Vlog 5-3-11 – Mortal Kombat

Spoony | May 4 2011 | more | 
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Was it kool or a piece of krap? A sick Spoony rants for a while.

Edit: Looking back on BlazBlue, I realize that the special moves are mapped to the right thumbstick, not the d-pad. It’s mostly for beginners. The moves ARE ALSO ACTIVATED by special gestures, but– and this is the important part– VIRTUALLY ALL OF THESE MOVES are performed with a quarter-circle forward, or quarter-circle backward. It is far, far easier and much less of a hassle.

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  • Anonymous

    its not playing, says something about it being unavailable?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PGJHOE2GMIKPQCV2EGLQVQWKTM Angel

    Link doesn’t work spoony :S

  • http://www.facebook.com/lachdupreez Lachlan du Preez

    So it’s not just me.

  • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

    Stand by. Not sure why the video isn’t working. It seemed to upload fine.

  • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

    Stand by. Not sure why the video isn’t working. It seemed to upload fine.

  • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

    Stand by. Not sure why the video isn’t working. It seemed to upload fine.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Juha-Keranen/1004118273 Juha Keränen

    YES! VLOGS! F YEAH!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Juha-Keranen/1004118273 Juha Keränen

    YES! VLOGS! F YEAH!

  • http://www.facebook.com/imademonindisguise Justin Garcia

    I was really impressed with the story mode in this game and like you said i wasnt expecting much especially after Armageddon. The game is very glitchy and does have poor hit detection but honestly i think thats the charm because well most MK games have similar problems. It had a great character list and i think it was an overall good game.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mira-Loihteela/100000639424769 Mira Loihteela

    Can’t wait! Hope you get it working soon.

  • http://www.facebook.com/imademonindisguise Justin Garcia

    Although i agree with the teleport moves those are bastard moves ermac and noob saibot to me are the biggest offenders

  • http://www.facebook.com/imademonindisguise Justin Garcia

    Although i agree with the teleport moves those are bastard moves ermac and noob saibot to me are the biggest offenders

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=622528744 Christian LeChuck Ström

    Go Spoons! *hums the theme to Mortal Kombat*

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=622528744 Christian LeChuck Ström

    Go Spoons! *hums the theme to Mortal Kombat*

  • http://twitter.com/lopsidedmammal Richey Hackett

    I’ve been checking every day to see when a new Spoony vid would be up and now it finally is, I can’t watch the damn thing! Curse you, Cthulu!!!

    Hope you’ll be feeling fit and well as soon as possible Spoony. Take it easy x

  • http://twitter.com/lopsidedmammal Richey Hackett

    I’ve been checking every day to see when a new Spoony vid would be up and now it finally is, I can’t watch the damn thing! Curse you, Cthulu!!!

    Hope you’ll be feeling fit and well as soon as possible Spoony. Take it easy x

  • http://twitter.com/lopsidedmammal Richey Hackett

    I’ve been checking every day to see when a new Spoony vid would be up and now it finally is, I can’t watch the damn thing! Curse you, Cthulu!!!

    Hope you’ll be feeling fit and well as soon as possible Spoony. Take it easy x

  • Anonymous

    I’m 10 minutes in, and I had to stop my viewing right now to agree with Spoony about the teleport moves, especially the vertical ones.

    Now I love Mortal Kombat, always been a fan, and I HEAVILY love this new game (and I am not going to give spoony ANY shit for not liking something I love, not when I’ve defended him, and others, so often when others do just that), but those goddamn teleport moves irritate me SO badly. Noob Saibot’s tele-slam, and Quan Chi’s tele-stomp especially. In fact, I’m gonna hit play and see if Spoony mentions Quan Chi (or even Mileena, she’s bad too with that damn kick) as well…

    Yup, he mentioned Mileena 2 seconds after I hit play! And holy crap, I forgot about Sektor’s uppercut…but anyway, yeah, the tele-moves need to be toned down *as they’re starting*. If you block them, almost all the time, they are set up to be HEAVILY punished…IF you block them. Sektor’s is REALLY bad, because he has no real penalty vulnerability if you block his uppercut unless you’re inhumanly fast.

    The only one I think that should be this tel-annoying is Smoke, and I realized this as I got my ass HANDED to me by the AI opponent playing as Smoke, but his bit in this game is, as his name implies, to disorient and confuse the opponent. That’s why his tele-punch flips him ULTRA-FAST one direction, and then another, and that’s why he has that quick-evade smoke-shift, he has the projectile that moves *you*, he’s being all ninja-sneaky smokey, it makes sense. But Quan Chi, Noob Saibot, Sektor and Mileena REALLY need to be toned down (Scorpion’s not so bad I noticed, he has a kind of “hint” where he leans a bit before he teleports, same with Ermac flashing green for a moment, which really has that punch-out feel).

    So that’s my teleport rant, coming from a HUGE, lifetime fan of the series. Been crazy over MK ever since it first came out when I was in the 3rd grade…and probably had no business playing something that violent, but yeah, you need super-human reflexes to dodge or even block a lot of those moves. I’m sure I’ll have more to say later…god, it’s times like this I wish I could just get in front of a camera and do what these guys are doing, because I can seriously talk about Mortal Kombat all day, the good and the bad.

  • Anonymous

    I’m 10 minutes in, and I had to stop my viewing right now to agree with Spoony about the teleport moves, especially the vertical ones.

    Now I love Mortal Kombat, always been a fan, and I HEAVILY love this new game (and I am not going to give spoony ANY shit for not liking something I love, not when I’ve defended him, and others, so often when others do just that), but those goddamn teleport moves irritate me SO badly. Noob Saibot’s tele-slam, and Quan Chi’s tele-stomp especially. In fact, I’m gonna hit play and see if Spoony mentions Quan Chi (or even Mileena, she’s bad too with that damn kick) as well…

    Yup, he mentioned Mileena 2 seconds after I hit play! And holy crap, I forgot about Sektor’s uppercut…but anyway, yeah, the tele-moves need to be toned down *as they’re starting*. If you block them, almost all the time, they are set up to be HEAVILY punished…IF you block them. Sektor’s is REALLY bad, because he has no real penalty vulnerability if you block his uppercut unless you’re inhumanly fast.

    The only one I think that should be this tel-annoying is Smoke, and I realized this as I got my ass HANDED to me by the AI opponent playing as Smoke, but his bit in this game is, as his name implies, to disorient and confuse the opponent. That’s why his tele-punch flips him ULTRA-FAST one direction, and then another, and that’s why he has that quick-evade smoke-shift, he has the projectile that moves *you*, he’s being all ninja-sneaky smokey, it makes sense. But Quan Chi, Noob Saibot, Sektor and Mileena REALLY need to be toned down (Scorpion’s not so bad I noticed, he has a kind of “hint” where he leans a bit before he teleports, same with Ermac flashing green for a moment, which really has that punch-out feel).

    So that’s my teleport rant, coming from a HUGE, lifetime fan of the series. Been crazy over MK ever since it first came out when I was in the 3rd grade…and probably had no business playing something that violent, but yeah, you need super-human reflexes to dodge or even block a lot of those moves. I’m sure I’ll have more to say later…god, it’s times like this I wish I could just get in front of a camera and do what these guys are doing, because I can seriously talk about Mortal Kombat all day, the good and the bad.

  • Anonymous

    I’m 10 minutes in, and I had to stop my viewing right now to agree with Spoony about the teleport moves, especially the vertical ones.

    Now I love Mortal Kombat, always been a fan, and I HEAVILY love this new game (and I am not going to give spoony ANY shit for not liking something I love, not when I’ve defended him, and others, so often when others do just that), but those goddamn teleport moves irritate me SO badly. Noob Saibot’s tele-slam, and Quan Chi’s tele-stomp especially. In fact, I’m gonna hit play and see if Spoony mentions Quan Chi (or even Mileena, she’s bad too with that damn kick) as well…

    Yup, he mentioned Mileena 2 seconds after I hit play! And holy crap, I forgot about Sektor’s uppercut…but anyway, yeah, the tele-moves need to be toned down *as they’re starting*. If you block them, almost all the time, they are set up to be HEAVILY punished…IF you block them. Sektor’s is REALLY bad, because he has no real penalty vulnerability if you block his uppercut unless you’re inhumanly fast.

    The only one I think that should be this tel-annoying is Smoke, and I realized this as I got my ass HANDED to me by the AI opponent playing as Smoke, but his bit in this game is, as his name implies, to disorient and confuse the opponent. That’s why his tele-punch flips him ULTRA-FAST one direction, and then another, and that’s why he has that quick-evade smoke-shift, he has the projectile that moves *you*, he’s being all ninja-sneaky smokey, it makes sense. But Quan Chi, Noob Saibot, Sektor and Mileena REALLY need to be toned down (Scorpion’s not so bad I noticed, he has a kind of “hint” where he leans a bit before he teleports, same with Ermac flashing green for a moment, which really has that punch-out feel).

    So that’s my teleport rant, coming from a HUGE, lifetime fan of the series. Been crazy over MK ever since it first came out when I was in the 3rd grade…and probably had no business playing something that violent, but yeah, you need super-human reflexes to dodge or even block a lot of those moves. I’m sure I’ll have more to say later…god, it’s times like this I wish I could just get in front of a camera and do what these guys are doing, because I can seriously talk about Mortal Kombat all day, the good and the bad.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jo-Kim-Han/183403473 Jo Kim Han

    There’s a problem with the upload and he deleted the file and reuploading it. It should be back in 45 minutes according to Spoony.

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, I felt kind of silly refreshing the page after my post finding there were some teffical dichniculties (…wait)

      Thankfully it gave me time to watch Angry Joe’s review, so this is downtime well spent, heh!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EN7GHHRWQW53DYKEABGOACSAZU JayDeth

    I saw the vid just fine. >.>

    Spoony, I didn’t have nearly as much control problems as you did and I have a pretty shit controller. Though the timing for Kombos is REALLY strict. Didn’t have any trouble with Fatalities after I learned the secret to ones that require an up input.

    You’re gonna run into the skill level problem with any fighting game aside from Smash Bros.

    And lol at you using the noob easy specials on BlazBlu. Come play some Brawl with me. :D

    I don’t remember any problems like that with grabs, though once I swear I mashed RB as hard as I could and my guy didn’t even attempt a grab. Might just be the controller.

    I agree the fatality concept stick figures was very bottom of the barrel for extra content.

    X-rays… Yeah, even a couple seconds of cutscene in the middle of a fight is too long, but it’s not any worse than those 3 bar supers you see in MvC3.

    People competing in a game taking it seriously? Noooooo… Say it isn’t so Spoony?

    I could totally play Smash for 8 hours. It IS a party game.

    And the reason for the long list of errata for competitive play… is because it’s a party game.

