A new poll has been created. The question is:
What is your favorite MK game, post-MK Trilogy? Feel free to place to your vote. It'll be up for 10 days. (Note: This poll does not include
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, which is strangely considered MK8, even though it really isn't.)
It's especially refreshing to me since, in my opinion, a lot of characters created after the MK3 era (usually with the exception of Quan Chi alone) are neglected/underrated/overlooked, but thankfully Kenshi has been perhaps the sole MK5 debut who's endured ever since.
I'll give you my take on that.
After
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (which is a very cool game featuring all characters since MK1) was made, they knew a change had to be made. Unfortunately, they stopped using real-life people to portray the characters.
MK4 -- I give them props for trying their hand at 3-D, and introduced the use of weapons, and some cool characters from
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, such as
Quan Chi,
Shinnok, and
Fujin. Those were very cool characters.
Kai was alright, too. My only problem with Shinnok was that he was a Shang Tsung knock-off who mimics the moves of other characters without morphing into them. He should've had his own moves.
However, some other characters just didn't do it for me.
Reiko was a character who just tried to mimic Shao Kahn and was looked at as a joke.
Tanya (at the time) wasn't anything special -- her ending was what made her interesting.
And
Jarek was a cheap knock-off of Kano (the only one of the original 7 from MK1 who wasn't at MK4). They might as well just have Kano there instead of Jarek stealing all of Kano's moves. Jarek didn't get his own moves until Armageddon.
So yeah, some characters were a hit or miss.
MK5 -- I liked the storyline of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi joining forces (as the Deadly Alliance) to kill off their two biggest threats in Shao Kahn and Liu Kang. Those two sorcerers are a dangerous duo to say the least. I also like that they were using real-world fighting styles into the game. Once again, they introduced characters that were a hit or miss.
Kenshi was definitely a hit. What's not cool about a blind swordsman who can control an ancestral sword (Sento) containing the spirits of warrior kings?
Frost was a hit, too. A female Sub-Zero with slightly different moves was a cool idea.
Bo' Rai Cho was a hit as well, as seeing a plus-size mentor was a great concept. But most characters introduced were a miss.
Mavado in my opinion was lame, and many felt the same way about
Hsu Hao.
Nitara was MK's vampire character, but it just lacked that "special something."
Drahmin was an original concept, but I doubt he would have a lasting appeal.
Blaze (at the time) was nothing special, either.
Li Mei wasn't anything special, but I gave MK props for introducing more female fighters who weren't dressed in next-to-nothing like the Edenian girls. And, don't even get me started on
Mokap...
MK6 - What I liked about Deception was the Konquest side-game featuring
Skujinko where you traveled to new worlds like Seido (the Realm of Order) and Chaosrealm (obviously, the realm of Chaos). Chess Kombat wasn't so bad, either. However, the only new characters I liked from that game were Shujinko (only because of Konquest mode),
Kira and to a lesser extent,
Ashrah. All of those other characters like
Hotaru,
Dairou,
Kobra,
Darrius, and
Havik were uninteresting (although some people like Havik). This is why most of those characters didn't get revived.
MK7 - Armageddon to me was basically the next version of MK Trilogy, featuring all of the characters from previous games, but so many of them were losers. While I liked the stages and the Kreate-A-Fighter option (something I wished they had done in previous games), I hated the button-pressing fatalities. It was a mess. Motor Kombat was a decent racing game, though.
MK9 - I loved this game. The retelling of MK1, MK2, and MK3 reintroduced so many klassic stages and characters, all with their signature moves, the new X-Ray moves, and basically taking it back to what made the series so popular. My only complaint was that Sonya was too over-sexualized. It makes sense for the Edenian girls to be practically naked, as that's always been their style, but it didn't make sense for Sonya to wear a tiny vest and no bra. Still, it was a great game. New characters
Cyber Sub-Zero and
Skarlet were cool additions. And even though most people didn't like MK having guest characters, I thought
Freddy Krueger was a nice addition. (I couldn't play as
Kratos because I have the X360 version.)
MKX - I like this game as well, for how dark and gritty it is, and how much more gruesome the fatalities are. Plus, the veterans are older now, and their sons or daughters are introduced. I won't go into the new characters on this one, but most of them are welcome additions in general. I particularly like
Tremor and
Cassie Cage. I think there are far too many guest characters in MKX though.
When Netherealm begins working on their next MK game, I hope they will answer the one question we've all been wondering... Who is the mysterious
Shimmering Woman from Jade's MK9 ending?
