MK has been fun over the years, but never my favorite fighting series. The gameplay has always felt…..messy, if that makes any sense. Not that I’m anything close to a fighting game expert, but series like SF, Tekken, Darkstalkers, and SoulCalibur just feel more polished to me.
I still remember the first time I ever played the first game. Passed by it in the arcade multiple times before trying it. While I played (as Raiden) someone else came up and challenged me. I admitted I had never played it before so he gave me some pointers before destroying me and performing a Fatality. Eventually got the SNES game (which, unlike most gamers, I liked better than the Genesis port; much better graphics & sound, and I could live with the nerfed Fatalities. Raiden’s is better in the SNES port anyway
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MK2 and 3 were the height of my interest in the series. With help from the SNES port and a strategy guide, I memorized almost every move, Fatality, Babality, and Friendship. My college dorm had an MK2 machine in the lobby and occasionally I would go down there and kick the AI’s ass. I worked at a mall arcade when MK3 came out and I remember the lines for that thing.
I know Ultimate MK3 gets a lot of praise, but since I never really played against other people, it was a big disappointment because the AI was altered to be SUPER DUPER CHEAP, to the point it wasn’t fun to play. MK Gold suffered from the same problem.
MK4 looked and played like ass so I ignored it.
I did get the Mileena edition of MK Deception on Xbox and Konquest mode was a fun diversion, but I was never a fan of the new gameplay, with every character sporting 2 different fighting styles. I rented Shaolin Monks and it was fun but I never actually bought it.
I fell out of the series until MK9, which was pretty fun. However, I don’t buy many new fighting games anymore because I just don’t have the time to spare to relearn the characters, so I haven’t bought an MK game since then.