    But yeah man, if you think that’s bad, you should head to a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. Or any kind of tournament that doesn’t require physical excursion beyond the use of hands for that matter. It’s not special for Smash players, trust me. And I would like to point out that the better players are usually the younger ones.

    One really great Halo series player is wicked young. Here’s a vid of him at a Halo 1 tourny… at the age of 5…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYeF5-cMfBY

  • http://profiles.google.com/kiavik Marco Cifarelli

    Dude, I mean really? It’s obvious that the xbox controller is not suited for fighting games. It wasn’t suited for street fighter 4, nor for blazblue, nor for MvC3. It’s not the game’s fault if the digital pad of the xbox is crap…

    • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

      Actually, I use a fighting stick for Street Fighter 4. Would be nice if Mortal Kombat had a convenient key-mapping already installed for that. Instead I would have had to spend ten minutes map out every key myself. And screw that.

      • http://twitter.com/DickSocrates Dick Socrates

        10 minutes? 2 minutes max, if you’re especially dumb. At least come out with some criticisms that go beyond ‘I can’t be bothered to find out’. Getting frustrated so quickly is silly. I do it all the time too, but I am aware that it’s my problem and don’t blame the game or the book or the movie. Everyone apart from you loves the game and no one else is getting frustrated. The problem is you.

    • Anonymous

      I threw SO many immature tantrums because of the damn 360 controller and this game.

      In fact, anyone reading this, take note: 360 controller, IGNORE the stick, stay with the D-Pad, and even that is going to slip on you. It’s not nearly as bad as Spoony says, maybe he was just frantic with the controls, I dunno, but the D-Pad for the most part works everything nicely, I never screw up the fatalities, even if I’m doing it for the first time….unless they have “Up” in there, and I have to block to stand still, then I may slip up, but that’s MY fault.

      The most common problem with me is I’ll want to move to the left or right, but will often accidentally jump, and that’s bad. So yeah, that 360 controller is a WHORE, and it is a whore that HATES whoever is fingering it.

      It’s not the game’s fault at all, but logic loses all meaning when you get frustrated and throw a fit. It’s especially bad when you’re trying to beat 3 goros or 3 shao kahns on 1 life bar…

  • http://profiles.google.com/kiavik Marco Cifarelli

    Dude, I mean really? It’s obvious that the xbox controller is not suited for fighting games. It wasn’t suited for street fighter 4, nor for blazblue, nor for MvC3. It’s not the game’s fault if the digital pad of the xbox is crap…

  • http://www.facebook.com/ScottTheJournalist Scott Duncan

    i agree with spoony on the whole blazblue special system because i have a friend who played that game all the time and i played like 10 minutes of it and was able to beat him alot by know how and when to use his specials

  • Anonymous

    How people treat Smash Bros is really weird. I tried the demo of MK and I just didn’t like the shiny 3d art style…

  • Anonymous

    It’s like you said that it’s personal preference. Thing is, much of what you’re complaining about is about mechanics that have existence since the old school Mortal Kombat games. Everyone’s special moves were executed differently. Going to the arcade or playing them at home on consoles, I always knew that I had to remember that Scorpion’s spear is back back low punch, and Sub Zero’s freeze is down back low kick or something. My parents were cheap and I had to get by on an NES until the N64. Armed with the knowledge of a few key moves, however, I stood a fighting chance against my rich friend who’s had an SNES and a Genesis, and has had MKII for months already. My most common form of attack after Scorpion’s spear was an uppercut.

    It was the same for this game until I got more familiar with his combos. Really, this game is even more accessible to people who don’t memorize due to the X-rays. You start getting your ass kicked, and your X-ray fills up so you can unleash it and level the playing field a little bit.

    Anyway, I get your rant that it doesn’t play the same as other fighters where everyone has the same general movesets. Mortal Kombat was always like this, however. Given how this game is supposed to take it back to its roots, you really can’t fault it for that. Either you just weren’t into MK to begin with, or time has just eroded the way you play MK, since it’s been so long.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dan.bitzer Dan Bitzer

    Just throwing this out there, since you do like the strategy sort of games, where you really have to think things through and since we all know are a fan of the X-com games, I’d suggest Silent Storm. I’m sure you’ve maybe heard about it, but just throwing that out there.

    Everyone has their opinions and little gripes. I am still very much interested in MK, but the problem for me is, I’d rather buy than rent. So I might save my money for June, when Infamous 2, Duke Nukem Forever and FEAR 3 comes out.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dan.bitzer Dan Bitzer

    Just throwing this out there, since you do like the strategy sort of games, where you really have to think things through and since we all know are a fan of the X-com games, I’d suggest Silent Storm. I’m sure you’ve maybe heard about it, but just throwing that out there.

    Everyone has their opinions and little gripes. I am still very much interested in MK, but the problem for me is, I’d rather buy than rent. So I might save my money for June, when Infamous 2, Duke Nukem Forever and FEAR 3 comes out.

  • http://www.facebook.com/phoelscher1 Patrick Hoelscher

    PIKAAAAA-CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

    :DDDD

    u really shudnta fucken said enifen

    :P

  • http://www.facebook.com/phoelscher1 Patrick Hoelscher

    PIKAAAAA-CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

    :DDDD

    u really shudnta fucken said enifen

    :P

  • http://profiles.google.com/theraggedyman Chris Schultz

    As much I love Super Smash Bros., you’re kinda right in the vein that it’s kinda silly for massive tournaments (or those taken dead seriously anyway) to be based around it.

    But to your statement “Fox does the Falcon Punch”. I must say shame on you.

    • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

      Wow. Yeah. I’m very tired and sick.

      But I am deeply shamed to make such an error. I think my mind is turning to mush.

      • http://twitter.com/SolidGoldCEO SolidGoldCEO

        Don’t worry about it you’ve made loads of mistakes on Wrestle Wrestle and we still enjoy those :p

      • http://twitter.com/SolidGoldCEO SolidGoldCEO

        Don’t worry about it you’ve made loads of mistakes on Wrestle Wrestle and we still enjoy those :p

    • http://spoonyexperiment.com The Spoony One

      Wow. Yeah. I’m very tired and sick.

      But I am deeply shamed to make such an error. I think my mind is turning to mush.

  • http://profiles.google.com/poki33 Łukasz Okupski

    Pretty much every single projectile and teleport can simply be blocked. A blocked teleport leaves the attacker very open. I think you may have been underutilizing the block.
    Netcode problems are a valid point. They’re working on a patch for that, but it not working out of the box is a valid complaint.

    After that most of your complaints boil down to “Man, the Xbox controller sucks!” and not a lot is any fault of the actual game :/
    Personally IDK how you can play a fighting game on the thumb stick at all. I have to play every fighting game on a D-pad.
    Anyway, I can see why you’d have a problem with every character having a completely different moveset with little to no overlap. I disagree however with your opinion on the Fatality combinations. If you just want to finish the guy off, do an upercut or something. Fatalities are just show. It’s less impressive to do a fatality then it was back in the day, but it’s still a sign of prestige, especially if you do it without looking at the command list (on online).

    Pretty sure that you don’t have to unlock fatalities. You can do them whenever, you just unlock the combination visibility in the pause menu.
    I agree that X-rays take you out of the game for too long. X-rays itself are fine, there’s gameplay around them, but hitting them means that both of you get to do nothing for 5-10 seconds…

    Closing note: I also totally don’t get the competitive SSB scene, at all. And my favorite fighting game is Tekken and Touhou Hisoutensoku.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Cory-Williams/100000927554729 Cory Williams

    Spoony you are absolutely right about super smash bros. ive never played brawl, but from what i hear its broken, but i have played the first two. and they are awesome party games, i used to love playing them. but my friend has completely ruined it for me cus he actually goes to smash tournaments and he takes the game so seriously. i used to love to go party with my friends and play smash, but its gotten to the point that i’d rather play call of duty or halo, and i hate those with a passion.

    i dont even bother with fighting games anymore since all my nerd friends either take them so serious, or absolutely hate them, but i might actually invest some time in mortal kombat now, especially since you emphasized the move memorization bull. i used to love playing fighting games without learning the moves, and i used to wipe the stage with ppl using basic moves in strategic ways. it used to be, with a bit of experimentation, i could whoop a “better” player with just a bit of strategy. but that was yrs ago (the last fighting game i played was soul caliber 2)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Cory-Williams/100000927554729 Cory Williams

    Spoony you are absolutely right about super smash bros. ive never played brawl, but from what i hear its broken, but i have played the first two. and they are awesome party games, i used to love playing them. but my friend has completely ruined it for me cus he actually goes to smash tournaments and he takes the game so seriously. i used to love to go party with my friends and play smash, but its gotten to the point that i’d rather play call of duty or halo, and i hate those with a passion.

    i dont even bother with fighting games anymore since all my nerd friends either take them so serious, or absolutely hate them, but i might actually invest some time in mortal kombat now, especially since you emphasized the move memorization bull. i used to love playing fighting games without learning the moves, and i used to wipe the stage with ppl using basic moves in strategic ways. it used to be, with a bit of experimentation, i could whoop a “better” player with just a bit of strategy. but that was yrs ago (the last fighting game i played was soul caliber 2)

  • Anonymous

    Okay, finally saw the rest.

    Growing up with MK, being familiar with it throughout my life, I naturally slipped by a lot of the problems Spoony points out, and they are VALID issues, especially with picking up the game for the first time. One of the reasons I loved MK so much as a child was *because* it broke away from the common Street Fighter cliche movements. Yeah, they’re convenient, but MK gave me new things. Trying new things has always been a MK strength.

    I will never forget that day in the early 90′s when I first played Mortal Kombat 1. I was Scorpion, I knew NONE of the moves because I was too programmed into Street Fighter Mentality, and by stroke of luck, or perhaps fate, I hit “Back, Back, Low Punch”, and my gaming life was changed forever. “GET OVER HERE!” The level of attitude and aggression alone, which I honestly believe cannot be found in street fighter *today*, immortalized my loyalty as a MK fan, and that’s why I have always stuck by them and why I have the patience and commitment to learn and familiarize myself with MK’s style of play (but I still love oldschool SF, and that includes 4!)

    That being said, if you aren’t like that, then you are FUCKED when it comes to playing this game early on, and I *applaud* Spoony for pointing out something like that, because it is so damn true. And it’s funny, Spoony even brought up things that I’ve been thinking to myself ever since Deadly Alliance, like having to look up the pause-menu list of moves & combos. And you know what, I still do that TODAY! I am a naturally patient person, so it doesn’t bother me, but if I had someone sitting next to me playing, I would hate myself if I had to make them wait (but I sure as Hell wouldn’t fuck up the Fatality!)

