Alright, I know many of you don’t wanna hear this and I don’t want to believe it either, but the sad truth is that Mortal Kombat as a franchise is dead! Sure, Midway will rehash, resell storylines and try to make each subsequent Mortal Kombat game like a Virtua Street Tekken Calibur game. Mortal Kombat was good, Mortal Kombat 2 was Mortal Kombat times 10, after Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 the gameplay went downhill and it’s just not as fun anymore as it used to be. Sure, I love the MK storyline, I think the storyline for MK beats the other fighting game franchises’ storyline hands down!!! It’s a phenomenon like Star Wars and such!
However, we all know that you can only go so far with storyline alone. There’s a reason why games like the Tekken, Street Fighter, and King of Fighters franchises have withstood the sands of time; their replay value, fierce competition, tight knit fighting game community, such as having tournaments at the local, national, and international levels, and a loyal fan base.
For example, I’ve mentioned at a local fighting game tournament that we should hold Mortal Kombat Armageddon or at least an Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 tournament and people would rather play Fists of The North Star, Guilty Gear Accent Core, Soul Calibur 3, Virtua Fighter 5, etc. The response I usually get it, “It’s Mortal Kombat” after I say “why can’t we have a side tournament for Armageddon or one of the old school MK games”.
In closing, the other fighting game developers better not follow the footsteps of Midway with their Mortal Kombat or they will lose their base too, notabley Capcom. Even loyal Street Fighter fans and hard core SF tournament players are pissed off at Capcom with their rehashing of every possible previous SF game ever made. Where is Street Fighter 4?
Nah. I think the MK comp scene is resurging again. At least UMK3. Just go to www.ultimatemk.com and see how UMK3 was in EVO2k7. Sure it was a side tourney but it serves to gain the recognition the game needs. Espect more UMK3 appereances in future tourneys.
Also, the MK scenes in south america for example are growing up. Visit www.mkkompetitive.com.ve (Venezuela), www.proplayerx.com (Colombia).
Both are in spanish but has english sections as well.
As a franchise, well all my hopes of having a nice, new, worth competing MK game went down after deception. I have actually 20% faith in MK 8 to be at least interesting. MK DA was a good step for me but it seems like they fell the staircase and ended into the bottom.
A wifi rehash of umk3 or even mk2 for the DS would be good for spicing up comp.
Yea best storyline. But MK ran itself into the ground. Height of success was prob MK2. Resurgence started with MKDA, which was good, but something didn’t fit right. MKD began the horrible, slow, laggy, 3D brokeness. MKA was a last attempt that provided bittersweet fanservice. MKSM definitely was slept on, but was perhaps MK’s most quality game.
Ahhhhhh MK. We can still have the memories though can’t we?
In addition, They say MK is being rebuilt, so I don’t think anything we know about the series now is really as important as whatever information comes out about the next game.
Everyone knew that the current arc lacked a lot, and we’ll have to see which direction they take in the new series before really commenting on it.
All of the 3D games have really paled in comparion to the gameplay of 2 and Ultimate. The sites that Hanzo mentioned are helping to unite a growing scene which I think will just continue to grow. Will it ever eclipse something like Super Turbo or Third Strike? I doubt it but played 2 or Ultimate at a high level is a beautiful thing.
right now MK2 on the PS3 is seeing a pretty decent scene growing aorund it. I’ve played quite a few matches and overall the game is pretty good and had very little lag (that I saw anyway).
While you all may not like the last couple entries in the MK series, it sure as hell has a fanbase. MK is no where near dead. Sure, it’s gonna need to keep reinventing itself in order to stay fresh, but this applies to everything, Street Fighter included.
The last game I played, and enjoyed with Mortal Kombat in the title, was Shaolin Monks, personally. But that isn’t even a fighting game.
If it happens, they’ll probably have to use the MAME version since:
-The one on MK: Armageddon Collector’s Edition won’t save unlocked characters.
-XBox 360 version doesn’t have button configuration.
I wonder if MK2 on the “PS Triple” isn’t the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 version, with the stupid Start Button glitch: Can’t random select or fight Smoke.
Just because a game isn’t being played at some tournament most people have never heard of doesn’t mean it’s dead. As a franchise, Mortal Kombat’s doing just fine.
