You're absolutely right about the fact there always will be complains. And a lot of them are not fair. I'm not like that. But I do feel MKD could have been better than it was now.

And that is why I have higher hopes for MK8 if it's released in the back of 2008. More time to development always means the game is going to be better.

MKD is a nightmare. The gameplay was even MORE broken than in MKDA. Sure, in MKD, most of the characters can compete against each other unlike in MKDA when there were several who dominated the whole game. However, with no ground game, no throw escapes, etc. the game fails to deliver anything that's truly solid thus getting loads of infinite combos, free throws, OTGs, glitches, etc.

Shaolin Monks wasn't a half-assed game? It sure as hell was. For one thing, the game was very short. There wasn't much content in it. And then there's the overly bad storyline, which rapes MK's overall storyline, as well as the horrid character portrayals. MKSM was supposed to flesh out the events after MK1 and during MK2 and be accurate. But instead, they did so many things wrong, it's disgusting.

But since you don't care about the story and probably not even the gameplay either, it doesn't matter to you. I, on the other hand, DO care greatly about the gameplay, story, things like that...

You have to understand that the bosses at Midway rush the MK team, milking the series for all its worth. When mastermalone, one of the members here, went to E3 in 2006, he talked to Ed Boon and some of the others working on MKA, and guess what? Boon and the others knew about the problems MKD had. About ones like Bo's F + 3/free throw glitch, it was too late when they discovered it. Imagine if Midway gave them more time. MKD could've been a more solid game.



No one is expecting perfection. People like me want vast IMPROVEMENT!

The problem here is simply that you are completely ignorant of the major problems within these past few MK games. Wanting to have an MK game be released each year leads to greatly cutting down great potential for better quality.

This dude actually sums it up better than I did.

MKD was more of a dream come true than a nightmare. And I'm sure the "Greatest Hits" tag that is has now is an attestment to that.

See, it's picky, delicate, perfectionists like you 2 that keep us from having a new MK game every year.

"Oh there's a glitch" "Oh there's a few infinites" "

Get over it those shitty problems!

MKD had glitches and horrible problems only for those who obssess about them like babies. I mean, how often do you come across a glitch anyway, like once every few months? I play MKD all the time and I rarely encounter a glitch. And the gameplay is fine. It's slower than MKDA but it's more solid and it WAS improved with the inclusions of Breakers and such.

MKSM had bad character portrayal, but do you honestly think more time for the developers would have made a difference? "She's NOT my girlfriend." That seems like pretty definite character conceptualization to me. Obviously, that was the path they chose to take for the characters since I guess they thought the game was going to be played by kids.

And the story wasn't canon. Big deal. Either they wanted to show MK2 from a different angle or they decided to give the game a brand new story to make it something NEW to the fans. I mean, if it were the exact story from MK2, I would have been bored cuz I already would have known everything. Do you agree?

And it didn't have enough content? Well it's a spin-off. You actually expected it to have as much content as MKDA or MKD? It had the story mode, versus mode, and MK2? What else did you want? A story mode that lasted 20 hours and tons of mini-games? The game also had lots of secrets and mini-missions that kept me very entertained for quite a while, so I don't see why you're whining about how MKSM was such a "horrible" game.

The gameplay of MKD and MKSM is fine. It's overall a "no problem" thing if you aren't the pickiest person on earth. MKSM story could have been better, but it's obvious that they weren't planning on making it canon from the beginning. That alone isn't enough to make it a bad game. It was still fun and entertaining.

You have absolutely no idea of how the mechanics in MKD work. You have absolutely no idea of how BROKEN, DISFIGURED the dial-a-combo sys-tem is.

Your damn favourite fightress has a throw that sets her up for a free attack, making it SUICIDAL to use in any situation.

Ok, time to dissect this mess...



So what if it has the "Greatest Hits" tag. It doesn't mean a damn thing if the game was greatly lacking.



Did I not just say that I wanted IMPROVEMENT, NOT perfection? Is that too hard for you to understand or something? I LOVE the MK series, and I want it to get better thus me wanting IMPROVEMENT!!

You're making such a small deal out of the glitches and infinites, which shows your ignorance. There were literally HUNDREDS of glitches and infinites in MKD, and the majority of the infinites were easy as hell to do thus being abusable.