    I love this game like crazy, but I will not deny that it’s not for everyone. Kind of like how I HATE Marvel Vs. Capcom games; they’re not “bad” at all, I just personally HATE them. And I used to love them, but one day while playing MvC2, it hit me. The whole damn game is about who can throw the biggest, flashiest, most over-the-top, seizure-inducing lightshow at your opponent the most often. With those heavy-memorized MK combos, *I’M* at least the one doing the work, and they’re not these huge moves taking up the entire screen (literally!). And when I saw that MVC3 was the same, which I dreaded, I didn’t give a fuck about it. But that’s just *me*. It’s MY loss. And Mortal Kombat is my gain.

    I will also say that I LOATHE Smash Brothers. To me, it is a sissy baby game where sissy baby characters peckerslap each other and pretend play-fight. When Solid Snake breaks Pikachu’s neck and shoots Princess Peach in the fucking head, then maybe I’ll take it seriously, but until then, I have my Mortal Kombat and even old school Street Fighters. At least Stryker has the balls to shoot someone in the head (and for the record, Stryker’s X-Ray is one I will NEVER get bored with! I look forward the sound of the night stick cracking their jaw every time! And props to Angry Joe for showing it in his review!)

    So there’s the rest of my obscenely long MK rant, and THIS is me cutting it off short. I really can go on and on about this game, but I’m just a schmuck at a keyboard. Spoony’s the star here, and I do NOT disagree with his points against the game. I just find ways to work around the problems. This review is a beautiful contrast to Joe’s, and it’s good to get those honest differences in perspectives.

  • Anonymous

    Okay, finally saw the rest.

    Growing up with MK, being familiar with it throughout my life, I naturally slipped by a lot of the problems Spoony points out, and they are VALID issues, especially with picking up the game for the first time. One of the reasons I loved MK so much as a child was *because* it broke away from the common Street Fighter cliche movements. Yeah, they’re convenient, but MK gave me new things. Trying new things has always been a MK strength.

    I will never forget that day in the early 90′s when I first played Mortal Kombat 1. I was Scorpion, I knew NONE of the moves because I was too programmed into Street Fighter Mentality, and by stroke of luck, or perhaps fate, I hit “Back, Back, Low Punch”, and my gaming life was changed forever. “GET OVER HERE!” The level of attitude and aggression alone, which I honestly believe cannot be found in street fighter *today*, immortalized my loyalty as a MK fan, and that’s why I have always stuck by them and why I have the patience and commitment to learn and familiarize myself with MK’s style of play (but I still love oldschool SF, and that includes 4!)

    That being said, if you aren’t like that, then you are FUCKED when it comes to playing this game early on, and I *applaud* Spoony for pointing out something like that, because it is so damn true. And it’s funny, Spoony even brought up things that I’ve been thinking to myself ever since Deadly Alliance, like having to look up the pause-menu list of moves & combos. And you know what, I still do that TODAY! I am a naturally patient person, so it doesn’t bother me, but if I had someone sitting next to me playing, I would hate myself if I had to make them wait (but I sure as Hell wouldn’t fuck up the Fatality!)

    I love this game like crazy, but I will not deny that it’s not for everyone. Kind of like how I HATE Marvel Vs. Capcom games; they’re not “bad” at all, I just personally HATE them. And I used to love them, but one day while playing MvC2, it hit me. The whole damn game is about who can throw the biggest, flashiest, most over-the-top, seizure-inducing lightshow at your opponent the most often. With those heavy-memorized MK combos, *I’M* at least the one doing the work, and they’re not these huge moves taking up the entire screen (literally!). And when I saw that MVC3 was the same, which I dreaded, I didn’t give a fuck about it. But that’s just *me*. It’s MY loss. And Mortal Kombat is my gain.

    I will also say that I LOATHE Smash Brothers. To me, it is a sissy baby game where sissy baby characters peckerslap each other and pretend play-fight. When Solid Snake breaks Pikachu’s neck and shoots Princess Peach in the fucking head, then maybe I’ll take it seriously, but until then, I have my Mortal Kombat and even old school Street Fighters. At least Stryker has the balls to shoot someone in the head (and for the record, Stryker’s X-Ray is one I will NEVER get bored with! I look forward the sound of the night stick cracking their jaw every time! And props to Angry Joe for showing it in his review!)

    So there’s the rest of my obscenely long MK rant, and THIS is me cutting it off short. I really can go on and on about this game, but I’m just a schmuck at a keyboard. Spoony’s the star here, and I do NOT disagree with his points against the game. I just find ways to work around the problems. This review is a beautiful contrast to Joe’s, and it’s good to get those honest differences in perspectives.

  • http://twitter.com/Kev_Tomes Kev Tomes

    Quick observation, Spoony:

    While I agree to an extent about the diversity of the characters requiring a level of expertise, that can be intimidating to casual players, (Hell, I’m a huge fan of this game, and I’m only proficient in, like, 6 characters) I can’t help but remember that you’re a massive Tekken fan, and I honestly cannot think of a more awkward, game requiring the player to memorise move-sets than that series! (Also: Tekken fan here, too!)

    You can throw the ‘Who has memorised the combos’ argument at MVC3 too. I’ve lost count of the number of matches I’ve had on that when I have literally been unable to perform a single move due to the opponent quite clearly repeating a set series of attacks. It’s like the 2D fighter verson of a Starcraft 2 Tournament game!

    You’re right, it’s not entertaining, it’s frustrating, but when you do meet a fighter who is on your level, it is a much more satisfying experience. Which is why MVC3 throws in the rankings system, which, I’ve found, works really well!

    I think what I’m saying is, I’m not sure if I totally agree with the character move-sets being so individualised being a negative point. It’s just for a different audience.

    [Mind you, I havn't played the online games yet... I'm one of those lucky PS3 players!]

    Just thought I’d throw in my 2 cents there!

  • http://www.facebook.com/SlickyMike88 Michael Kragseth

    Personaly i think you have a problem with your xbox controller , the newer xboxs have better d-pad’s if you use the d pad of course:P I will agree with you that the game is kinda glitchy , but me personally this game has more content then most fighting games theese days. Iuv the game

  • Anonymous

    ugh, the Smash Bros assholes. When I used to go to college, that game would always be up on the big screen at the student lounge and it’s always NO ITEMS, FINAL DESTINATION. In a game designed to have random crap to pick up and dick around with designed with all these game themed worlds with multiple layers and pitfalls, the only acceptable way to play it for these people is to strip it down of anything unique and play that shit forever.

  • Anonymous

    ugh, the Smash Bros assholes. When I used to go to college, that game would always be up on the big screen at the student lounge and it’s always NO ITEMS, FINAL DESTINATION. In a game designed to have random crap to pick up and dick around with designed with all these game themed worlds with multiple layers and pitfalls, the only acceptable way to play it for these people is to strip it down of anything unique and play that shit forever.

  • Anonymous

    Well, Xbox360 controller is just not built for fighting games. Seriously. These games are actually meant to be played on a d-pad and a ps3 controller (sixaxis or DS3) has one (which works). I played only the demo on a ps3, but I had none of the issues you had, Spoony. I succesfully performed a fatality whenever I tried to. Thumb stick is just not made for this and I can’t even imagine playing fighting games with it.

  • http://www.gamebushido.com Michael Launier

    I can agree with virtually everything you said, Spoony, except for a couple details. Notably, everything you said about Smash Bros.

    Is it a party game? Yeah, but only in the same sense that absolutely every other game that supports multiplayer is a party game.

    Is it laughable for it to be taken seriously and have tournaments based around it? No more so than Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, even CHESS or any other game that’s played competitively. Players who resort to counting frames and that kind of crap are annoying to play with if you’re not into that kind of stuff, but they’re on every kind of game.

    Are the winning conditions random? Absolutely not; I don’t even know where you got that idea from, honestly. If you were talking about items, they’re just part of the game in the same way that projectiles and weapon pickups are part of other games. If you don’t feel like using them, they can even be turned off without having to resort to ridiculous house rules.

    Let’s make something clear. There are essentially three reasons why some people don’t take the Smash Bros. games as “serious” fighting games: The fact that they’re played like a mix between a fighter and a platformer; the special attacks don’t require convoluted gestures or memorization to pull off, both of which are really relics of older days back when we had fewer buttons to spare, and as such are much more responsive (something you praised about BlazBlue); the Nintendo characters. The first two, while idiotic reasons for bashing a game, can at least be attributed to different tastes. The last one, however, is purely based on the stupid idea that Nintendo characters somehow make anything kiddy. You could replace them with anything just like you could replace Ryu or Liu Kang with other characters and it wouldn’t change how solid their games are.

    • Anonymous

      The only random knock out move I can think of is Game & Watch’s forward B. And even that can be DI’d and survived at lower damage percentages.

      I do have to agree with him on the character balance though. Meta Knight is pretty damn gay and there’s absolutely nothing redeeming about Gannondorf at all. I don’t think a lot of the serious tournaments actually ban Meta Knight though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/vladimir.tolpygo Vladimir Tolpygo

    Well, good thing you made this Vlog, ’cause now I don’t have to buy the new MK. To be honest, I’m not too into the series, either. MK Deception? More like MK Disillusion (although I did have my share of fun with that game, justice be served).

    Actually, although I think I’m quite familiar with almost the entirety of your Game reviews/comments/vlogs, I don’t recall you talking about the Soulcalibur series and after watching this Vlog, it kinda raised the question about what you think about the latest instalments of the series, more specifically SC3 and 4… because in my opinion, THERE’s a fighting game where you can just grab the controller and input almost-random combinations and still manage to get away with it, often even against slightly more experienced players.

    Well, anyway, keep doing a great job and thanks for the vlog.

  • http://www.facebook.com/vladimir.tolpygo Vladimir Tolpygo

    Well, good thing you made this Vlog, ’cause now I don’t have to buy the new MK. To be honest, I’m not too into the series, either. MK Deception? More like MK Disillusion (although I did have my share of fun with that game, justice be served).

    Actually, although I think I’m quite familiar with almost the entirety of your Game reviews/comments/vlogs, I don’t recall you talking about the Soulcalibur series and after watching this Vlog, it kinda raised the question about what you think about the latest instalments of the series, more specifically SC3 and 4… because in my opinion, THERE’s a fighting game where you can just grab the controller and input almost-random combinations and still manage to get away with it, often even against slightly more experienced players.

    Well, anyway, keep doing a great job and thanks for the vlog.

