Question Why was MK9 the hypest (new) NRS game?

[1man3letters]

Rain 4rh dash cancel

wait a minute.....mk9 thread and someone mentions 4~rh
foxy hidey account exposed!

 

[16 Bit]

Getting props

 

[just_2swift]

wait a minute.....mk9 thread and someone mentions 4~rh
foxy hidey account exposed!

Cheers

 

[Bolo Yeung]

It re-invigorated a stale franchise, and the game is a lot of fun to play. I've been thinking lately about the game and how I'd like to play it seriously again. NRS's newer game are technically more sound but aren't as interesting. It had a short life as a competitive game and people stuck to what was good and didn't explore further even before Injustice came out. I'm curious what may have changed about the game, or what else would have been discovered, had people continued to play past it's "death".

 

[spitefulsnake]

I'll put this way if mk9 dropped on current systems with the netcode of mkxl....Everyone here would lose their shit.

 

[virtiqaL]

1. It was a return to form with traditional 2D play and an emphasis on competitive play after the several mediocre 3D entries. Personally, it was the first MK game I had bought since MK Trilogy on PSX. It was the first fighting game I bought with the intent of competing.

2. MK9 played heavily to nostalgia and was essentially a remake of the original trilogy for the modern day. It was impossible to not be sucked in if you grew up playing the originals. Everything felt familiar enough while also not feeling as if it were just rehashed. After MK9 was announced, I played MK2 obsessively in anticipation in the months leading to it's release.

3. Gameplay that was easy for casuals to pick up, but with enough depth to keep competitive players hooked.

4. Great presentation/production value... MK9 was just fun to watch if not for this reason alone. Smooth animations, varied color palette, lots of detail (Model damage, blood, stage detail, sound design). Whenever I see clips of MK9 to this day, I'm surprised by how much it appears as if it hasn't aged at all, there's something about it that is definitely done better than MKX. Along with that, I felt the pace of the gameplay itself was just right with the lack of a run feature.

In short, it was several things coming together at the right time. NRS getting their shit straight and finally deciding to make a game that wasn't completely trash for once and the community being starved enough for a great MK game that they came out in full force for it. I said it before, NRS pretty much captured lightning in a bottle with MK9 and I'm not sure if anything will come close to it in terms of hype, fun factor, and community support/participation. (I'm not referring to tournament numbers/turnout alone with that statement, FYI.)

Fuck, I miss MK9. I'd really love for MK11 to essentially be a 'legacy' game that builds upon MK9 moreso than MKX, but I won't get my hopes up at this point.

I'll put this way if mk9 dropped on current systems with the netcode of mkxl....Everyone here would lose their shit.

I've suggested this before... and I have no idea why this hasn't already happened. I'd seriously go back to playing/streaming MK9 obsessively. It's as if NRS doesn't like money or something. Plop it out as a digital release for $15 or so and you have an easy sell.

 

[THTB]

I've suggested this before... and I have no idea why this hasn't already happened. I'd seriously go back to playing/streaming MK9 obsessively. It's as if NRS doesn't like money or something. Plop it out as a digital release for $15 or so and you have an easy sell.

While it wouldn't distract from I2's hype train, getting MK9 with GGPO out there would mean completely rebuilding the game around it like NRS did with MKXL. Considering what we've witnessed in the mining of the game code, it honestly would be pretty nightmarish of a task as is lol.

 

[Thingy]

I desperately want MK9 to get a remastered version for XB1 and PS4, with the "GGPO" netcode.

I would never stop playing it. But NRS and WB will never do it, so I am just left with a wet dream.

 

[The Janitor]

put simply it wasn't "more hype". you were most likly just younger when it came out.. that simple. Now your older, your tastes are different and how you manage your time is different.

you get this a lot when people thing of games they played in the past. It usually isn't that the games are objectively "better", but more about who you were when the game was released.

True, I feel this question is very presumptuous and more or less steers us to a forced concensus you reached in your head because you don't feel like games now are your cup of tea (because they're generally more rushdown and emphasise bridging the pro-casual gap, this isn't just in MK btw I play games like FIFA and Battlefield 1 at a high enough level , SFV more casually, and this is happening there too. It gets more bums in seats, and if you want big pot bonuses, deal with it imo).

MKX made me loose my sh!t when I saw the 1st trailer and they had me hook, line and sinker all the way till Fatal 8 and it came out (I'm 20 now, been playing MK since MK4 when I was like 9). It's actually what got me into the Pro Gaming and eSports scene and I haven't looked back. These i2 reveals can't come soon enough, I'm so hype I'm buying the deluxe edition (my 1st ever, and I live in a 3rd world freakin country so that money DOES NOT come easy).

