Original poster is correct on all accounts, except for lamenting the loss of 3d Mortal Kombat. MK9 is unfinished, spammy, and an overall watered down mk/fighting game. People have to realize, ed boon designed this game with purposely cheesy/borderline broken properties, because he wants to attract the biggest audience possible. Why? Because fighting games do not generate big dollars when compared to other genres. Ed boon has stated this in magazines, and Monty Oum has stated this on one of Sebiel's youtube videos.
Ed could make the mortal kombat that most of us want, but he chooses not to.
1. Mk with the basic mechanics of mk2, like, crossup jump kicks that don't float over the opponent like they do in mk9.
2. Or, character specific jump kicks and jump punches, instead of the universal versions present in mk9. Varying JK and JP properties would also ensure that each one would travel at different angles in the air, like the old games had. How can a game have depth if 20+ character's share two identical moves, with similar properties?
3. Or how about solid collision detection? Why must players be subjected to being uppercuted when their character's ENTIRE BODY is visibly on the other side of their opponent? And why does a corner uppercut have to result in a character cartoonishly being launched conveniently out of harms way? Ed boon to the rescue to pluck the hapless noob player out of the corner into safety.
4. Why does every character in mk9 have footsies on the level of mk2 Liu Kang? Old MK is not a footsy heavy game, so only certain characters should have them in mk9.
5. Why would any designer of a mk game decide that Kung lao's spin should , not only be spammable, but also a dragon punch motion? rendering the move broken, spammy, and cheesy. in mk2 and to a lesser extent umk3, kung lao's spin must be used judiciously because the motion is difficult to incorporate and it has moderate startup and A LOT of RECOVERY! Mk 2 and UMK 3 would be unplayable if Kung lao had a dragon punch motion spin like mk9. UNPLAYABLE. If Capcom made a character like Kung Lao his health would be totally ass.
6. Why are there no jab moves with less than 6 frames? old mk had jab pressure, which, could've been tweaked and modernized to add more complexity to mk9. instead, every move is basically 6 to 30 frames long!
7. Speaking of jabs....Why does every juggle only utilize one arm? that looks stupid. Why would anyone decide to do this instead of having a natural looking one two punch, like old mk had, and like every fighting game except mk9 has.
8. Which brings me to the animations: they're horrible. The backgrounds in the game are stunning, but the character models and animations are atrocious. Worst of all they're canned, which means that instead of being able to enjoy a smooth, realistically moving mk game, I have to play a fighting game version of John Madden Warping, Sliding, Clipping football.
9. The BASICS are nonexistent, which is unacceptable. you just shouldn't do what NRS is doing, which is basically to cater to the lowest level of fighting game fan by stripping the game of subtle complexity, just to try to increase sales.
10. Complexities like: small frame jabs, and SWEEPS THAT CANNOT BE UPPERCUTED! (this has never existed in any 2d mk game, but, somehow, in mk9 you can uppercut sweeping characters). Plus, for some reason everyone in mk9 has a good anti-air uppercut. wtf? in mk2 only Liu Kang, Mileena, and Kitana have disgustingly good anti-air uppercuts. Every other character has one, but you have to KNOW the exact spacing in the game to pull them off. It's like in SSF4. Ryu's standing short kick can anti-air at 3/4 distance, while Ken's looks similar, but has a weaker hitbox, thus isn't as good.
11. The game is hella spammy and cheesy, and if you guys can't see that then i don't know what to say. You really think it's ok that a lot of character's in the game can just spam specials like they do? Imagine if Juri or Akuma could just spam dive kick, or if Zangief had Lariat and a projectile and a teleport? Or what if Ryu's tatsumaki was as fast as reptile's dash and had the same amount of recovery?
12. The Spam is there so casuals and 3d fans don't get beat in the game. As is the Slow frame execution, and the worst element ever added to fighting games since X-Factor: X-RAY!
