren't even that big of a deal if you alter your method of anti airing. We all know that you can't just D2 or S1 to anti air every character, you have to mix it up. I don't know if that's a bad thing. There are a couple characters that could use nerfs, like Alien/Sonya/Mileena/Cutthroat.

Before you question the neutral being the most vital part of MKX, compare the top tier to Jacqui. What are Alien's mix ups in comparison to her? Same with Takeda and Mileena. Mileena's mix ups are trash. Neutral wins on this game, it's just that once hit, the offense can sometimes end the match. The risk/reward is very high and the game is very fast. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's just different.

MK9 is idk because I hear different stories.
I greatly enjoy mkx for what it is. I play d'vorah (LOL), and again, we've all gotten better and learned to play around all of the shenanigans that exists in the game. Competitively speaking, jumping is a right, not a privilege. It is totally unfair that characters like Johnny Cage cannot literally jump in or over while characters like Alien and Mileena have a jumping spree for free. It is a universal function. Different jumping archs are fine, even having characters with poor anti airs is fair game but admit it, the jumping system in mkx is greatly imbalanced. And I have to disagree that neutral plays out well in mkx. Imo I think the run mechanic is non-neutral friendly, but whatever. That combined with like you said launching advancing armor, neutral to 3/4 screen oh/low normals that lead to more 50/50's and the imbalanced jumping system all favor heavy offensive tactics (which is imbalanced in itself) and footsies and neutral suffers. Imo it should be one or the other, either have the run mechanic with advancing mids or oh/lows that hkd or keep everything else and eliminate the stamina system.