It depends on which glitch you're referring to. I'm sure you do play MKD all the time, but do you play it at higher levels? Do you?? MKD is more solid than MKDA due to things like breakers? Um, no...Breakers were cheap band-aids and NOT a real solution. You know what a real solution would be? It would be to have string combos instead of the chain/dial-a-combos.



When it comes to character portrayal, probably not. The MK team knows that kids aren't the only ones who play MK games. If they thought that, they'd be pretty fucking ignorant.



From the way the MK team talked during 2005's Fight Night, they seemed to imply it was canon but that certain things such as the deaths of various characters wasn't canon.

The thing about MKSM's storyline was that they were trying to EXPAND on the already established canon storyline of MK1-MK2, and that's what should've been done.

Guess what? They failed miserably on many, many, many levels that it's absolutely atrocious and like I said, it rapes the entire MK story.

It's not meant to be an exact copy of MK2's story, but it was supposed to be an expansion of the events after MK1-the end of MK2. They even hired John Krueger, who wrote MKSM's story (with some guideline assistance from John Vogel and a couple others) to make sure that things were meant to be canon. The problem was him never playing MK2, not being familiar with MK's story, and only getting guidelines.



I never said that I expected it to have as much content as in MKDA or MKD, but I would've liked more.

Story mode is more fun when you have someone to play with. Both the story mode and the versus mode should've had CPU, and I would've liked more characters. Why story mode didn't have characters like Johnny Cage and Jax, maybe even Raiden, is kind of baffling. Then there's the whole thing with Scorpion and Sub-Zero not having their own stories, which takes away from any mysteries that could've been solved.

The story mode really lasted 20 hours for you? It's not really that long of a mode, unless you suck at the game or just felt like goofing off for 10+ hours. The secrets and mini missions are just ok.

MKSM isn't a horrible game to me. It was simply mediocre. It's the story that was horrible. Then again, horrible might be too nice of a word to use.



No, the gameplay of MKD wasn't fine and this also applies to MK4, MKG, MKDA, and MKA. Again, you're very ignorant of the major problems in the gameplay department and think of people like me as perfectionists when all I want is vast improvement. I'm not saying I'm an expert when it comes to the knowledge of fighting mechanics and such. I'm certainly not as people like Versatile, Konqrr, m2dave, bleed, etc. are far more knowledgable than I am about that stuff.

All in all, it comes down to what you play MK for. Do you play it for the story/characters? The gameplay? What? It's pretty obvious to me that you're simply a casual gamer who plays MK very, very casually. I, on the other hand, am somewhat of a casual gamer but actually cares more about the series, especially with the gameplay and story, and I do play the game in more of a medium level. While I don't expect you to understand the problems themselves on a deep scale or whatever, at least try to understand where I'm coming from.

No, you are a perfectionist.

You're complaining about how MKD had hundreds of glitches. Didn't we just establish that no MK game will ever be perfect? But that's what you want. A FLAWLESS MK game. And you make it sound like if a glitch occurs during every five seconds of gameplay. No, they do not. They are rare to encounter for the majority of players.

So improvement to you would be the addition of being able to string combos? Oh, so now if you game isn't done YOUR way, you title it as "lacking." Hmm, that seems very selfish and shallow, you know, like the way perfectionists are.

The fact that it became a "Greatest Hits" speaks volumes on its own. Most games never achieve that, so obviously, millions of gamers found heaven in MKD while game psychotics like you who analyze every insignificant detail about a game as microscopically as possible found "a nightmare."

You are crazy and take things way too seriously. Hell, some glitches are even amusing! I've come across like 4 - 6 to date, and the 2 I mostly remember were fun.

And what do you mean play the game at higher levels? Like trying to execute a unique special combo for a character? Or seeing what would happen if I did this....? Or that....? Yes, I do those things occassionally, but not as fanatically and obssessively as you do. And all the times I've tried doing those type of things, I've never encountered a glitch. I only encounter them by accident.

You are one wierd gamer. You have no idea how many tons of people praise the latest MK games, while flaw-seeking psychos like you simply focus on the shitty accepts of the games, which by the way, are a minor part of the games... (to the sane gamers anyway).

