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Do you think the original Mortal Kombat is overrated?

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bikingjahuty: I spent a good amount of time playing this game for the 52 Games Challenge tonight and I couldn't help, but ask what is so special about this game? And when I say this I'm not judging it by modern standards, but as someone who would be playing the game back in 1992 when it was released. Speaking of when it was released, I was only 5 and remember a local arcade having a cabinet. I remember only playing it once, mostly because there was always a bunch of rough looking teens crowded around it, which made me want to play it even more. By the time I was able to play games like Mortal Kombat, MK3 was out and no one had an original MK cab in my area anymore. It wasn't until recently that several barcades in my area had them to play, and I decided to revisit this game and give it the time I wish I could have given it as a kid. Sadly I was very underwhelmed. As I said, I have played it before, as well as various console ports of it, but I forgot how basic the first MK game is. I guess to an extent the same can be said for MK2 and MK3 since they utilize the same 5-button layout, with only special moves and finishing moves to differentiate each character's abilities. But MK is so simplistic to the point of just feeling kinda dull honestly. The game has a really nice visual aesthetic, but even back then it wasn't the best looking game in the arcade. The soundtrack compliments the setting well, but it isn't exactly a defining trait of this game. This pretty much leads me to assume that this game's reputation as being an essential fighting game is based more on its controversial reputation rather than it being an extremely well made tournament fighter like Street Fighter II. It is probably because of that notoriety that it was given the success it did, which spawned sequels, films, action figures, and made Mortal Kombat a household name. In a way I feel like Mortal Kombat is the luckiest game ever made in that it managed to blow up despite the game itself being very mediocre overall. So what is your opinion of the original Mortal Kombat? Is it totally overrated, or do you think it's actually as amazing as the mainstream consider it?

sworddude: isn't it just like the first street fighter II it's not the best version would i say it is over rated why would it be. it was different compared to the rest nothing was like it. digitized grapics tons of blood. yea sure if you prefer 2d art style more like snk or capcom mortal kombat might be less fun. but digitized grapics is for a ton of people at the time more impressive than 2d sprites it's succes is mainly thanks to the violence tons of blood and fatalities people loved that. the toasty guy. earlier mortal kombat games where not good for tournaments but being a competitve fighter does not mean good sales mortal kombat was fun it was cheesy and it had gore tons of gore people go to the arcade to enjoy themselves and the fatalties where so brutal that they had to introduce a rating system. If there was no mortal kombat we would not have a rating system that game is the sole reason why games have it today. at the very least it would have been delayed till ps2 game  era I'd say if not for mortal kombat. is it lucky? not really it's smart it profited on giving people gore and violence to high lvl's wich was unheard of at the time. in terms of competitive fighters mortal kombat improved on stuff in the newer releases. considering that mortal kombat as in the current gen releases are some of the biggest tournament scenes in the present it's good as a competitive fighter today aswell

