Others have said this before, but I think that I finally figured out why MK:DA, MK:D and MK:A don't feel to me like they're on the level of other fighting games out there:

Special moves.

Hear me out. In all other fighting games, each character has their own unique move sets with unique throws, punches, kicks, weapon moves etc. But MK was built, from the beginning, to have an emphasis on special moves. Each character, from MK1 through MKA was basically given a stock set of regular moves. All characters had uppercut, high kick, etc in the first two games. Then every character had dial-a-combos in MK3, so again, no character was unique.

The newest generation of MK games introduced fighting styles for each character, but again, each character had these ordinary, ho hum, standard regular moves. There were only a very small handful of moves (Cage's double flip kick comes to mind) that really separated themselves from the standard combo starter moves, basic combo moves etc that everyone else had. As always in MK, a new idea was spattered across the board in exactly the same way, so because all characters had the same new idea, no character was different. Each fighting style felt remarkably similar to other styles, every character could counter in EXACTLY the same way etc.

What made characters unique for MK since the beginning was the story for each character and their special moves.

The problem now is that by the 7th MK game, a vast majority of the characters have seen their stories go nowhere or at least go no where exciting (we know the main characters and support characters by now) because the MK team refuses to actually tell us what happens to characters game after game. You only get "if they win the tournament, this happens" ending.

Then there are the special moves. Back in the Genesis/SNES days, it was fine to have characters separated only by special moves becuase that's where fighting games were at in early/mid 90's. Zangief had a jump kick just as Ken had a jump kick, but Zangief had a spinning piledriver as a special move and no one else did.

But now, with games like Soul Calibur, Tekken and VF, there are alot moves that could be labeled as being special moves (double jump kicks, flip kicks etc). Anyone ever notice how Ivy's move where she extends here whip sword through her opponent and pulls them toward her looks an awful lot like Scorpion's spear move? But in Soul Calibur, that's just one of many moves for her.

My point is that MK MUST make each character unique by giving them move sets that only that character has. No more stock move sets disguised as "fighting styles." Every character should have 100% unique moves that in the old MK games would've been considered special moves.

Yes, I'm definitely for keeping the projectiles, the teleporting, even the uppercuts and roundhouses because that's all MK tradition. But MK needs to close the divide between special moves and regular moves by making the latter more fun and more a part of the game then just stringing regular, run of the mill punches and kicks together to form combos. Yes, Dead or Alive has that type of combo system, but they also have a ton of moves for each character that are unique and work within combos or by themselves to make for a deeper playing experience. Kokoro's move set then is different from Jann Lee's to the point where you can actually feel that they fight differently.

MK must abandon the model of stock regular/unique special moves from the 90's if they want to truly evolve this series. Characters must play differently. MK has tried to add gimmicks to all of the characters for years now (dial a combos, the run button, fighting styles, counter attacks, aerial combot, parries etc) but if every character gets the exact same upgrade with only minor differences, then is anything new really added? Does it really matter if you're doing a dial a combo with Scorpion versus Sub Zero? After a while, they all start to feel the same, and that's why so many people, myself included, tend to tire of the new generation MK games so quickly.

Stop adding features that everyone uses, start adding moves that work with each character individually, suits their background etc. Scorpion should have 30+ moves that deal with fire, Bo Rai Cho should have 30+ moves that deal with his drunkeness and weight (not in a humerous way mind you, well maybe one or two, who knows). Either way, if MK is going to join the rest of the fighting games on the elite level, these gameplay changes must take place.