It's all just bitch bitch bitch with you, isn't it? MKDA was great. MKD brought more gameplay features. MKA brought even more (although also removed some features and changed too many things around).

Why do you get all pissy over MKSM's story so much. Yes it sucked. ...And? If you care so damn much about the story go play MK2 then and shut up. The important thing is that most (or all. I don't really remember) of the MK2 characters made appearances. And your mad cuz you didn't get to play the story mode as more characters. Well the game is titled "Shaolin Monks." Just the fact that they added Scorp and Sub to the story mode and a couple of other characters to the VS. mode made it a plus, something most fans would APPRECIATE, unlike the psychotically picky ones like you.

You know what? I just think you're insane and you exaggerate all the microscopic details about poor MK like crazy. Also, I played MKD online hundreds of times, and only like 2 people ever performed infinites on me. They, and glitches, don't happen every minute, as you make it seem.

I play MK for the characters, gameplay (which has been fine), and the special features like unlockables, secrets, added features, and different modes. The story is the least of my interests, but it's still something I like.

MKA sucked because of lots of cheap kombat zones, horrible (but I mean HORRIBLE) music, wierd gameplay (a pop-up sends a character like 50 feet in the air. Air combat could have existed without that excess), too many things were repeated (special moves, etc.), graphics were reduced for some things, crappy alternate modes (especially konquest and motor kombat), little or no secrets, few new characters, and no classical fatalities for anyone.

No, I'm not a perfectionist. Didn't I already say that I wanted the game to improve?



Yes, I know that no MK game will ever be perfect. I NEVER said that I wanted a flawless MK game. I said (more than once, I might add) that I wanted vast improvement. Is that really difficult for you to understand or something? It really seems to me like it does.

I never said that glitches occur often. The glitches I'm referring to are more of the gameplay glitches, which are in abundance, unfortunately. And yes, there are many people who abuse these glitches often, thus making MKD's (and MKA's) online play an utter joke.



Oh, so I'm shallow and selfish, because I actually care about the MK series and want it to improve with simple and logical solutions to major problems? If that's the case, then you are simply an ignorant, narrow-minded buffoon that doesn't care about the quality of the games and would rather just focus on all the "fluff".

And you obviously don't understand about the difference between string combos and chain combos as I clearly didn't say anything about stringing combos together.



I don't analyze every detail of the game. The reason why so many like MKD is that a lot of players who buy MKD play the game casually and are unaware and/or apathetic of its major problems. The same goes for other MK games, too.



Yes, I am crazy, but I also know what the hell I'm talking about. Some glitches are amusing to you, huh? Which ones would those be, getting OTGed to death?



lmao, wtf? High-level gameplay refers to playing the characters at their best. That means using the best moves and strategies. That's how tier lists (legitimate and accurate ones) are formed, thus characters like Sindel being regarded rather lowly in MKD and MKA.

Since you don't know what high-level gameplay is and have never tried it, you obviously haven't come across the glitches and other shit that MKD and MKA have.

And like I said before, I generally play the game at a medium level.



Whoa, whoa, whoa...

How the fuck are things like the gameplay a minor part of the games? How??!! Especially for fighting games!



*shakes head* If you've actually read some of my other posts, you'd know that I do more than just criticize about certain things. There's a difference between those that "bitch" and those that criticize the game and offer logical solutions. But since you're so ignorant and narrow-minded, you continuously fail to understand.



I'm pissed off about MKSM's story so much is because of the following:

1. I care about MK's storyline.

2. MKSM was supposed to expand on the story events taking place at the end of MK1-the events of MK2 and have good accuracy. Since it failed to do that miserably, I was pissed off.

3. Not only were things great inaccurate, but the story itself was silly, shallow, and illogical. Nothing in it added anything good or interesting to the overall storyline.

How does playing MK2 solve anything in regards to my story problems? That doesn't make any sense, and it's apparent you don't care much (or at all) about MK's story.



So what if all the characters in MK2 made appearances?

As for being mad about not being able to play the story mode as other characters, Johnny Cage and Jax were characters that were part of MK2's storyline, and it would've made sense to have them playable and go through their stories.



Gee, you don't say...