bikingjahuty: --- Quote from: sworddude on November 10, 2019, 05:34:44 am ---isn't it just like the first street fighter II it's not the best version would i say it is over rated why would it be. it was different compared to the rest nothing was like it. digitized grapics tons of blood. yea sure if you prefer 2d art style more like snk or capcom mortal kombat might be less fun. but digitized grapics is for a ton of people at the time more impressive than 2d sprites it's succes is mainly thanks to the violence tons of blood and fatalities people loved that. the toasty guy. earlier mortal kombat games where not good for tournaments but being a competitve fighter does not mean good sales mortal kombat was fun it was cheesy and it had gore tons of gore people go to the arcade to enjoy themselves and the fatalties where so brutal that they had to introduce a rating system. If there was no mortal kombat we would not have a rating system that game is the sole reason why games have it today. at the very least it would have been delayed till ps2 game  era I'd say if not for mortal kombat. is it lucky? not really it's smart it profited on giving people gore and violence to high lvl's wich was unheard of at the time. in terms of competitive fighters mortal kombat improved on stuff in the newer releases. considering that mortal kombat as in the current gen releases are some of the biggest tournament scenes in the present it's good as a competitive fighter today aswell --- End quote --- No it isn't like the first Street Fighter II version released. Each fighter in Street Fighter II was unique in how they played, with things like speed, reach, and basic attach strength. Mortal Kombat literally has none of that outside boss characters. Each player is identical until special moves and fatalities are used, which as you pointed out are mostly just for shock and awe. Yeah, it's gore was its main draw, but that's my point. People flocked to this game, not because it was an incredibly deep fighter, but because they wanted to see blood fly in the air when you uppercut your opponent. Or if you or someone playing the game was talented enough they could pull off a Fatality which was what most people wanted to see while playing this game. I think it's debatable whether the rating system would have ever come into existence without Mortal Kombat, but it certainly was the main catalyst that inspired its creation. I still think the game was incredibly lucky; they had no idea how the violence would be perceived, and not only did it hit a note with gamers, but the media as well. It essentially got a ton of free publicity for months as the news and politicians pontificated how obscene and terrible this game was. As I said, I was only in elementary school at the time this game came out and remember how infamous it was. Of course this just got teens and young adults more interested, which drove demand up for the game. I'd say they caught lightening in a bottle, and were absolutely lucky because of all the attention the game got. Comparing the original MK with MK10 or MK11 is like comparing Pacman to Call of Duty; they are such radically different games, not only in how they look (obviously), but how they play. MK10 for example if a very deep fighting game with each character having various checks and balances that make certain characters very potent in the right hands. the same can not be said for any of characters in the original MK which all handle and play the exact same, except special moves and Fatalities. Fatalities are a bit of a moot point though since by the time you can do one who've already one the match. I'm sure original MK tournaments exist at small scale tournaments held by an arcade or in someone's house, but I can't say I've ever seen it show up in any major esport event, unlike Street Fighter II which has.

Warmsignal: I have always recognized that MK is the fighting game for casuals more or less. And that defines me, in terms of fighting games. It is a really basic game, that is more style than substance. I don't think many other fighting games ever had the potential to catch the eye of the GP in the same way, and none probably ever will again. As far as fighting games are concerned, I am the mainstream and so I still think MK is king. Granted I've not played any entry newer than MK3 as of yet so there's a chance I wouldn't like the recent entries. One on one fighting is not favorite genre by any means, and in fact, I prefer the simplistic button mashing type with minimal use of strategy and combos. I also really prefer the Mortal Kombat universe and the characters over what most other fighting games offer. That's another major factor in whether I'll even want to give a fighting game a try or not. So it probably comes as no surprise that I also enjoy titles like Killer Instinct, and Eternal Champions. However, I'm not very intrigued by titles like King of Fighters, Guilty Gear, or even Tekken to be honest. I just don't get into fighters all that heavily, and so I'm not looking for any kind of steep learning curve or competitive experience from them. To be honest with you, I don't even care to play these games multiplayer. I just want play solo and go up the roster until I'm finished with the game.

betelgeuse: I actually liked playing the original Mortal Kombat a lot back in the day. The fatalities and digitized graphics definitely contributed to the games attraction. It was also one of the first games I knew of that got updates to fix the bugs (start of unfinished software?). Some of the glitches never got fixed though. Knocking off two heads with Cage or doing fatalities after opponent is on the ground etc. They kept that Cage fatality going in MKII but upping it to 3 heads!!! I don’t remember the version I use to play on (3.1?), but all the characters had a juggle combo. If timed right, you could beat the computer in 7 seconds. They also had the Reptile fight with the double flawless, fatality, without hitting block, as the character flew past the moon on the pit stage. Extra challenge if done on the endurance matches. If you get hit, just lose on purpose and hopefully you get the flawless in round 3. I played the Neo Geo fighters, Tekken and even some Primal Rage, but Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter got the majority of my quarters.

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