  • http://www.facebook.com/drew.dubois Drew Dubois

    I feel you on BlazBlue, Spoony. I love Continuum Shift but no one else I know plays it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matti-Saarenketo/100000211303973 Matti Saarenketo

    Super smash bros is not random. The moves knock back the same amount of range every time at the same % (brawl has an exception to this, but even that exception is not random). That is assuming you turn the items off and the stage you are playing doesn’t have random elements.

    example of no randomness in a match where items are off (SSBM):

    Battlefield: Fox vs. marth

  • Anonymous

    It’s funny, Spoony’s issues with the game are exactly what I love about the game. I like how the moves are and that they are all unique, it makes the game more deep to me. Then again I have played every MK game. Teleport moves are annoying but once you play enough you can see them coming. Some of the stuff like online is fucked up, but I hear they are patching things.
    Anyway, I understand what people hate about the game, but personally I love MK and think it’s one of the best fighters out right now.

  • Spokojasne

    ah, MK. I like it and have a respect for it.
    Hey at least the game doesnt have stupid characters as j-fighters have…
    ok it has stupid characters, but there are stupid characters and stupid characters,
    what i want to say is: at least it doesnt have school girls with blue/green/pink hair,

    i know i know – it is a little thing, but little things add up to a bigger one

    • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

      I fail to see how that specific little thing can add up to anything bigger. It sounds like you’re just biased against Japanese fighting games.

      • Spokojasne

        It is just one little thing – of many little things which i chose not to mention, so no surprises there if one cannot grasp my problem with japanese fighting games.
        It doesnt matter though, as my previous comment was rather intended as humorous stab, not serious one…

        but you are right, i am biased, but at least i am honest with… myself :)

        • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

          Fair is fair, man. Least you have the stones to admit it, unlike many others.

        • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

          Fair is fair, man. Least you have the stones to admit it, unlike many others.

      • Spokojasne

        It is just one little thing – of many little things which i chose not to mention, so no surprises there if one cannot grasp my problem with japanese fighting games.
        It doesnt matter though, as my previous comment was rather intended as humorous stab, not serious one…

        but you are right, i am biased, but at least i am honest with… myself :)

    • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

      I fail to see how that specific little thing can add up to anything bigger. It sounds like you’re just biased against Japanese fighting games.

    • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

      I fail to see how that specific little thing can add up to anything bigger. It sounds like you’re just biased against Japanese fighting games.

  • Anonymous

    So far I find the gameplay to be quite shallow. Every character share the same strategy, try to land a combo starter and maximize damage from there. There’s no zoning, no footsies, no keepaways, no grapplers. There is very little real difference between characters. Once I memorized the moves I can play them exactly the same way I play any other characters. The move list is a mess. You have a huge list of useless/redundant combos. I can probably complain more about other technical aspects of the game but meh. Still, it’s a pretty fun casual game. At least play through the story mode and screw around a bit in challenge tower for a laugh.

  • http://profiles.google.com/aelwakeel Frob Man

    Yeah, the 360 controller ain’t the best controller for fighters, as I’ve experienced. Hard to do a combo with just your thumb, that you’d have to resort to tapping them with your fingers like an arcade cabinet for better result. But even then, you’ll still need to use the shoulder buttons, and that’s just frustrating. And of course what may seem like a half-second delay button input, which’ll get you screwed more often against much better players online. (I may not suck too much on games like SFIV or MvC3, but neither am I in the top 10,000 players list, of course!)

    As for Mortal Kombat, I’ll admit to liking the game despite never being a big fan of the series when growing up. So I guess the creators did something right there. Story mode is one of the better made modes in a fighter, but I wouldn’t complain if a game has one in it or not. And as said, the extras are good for longetivity, but even then I may not feel too bothered with most of these extras, like the challenge tower. I’ll probably end up skipping most of the challenges than waste 10 minutes on one or two each. Even combos I don’t really bother with, due to the controllers. Air punch followed by upper cuts seem to work fine against the AI. Hah! Like you, I may stick with the Capcom fighters more so, even if I did enjoy this game. At least it’s a game I could play with my brothers more often, I suppose.

    Good game series Smash Bros is, it essentially is a party game for fun. Sure, there may be some technical things you can find in the game like most fighters, but it isn’t really a fighter if it’s more chaotic on the battlefield, y’know? But I am aware of the Serious Business it attracts. Heck, even I had to look them up when playing it.

  • http://profiles.google.com/aelwakeel Frob Man

    Yeah, the 360 controller ain’t the best controller for fighters, as I’ve experienced. Hard to do a combo with just your thumb, that you’d have to resort to tapping them with your fingers like an arcade cabinet for better result. But even then, you’ll still need to use the shoulder buttons, and that’s just frustrating. And of course what may seem like a half-second delay button input, which’ll get you screwed more often against much better players online. (I may not suck too much on games like SFIV or MvC3, but neither am I in the top 10,000 players list, of course!)

    As for Mortal Kombat, I’ll admit to liking the game despite never being a big fan of the series when growing up. So I guess the creators did something right there. Story mode is one of the better made modes in a fighter, but I wouldn’t complain if a game has one in it or not. And as said, the extras are good for longetivity, but even then I may not feel too bothered with most of these extras, like the challenge tower. I’ll probably end up skipping most of the challenges than waste 10 minutes on one or two each. Even combos I don’t really bother with, due to the controllers. Air punch followed by upper cuts seem to work fine against the AI. Hah! Like you, I may stick with the Capcom fighters more so, even if I did enjoy this game. At least it’s a game I could play with my brothers more often, I suppose.

    Good game series Smash Bros is, it essentially is a party game for fun. Sure, there may be some technical things you can find in the game like most fighters, but it isn’t really a fighter if it’s more chaotic on the battlefield, y’know? But I am aware of the Serious Business it attracts. Heck, even I had to look them up when playing it.

  • http://profiles.google.com/aelwakeel Frob Man

    Yeah, the 360 controller ain’t the best controller for fighters, as I’ve experienced. Hard to do a combo with just your thumb, that you’d have to resort to tapping them with your fingers like an arcade cabinet for better result. But even then, you’ll still need to use the shoulder buttons, and that’s just frustrating. And of course what may seem like a half-second delay button input, which’ll get you screwed more often against much better players online. (I may not suck too much on games like SFIV or MvC3, but neither am I in the top 10,000 players list, of course!)

    As for Mortal Kombat, I’ll admit to liking the game despite never being a big fan of the series when growing up. So I guess the creators did something right there. Story mode is one of the better made modes in a fighter, but I wouldn’t complain if a game has one in it or not. And as said, the extras are good for longetivity, but even then I may not feel too bothered with most of these extras, like the challenge tower. I’ll probably end up skipping most of the challenges than waste 10 minutes on one or two each. Even combos I don’t really bother with, due to the controllers. Air punch followed by upper cuts seem to work fine against the AI. Hah! Like you, I may stick with the Capcom fighters more so, even if I did enjoy this game. At least it’s a game I could play with my brothers more often, I suppose.

    Good game series Smash Bros is, it essentially is a party game for fun. Sure, there may be some technical things you can find in the game like most fighters, but it isn’t really a fighter if it’s more chaotic on the battlefield, y’know? But I am aware of the Serious Business it attracts. Heck, even I had to look them up when playing it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Roddy-McCahon/1221526713 Roddy McCahon

    Hmm, I usually agree with spoony on most games, but here I find that we disagree. I got Mortal Kombat on its release day and I’ve been loving it. I don’t have the controller complaint as I got the PS3 version and only use the D-pad for movement and moves (though, of course, I haven’t been online yet, can’t comment there). I don’t play many fighting games, so I can’t really compare, but I just had loads of fun playing this. I also haven’t come across the grab problem. I can actually remember a few grabs that I landed from behind and I specifically remember Sub-zero pulling the opponent around to face him.
    But hey, I suppose its all just personal opinion in the end.
    But… Shao Khan is very cheap. In arcade mode I’ve only beaten him twice, with Scorpion ad Johnny Cage. With Scorpion I spammed the teleoprt. With Johnny Cage I spammed the energy ball and the shadow kick to keep him at a distance. It was the only way to win. I also have a nasty habit of spamming Liu Kang’s bicycle kick for tough boses. Hey, it works.

  • Anonymous

    Hey Spoon, aren’t you a Tekken guy?
    Cus those games had really long, boring, anoying movelists.
    Still like ‘em tho ;P

  • Anonymous

    Hey Spoon, aren’t you a Tekken guy?
    Cus those games had really long, boring, anoying movelists.
    Still like ‘em tho ;P

  • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

    Sorry Spoony, but you’re wrong on the BlazBlue front still. The special moves that take heat, whether its 50 or 100 (for an astral finish) barely use just quarter circles. Most of them are half circle in any direction (some of them three quarter) followed by a quarter and button press.

    Four moves are mapped to the right thumbstick; two normal attacks that may lead onto a combo, one 50% heat attack (each character has more than one) and finally the 100% heat attack (which can only be done on final round when your opponent has under 25% hp).

    Oh also the easy specials can be turned off in multiplayer.

    Everything about the moves being obtuse in MK can be said for every fighter. More complex moves take more learning and more effort to pull off correctly.

    Pretty much everything else I can understand.

    • http://www.facebook.com/Broshmosh Chris Sutherland

      And in terms of each character having different moves mapped to different places, it’s been like that since Armageddon. Even then, you can still kinda “fake it and pick it up on the way” as you put it, as they’re relatively simple; one direction then another direction followed by a button. The complexity comes further down the line when you want to start using your gauge moves, and again it comes down to the age old thing for fighting games when, yes, you have to actually practice.

      I’ve never seen fighters as party games. Similar to the nintendo wii; whoever owns it is *going* to be better than someone who doesn’t. Can’t that be said for all games except ones specifically designed to be random, akin to the Mario Party series?

  • Anonymous

    Hmmm have to disagree with you on some points I am sorry to say. Much of your chagrin with the controls basically boils down to the 360 controller that isn’t great by a long shot for fighting games. On the PS3 I had no troubles executing any moves and I found that they had simplified the fatalities so just about everyone can do them.
    I don’t think it is the fault of the game that the 360 dpad is too sensitive and that the analog sticks on both the PS3 and 360 controller also don’t really work (why I go with dpad only on the PS3 controller). You might think differently when you play it a 3rd party controller or an arcade stick.

    And yes blaz blue is strategic about when you put in a special move, but I don’t think that disqualifies MK. With MK you just get a favorite character, learn it’s combos and special moves and then decide when to use your special moves and combos. I don’t see how it would be any less than blaz blue.

    But yeah I have seen people win with basically mostly the teleport move or Johnny Cage’s nutpunch. So I do agree that they have to get some balance in.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kurt.sparkes1 Kurt Sparkes

    i hate tourneyfags NO ITEMS FOX ONLY FINAL DESTINATION!!!!!!!!

    • Anonymous

      MOW THE LAWN!

  • Anonymous

    Shao Kahn has ALWAYS required bitch tactics. There has not been one time in the whole series that he could be fought fairly.

