If you are fixing your mistakes thats cool. But Capcom in makin Street Fighter is very unoriginal and uncreative. It.s one thing to correct your mistakes but do you really need 2,3, or 4 'versions' of the same game. If your ganna fix your mistakes then fix them. Street Fighter as whole in general there is like 20 versions of Street Fighter out there. Yes there will always be something wrong with an MK game and as a fan I'm not gonna nit pick what they are but instead I'm gonna enjoy the game. As for Midway maybe they realize their mistakes but they are not gonna dwell on trying to fix up that one 'tournament' and have 5 of the same game out there.

Truth, if you're talking about pseudo sequels only (like UMK3 and MKT) than yeah, MK3 was the only game to go through this sort of alteration process. But if you're talking about releasing different versions in the arcade, then you'd be wrong. I played 3 different versions MK2 in the arcade before the "final" version was released on home systems. Same goes for MK4. I live in Chicago, and back then, an arcade with the latest revision of MK was never hard to find. Heck, I remember when Noob was on the character select screen and Reiko wasn't. Anyways, reminiscing aside, the arcade versions in the MK series did see tweaking and tinkering and what not in the form of multiple versions. Characters added, moves added, animations, tightening of combos, elimination of infinites etc.

As for your proof about every MK game after MK:DA getting worse? Sadly, I'd have to agree there. I'm a diehard MK fan and I have been one for over half of my life, but I'm also a realist.

I play VF5 and DOA4 on my 360 and I just sit there and wonder if the MK series can ever catch up. Most 3D fighting game series have had the same core fighting systems for over a decade, they just keep adding to it, refining it, removing the lesser parts (VF3 anyone?) and increasing the options in and out of the main gameplay.

MK started as a 2D fighter, so it had growing pains right from the start. Where the VF's, SC's and Tekkens of the world began as 3D fighters, MK was basically forced to shoehorn it's 2D gameplay, complete with projectiles, teleporting and one basic move set fits all approach into a 3D world where most games had fighters with unique styles, throws, and methods of attack based on speed, size, momentum etc. They utilize a ground game, frames of animation are of vital importance, new stances bring new methods of movement and attacks. The list goes on and on.

The 3D fighters that survived the fighting game era of the 90's take few risks because they began with a good formula and they've been making it better ever since. MK DA had some good ideas in theory, but in the end, it was still a 2D era game being forced into a 3D game.

All characters had essentially the same regular moves, and the dial a combo method (very 90's Killer Instinct/MK3) that turns off most novice players became the main method of attack. The animations were clunky where they needed to be fluid, there was no parrying system, no throws (much less multipart throws), and overall, every character was still only separated by their special moves. This was perfectly illustrated by the fact that characters in MK:D actually HAD full move sets from DIFFERENT MK:DA characters!

So now MK is starting over again. Do I think that they can succeed? Absolutely. MK2 is, to me, one of the best fighting games of all time in terms of sheer fun factor. I just had a tournament with one of my buddies of the summer when I was on vacation, and it brought back nothing but fond memories. MK2 built on the first MK game, making it better in every possible way. You might disagree with me, but VF1 was not a very good game, even for it's time. but VF2 was light years ahead of it's predecessor. Same goes for Soul Calibur versus it's prequel Soul Blade, Tekken 2 versus Tekken and DOA2 versus DOA. The comparisons between the first and second games in all of those series is almost laughable.

With that said, I'm hoping for an MK game that puts in the groundwork for the next MK game to be bigger and better in every way possible. I want an Mk game with a good, solid fighting system. MK:DA had potential, but rather than improving on the fighting mechanics, they spent all of their time on adding characters, deathtraps and that horrific konquest mode.

If MK can avoid it's past mistakes, and find a way to create a fully realized 3D fighting engine akin to the current leaders in the genre, while somehow maintaining the symbols of the past (fun special moves like projectiles, teleports etc), then the MK team could have the makings of not only something really special for MK fans, but something that they can build on in upcoming installments. After a few games, where refinements are made to the fighting system, new ideas are properly introduced without unbalancing, breaking or in any way hurting this system, then yeah, MK will be back at the top of the heap.

But the MK team has to do it's homework. They can't simply rely on past name recognition or startling "innovations" (ie gimmicks) and modes that don't even involve fighting (I totally agree with you on that part Truth). They have to realize that they're bringing something up from scratch on new next gen technology and that it's the fighting that fans care about the most. Get that right and build on that in the future and the rest will follow.