Actually, I do appreciate that they had those characters in there. However, I would've liked to have had Sub-Zero and Scorpion with their own stories. Even the MK team would've liked that, but they had time restraints and that goes to my main point about wanting the MK team to be granted 2-3 years to work on each MK game as opposed to releasing an MK game every year, something you want.



How are gameplay details microscopic in terms of importance? How? So you've played MKD online hundreds of times. Who did you play? How did you play? How did the other person play? Which characters did you two use and how did you use them? Which infinites were used on you and by whom?



The characters and gameplay are things I also care about. The only reason why you say the gameplay is fine is because you're completely ignorant about the gameplay problems. You simply don't know (and don't care). Other things like unlockables, secrets, added features, etc. are the rather insignificant things, not the gameplay.



Explain the cheapness of the kombat zones and which ones.

For the music, I somewhat agree with you on some of the stages.

Weird gameplay? lol...

The other things you mentioned like motor kombat, lack of secrets, etc. are just minor things yet you don't care about the gameplay.

It seems to me that you're totally hopeless and would rather see MK have poor quality gameplay.

The Bitch just got owned....

Seriously though, I agree with everything the 7th said. MK is far from having great gameplay.

From what I'm hearing, MK:A is horrible due to this and this, yet MK:D is a dream come true despite the glitch-factory that it was? Yeah, how about we pick and choose our issues.

it was originally reported in quite a few reports I've read that MK:SM was supposed to be canon. It wasn't. It was probably a few continents away from being canon. It was silly, the characters were poorly portrayed, and the story was gobbed up beyond redemption.

And do what now? Mostly kids were going to be the majority players of Shaolin Monks? I'm certain they would be with that ESRB rating of "M." I'm not saying that it stops the children from playing, but usually you're going to run into mostly late teens-early adults in this category. Prove me wrong - don't just say I'm wrong.

If there isn't a new MK game every year, don't take it up with the MK team. Maybe just maybe that was a decision from the execs at Midway. And maybe just maybe those execs can also cancel said plans. Seriously, where do people keep getting the idea that Ed Boon has so much power when it comes to the marketing of the series?

You still focus way too much on the negatives of the games, 7_th.

You can uselessly (and obnoxiously) continue to oppose my topic, but the truth is, Midway said they'd release a new game every year. Why'd they back down on that?

And secondly, it's not fair, or even relevant, to say that a game for 2007 shouldn't be made due to the flaws of previous games. Time will promise a great and "improved" game, you say? I bet you not. It's all about the initial concepts, goals, and schedule the developers have for the product. That's why MKA sucked cuz they knew from the start that they were gonna half-ass it, and it shows bigtime.

So if a game is made in a short amount of time, it's bound to be awful? That's bullshit. How the hell would YOU know that? You're not on the Midway staff or any game-developing staff. MK1, for your info, was suppose to be "a quick project" and look at the enormous positive response and popularity it received. Again it's mainly the concepts, goals, and schedule that make the difference. They could have a century to make an MK game, but if the ideas suck, who the hell would wanna buy it?

How hard could it be to make a Shaolin Monks sequel? They just have to re-use the same engine, add new things, and update the graphics and combos, etc. And presto! They kept their promise and we get to play a new MK game for the year.

Midway could very well make an MK game every year if they continue the pattern they had for 2004-2005 with one main, classical MK game for one year, and then a spin-off for the next year. Keep in mind, the spin-offs take much less time and effort to make since they include less content (I know, something catastrophical for picky whiners like you), and their stories are pretty much simple to plan out since they exist in the already-established main MK stories.

And sinced you asked, one fun glitch I experienced was when I was fighting the CPU in the Golden Desert. When the person knocked my down from the top, I fell into that house or building at the center of the bottom floor. So I was able to fight inside that area. It was pretty cool.

And also, the kombat zones that sucked in MKA were all the places that belonged to characters ('cept Reptile), like Shinnok's place, Shao's place, Daegon's place. Those were all super boring locations to fight in.

There are plans on releasing a game every year, yes. That's due to Midway wanting to milk the series dry. The previous installments are clear examples of how it is known that this game will also fail. There was certainly optimism from people like me since they were adding parries and wake ups along with toning down certain characters.

