yeah it looks ok, but I see the complaints, for instance some of Cage’s kicks like the axe kick just looks really retarded… sorry they do
I used to play MK2 pretty much every day when it first hit the arcades, and then of course later on the SNES, and then later UMK3, so I was accustomed to the “stiffness” of the animation (even a lack of animation is still animation) – but after having played so many other fighting games since those days, it just looks very archaic, design choice for throwback purposes or not.
The speed is also way too slow. It’s about as slow, or slower than SF4 (which is fine for a footsies game) and it just doesn’t fit in line with a modern fighting game. The textures are also pretty awful as well. I don’t need “ultra realistic and fluid as water” graphics and animations, but what we have here is a case of content over quality. There has to be a balance and there’s not with this game. It’s just another one of those games people are going to gush over for a couple of months, or at best a year and then forget about it unless an expansion arrives.
MK slow? It’s faster as SF4, there is way less camping in corner.
Most of the animation is needlessly stiff, unattractive, uninteresting, and unrealistic. Soul Calibur for Dreamcast has better animation than MK9.
The fatalities are cool and I’m glad they went for an MK throwback with the gameplay. The battle damage and character dismemberment is cool and no doubt a hard earned effort.
Don’t get me started on the art direction.
The game looks cool anyway.
^ Exactly.
/thread
It may be “faster” than SF4, but barely. As I also already stated, the speed is fine for a footsies type game, which MK9 is not. It’s way too slow for a modern fighting game and reminds me of one of those crappy fighting games for the 3DO. If the game was at least 50% faster, the animations wouldn’t look nearly as bad either, even if they didn’t actually add any more frames. It would just lessen the time you see a “stiff as a board” aerial attack. The X-Ray moves also really kill the pace of the game as well, even though they look cool the first time you see them.
No, not really. What should have been said is:
“One of the first things I noticed about MK9 while playing it was how fluid the animation was to me. It does not look like a cartoon the way SF4 and MVC3 do, but it’s not supposed to. They wanted a more realistic but still somewhat exaggerated look that paid tribute to the games from the 90’s, so mission accomplished. The animation to me is very good quality and I honestly don’t understand why someone would whine about it other than that it doesn’t look like a Capcom game.”
Some people are just more forgiving than others on certain things. When the “newness” factor wears off, as well as the “OMG a new and DECENT MK game!!!” hype wears off, you’ll see the game for what it is. I’ve never felt the Tekken games had the most fluid animations either, yet the animations for those games are infinitely better, and as what was already stated, SoulCalibur blows it away, and that’s a ten year old game.
I think it looks great.
The name of this thread ought to be changed to: “A: Looks great! B: Less Filling!”
MK9 at first was weird and felt clunky to play the first couple hours, but once I got used to the speed, timing, and learned to play a few characters the animation was smooth and I found myself having fun. It is very fast paced and X-Ray moves provide the same thing as SSF4’s Ultras, it resets the pace of the match. I suggest training for a few hours learning 8+combos on someone you like, and you’ll find out that the game is very fluid.
The novelty of the game has passed me, and I feel like it stands out well compared to the other fighting games out there. That being said, I’ll still be focusing on MVC3 since I am a “capcom” fan, but I will definitely switch over to MK9 if the community grows. And so far the community is looking solid.
The animations are “stiff” and “clunky” to imitate how the characters used to move and animate back when they were using sprites. I think it translates fantastically into 3D models while retaining the feel of the games that started this franchise.
Only played the demo for a little while. The only animation that really bothered me was Sorpion’s throw (where he chains the opponent and “smashes” him to the ground). That smash is really some poor animation, not even respecting some of the 12 basic principles every animator knows.
I hope it is one it’s a rare case in this game. SF4 had enough bad ones.
The animation could be greatly improved in MK9 and still retain the old-school feel it’s shooting for. I agree with that direction for the series. Mortal Kombat games have always had weak animation, but that’s not a tradition that needs to be kept. I do think the game looks pretty good overall. There’s also a nice variety of animations in game to enjoy, which I do.
The lack of fluid, realistic, or interesting motion is the major flaw in most of the animation. Motion can be adequately served with only a few frames. A skilled and talented animator can work with the most archaic technology and make it work. High frame rates don’t mean a lot when they’re not being used properly.
The character limbs in MK9 all look autonomous. Floppin’ around everywhere. Muscle groups and skeletal structure aren’t represented as they should be in the visuals. Motion Capture Marionettes.
SF4 has solid animation. Lot’s of follow through, expression, squash, stretch, anticipation, release etc. It’s limited by it’s technology(the game can be run on an arcade board) and it still looks fantastic.
The animation is perfect! 
Looking forward to seeing Rains moves!
Honestly once i got my hands on the game I forgot about the bad animation, it pretty drastic difference actualy playing than seeing the game on 30 fps utube videos
sure it could be better, but at the moment it’s better to make noise about the bad training mode and bugs
There is no bad animation in MK9, the animations are exceptional.
Those that say otherwise are those who expected hitstop-animation a la SF.
SF and MK are different.
If you prefer cartoonish movement, by all means, stick with SF4.
I have to disagree slightly, although I think SF4 doesn’t really have good animation, some moves look really awkward in that game. Tekken has best animation as far as I am concerned. (except for misimas, but their moves are made up and physically impossible to do in real life hell sweeps ect.)
But that said Mk does have some really awkward animations to, Johnny cages axe kick for a good example, that thing looks absolutely retarded…