Mortal Kombat 9

I recently got MK9 and I was really excited. I enjoyed the demo so I figured I'd love the full game. I was both right and wrong on that.

 

The fighting has gone 2D, just like every other fighter these days seem to be. Honestly, I loved the MK: DA-MK: A fighting engine. I liked being able to actually dodge left and right rather than just forward and backwards.

The combo system has also changed. No longer can you use a good melee based style. Special moves have taken the front stage making the combat more like Street Fighter with a few small melee combos. 3 hits is the max simple combo. You can of course get larger ones by mixing moves and juggling. MK9 is all about juggling now, which is not my kind of kombat.

 

The biggest change is the inclusion of a super meter, much like other fighting games like SF. You can use this meter to enhance your special moves, use a breaker (which stops the enemy combo, in MK: Deception you get 3 of these at the start of the fight while in MK9 they use 2 3rds of the super meter), or do an X-Ray. X-ray attacks are 5-10 seconds sequences. Each character has their own animation but they all do about 1/3rd of the life bar (boss character's X-Rays take more than half health). As you can guess, they can either save you or ruin you.

 

Let's talk about the AI, which is my biggest complaint. Unlike recent Total War games where the AI is pants-on-head retarded, the AI on MK9 uses complete cheapness. Perfectly timing everything, spamming worse than the Russians spammed horde rushes in WWII. Those that have teleports use little besides them, always perfectly timed to avoid your attack of course. Noob Saibot is by far the worst offender. I faced him on medium and he literally portal spammed me to death with me not having a chance to even get up hardly.

 

Shao Kahn, Goro, and Kintaro are the 3 boss characters. What annoys me most about them is the super armor they get. If you hit them while they are doing a move, they won't flinch meaning you will get hit. They do quite a bit more damage per hit while your attacks do less damage. Main tactic for defeating them is to fight like you are playing Street Fighter and spam Hadokens (or whatever projectile you have). Fighting them in melee is generally suicide due to their super armor nonsense. A large number of Shao Kahns attacks also have a lovely little stun effect so you can't stop him from hitting you again and again and again.

 

If you have some friends to play with (i don't play online, I don't play with total strangers who are not within punching distance), it is great fun since there is no AI to cheat you. I hate it, but I love it. But mostly it makes me want to play MK: Deception again.

 

It gets a WR.

 

SCORING CHART:
MH- Must Have, get it ASAP
SG- Should Get, worth picking up after it gets cheaper
WR- Worth Renting, rent it instead of buying it
DR- Demo Recommended, try the demo before deciding since it isn't for everyone
SA- Stay Away, come near this game at your own risk.
OPGN- Oh Please God No, Avoid at all costs.