Yes, MKA was half-assed, and that's Midway's fault, not really the MK team's. Again, if Midway granted the MK team more time, the game would've more likely been better. Same could be said for MKD. If more time was available, Bo' Rai Cho's F + 3/free throw glitch would've been eliminated. There are certain improvements in MKA, but there are still various problems. It's basicallly taking one step forward and two steps back.

I never said time will promise a great and improved game, but having more time to work on the games would help. One thing that needs to change is the focus on the aspects of the games, namely focusing more on good gameplay, story, etc. as opposed to unlockables, mini games, etc.

The fighting in the MK games has never been superb and has definitely been sub-par since MK4. MK1 was indeed supposed to be a quick project, but you have to understand that the popularity of that game wasn't due to the gameplay but to the blood, gore, and fatalities.

The main MK games are FIGHTING GAMES. Shouldn't the gameplay be good? You think it's good, because you have fun with it. Different people have different concepts of fun in terms of fighting games. Some people, like you, prefer to play the game casually. Others like to play the game at high-level thus competitive play. If the high-level gameplay in a fighting game involves repeatedly using only a small fraction of a character's moveset, there's definitely something wrong. MKDA's-MKA's high-level gameplay is exactly like that, plus, there are the tons of infinites, free throws, etc.

So I fail to see how gameplay is a minor part of a FIGHTING GAME.

I'm sure it's not hard to make a Shaolin Monks sequel if they just slap on slightly updated things from the previous game.

Less content is something catastrophical for me? Look who's exaggerating! I told you I care more about the gameplay, story, and characters. If the stories were pretty simple to plan out, why did MKSM's story end up a clusterfuck?

That glitch you mentioned isn't a big deal. Like I said, I'm talking about various gameplay glitches that do in fact break the game.

Whether you think I'm focusing way too much on the negatives of the games, I do have valid points.

Tell me something. How does releasing a new MK game every year help the series, especially since the last few installments have had sub-par gameplay?

Wow, just wow. And I do not mean World of Warcraft

QueenSindel, stop making an ass out of yourself.

We're going round in circles here. *groans*

Look, you said it yourself. MK1 became popular because of the blood and fatalities. Those fall in the "Concepts" category for game-developing.

Let me make a re-statement: They can have a century to make a game, but if the ideas suck, who the hell will care about it? I'd rather have a great game with great ideas, a great vibe, great characters, great moves, great surprises, and with glitches here and there, then to have a boring game without glitches and errors.

Don't get me wrong, gameplay matters, but it isn't the most beloved part of all games. And obviously, most people agree with me since MKD became an instant best-seller despite it's "broken" gameplay. And that also shows that there are more "casual" MK players out there than players like you, otherwise, reaction to MKD would have been hugely negative, and it wasn't!

Also, I never said gameplay is a minor part of fighting games. I said glitches are minor parts of the games. You think I implied that because you equate gameplay to glitches, and that's askew thinking. All I said is that glitches are minor, and gameplay isn't the most important. It's important, but not the most, especially in MK because (as you even said) it's the gore and fatalities that people love.

The success of MKD and MKSM speaks for itself. There should justfully be another hit out on the shelves this year. I refuse to believe that people like to buy crap, which is what you're making the latest installments sound like.

Yes, MKD sold very well. But notice how MKA failed pretty miserably. You know why? Because the people who bought MKD know how boring the gameplay actually is, and never cared to try the sequel.

Oh man, you ARE hopeless. I'm not expecting any game to be glitch free, but if the glitches in a game are numerous and greatly affect the gameplay in a bad way, there's a problem, regardless of your opinion.

I never equated gameplay with glitches. When I mentioned the glitches, I was referring more to the gameplay glitches, not the type of glitches you "had fun with". How is gameplay not one of the most important aspects of a FIGHTING GAME??

Yes, many who like MK like it for things like the blood and gore, and that's the main part of the success of MK1. However, you can't just keep using the same tactics over and over again. MK is a FIGHTING GAME series, so shouldn't the fighting be good? I'm talking about balanced, solid, logical gameplay. Why can't MK have this? And don't tell me that it does, but that is completely wrong.

Actually, yes, there are people who do like to buy crap, because some people are simply die-hard MK fans.

There are lots of casual gamers, but there are also lots of people who like to play fighting games competitively. Imagine if MKDA-MKA were to be played by those in places like Japan and South Korea. I assure you it would do horribly in those countries.

