Well as most people here have already stated, MK has remained a strong presence in the industry in spite of the genre falling off the map for years.
When the FGC fell of the radar during the turn of the PS2 era, people at large forgot about fighting games including even SF as nothing more then a distant memory. MK however was still selling strong, and in spite of the way the FGC hated on the 3D games I’d venture to say gamers(especially casual gamers)had more exposure to any of the 3D MK games then any fighter at the time…including all the big capcom fighters like MVC2,CVS2 and 3s.
I’m not saying the 3D MK games were good fighters but its a testament to the legacy and status of the series. We also can’t forget that while SF4 was received with mixed reviews by the FGC, MK9 was universally praised as a vast improvement and redemption for the series tournament credibility. I will note that it didnt really have any touch acts to follow, but since some people are making a big deal about the FGC I figured I would just bring it up.
MK references made their way (and still do) into cartoons, movies, music, etc. long after the initial craze died. People who don’t know shit about fighting games, or even video games, more often than not at least know what “Get Over Here!” means. You’d have to be a complete fucking idiot to deny this even if you absolutely hate the franchise. For better or for worse, MK has reached a level of recognition worthy of the term legendary at this point.
Occasionally MKD is praised, or at least defended. It has a certain appeal due to how broken some characters are without being mindlessly stupid broken like MKA.
Oh, so you’re not trolling you just don’t know the difference between the words competitive and successful. Well, those “jokes” you speak of are the reason why fighting games have anything more than training mode and shitty single frame endings in arcade mode to offer. Those jokes are the reason why featureless husks like SF4 and MvC3 are allowed to limp out the gate and become complete games two-three upgrades later. Because “herp-derp” games like MK and Naruto are there to fill the space and keep people more interested in punching people in the face than fragging them with AKs.
You think any large component of the gaming community gives a shit about frame data, safe jumps or negative edge inputs? The competitive scene is allowed to thrive (influx of new blood and new games) because of the casual market. Not the other way around. The market that enjoys games with unbalanced mechanics, corny animations and stupid minigames is the only reason old biddies like you can adjust their bifocals, rock forward in their porch swings and claim a series that has endured 20 years without a real international presence and a fraction of the development power is a joke when it finally walks a competitive title across your lawn.
Its easy to tear games like 4, DA, De and Armageddon (though it totally deserves it, IMO) apart in hindsight because they aged like shit and when they were popular you were probably playing a truly competitive effort by someone else, but it doesn’t change the fact that they all sold like gang busters, everyone knows their names and they’re still some of the highest rated products on metacritic, amazon, etc. You know what Capcom was doing to support the genre at the same time as those games? Their 10th rerelease of SFA3, more inferior ports of SF2, and Capcom Fucking Jam.
Maybe make another 3D fighting game, but not necessarily have MK10 be that game, in my opinion.
“MK10” is something that I’m hoping that they’ll do more to expand upon and diversify from where MK9 left off, especially after they’ve had a chance to experiment a bit with Injustice. It’d almost be a shame to toss out a foundation that worked so well, in my opinion.
Besides, I think that part of the reason they went back to 2D in the first place is because most of the casual market is “intimidated” by 3D.
I really don’t like that chip damage on normals. When you see those Cage or Kabal chip to death combos, it scares any new players. I hope Injustice is free of that.
I personally wish MK10 would just play like a updated UMK3…plz NRS!
Edit: Since SF was brought up, how do you guys think the SF4 characters would do against the Mk9 if there was a"vs"title. I’m referring to no changes in their play style,frames or anything…just simply ported from their respective games unchanged into 1 game?
Personally I always wondered how someone like rufus or cammy would handle against kabal it jax.
You can’t chip people to death with one combo, you can apply pressure and put them in mixups but not chip them to death that easy. Your beef is with Kabal being godlike not universal chip normals.
Chip normals should be a mandatory staple of NRS games imo. Especially with characters like Cyborg who has a thousand zoning tools rooming about.
Well SF characters would probably blow Kabal up, up close at least, the fastest attack in MK9 is 6f, SF got them 3F jabs
Everything else would be a cluster fuck.
Sub-Zero against SF characters would be kinda interesting though, with his Ice clone.
MKs got hella teleports and full screen punishes tho. SF style specials would be totally off limits. As if Hakan and T Hawk don’t have it bad enough as it is. Imagine E. Honda or Balrog trying to navigate a Cyrax minefield. I could see the MK guys turning into bulldogs and pixies, with the SF guys reduced to pure zoners and lockdown characters, but we’re dealing with CvS1 level character homogenization.
I wouldn’t envy the battle designer at all, it would be a logistical nightmare. You’d have to reconcile Street Fighters with the loss of cross ups, or Kombateers with trading projectiles. The chip situation. The breaker situation. OTGs. Yikes.