To you the game market is different, that doesn't make it worse or less hype. I didn't even know what the FGC was and can now proudly say I've watched every MKX FGC major to date (Even during the braindead Alien wins everything phase. lol).

Whether or not this is easy to come to terms with, games aren't made for dudes who've been high level player for 8+ years, but for a new audience who love different stuff and need to get hooked by feeling like they can be a threat after playing the game for not that long a time, because the market is simply to vast and another cool game is always a ps button press away.

Netherealm has grown so much over the years, and while I'm not alone in that I don't agree with some balance and game decisions, looking at MK9 through rose tinted glasses and assuming it was better isn't necessarily the answer IMO, considering how much of a dying bread good fighting games were at the time, the state of information accessability (i.e frame data and reviews), lack of market saturation, and how back then you had to just suck it up and couldn't moan on the internet about how limited your character was in hopes of a favorable patch update.

 

[The Janitor]

True, I feel this question is very presumptuous and more or less steers us to a forced concensus you reached in your head because you don't feel like games now are your cup of tea (because they're generally more rushdown and emphasise bridging the pro-casual gap, this isn't just in MK btw I play games like FIFA and Battlefield 1 at a high enough level , SFV more casually, and this is happening there too. It gets more bums in seats, and if you want big pot bonuses, deal with it imo).

MKX made me loose my sh!t when I saw the 1st trailer and they had me hook, line and sinker all the way till Fatal 8 and it came out (I'm 20 now, been playing MK since MK4 when I was like 9). It's actually what got me into the Pro Gaming and eSports scene and I haven't looked back. These i2 reveals can't come soon enough, I'm so hype I'm buying the deluxe edition (my 1st ever, and I live in a 3rd world freakin country so that money DOES NOT come easy).

To you the game market is different, that doesn't make it worse or less hype. I didn't even know what the FGC was and can now proudly say I've watched every MKX FGC major to date (Even during the braindead Alien wins everything phase. lol).

Whether or not this is easy to come to terms with, games aren't made for dudes who've been high level player for 8+ years, but for a new audience who love different stuff and need to get hooked by feeling like they can be a threat after playing the game for not that long a time, because the market is simply to vast and another cool game is always a ps button press away.

Netherealm has grown so much over the years, and while I'm not alone in that I don't agree with some balance and game decisions, looking at MK9 through rose tinted glasses and assuming it was better isn't necessarily the answer IMO, considering how much of a dying bread good fighting games were at the time, the state of information accessability (i.e frame data and reviews), lack of market saturation, and how back then you had to just suck it up and couldn't moan on the internet about how limited your character was in hopes of a favorable patch update.

Oh yeah and if you're going to kid yourself and say current Netherealm games aren't more entertaining and polished pieces, just look at sales numbers and peer reviews for them compared to past and present fighting games. You do realize MK outsold SF current iteration for like the 1st time ever right?

 

[Linkuei82]

put simply it wasn't "more hype". you were most likly just younger when it came out.. that simple. Now your older, your tastes are different and how you manage your time is different.

you get this a lot when people thing of games they played in the past. It usually isn't that the games are objectively "better", but more about who you were when the game was released.

I don't think 28 to now 34 is me being "younger." That type of mentality would work if it was like a 20 year gap. So that logic is wrong.

 

[The Janitor]

I don't think 28 to now 34 is me being "younger." That type of mentality would work if it was like a 20 year gap. So that logic is wrong.

http://marketingartfully.com/2012/12/13/customer-demographics-age-demographics-for-advertising/

Check this link, you are quite literally transitioning into a new demographic. As in by actual academic marketing terms.

 

[PND OmegaK]

SonicFox didn't win everything.

 

[kabelfritz]

Oh yeah and if you're going to kid yourself and say current Netherealm games aren't more entertaining and polished pieces, just look at sales numbers and peer reviews for them compared to past and present fighting games. You do realize MK outsold SF current iteration for like the 1st time ever right?

would you absolutely deny that mk9 could simply have had some better mechanics, despite the major flaws that stopped it from staying? blame player psychology for everything? i think that would be quite far-fetched too.

 

[GLoRToR]

easy question. i think im not alone when i say injustice and mkx barely had me that much on the edge of my seat as mk9 did every weekly. whats going on?

1. Good visual design.
1.a. Fatalities were just as gruesome as they needed to be unlike mkx.
1.b. Characters looked unique, fresh and shiny unlike mkx.
1.c. Interface had a personality, unlike mkx.

2. It came after DC. No offence to anyone who liked DC but that game had a lot of lacking aspects.
Fresh factor with a good visual design and a known brand revived will draw people in.

I've been saying this for ages but if they only updated mk9 with an expansion pack and some decent balancing, it could have done much better than mkx has.