So why don't you explain to me how MKDA's and MKD's gameplay are fine?

If gameplay is what you play a game for, then why do you play MK? If it's gameplay is so crappy and awful, as you say, why do you bother with it then? Obviously, there's something else about MK that stitches you to it like tons of other fans. You say the gameplay is mediocre. So why do you waste time with a "mediocre" game?

Gameplay matters in all games, not just fighting games. Any moron could tell you that. If the gameplay truly sucks, then it won't be as fun. MK might not have the best gameplay, but it sure as hell is fun enough to let it pass.

MKA sold a million copies in a matter of 3 months. How is that failure?

And MK can't use it's blood and gore tactics over and over? Says who? Read some of the hopes people have posted for future MK. They want MORE BLOOD.

The only complaints I have for MK's gameplay is that it's too slow and sometimes stiff. Other than that, I see little or no problem with it. I don't come across gameplay glitches every minute or hour, like you, even though I still play the game seriously, not just casually all the time. You and the other guys here say they occur frequently and that there's tons of them. I guess I'll take your word for it, but I still don't think they should condemn future games because of flaws from the previous ones. That would be bullshit.

*Claps.....slowly*

Wow....


I don't want an actual "New" game every year. It's not a good idea, and an even worse investment. All my reasons have already been posted by another...

I play MK, because I like the story, characters, and ambience.

The gameplay isn't mediocre. It's worse than that. Yes, gameplay matters in all games. No shit.

Sure the games are fun, but they are fun if you only play at casual level. In high-level play, the game isn't fun, because a small fraction of each character's movesets are useful, plus there are lots of important gameplay elements that aren't present.

MKA is a failure in that there are still many of the same gameplay problems. The new gameplay additions (air kombat, wake ups, parries) aren't done well. There are a handful of characters who dominate the game and another handful of characters who are garbage. It would've been ok if the lower tier characters had what it takes to defeat the higher tier characters with enough skill and strategy. However, they simply don't. The main story is a silly race to the top of the pyramid, which provides no proper closure to anyone's story.

I never said that I come across gameplay glitches every minute or hour.

You play the game seriously? If you mean high-level gameplay, I find that extremely hard to believe as you didn't seem to have any clue as to what high-level gameplay was and what it involved. If you really do play the game at high-level, you'd know why Sindel's gameplay in MKD and MKA is poor.

There are indeed tons of gameplay glitches in MKD and MKA. Why don't you check the videos for yourself? I'm sure there are stickied threads in the MKA and MK Games: 2002-2006 sections. Also, in the latter section, there's a thread that explains the gameplay problems MK has. It was made by HDTran.

What I'm saying is that the MK team should have more time to work on each MK game and work hard on actually improving things like gameplay, worrying about the minor things (mini games, unlockables/secrets) later.

Why can't there be an MK game that appeals to many different kinds of players, both casual and competitive? Wouldn't that be an ideal MK to you? It could be simple, fun, easy to get into, which would satisfy casual gamers like you. But also, it could be deep, solid, have the essentials that would be appealing to competitive gamers so that there could be legit competition.

I think it would be fair if you stop mentioning MKA in a discussion like this. MKA was an intentional rip-off. If they had more time, the characters still would have had no new costumes, no new fighting styles, they would have shared the same moves, same air combo systems and fatalities, not to mention all the low-quality stuff like the new music and vs. screen which was just an excuse to make something cheap appear appealing to our nostalgia.

I wouldn't say they had a plentiful amount of time, but they sure as hell had a SUFFICIENT amount of time to make a "new" MK game, and Armageddon was hardly anything new due to the things I just mentioned.

They did not show any effort in making the characters novel and distinctly unique. From the start, they knew they were gonna make Armageddon a rip-off and it shows greatly. Time wouldn't have made a world of difference because the initial concepts and goals the MK team had for it were weak and lazy. Even the story was lazy and stories don't cost a penny to make because they are just notions, so clearly, that game wasn't developed seriously and earnestly.

Deception, although having the same problems you say Armageddon has, was a REAL MK game from which the MK team had real solid ideas and innovative goals for.

Anyway, I play the games seriously sometimes. Just because I didn't know what the term "high-level gameplay" meant doesn't mean I can't or have never played the games deeply and seriously.

