What exactly did Mortal Kombat did for any Fighting game?

It's 2014 and the only thing to happen since 1992 was Killer Instinct. Inspiring that game to have Finishing Moves. But can we really use that when the game was published by Midway?

I personally see MKX as a slightly updated MK9. And look what happen there with MK9....nothing. Nothing inspired any company to make a new fighting game resembling MK and have it sell.

To my knowledge, the latest "new" Fighting game IP was SkullGirls and that was because the creators enjoyed Marvel vs Capcom 2 that god damn much and wanted to correct what MvC2 did wrong.

No.

But it'll sell like hot cakes and keep our series afloat. Which I'll take any day.

Fighting Games just aren't a dominating genre anymore, OUTSIDE of the big franchises of course(MK, SF, Tekken, SC, DOA ect)

I honestly think it will but I think Killer Instinct would have a better influence on future fighting games because of the counter system, counter breaker, and ability to actually breakdown the fundamentals of the game with their dojo mode.

I think the Variation system could be a game changer if it works. This is really an ambitious idea that will drastically change matchups.

Then of course there's that super secret online mode we know nothing about. We have heard practically nothing about it except it's never been done in any other fighting game before.

And finally, the story mode. MK is a trailblazer in this aspect, as no other fighting game ever made a successful cinematic story mode. SCV tried and failed miserably. I think MKX will only refine what they've learned from MK9 and Injustice and we'll see a great story mode. I wouldn't be surprised if more fighters tried to replicate what NRS has done.

P.S I forgot to mention the content. No other fighting game has nearly the amount of content MK offers. MK has really started pushing what a fighting game is and what it can be. So just because they're aren't MK copycats or 5 new fighting games announced directly after MKX's release doesn't mean MK can't have an impact on fighting games today.

The variation system will be seen as nothing but a gimmick and will be MK's equivalent to SF's 2 ultra combos, ie a counter-picking mess.

MK's story mode has been going since MKvsDC and it hasn't made any impact, other than people saying that it's cool, that's all.

And the great amount of content has also been going in the series for years, with the exception of MKvsDC, as well as in many other fighting games, MK isn't the only content rich fighting game series.

MKX will not be a game changer, and will not make any impact, but it will be successful, just like most of MK games.

Gimmick or not, it could very well change MK forever if it is successful. It's a wait and see.

The story mode has already been attempted by Soul Calibur 5. And we all know how that worked out. If someone already tried to do what NRS did, I'd say it made some kind of impact. You have to realize that until NRS did it, no one thought a fully cinematic story mode could work in a fighting game. It is kind of a big deal, just not to the fighting game community.

Sure MK has been ripe with content for quite some time. But NRS has shown just how much content they can fit into a fighting game with the Challenge Tower and Star Labs. No other fighting game has that kind of replay value. At best you get trials, which are fine but can't really compare to what NRS does.

I'm not saying MKX will be a game changer. I'm just saying it COULD make an impact.

The problem is, something doesn't change fighting games as a genre if none of the other games start doing it.
Either way, MKX isn't the beginning of a new era, it's a continuation of the current one. "Eras" are marked by radical differences, with lulls of activity in between. We're still in the era Street Fighter 4 started. The one before that was started by VF/Tekken, and the one before that was started by SF2.

I hope it won't be the case.
I don't want fighting games becoming even more complicated than they already are.

This is pretty much what I'm thinking. While Street Fighter 2 was really the beginning of the modern fighting game, it was the original MK that introduced fatalities to the masses and was responsible for the creation of the rating system. Those two games were incredibly influential and paved the way for everything that came afterwards, so I don't think their importance in the genre can really be topped.

From what I've seen so far in MKX, it looks like it's going to be MK9 on steroids...very good steroids! While I don't think it's going to blaze any new trails, there's a good chance the final product will influence other fighting games to up their game (pun intended), to stay relevant. Similar to what "The Dark Knight" did for comic book movies.

^ well I guess it's different strokes for different folks but I honestly hope the variation system can go deeper than just counter picking each other.

They took elements from Injustice and put them into MKX, so could the variation system work in, Injustice 2?

What influence will MKX have on other fighting games if they're not doing anything revolutionary this time around, like SF2 or VF/T did?