 

[ragnar0kz28]

Best NRS game till the date, it had its flaws but god, it was the hypest game they have released yet. , too bad we will have to wait 2 more years for a new mk game

 

[IROC]

Easy to pick up, hard to master. Skill and labbing rewarded, so much flavor of the original mk games. Just a great game all around in general.

 

[Linkuei82]

http://marketingartfully.com/2012/12/13/customer-demographics-age-demographics-for-advertising/

Check this link, you are quite literally transitioning into a new demographic. As in by actual academic marketing terms.

Not sure what that marketing age have to do with my statement. Especially since i'm still in the range period from 25-34. Mind explaining more what that means on me being younger and being told I'm using ruby red glasses?

My point is that I can see if he meant I was a kid to adult and not know any better. But since I've played every MK games since I was 10, I should know which ones by now which ones by now are hype and not hype. MK9 is one of my favorite MK titles along with the first 3. And being on here since the start of MK revival there was more life and hype during MK9 era then there was from MKX. I would say right behind it was the first INJ.

 

[Wigy]

Actual footsies.

Inj and mkx lack there.

 

[randyth]

For me MK9 was hype because of:

-mostly the people. You had a lot of different cool personalities that could speak trash and added up to rivalries. You even had villains. Also the commentators and contributors were really cool personalities. Most guys also had backstories (as in being eliminated/babied by someone and trying to get back at that person in the rematch)

- diverse skill leveled players. You actually had skilled players coming out of nowhere that would ride the outsiders-hype and bring new rivalries (like Curbo or Gross).

- you had more participation from the viewer crowd with the sound effects. Anyone remember the bam bam bam, or hoooooo!! ?

- the way the game was made. It somehow clicked right in the way it was graphically and mechanically made.

- Babies and bounties. There was actually humiliation and hurting going on ingame and outgame.

Remaking MK9 won't bring any hype back for me if you don't have the same key people playing it (the CDjr, Reo, PL, 16bit, TomBrady , Terry Bros, DetroitBalln etc etc).

In the end every generation will have its hype-game. I'm sure the youngsters from this generation will start a thread in a few years asking why MKXL was so hype compared to MK14

 

[TurboTaco]

They went back to their roots and made the game 2D. After years of mediocre 3D titles it was a breath of fresh air. It also had all the fan favourite characters.

 

[Marlow]

Probably because it was a big step up compared to prior games, and nostalgia is a really powerful force.

 

[UGL Preon]

Necromancing threads lol.

But for real:

MK9 Was catching lightning in a bottle after it struck the same place twice. It's very, very rare.

Mortal Kombat had not been released as a traditional 2D fighter since 1995. So it was almost 20 years of sub-par games as far as balance, competition, and sensibility in the plot. A game franchise that wasn't enough to help Midway not bite the dust. People had been clamoring for the game to go back to 2D for a while. Midway goes kaput, and the "Dream was dead"

Then it comes back with one of the OGs Ed Boon at the helm. To make a COMPETITIVE fighter and it's 2D? All the characters having old moves, new moves, for the most part GOOD redesigns. The game was brutal and presented with an almost infinite amount of Unlockable and general content.

To top off the cherry sundae. We didn't EXPECT another NRS release every two years. We were fully invested into a game with new life. We didn't care for balance changes, we couldn't cry for nerfs 24/7, because the last game we played was ARMAGEDDON. We weren't spoiled yet.


Now? "Yeah bruh, we got people saying INJ2 is dead, 2019 can't get here fast enough for MK11"

 

[John Grizzly]

For me, it was simply because I never thought we'd get another MK after Midway folded. Then seemingly out of nowhere, MK returned. And god damn, it was fantastic.

It really felt like a continuation of UMK3 to me. The minute I hopped on there were just so many things that brought me back. Using a standing HP to anti-air into full combo, seeing Dan Forden pop up on my screen after random uppercuts, Shao Kahn calling me a piece of shit. It was all just so awesome. Of course, it had its problems, but man it was fun.

I played Ermac and Jax for the most part, but they really outdid themselves on that roster. It was every character people wanted.

I fucking hate to use this term, but I don't know any other way to describe it - it was a love letter from NRS to lifelong fans like myself. For the first time ever I was able to see my favorite fighting franchise of all-time played in tournament by the best players in the world.

In closing, I'll leave my favorite set in MK history. CD Jr and Tyrant in the best mirror match I've ever seen. This was just an exhibition, but listen to how nuts people are going. So good.

I just want to add that I loved Jax's design in MK9. His anti-airs, his ground pound fake....everything. Man he was fun to play. I really disliked him in MKX.

 

[undergroundvgt]

They went back to their roots and made the game 2D. After years of mediocre 3D titles it was a breath of fresh air. It also had all the fan favourite characters.

you took all the words out my mouth. i was a little disappointed in mkx but i heard talks of mk 11 hopefully they blow my mind lol.