It's not making a reappearance. It's never been gone. Injustice is an other franchise. Mortal Kombat has always had a block button.

Before I continue reading, so this is 10 pages of people acting like they never played a Mortal Kombat game before?

Lol I always love blocking because I suck at the combos and moves system.

What's wrong with it?

People who don't like it usually say that it prevents cross-up gameplay, as you just have to hold down a button to block attacks coming from either direction.

I love the block button; its always been in Mortal Kombat so it's not really a "reappearance".

Sorry for those of you who like holding back to block, that was never my cup of tea.

I used to have no issue with the block button up, until MK9. The reason why I'm not a big fan anymore, is because many other fighting games use back-to-block... so it's hella confusing when you're switching between these games. You can't believe how many times I've tried to hold back to block in MK9... and trying to push a block buttong when I started playing Street Fighter 4 again.

That's the only reason I'm not a fan anymore, because it's harder to adjust when switching back and forth between different games.

It's a part of MK. Always has been, always will be.

I love how people are treating this like it's a Street Fighter game.
Like the Street Fighter mechanics take a role in this game, as if it took a role in MK9.

It didn't.

And these reasons to take it out is just as easily debatable.

"Block button removes crossover attacks"

Yeah because that worked so well in Street Fighter IV series.
I find it ridiculous that natural block instincts don't work. A crossover attack regardless of it's position, instead of blocking back, like normally. The correct way is to block forward for whatever fucking reason even though your character is facing the way they are. It's mind fucking. And some of the crossovers are unblockable against...wait for it...certain characters!
Y U NO BALANCED CAPCOM?

And upon reading, it seems that Injustice, a game I stopped playing thanks to Sinestro, has an issue thanks to Scorpion and Batman with their cross-ups?
And why should a block button be removed again, when evidently that feature which was removed for Injustice coincidentally caused a problem?

This is what happens when NetherRealm Studios tries to be like Capcom. You get imbalanced games like Injustice. And this is what people want?

Makes me wonder if the people whose ant-block button are the same people who abuse the teleport of Scorpion and Batman. Then they follow up with "herpderp get better". Yeah, no, that's doesn't fly when a mechanic is broken. This is the reason why you're doing it in every match. If it was easy to get over it, then you wouldn't be abusing it as much. Yes?

"But then I can't teleport crossover combo" [paraphrasing]

HA HA!
Crutches.
Your character can do more than just one special...learn it.

"It just promotes turtling"

Yeah cause Street Fighter never had this problem... :/

Just like Street Fighter, blocking isn't a total beat all. You can do a handful of things in Mortal Kombat, like throw the motherfucker at close, or do an overhead attack for starters. But whatever...

It's natural part of MK. It was never gone and I hope will stay in the series forever. It's one of defining features of the series' gameplay.

No need to turn MK into any other 2D fighting game or make it more complex. Not all people want to break their minds and fingers over fighting games. Some want just to have fun and entertainment (and yes, it's possible to have those without turning game into dickmeasuring contest). If there is place for overly complex fighters, then there should be more simplistic games. Diversity thing, you know? Different strokes for different folks an all that?

Its really not that hard for me to jump back and forth. One match and Im in.

MK not having a block button is as dumb as Street Fighter having a block button. Its a foundational mechanic of MK, like Killer Instinct's Combo Breakers or Injustice's Wallbounces. Different games, different rules. I have no interest in homogenizing MK so it can feel like other games.

However I disagree with the above assertation that the block button makes the game simpler. It doesnt. Its just different.

@WeaponTheory Also, Injustice is fine. Not perfect, but fine. And back to block is a great mechanic for that game and any game. Mind games and tricky crossups are fantastic. If you dont like it then you either DO need to level up, or play with someone as casual as you are.

It's because historically MK plays different than other fighters and people can't seem to accept it. Back to Block is the more common complaint but Projectiles not nullifying each other ranks up there too.

MK is not Street Fighter.

I'm with you. I also wanted back-to-block in this game because it adds more depth to gameplay with crossups

Not too Krazy about people complaining.

I hate back to block.

I fucking hate back-to-block. It doesn't make any sense! You don't have to retreat from an opponent to block their attacks.

The whole argument is moot. Back to block will NOT be in MKX.

When has reality ever stopped people from complaining?

Granted, I only read the first three pages, but none of the users seem to have a sophisticated understanding of what the block button actually contributes to MK.

I've posted about this millions of times, so I'll try to make this as simple as I can.

The block button allows for a sophisticated cross-up metagame. If the opponent is unable to counter it, then the opponent gets free chip, meter, and (most importantly) pressure. Pressure in MK9 is far more dangerous than it is in SF, so it's far most costly to get caught in a block string.

If the opponent IS able to counter the cross-up with a down poke, they get a full anti-air combo. If you anticipate this, you can cross-up with jump-kick instead of punch and score a knockdown leading to oki setups (and even SF types will tell you that the knockdown is more valuable than the cross-up). This works because air kicks have a bigger hitbox. On top of all of this, if you read the cross-up, you can neutral jump-punch for a full blown combo.

See how layered this? Now let's compare this to SF's cross-ups. In street fighter, a cross-up leads to an ambiguous air hit, and therefore, a 50/50 mix-up. That's it. You're giving up a layered meta-game so you can add ONE mix-up to MK. MK9 has no shortage of mix-ups. We don't need to dilute our cross-up system

The reason SF wouldn't benefit from MK9's cross-up system is because pressure isn't nearly as valuable. There's no chip, there's no dashing out of block strings into more chains, and there's no overheads leading into combos.
This is just the surface. I could write far more, but I've written about it too many time already, and I'm tired of preaching to the choir.
EDIT: and FYI, SF4 was my first tournament competitive game. I have no personal bias here. Anyone who plays SF knows that the cross-up isn't even a universally favoring mechanic. Vanilla Sakura didn't even have a fucking cross-up move back when SF4 came out! People against the block button aren't seeing the bigger picture.

And this is why I can't play Injustice.

MK needs its block button. Period.

I don't mind either way, to be honest. A button to block or hold back to block doesn't matter to me and neither of them ruin my gaming experience. It's a bit extreme to feel like the whole game is ruined just because of the way you block in the game... Seriously, people, learn to adapt.

I hated that in Injustice.

The block button is as much a part of MK as the uppercut, sweeps and fatalities are. It's not going anywhere and I don't want it to.

That being said, I have this weird feeling NRS will give the option of back to block, but the block button being the default. Just to keep the select few happy.

I take it you are one of the Batman Scorpion players? I don't know why you bothered to even talk to me when I clearly said that I dropped that game the moment it was plague with Sinestros, the game couldn't get anymore casual than that and it's A-B-C Marvel vs Capcom 3, buttons. Me don't like such games.

I main Nightwing in Injustice and I deal with Batman and Scorpion fine. I didnt at first, but I stuck with it and got better. Sinestro is a tough matchup for Nightwing, but I still manage to get wins. On second thought hes not even that bad once you know the matchup.

Injustice is not any other game. Not MK, SF, MvC etc. Its got its own flow and rhythm and a huge part of that is back to block. And yes, its a very zoning-heavy game, but if you stick with it instead of dropping it after your first loss, its actually a really fun game.

Its cool if you dont dig Injustice, but dont bag on the game just because you arent good at it.