The most shocking thing I saw in this whole thread so far was
“people who say umk3 is good obviously never played it online”
Anyway, first and foremost the most important thing a new MK game needs is better animation flow and collision detection. The new games have been pretty awful when it comes to this and that’s not to say collision was perfect in the 2D games. Animation wise the old games got better as they went but still kept the frame hacking as a way to maintain speed. The most common complaint is when things miss at point blank range (due to frame overlap or push box). The problem with animation flow is, at least in MKDA D and A, I always felt extremely restricted by the very mechanics of the games, and that being the animation mostly. That is key one, and two I guess. I would suggest the possibility of filming different actors for every character using motion detection and applying it to 3D models to give the characters a more realistic feel when they move and attack. The reason why different actors for everyone would be good is because it ensures variety and difference in style. They still feel like puppets and I would love to see some classic Richard Divisio histrionics thrown in here and there.
Things I would bring back from old MK games, I would say most importantly bring it back to the standardized original MK button layout of two punches and two kicks, but expand variety between attacks without having it be a gimmick. Speed of attacks, maybe strength, character size, etc all are factors without needing to do anything else but make it more apparent. There were subtle differences between the characters in the 2D games (ie: best Round House, best Uppercut, best ducking LK), but there were plenty of palette swaps for people to complain about. Special moves alone being the main difference is not enough for most players, regardless of whether that difference is 15 - 18 spots on a tier list between palette swaps. There also needs to be a run button. Run worked essentially perfectly in MK3 but they ruined it in MK4 by allowing you to run in more situations than you could in MK3. The reason why you can’t have a Foward Foward dash in MK is because of tapping moves, which also, need to stay.
Bring back real juggles (not just performing a ground combo while your opponent is in the air). Selective canceling to specials like jabs and jump attacks. Some kind of jab canceling.
Something I never want to see ever again, is that overhead smash bouncing launcher. I hate that thing. It makes me sick.
Another thing to point out, is where do you draw the line between a good game being an accident, or a success based on time and collective effort? People say UMK3 was an accident, I have even said it at times, but not entirely in the same light as others. Here is my point: they started with MK, it was terrible, and there were several revisions of the game improving flaws which were based on feedback from players, or perhaps their own discoveries as well. Eventually we had a finished MK. MKII built upon all the errors of the first game, had its own revisions, and then settled into a finished MKII, but still not a complete fighting game. MK3 also continued to build upon the previous two MK games, so at this point, we’re definitely beyond the realm of accident. These changes and suggestions were intentional, and might I add the violence was toned down under pressure from the industry but not only was it toned down, it was mocked within the game itself. This lends to the idea that they were no longer focusing on the violence. They added a dedicated button to increase the aggressiveness within the game. That’s not an accident. They added chain combos which existed in one form or another in other fighting games, but not in the same gimmicked manner they did in MK3. MK3 itself, had a few revisions, corrected some major flaws, and again, we had a finalized version of MK3 which could never have been the first engine tweak for the game. It took years to get there and 3 complete versions of a game based on the same engine.
UMK3 added and fixed even more elements of the gameplay but did not change MK3’s engine much at all perse. It’s far less of a change than MK was to MKII and MKII to MK3. UMK3’s own revisions focused on CPU issues and glitches. They had something here that didn’t need much changing at all (obviously more is known 15 years later). There’s no coincidence or accident that the MK game with the least actual and meaningful revisions was the best. Four years of massive player beta testing. Something like 20 total official revisions between the games. If all that time and effort went by and they didn’t come out with a playable, competitive game, they would be the worst dev team on earth. Doesn’t anyone else find it interesting that as soon as they moved to a new engine with MK4, everything went to Hell again? They refocused on the gore because they could display it with new graphics, screwed up much of what was good by UMK3 by merely mimicking the previous engine and not including everything that made it good, and then scrapped the concept altogether.
There’s a lot more I could get into, but their best bet is to hire some long time players with the experience and understanding to share their knowledge hands on, otherwise it’s never going to happen. I have no faith in any company making MK into something good again on their own.
