Hey all. I’m mainly a SF player (SF3/4) and my buddy wants me to get into MK9. I’m going to pick it up tomorrow on my day off, but I’m curious – what are the big differences? When I played it it felt much less fluid than SF which was a bit off putting, but I’m still very interested.
Blocking and combos.
SF’s combos rely mostly on short, strictly timed links and cancelling [S]unless you’re Seth[/S]. MK is dial-a-combo and long juggles. There’s no crossing up in MK, so it’s mostly a game of mixing up. Also keep in mind that there is no trading in MK. Normal wise or projectile wise.
I was an MK only player and when I played SF it felt HORRIBLE and clunky as hell, mostly because I had never played an SF game before. As time went by I got used to it and I don’t have that same feeling anymore. Overall, what the poster above me said covers it.
I’m going to add a few things:
In MK there is a block button, every single character has a projectile, armor is a huge emphasis, and pokes are important to start and end pressure.
So less strict timing on combos (dial-a-combo is a great way of putting it; I could only say “mashing” up to this point but that brings to mind an image of nonsensical mashing as opposed to dialing a phone number)…how about the long juggles? Are they like links (links like ex fireball into ultra) or is easier to land those juggles as long as you know where you’re going with them?
How do I go about safely applying pressure?
^ What he means by projectile trade is that projectiles don’t collide with each other like they do in SF. They just pass right through each other and both opponents can trade hits when projectiles are thrown at a close enough range.
The knockdown/wake up metagame is also different in MK9. In most cases knockdowns are bad against certain characters because on a wake up special, characters get a few frames of invincibility. Moves like Sub-Zero’s ice slide and Kabal’s nomad dash will eat you up if you press any buttons on their wake up. This is why character’s like Johnny Cage are strong in this game because they can keep constant pressure without having to knock you down.
Meter management is a huge factor in this game because you need to keep 2 bars stocked in order to use your breakers (pressing forward+block will let you break out of an opponent’s combo at the cost of meter). Seeing as how most combos in the game can do up to over %50 damage,having meter for breakers can mean life or death.
Chaining can be difficult, depends on who you use. Skarlett and Kabal are high execution/muscle memory characters.
Long juggles are character specific. Sektor (my main squeeze) can juggle for days because he has a teleport that pops up a character, even in the middle of a juggle. His Ex Tele extends combos even longer. Baraka however, focuses more on his corner/ground game. So mid screen juggling doesn’t really describe him.
You can chain and cancel specials out of normals.
Juggling is character specific for the most part. I should also mention that every single character’s ‘Super’ (called X-ray in MK9) is done with the same 2 buttons. Stance switch and block iirc.
For pressure, just go with Cage lol. Thats all that needs to be said.
Does stance switch even matter? And how so? Also I was thinking of Sub Zero. I’m a Ryu/Guile/Dhalsim player, I prefer to be methodical with my defense and then explode out of nowhere (moreso exploding with ryu moreso methodical with Sim, middle ground with Guile, you know how it is I’m sure).
With subzero you are definitely going to want to play defensive, his options are very limited when he is on the offensive.
Also, subzero is know for his outstanding corner game, so that should be your main priority if you are going to main him.
Stance switch only matters with very specific Kung Lao combos, from there it pretty much doesn’t matter unless I’m missing another character.
Stance doesn’t matter at all. Theres a few Kung Lao flashy combos that wont hit unless your stanced right, but other than that all it is is switching your character’s arms around (if their left arm is forward and right is cocked back, it switches. Essentially what happens when you switch 1P and 2P’s side in SF.)
Sub-Zero sounds good for you. I’m not a SF player so take that how you want it. He hides behind his ice clones, tosses ice balls at you and waits for you to fuck up. Thats his main plan at least.
Sounds like Ryu/Guile. You limit the forward options of your opponent and then look for an opportunity to punish someone trying to break inside your defensive barrier.
I think Street Fighter is more to do with zoning and all that. Mortal Kombat is more fast paced and its more to do with combos. Please man don’t main subzero, scorpion or ermac. The online has enough of those generic players. And don’t forget to download that compatibility pack so we can use all dlc characters against you. It gets annoying when you train with Rain but then you can’t use him because your opponent hasn’t downloaded the pack. It also has a region lock on it so you won’t be able to fight your friends from over overseas. Its annoying because one time I wanted to take part in a youtubers tournament but then when it was my turn to fight I couldn’t because of the region lock. They put that in to minimize lag. Worthless though because its not like the servers are golden.
4 main buttons and a block button. 1,2,3,4 layout like Tekken.
Didn’t have cancels initially.
Moves don’t need diagonal inputs.
Combos are mainly canned or juggle combos.
There’s a run button in MK3 as opposed to dashing.
Whiffing can be VERY dangerous. Like in a 3d fighter.
Seems like there’s more broken stuff in the series as a whole.
More Violent.
Takes itself seriously and yet jokes on itself at the same time (~TOASTY!!!~)
There are a lot of secrets built into the games, espec the 3d titles and MK2 on SNES.
blood, lots of blood…
Main difference between MK and SF is that all characters in MK have projectiles. Imagine all characters in SF having projectiles?
To me it seems like there is more emphasis on special attacks in MK. Teleports and projectiles warping full screen. It’s more about hard reads.