    I’ve only watched LPs–several of them–and the only way I’ve seen people avoid the Kintaro/Sheeva stomp thing is by jumping in one direction and throwing a punch in the opposite.

    In MK3, they had a cheat called “Quick Fatalities” I think, and they did exactly what you described about assigning a fatality to each button. X was the animality, Y was friendship, A & B were the individual 2 fatalities each character had, R was the babality, and L was stage fatalities.

    It worked, but…? It completely devalued the fatalities. Yeah. That was the worst part. You want the fatality to MEAN something.

  • Anonymous

    Shao Kahn has ALWAYS required bitch tactics. There has not been one time in the whole series that he could be fought fairly.

    I’ve only watched LPs–several of them–and the only way I’ve seen people avoid the Kintaro/Sheeva stomp thing is by jumping in one direction and throwing a punch in the opposite.

    In MK3, they had a cheat called “Quick Fatalities” I think, and they did exactly what you described about assigning a fatality to each button. X was the animality, Y was friendship, A & B were the individual 2 fatalities each character had, R was the babality, and L was stage fatalities.

    It worked, but…? It completely devalued the fatalities. Yeah. That was the worst part. You want the fatality to MEAN something.

  • http://mm-geek.blogspot.com/ Jaebird

    I feel like I have to agree with you about the controls. Now, keep in mind that I’ve never played the Xbox 360 version, and I only played the demo for the PS3, but I was able to pull off a Fatality (for the first time (shocking!)) easily with the PS3 controller.

    And I will say this about Smash Bros.: It use to be fun to me until a good friend of mine decided to pull some cheap shit by using Kirby to suck my character in and walk off the stage. I won’t badmouth the game as a whole because of it, but that’s just a personal thing.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dimitrios.papadimitriou1 Dimitrios Papadimitriou

    Spoony: Waaah Mortal Kombat = sux cause characters r b hav different command inputs.

  • Anonymous

    Spoony I can’t see your videos on your site. Everything else you post works but since beast master 2 nothing shows up. Did you change something? Coke black and that stuff works though.

  • Anonymous

    Spoony I can’t see your videos on your site. Everything else you post works but since beast master 2 nothing shows up. Did you change something? Coke black and that stuff works though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Freddy-Duran/100000817426762 Freddy Duran

    SPOONY!!!
    i actually play gannon(lowest teir) =) and i still whoop everyones asses! =)and metaknight sucks…no finishing moves!…maybe you just need to play it more -_- and find a char u love and stick with it

    LET ANY WHO CHALLANGE STEP FORWARD!(A_ninja on forums msg me friend code if u wish to have ur face beat in by gannon -_- =)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Freddy-Duran/100000817426762 Freddy Duran

    SPOONY!!!
    i actually play gannon(lowest teir) =) and i still whoop everyones asses! =)and metaknight sucks…no finishing moves!…maybe you just need to play it more -_- and find a char u love and stick with it

    LET ANY WHO CHALLANGE STEP FORWARD!(A_ninja on forums msg me friend code if u wish to have ur face beat in by gannon -_- =)

  • MissAshley

    Dude! Spoony! You’re sick and you’re drinking soda? Get some more water into you.

    For your health.

    I put Mortal Kombat (the franchise) into the same category I place early Sonic games: Games that are exceptionally popular despite questionable design. Except while I find Sonic’s design philosophy just not very engaging, I find Mortal Kombat’s game design both uninspired (in its fighting system) and sloppy (in its actual gameplay).

    The moment I learned this new Mortal Kombat would include dial-a-combos, what little desire I had to play the game vanished. I like the idea of this game more than the idea of playing it.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      Soda doesn’t dehydrate you. That’s a myth.

  • MissAshley

    No, he dislikes Mortal Kombat in part because of its very unorthodox move inputs.

    Even back in the day I never understood why the series prioritized jabbing in a series of directions over smooth motions for activating special moves.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Slothboyadvance Matt Bahr

    Many of your problems can be solved with the block button and a fight stick, Spoony.

  • MissAshley

    No, he dislikes Mortal Kombat in part because of its very unorthodox move inputs.

    Even back in the day I never understood why the series prioritized jabbing in a series of directions over smooth motions for activating special moves.

    EDIT: This was supposed to be a direct reply to Dimitrios Papadimitriou. I have no idea why my comments aren’t going to the right spot. o_O

  • Anonymous

    Naruto Ninja Storm 2 lays waste to these games. Yea I know its lame because it’s Naruto but if you look past that and play the game, it is superbly balanced, paced and executed. The reason being the game is all about strategy, timing and countering rather than button mashing/combo memory. Someone who has never played the game before but who has a good analytical approach as to how moves/tactics can be countered will beat someone who repeatedly uses the same tactics. You have a HUGE set of characters all of who have wildly different strengths and weaknesses, and you can’t use a single character to beat everyone else. Each player has a power up to access when they are on very low health so matches are almost always competitive. All power moves are the same button combinations (maximum 3) but the moves themselves vary wildly and they execute EVERY time so you rarely get screwed with controller hiccups. I know what you mean with the xbox controller because i play Fifa 11 alot and the skill moves suffer the same problem. Download the demo for Ninja Storm 2, you will understand.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KQZM4I3JX6F27LT4EM2Y27IFMU Corey

    I rented mortal kombat from the red box and I loved it and still plan to buy it when I get paid again its just my gripes with it are the fact that you cant play as the bosses shao khan, goro, and kintaro.
    and the story mode at first it was awesome from johnny cage talking shit to people with supernatural abilities beyond his comprehension, to kicking ass as robot sub zero but I got a little pissed when basically half of earth defenders get killed by one fighter sindel really one person killed fighters that at one point beat the shit out of two four armed people and they have crazy supernatural abilities as well and then there souls go to quan chi, with that I am hoping they get dlc to extend the story a bit so that little part could get fixed and scorpion finally meets noob saibot considering who he is. but all in I like the game but I do wish the xbox 360 owners had an exclusive character for them as people can have something to brag about for those that don’t have a ps3 but hopefully he will be xbox live exclusive. oh and one more thing shao khan is fucking cheap! I remember in the story mode that it took me allot of times to beat him in the story mode where I first played it and the fact that he says I suck ads more salt to the wound of his cheapness.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KQZM4I3JX6F27LT4EM2Y27IFMU Corey

    I rented mortal kombat from the red box and I loved it and still plan to buy it when I get paid again its just my gripes with it are the fact that you cant play as the bosses shao khan, goro, and kintaro.
    and the story mode at first it was awesome from johnny cage talking shit to people with supernatural abilities beyond his comprehension, to kicking ass as robot sub zero but I got a little pissed when basically half of earth defenders get killed by one fighter sindel really one person killed fighters that at one point beat the shit out of two four armed people and they have crazy supernatural abilities as well and then there souls go to quan chi, with that I am hoping they get dlc to extend the story a bit so that little part could get fixed and scorpion finally meets noob saibot considering who he is. but all in I like the game but I do wish the xbox 360 owners had an exclusive character for them as people can have something to brag about for those that don’t have a ps3 but hopefully he will be xbox live exclusive. oh and one more thing shao khan is fucking cheap! I remember in the story mode that it took me allot of times to beat him in the story mode where I first played it and the fact that he says I suck ads more salt to the wound of his cheapness.

  • http://twitter.com/Tomborf Tom ten Hoeve

    About Super Smash Brothers: I think the random knockouts you mention mostly refer to the smash ball? The thing about those is that you have to GET them before you can use them. Once you use them they’re usually very strong, but all players have the same chance to get it. And once someone has it, there’s always a possibility to dodge it. So it’s still not random. And if that’s not what you meant… then I have no idea what you did mean.

    And anyway, you can turn it off if you want to. You seem to think that’s a lame thing to do; I say it’s cool to be able to customize the game to such a degree. It’s not bad that the options are in there and it’s not bad to agree to turn some of them off. That’s just how the game was designed.

    It’s not that I’m one of the forty year olds playing it professionally, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t be possible. I’ve played this game for years and I’m certainly much, much better at it than people who’ve only played it for a relatively short time. Even with all items turned on in a level that in itself could kill you, I will always beat someone who’s not evenly matched with me. That shouldn’t be the case with the amount of randomness you seem to think is in it.

    Also, I tend to fucking hate attacks that require button combinations. Street Fighter is alright because most of them are simple, but games like Dead Or Alive or Mortal Kombat frustrate the shit out of me. SSB’s controls are very simple, but incredibly responsive. This gives the player more room to come up with their own attack combinations. Turning off items seems like a waste to me, because items give you one more attack: throwing them.

  • Princess Stabbity

    Heh. Keen. I just finished the MK story mode before watching this. I dug the story mode, but that’s probably all I’ll really play unless I’m extremely bored. But oh god I hated the final battle. It’s as though if you ever attempt to fight with a strategy that doesn’t involve hit and run, you get your ass kicked. But then it’s probably just me because I suck at it, because I do. Every time I went on the offensive I got my ass handed to me. Ugh. So frustrating.
    And oh god I hate the teleport moves! (Which is funny because I recall liking them in the old games.) What the hell. Good god I kept accidentally using them when I’m trying to do something else. Freaking controls. Argh.
    I’d say I hate the game, but eh. I found it entertaining in that cheap kind of way. Certainly not the worst game I’ve got on the shelf and that’s kind of sad when I think about it… Still, I’d definitely suggest to others to rent it first, not buy…

  • http://profiles.google.com/levihovatter Levi Hovatter

    You’re a hilarious dude and I’ve been following you forever, but you should really stick with comedy reviews. It occasionally becomes really obvious that you are not all that good at video games.

  • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

    While I myself am not a “pro” fighting game player in any way, I still did found MK quite technical when it comes down to tournament level play, but I understand that you are looking at the game from a more casual stand point, and it really isn’t very beginner friendly when it comes to be competent at it. I think MvC3 is a much better choice for fighting game beginners to get exposed to the scene than any other game, simply because execution is very relaxed and easy to time.

    And I will agree with you on the Smash Bros comment as well. I can see SF, MvC, MK, BB, SC, Tekken, even anime fighters like Arcana Hearts being complex and worthy of tournament play. I, for the life of me, cannot see how Smash Bros could warrant a tournament level scene. The game is fun with a bunch of friends, like you said, but outside of that environment I don’t see how it can have so much success. It baffles me.

    Anyways, too much rambling, great review from a casual standpoint Spoony. I enjoyed the game more than you, it seems, but I can see all of your complaints loud and clear. Maybe I’m just better putting up with crap :P

  • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

    While I myself am not a “pro” fighting game player in any way, I still did found MK quite technical when it comes down to tournament level play, but I understand that you are looking at the game from a more casual stand point, and it really isn’t very beginner friendly when it comes to be competent at it. I think MvC3 is a much better choice for fighting game beginners to get exposed to the scene than any other game, simply because execution is very relaxed and easy to time.