And yes, an MK game that appeals to casual and competitive gamers would be ideal for me, I guess. But I still don't understand why making a game every year would be such a bad idea and ominous indication that the games will be horrible.

Tell me, how would time have truly saved Armageddon if the initial plans for it were all lazy and half-assed? It probably would have had less glitches, but then what? Still the same low-quality lazy material that lacks novelty and uniqueness.

And you say the extra features don't matter, but if it weren't for the extra features MKA brought, it wouldn't have been worth my money. That doesn't mean I think the extra features are more significant than the primary ones. They just made up for what the primary features lacked.

So tell me, what the hell do you think a new game should be? If gameplay doesn't matter, what is it? Costumes? Music? Story? Because you can look at the costumes without playing the game. You can download the music. You can read the bios online.

Sure, there are most likely some pretty solid and good ideas, but that's all on paper. When it comes to actually executing them well, that's when things go wrong, and MKDA and MKD are examples of this, thus why releasing an MK game each year would lead to less time on the development. And with MK's bad track record, that doesn't bode so well. Now, you may think that just because MKDA and MKD sold real well that it has had a good track record. But MK's gameplay does indeed need to improve. It's not as fine as you think it is.

I really doubt you've played MK at high-level, because you've been overly biased towards Sindel, thinking she's real cheap in MKD and stuff. If you actually knew better, you'd know that Sindel's gameplay is rather poor in MKD and MKA due to things like having a throw that gives her opponent a big advantage, not having many safe moves, not being particularly too powerful, etc. If you can actually tell me what Sindel's best moves are in MKD and MKA and why they are her best moves, with an actual understanding, then that'll be the day.

I don't know if more time would've "saved" the game, but it would have more likely made the game better. Think about how much more could be put in the game if they had more time. What initial plans are you talking about anyway?

I never said the extra features don't matter. I simply implied that they are less important than things like gameplay. You seem to have a knack of misunderstanding things like this.

How does releasing an MK game every year help the series? How does it lead to improvement when there are big problems that still don't get solved?

Sindel IS cheap in MKD and MKA. And since when have I bragged about Sindel being a good fighter and having good moves in those game? Her fighting sucks and her moves suck. Great MKD fatalities though. I've only bragged about the MK3 version of her which was awesome.

If they had more time, more things would have been put into the game? That's completely false. MKA's memory was stuffed to death. With all those characters and different modes, I doubt the game could have supported a significant more amount of memory. That explains Motaro losing his hind legs. And the graphics reduction in several parts of the game, like Shang Tsungs Soul Steal move, a ton of other moves, the low-quality krypt and vs screen, etc.

By "initial plans" I mean the direction Midway has decided to go for the project from the start of its development. MKA, their plan was to whip up a hit without putting much earnest effort into it nor adding new and character-unique material to it.

I don't know if releasing a game every year will "help" the series, but it will definitely satisfy fan cravings for it. And it will only lead to improvement if the developers put earnest efforts in making it better and giving the players new material. For example, MKD was better than MKDA. Maybe not by a whole bunch, but it was still better gameplay-wise. The gameplay felt smoother and easier to control with more features, despite it's glitches or whatever.

And Mime, looking at something isn't the same as experiencing it. If gameplay were truly as bad as both of you are saying, I'm sure people wouldn't have any fun with MK. But like I said, despite its flaws, its still fun enough to be enjoyable and likable (to most people).
And I'd rather experience the ideas by playing the game than to stare at them from the internet. That'd be a boring way to be marveled by the characters I love, etc.

I'm with Subbie here, and I see no need for a MK game to be released every year. As a fan of the series since I was 10, I can wait for something, and I would prefer a deeper gameplay than release after release. Maybe I'm idealistic in that I view gaming as an artform, and Mortal Kombat, with its built-in mythology, to me, has always had the potential to stand alone in its field, holds a completely different mystique than any other fighting game I can think of (excepting possibly Mace back in the day, which, as much as I liked it, doesn't come close). Instead of striving for repetition and product-saturation, I'm glad the release of the next MK is a way off, and I hope the time is well spent in making a fluid, indulgent gameplay of balance. After this is acheived, I hope the story is well-integrated, chilling, and desperate.