    And I will agree with you on the Smash Bros comment as well. I can see SF, MvC, MK, BB, SC, Tekken, even anime fighters like Arcana Hearts being complex and worthy of tournament play. I, for the life of me, cannot see how Smash Bros could warrant a tournament level scene. The game is fun with a bunch of friends, like you said, but outside of that environment I don’t see how it can have so much success. It baffles me.

    Anyways, too much rambling, great review from a casual standpoint Spoony. I enjoyed the game more than you, it seems, but I can see all of your complaints loud and clear. Maybe I’m just better putting up with crap :P

  • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

    Gotta agree with the comments echoed here. I also have the PS3 version and thanks to its functional d-pad, the controls are good and precise. The 360 does have an alternative with the new silver controller with a better d-pad, so if you have fighter games…you definitely have to pick up that controller. Because the default 360 controller just sucks so hard when it comes to fighting games.

    Even though Spoony is basically complaining about all fighters regarding memorization issues, I agree with him when it comes to the game not being “casual-friendly” since some of MKs moves are hard to pull off (memorizing, not inputting) compared to other fighters. While the training mode is really good, it would’ve been great if the multiplayer implemented the on-screen movelist like in the training and challenge modes….so you don’t need to pause every time to get the moves. Even the combos are just weird…no way I’ll ever memorize all of those because some of them are just not logical for me. It doesn’t flow as well as Street Fighter or MvC 3 where you can instantly know to pull off a basic combo. Although in a way, harder and more diverse combo inputs do give a lot more depth to each character in the new MK instead of having palate swaps ala old-school MK or Street Fighter.

    An ironic thing about the new MK is that it’s generally balanced because it’s unbalanced. What I mean is…almost each and every character has an overpowered move or a teleport like Spoony says, which actually makes it balanced. Although the few characters with no teleports are generally harder to play as when fighting against teleport characters (Sub-Zero’s nerf comes to mind). I think once Spoony or anyone else gets passed this mindset, they’ll actually regard MK highly. Keep in mind that X-ray moves are the only ones which do A LOT of damage. All characters generally have the same amount of health which makes the game even more balanced, unlike Street Fighter 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 which have a lot of issues regarding character health. Some just can take a lot of damage (Zangief, Hagar, Hulk ) while others die in an instant (Seth, Zero). All in all, we can be here forever nitpicking and comparing these modern fighters…it indeed all comes to a matter of preference. Thankfully, I’m the type of guy which appreciates most fighters out there: I love SFIV, Soul Calibur IV, MvC 3, and the new Mortal Kombat in their own special ways…although I’m not into more technical ones like Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and Dead or Alive for some reason. Ironically, I was never a hardcore fighting fan in the first place. Used to love watching them back in the old days but games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were never my thing. I think Soul Calibur II and IV for transforming me into a huge fan of the genre.

    I also agree with the weird implementation of the Krypt. Really looks like a beta room if you ask me. Should’ve been designed better.

    Let me explain the whole hardcore tournament issue with Smash Brothers Brawl. Believe it or not, but Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube is the sequel which a lot of fans regard highly when it comes to tournament play. The director implemented a lot of tech moves and balancing which allows the GameCube installment to be a very competitive game (no weapons, no interactive stages are general rules in tournaments). Brawl, on the other hand, is not built for tournament play at all, as you suggested Spoony. The director even went as far as making Brawl the complete opposite of Melee (he stated that in an interview), focusing on party play, flashy movies, and interactive stages instead of sneaking in technical techniques. This pissed off Melee veterans so much that they actually found various methods of hacking Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii to make it more balanced and more suited to tournament play. There’s even a hack project going on right now which transforms Brawl’s character physics into Melee, retroactively turning it to a GameCube game. It’s that serious. And believe it or not, these hacks are so easy to implement. All you need is a copy of Brawl, an SD card, and basic instructions which you can follow in their respective websites. So far, the most popular Brawl balancing hacks are called “Brawl Plus” and “Balanced Brawl”, with a new “Project Melee” currently underway. Google them and see for yourself.

    • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

      I will admit that I never once in my life played Melee so I have no idea just how much difference there is between Melee and Brawl. Maybe it really is a worthy tournament-level series, just not the newest entry.

      • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

        It’s definitely more balanced when it comes to the roster, but don’t expect its tournament elements to shine as soon as you play it. The advanced techniques and strategies are usually stuff you pull off subconsciously, but the more you read about it online…the more you understand the design elements behind Melee, therefore making it an even more competitive for people who want to invest more time, just like any other fighting game out there. I’m not a tournament-level player in Melee, but I will say this: we played the hell out of this game back in the day, and looking back I found that losing a match in Melee drives me more to learning its ropes. It got really serious with my friends at times, very competitive…1 vs. 1 matches were held (oh shit), but not to the extent in which weapons aren’t allowed. With Brawl, however, it’s more of a laid-back game focusing on fun and random shit flying about….something which I surprisingly prefer when it comes to a simple fighter series like Smash Bros. Regrettably, however, that came at a price of my friends not taking the game seriously at all, in turn having less desire to play it compared to our Melee sessions.

      • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

        It’s definitely more balanced when it comes to the roster, but don’t expect its tournament elements to shine as soon as you play it. The advanced techniques and strategies are usually stuff you pull off subconsciously, but the more you read about it online…the more you understand the design elements behind Melee, therefore making it an even more competitive for people who want to invest more time, just like any other fighting game out there. I’m not a tournament-level player in Melee, but I will say this: we played the hell out of this game back in the day, and looking back I found that losing a match in Melee drives me more to learning its ropes. It got really serious with my friends at times, very competitive…1 vs. 1 matches were held (oh shit), but not to the extent in which weapons aren’t allowed. With Brawl, however, it’s more of a laid-back game focusing on fun and random shit flying about….something which I surprisingly prefer when it comes to a simple fighter series like Smash Bros. Regrettably, however, that came at a price of my friends not taking the game seriously at all, in turn having less desire to play it compared to our Melee sessions.

    • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

      I will admit that I never once in my life played Melee so I have no idea just how much difference there is between Melee and Brawl. Maybe it really is a worthy tournament-level series, just not the newest entry.

  • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

    Gotta agree with the comments echoed here. I also have the PS3 version and thanks to its functional d-pad, the controls are good and precise. The 360 does have an alternative with the new silver controller with a better d-pad, so if you have fighter games…you definitely have to pick up that controller. Because the default 360 controller just sucks so hard when it comes to fighting games.

    Even though Spoony is basically complaining about all fighters regarding memorization issues, I agree with him when it comes to the game not being “casual-friendly” since some of MKs moves are hard to pull off (memorizing, not inputting) compared to other fighters. While the training mode is really good, it would’ve been great if the multiplayer implemented the on-screen movelist like in the training and challenge modes….so you don’t need to pause every time to get the moves. Even the combos are just weird…no way I’ll ever memorize all of those because some of them are just not logical for me. It doesn’t flow as well as Street Fighter or MvC 3 where you can instantly know to pull off a basic combo. Although in a way, harder and more diverse combo inputs do give a lot more depth to each character in the new MK instead of having palate swaps ala old-school MK or Street Fighter.

    An ironic thing about the new MK is that it’s generally balanced because it’s unbalanced. What I mean is…almost each and every character has an overpowered move or a teleport like Spoony says, which actually makes it balanced. Although the few characters with no teleports are generally harder to play as when fighting against teleport characters (Sub-Zero’s nerf comes to mind). I think once Spoony or anyone else gets passed this mindset, they’ll actually regard MK highly. Keep in mind that X-ray moves are the only ones which do A LOT of damage. All characters generally have the same amount of health which makes the game even more balanced, unlike Street Fighter 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 which have a lot of issues regarding character health. Some just can take a lot of damage (Zangief, Hagar, Hulk ) while others die in an instant (Seth, Zero). All in all, we can be here forever nitpicking and comparing these modern fighters…it indeed all comes to a matter of preference. Thankfully, I’m the type of guy which appreciates most fighters out there: I love SFIV, Soul Calibur IV, MvC 3, and the new Mortal Kombat in their own special ways…although I’m not into more technical ones like Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and Dead or Alive for some reason. Ironically, I was never a hardcore fighting fan in the first place. Used to love watching them back in the old days but games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were never my thing. I think Soul Calibur II and IV for transforming me into a huge fan of the genre.

    I also agree with the weird implementation of the Krypt. Really looks like a beta room if you ask me. Should’ve been designed better.

    Let me explain the whole hardcore tournament issue with Smash Brothers Brawl. Believe it or not, but Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube is the sequel which a lot of fans regard highly when it comes to tournament play. The director implemented a lot of tech moves and balancing which allows the GameCube installment to be a very competitive game (no weapons, no interactive stages are general rules in tournaments). Brawl, on the other hand, is not built for tournament play at all, as you suggested Spoony. The director even went as far as making Brawl the complete opposite of Melee (he stated that in an interview), focusing on party play, flashy movies, and interactive stages instead of sneaking in technical techniques. This pissed off Melee veterans so much that they actually found various methods of hacking Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii to make it more balanced and more suited to tournament play. There’s even a hack project going on right now which transforms Brawl’s character physics into Melee, retroactively turning it to a GameCube game. It’s that serious. And believe it or not, these hacks are so easy to implement. All you need is a copy of Brawl, an SD card, and basic instructions which you can follow in their respective websites. So far, the most popular Brawl balancing hacks are called “Brawl Plus” and “Balanced Brawl”, with a new “Project Melee” currently underway. Google them and see for yourself.

  • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

    The problem with characters like Shao Khan, Goro, and Kintaro is that they are very obviously very unbalanced for the sake of making them hard on the single player campaign. Goro and Kintaro would be very annoying to play because their moves are so slow and your opponent can easily jump over you and buttrape you. Shao Kahn just has ridiculous super armor on his moves that makes him completely unbalanced. It would be far more frustrating than fun, trust me.

  • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

    The problem with characters like Shao Khan, Goro, and Kintaro is that they are very obviously very unbalanced for the sake of making them hard on the single player campaign. Goro and Kintaro would be very annoying to play because their moves are so slow and your opponent can easily jump over you and buttrape you. Shao Kahn just has ridiculous super armor on his moves that makes him completely unbalanced. It would be far more frustrating than fun, trust me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1810669597 Jln Frs

    lol, i totally agree on the xray moves thing, theyre fukin ridiculous and repetitive

  • Anonymous

    i agree to that teleporting skill, its really bullshit when Coms keep using it.
    But i wonder whats your opinion on Soulcalibur series?

  • Anonymous

    I feel you sentiments on BB, no one at my workplace has even heard of it, but I love the game too. (also excited for Platinum to be released next week. Yay!)

  • ORCACommander

    from all i heard before release the devs probably designed it to be hard as a return to the roots and tradition. haven’t played the new kombat yet but i do not have a ps3 which imo is the console it should have stayed with so i can not provide counter points.

    agree about smash brothers but ring outs are not random the smash ball has a good chance of knocking people out but they can be dodged. Also your damage percents the greater they are the easier is to be ringed out. but ya people take it way to seriously.

  • Anonymous

    I think the mayority of the hate mail/complains you’re going to get with this would be the “you should use an arcade stick” kind, actually…

    • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

      I really don’t think MK is a game where an arcade stick would make that much of a difference. I mean, at least when playing with a PS3 pad, of course.

      Any alternative is better than the 360 pad. It’s so bad for fighters that I feel like it was designed specifically to piss off fighting game players.

    • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

      I really don’t think MK is a game where an arcade stick would make that much of a difference. I mean, at least when playing with a PS3 pad, of course.

      Any alternative is better than the 360 pad. It’s so bad for fighters that I feel like it was designed specifically to piss off fighting game players.

  • Anonymous

    I think the mayority of the hate mail/complains you’re going to get with this would be the “you should use an arcade stick” kind, actually…

  • http://profiles.google.com/mbradshaw6487 Mike Bradshaw

    I’m glad its not just me who has problems using the x-box controller with fighting games. If it wasn’t caused by illness, I would say that I like this more reserved Spoony vlog. The yelling is funny, but sometimes it distracts from very valid points, because people just see a guy ranting instead of an intelligent person stating his case.

  • http://profiles.google.com/mbradshaw6487 Mike Bradshaw

    I’m glad its not just me who has problems using the x-box controller with fighting games. If it wasn’t caused by illness, I would say that I like this more reserved Spoony vlog. The yelling is funny, but sometimes it distracts from very valid points, because people just see a guy ranting instead of an intelligent person stating his case.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tobi.hagen Tobi Hagen

    Well, I don’t have any problems playing it on my PS3, the directional keys feel perfectly exact to me. I agree that learning all the moves is kinda tedious, but it pays and after story mode and/or challenge tower you are well-set to play online, knowing most of the moves.
    Me and my friends always have a blast playing the game.
    But I agree: Noob is freaking lame.

    But hearing about all your glitches and problems (which I haven’t faced yet) I must ask: Is it possible that the 360 version is just worse than the PS3 one.

    • http://twitter.com/DKZK21 Oscar Salazar

      When he mentions the throws are glitchy, I’m fairly sure that’s not the case. Throws in MK are designed to work under certain circumstances, they won’t always connect even if you are right up in their face. It ain’t a glitch, probably just a design choice made with the intention of balancing the usefulness of throws.

      The 360 and PS3 version should be identical. The only difference will probably be netplay, seeing how they are not hosted under the same servers.

      • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

        Yeah I also disagree with Spoony regarding the throws. You’re right about them being situational. Like I said though, he just got caught up in the rant.

        It remains to be seen how well PS3′s online peforms seeing that PSN is down. I’m really looking forward to testing it out, but I’m expecting lag to be a word I repeat often.

    • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

      I experienced a few audio syncing issues in the PS3 whereby the audio just cuts off all of a sudden, but never gameplay-related issues as Spoony elaborates on with the 360 version. Either way, let’s not blow this out of proportion. Mortal Kombat isn’t glitch-free, but that doesn’t mean that we can call it a glitchy game. The way Spoony describes it and I experienced it, the glitches are quite uncommon. He just called it glitchy because he got caught up ranting about its negatives too much.

  • http://twitter.com/unlawfulDog Dog

    Wow Spoony. I love you, but you are so wrong about the teleport moves. My main is Ermac and one of my best friends plays Noob Saibot. It’s all about reaction time with kicking teleporter people’s asses (and I do it every time with my friend, and Ermac’s short teleport is the easiest for my friend to block).

    Also, Shao Kahn. That super cheapo style at the end? It’s VERY Mortal Kombat. He’s what’s called an MK Walker, look it up. It’s a shorthand for a type of bosses (Hint: MK is for Mortal Kombat, it’s so common in the game that’s what it’s named after.) [Not that I like it.]

    I agree about the controller though, the inputs need to be loosened up.

    You unlock the other fatalities by inputing them. It keeps the mystery (and status) of the Fatalities (In theory at least). They don’t exist in the Krypt, as for the labeling on what you actually CAN get in the Krypt? I totally agree with you.

    You didn’t mention the other things you can do with the super meter. You shouldn’t be constantly repeating your x-rays.

    But as you said, it’s about what you prefer.

    P.S. So agree about SSB :3

  • http://twitter.com/itantint ofer etrog

    Damn it DAMN IT, why am I so impatient ?
    I would have bought BlazBlue if I would have known about that D-pad special move crap.
    I should have bought f*cking blazblue…
    P.S. be waiting to see you sneaking a camera to the screening of breaking dawn just to record the reactions of the audience. PLEASE TRY THAT.
    what would they possibly do if they catch you, break your legs?
    Not that I want you to risk yourself, man…

  • http://profiles.google.com/dandragon1st Witold Węglarski

    Heh as for x-ray. Liu kang’s x-ray is fatality from MK1 :D
    For my part I play on PS3 so Right now I have to wait to play on-line.

  • http://profiles.google.com/dandragon1st Witold Węglarski

    Heh as for x-ray. Liu kang’s x-ray is fatality from MK1 :D
    For my part I play on PS3 so Right now I have to wait to play on-line.

  • Anonymous

    As much as I love you and all your vids, I must say your vile hatred for this game is entirely missdirected. The Xbox controller is crap, your problem is with the xbox controller. This begets you not liking the character’s moves, because you cant pull them off. You praise MvC3, when all it is is a spam fest. When I lose in MvC or SF, I feel cheated, because all Capcom games have ‘I Win’ moves for 4-5 characters (which is all ppl play). I never felt cheated after losing in MK, coz theres no ‘top tier’ characters like in Capcom fighters. Theres the players moves, you learn them, you get decent at em, you win.
    About the game not being a party game, yes, I’ll agree with you on that. Unless everyone in the room is either a moron or a seasoned vet, good times will not be had. However, that seems to be your entire reason to dislike it. You cant throw, because its designed that way. Yes, I said it, its designed to fail so you cant spam throw ppl. Moves aren’t simple so ‘some’ ppl can feel good when they get good with a character… and win. I play ANY Capcom fighter, and even when I win I feel like it was too easy, or all I did was this guy’s special, or this one combo. To win in MK, you need a collaboration of things.
    I know you said we cant say you hate this game coz you suck, but what I will say is you hate this game coz you cant play it & wont learn it…

    • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

      What’s sad about MvC 3 is that you’re forced to play it in a spammy way if your opponent is spammy, which is the majority of its online players. Rarely do you get players who fight properly…and even when you do, I do get the sense of being “cheated” somehow, even if they clearly beat me by memorizing chain crossover attacks and specials. I don’t know what it is about it that makes me feel this way.

      So I do agree with you when you say Spoony’s hate is extremely misdirected, because he clearly loves MvC 3 which is by far the spammiest fighter on the planet (even though it’s extremely fun), contradicting himself in the process. But he concentrated on one side of the argument which I somewhat agree on; learning curve and how easy it is to learn characters. MK could’ve implemented a better method of casual play because the moves are hard to memorize, while MvC 3 is very welcoming because it’s easy to make yourself look skilled and have fun while doing so…not to mention its absurd casual mode.

      If Spoony ever gives the new MK more of a chance by buying the silver controller and playing it with friends offline (and I stress on offline), he’ll like it a lot more. As of now though, consider these thoughts as impressions, not a full-fledged finalized review. And his current exposure to the game reflects his impressions well enough as the learning curve gets in the way of making MK a fun game from the get-go.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CZPJPXHUPPMY3N53P5RSLXYKUU mikec

    only played MK demo so i can’t say much. did like what i played, but i can’t buy fighters this gen. i have no friends that play them, so i either play the comp over and over or hop online. going online always sucks because it’s either full of lag, or the other guy is god and i just get worked. doesn’t seem to matter how well i can do against comp, without having other people to play with its hard to learn strategies and play styles. still may pick it up cheap down the road.

    100% agree about Smash Bros. i never fully got the competitive play with the series. when i would play against cousin and his friends, i was always the a-hole who would spam the falcon punch/kick to to annoy the shit out of the others playing “competitively”. after a while they would just start every match killing me so i wouldn’t ruin their game, lol.

    Virtua Fighter was always my favorite fighting game. though i guess you would hate it cuz it is all about memorizing your combos, and the combos of every other player to be able to play properly against them.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CZPJPXHUPPMY3N53P5RSLXYKUU mikec

    only played MK demo so i can’t say much. did like what i played, but i can’t buy fighters this gen. i have no friends that play them, so i either play the comp over and over or hop online. going online always sucks because it’s either full of lag, or the other guy is god and i just get worked. doesn’t seem to matter how well i can do against comp, without having other people to play with its hard to learn strategies and play styles. still may pick it up cheap down the road.

    100% agree about Smash Bros. i never fully got the competitive play with the series. when i would play against cousin and his friends, i was always the a-hole who would spam the falcon punch/kick to to annoy the shit out of the others playing “competitively”. after a while they would just start every match killing me so i wouldn’t ruin their game, lol.

    Virtua Fighter was always my favorite fighting game. though i guess you would hate it cuz it is all about memorizing your combos, and the combos of every other player to be able to play properly against them.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Angela-Wu/776806418 Angela Wu

    I actually don’t play games often at all since I seriously suck at games (esp. shooters…I hate shooters on home consoles but love it in the arcade) but I love watching people play games. After watching a let’s play of Mortal Kombat, the story mode, I seriously loved it. I was never interested in it before but just yesterday my friend showed me the old Mortal Kombat games and I hated it. It was soooo cheap. Not only was the AI cheap as hell, the battle is just so slow. (If you think Shao Khan was cheap in the new Mortal Kombat wait till you see the Shao Khan in ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It is literally impossible to win) The new Mortal Kombat is an improvement to the old ones while still keeping it faithful to the old games.

    I can’t argue with you Spoony about the controls and the glitches since I never actually played it but things such as the teleport moves I think I’ll have to disagree with you. They are still fairly easy to block which leaves a big opening and almost all characters have it so I believe its fairly balanced.

    The move list of the characters are very different which I think is actually a good thing. It makes it so that the characters feel special and distinct. Personally I suck at learning moves even in Marvel vs Copcom 3 as I am a button masher but I can see that people see Mortal Kombat as a fighting game for hard core players and when you do learn the moves, the game is very entertaining.

    Seriously? BlazBlue? The point and concept of a special move is that you have to actually do a special input to execute it. By just pressing on the d-pad to execute a special makes it become just a regular move like a punch. Seriously……BlazBlue……lol.

    You didn’t talk about the challenge tower though…Other than the story, the Challenge tower is another thing that’s better than other fighting games. The extras are more satisfying than the other fighting games such as Street Fighters or MvC 3.

    Btw the thing about Noob is that he is a tribute character to the creators of MK so I’m ok with him being lame lol.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002012310166 Hogas Vlad

    I agree with your point of view spoony. games should be about having fun and using skill, not memorized paterns and exagerated reaction times. That said I did play MK4 and i liked it. I actualy had fun and it did have some strategy to it because there was a slight delay between moves which basicaly ment no air-juggles and no extremly long combo chains, cause all it took was one punch to break your elaborate scheme, so the game really became like a dance: you moved up and pulled a move then moved back to avoid the counter. It was fun. And the delay also ment no one could abuse the friggin teleport moves. Best thing: one small buton mapped to block ment it took nothing short than a fatality to actualy do serious damage to you, and everything else than direct hits or a sweep was intrerupted before it coudl hurt you. Even tp moves (except Scorpion’s kick … :|)

    I dropped by a friend with a 360 and played the new MK at him … and i’m sorry but it sucks ass compared to 4. There no longer is any delay, the controls are really hard to get used to, and the spam reigns supreme. I know some might say you can block the tp moves … some of them you can block, others you can avoid, if you are really lucky or have the reflexes of a friggin F1 pilot (even then the unresponsive controls might fuck you up) … but some are imposible. Scorpion’s kick is still unblockable. And that really ruins the game. For me at least.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NX27SM67V3KAY7UKAH6YIOOOPQ e

    MK games have always been mediocre fighting games in comparison to Street Fighter 2 or Arcana Hearts or Blazblue. Also, if you really like fighting games and want to get good at it, get an arcade stick.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Doug-Smith/1595632907 Doug Smith

    Spoony there’s one thing you need to do to truly understand Mortal Kombat 9. Go back and play Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. In terms of difficulty and insane moves, MK9 is tame compared to UMK3. And anyone who comes into MK9 having played UMK3 will think ‘Wow, this is like UMK3 only it’s not raping me in the ass!’

    Also don’t blame the game for the controller’s problems. Everyone knows the XBox 360 controller sucks for fighting games. That’s why they released a new controller designed specifically to play Street Fighter 4. The only other choice Netherrealm had was to not release it on the XBox 360.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Doug-Smith/1595632907 Doug Smith

    Spoony there’s one thing you need to do to truly understand Mortal Kombat 9. Go back and play Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. In terms of difficulty and insane moves, MK9 is tame compared to UMK3. And anyone who comes into MK9 having played UMK3 will think ‘Wow, this is like UMK3 only it’s not raping me in the ass!’

    Also don’t blame the game for the controller’s problems. Everyone knows the XBox 360 controller sucks for fighting games. That’s why they released a new controller designed specifically to play Street Fighter 4. The only other choice Netherrealm had was to not release it on the XBox 360.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Doug-Smith/1595632907 Doug Smith

    Spoony there’s one thing you need to do to truly understand Mortal Kombat 9. Go back and play Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. In terms of difficulty and insane moves, MK9 is tame compared to UMK3. And anyone who comes into MK9 having played UMK3 will think ‘Wow, this is like UMK3 only it’s not raping me in the ass!’

    Also don’t blame the game for the controller’s problems. Everyone knows the XBox 360 controller sucks for fighting games. That’s why they released a new controller designed specifically to play Street Fighter 4. The only other choice Netherrealm had was to not release it on the XBox 360.

  • http://www.facebook.com/SpudimusPrime89 Andrew Falkenhan

    I agree with you Smash Bros. statement. I do love playing the series, but the “tourney players” just suck ALL the fun out of the game. The game IS meant to be a button masher, not a serious fighter.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

      Smash is less of a button masher than every other fighter.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

      Smash is less of a button masher than every other fighter.

  • http://www.facebook.com/SpudimusPrime89 Andrew Falkenhan

    I agree with you Smash Bros. statement. I do love playing the series, but the “tourney players” just suck ALL the fun out of the game. The game IS meant to be a button masher, not a serious fighter.

  • http://www.facebook.com/SpudimusPrime89 Andrew Falkenhan

    I agree with you Smash Bros. statement. I do love playing the series, but the “tourney players” just suck ALL the fun out of the game. The game IS meant to be a button masher, not a serious fighter.

  • http://www.facebook.com/SpudimusPrime89 Andrew Falkenhan

    I agree with you Smash Bros. statement. I do love playing the series, but the “tourney players” just suck ALL the fun out of the game. The game IS meant to be a button masher, not a serious fighter.

  • http://twitter.com/Mordaedil Mordaedil

    I love Super Smash Bros. as a party game too, but I never got tournament play. I played the shit out of Melee, but Brawl I felt like wasn’t for me, so I’m with ya, Spoony.

  • http://twitter.com/Mordaedil Mordaedil

    I love Super Smash Bros. as a party game too, but I never got tournament play. I played the shit out of Melee, but Brawl I felt like wasn’t for me, so I’m with ya, Spoony.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Roler-Dark/100000545592088 Roler Dark

    with this Vlog i just learned to respect you even more spoony, you disliked mortal kombat, but you actually gave us legit reasons and even told us that most of these issues were a matter of taste, kudos for that, it’s rare to find opinions like these when 90% of the internet has people insulting others for liking something they don’t

  • Anonymous

    Even though I like the game, I have to agree with many criticisms. There are a few fights in the storyline where I was having too hard of a time executing moves. However once I switched to the D-pad things… I can’t say got easier, but they at least became possible. I was playing on the PS3 by the way.

    I can’t wait to see what online is like, but I fear I’ll be waiting longer than the Duke Nukem Forever crowd.

  • Anonymous

    Even though I like the game, I have to agree with many criticisms. There are a few fights in the storyline where I was having too hard of a time executing moves. However once I switched to the D-pad things… I can’t say got easier, but they at least became possible. I was playing on the PS3 by the way.

    I can’t wait to see what online is like, but I fear I’ll be waiting longer than the Duke Nukem Forever crowd.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_576YKUXQ7Y2T7YCVM7GBS2PRHY Matt

    I love it. “I’m not going to get to heavily into spoilers…” *immediately shows video clip of the ending.*
    This game was amazing. Best fighter I’ve played in years. I’m sorry you don’t agree. The fact that you liked Mortal Kombat II and not this confuses me though, considering that this game pretty much caters to the old school Mortal Kombat fan…

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Roler-Dark/100000545592088 Roler Dark

      the thing is that he said that MvC 3 is a better game for when you’re in a party playing with friends, since all the charactes are basically the same, no one needs to learn combos (button mashing)

      for mortal kombat you actually need to learn the combos and get good at the guy you choose, so if you want a quick play with your friends you would have to actually learn how to fight with the different guys before even playing XD

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      Spoony was mainly saying that you know how to do most of a character’s basic supers etc because they all have that core in common even if the properties of the moves vary widely. You don’t have to look them up in MVC because you can probably guess them in an intuitive fashion.

      From an interface design perspective, MVC 3′s approach is superior since it’s faster to learn and easier to remember.

      MK takes an older more execution heavy approach by changing up the move inputs between characters. Great if you’re the type who likes to really get into a game’s engine. It’s not as intuitive, but it’s not intended to be.

      There are two main factions in respect to execution and accessibility for fighters. The easier it is for a game to pick up and play, the faster you get into the mental strategy trying to out think your opponent etc. The risk there is that you can potentially kill the game’s depth if the characters play too samey.

      Some people really enjoy the execution aspect of fighters claiming it better demonstrates skill. Thing is, even in execution heavy games, you’re still working towards the point where the execution becomes second nature and you’re back to the core game which is really trying to outwit your opponent. You just have to work harder to get up to that level.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_576YKUXQ7Y2T7YCVM7GBS2PRHY Matt

    I love it. “I’m not going to get to heavily into spoilers…” *immediately shows video clip of the ending.*
    This game was amazing. Best fighter I’ve played in years. I’m sorry you don’t agree. The fact that you liked Mortal Kombat II and not this confuses me though, considering that this game pretty much caters to the old school Mortal Kombat fan…

  • Anonymous

    I loved the FIRST, POWER STONE, it’s a “brawler” not a fighting game technically but it’s the only thing like a fighting game I every got really good at and loved! The weapons and collecting of the stones to transform, and the true 3D levels! Best fighter of all time! No combo’s not button memorizations, just timing skill and fun!

  • Anonymous

    I loved the FIRST, POWER STONE, it’s a “brawler” not a fighting game technically but it’s the only thing like a fighting game I every got really good at and loved! The weapons and collecting of the stones to transform, and the true 3D levels! Best fighter of all time! No combo’s not button memorizations, just timing skill and fun!

  • http://www.facebook.com/jmanousos Joukalis Manousos

    The fatalities are the easiest thing to do in ps3.I’m a total Xbox fanboy when it comes to shooters but the Dpad SUCKS balls on XBOX 360, I can’t even change my weapon .That is not the case with PS3 though. PS3 ‘s dpad is much much better. And I play fighting games with a d-pad,not with an analog stick. My friends are total noobs and actually they never seemed to fail on the fatalities.They executed them first try. I haven’t played multiplayer yet because of the PSN fiasco. Seriously spoony do a review on the ps3 version maybe you’ll like it better.I know what you mean about the moves they all differ so much and Kano’s special rolls don’t even use right hand buttons just d-pad directions.It should be a nightmare to pull off these moves on Xbox360. I don’t know about the graphics.Are they better or worse on XBOX360.Does anyone own both versions?

  • http://www.facebook.com/jmanousos Joukalis Manousos

    The fatalities are the easiest thing to do in ps3.I’m a total Xbox fanboy when it comes to shooters but the Dpad SUCKS balls on XBOX 360, I can’t even change my weapon .That is not the case with PS3 though. PS3 ‘s dpad is much much better. And I play fighting games with a d-pad,not with an analog stick. My friends are total noobs and actually they never seemed to fail on the fatalities.They executed them first try. I haven’t played multiplayer yet because of the PSN fiasco. Seriously spoony do a review on the ps3 version maybe you’ll like it better.I know what you mean about the moves they all differ so much and Kano’s special rolls don’t even use right hand buttons just d-pad directions.It should be a nightmare to pull off these moves on Xbox360. I don’t know about the graphics.Are they better or worse on XBOX360.Does anyone own both versions?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Vennes/100000192174802 William Vennes

    I’m really hoping they release some kind of dlc or update for the story mode. That ending makes me want to see what happens next.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZFDITNEU2RBT3JMSNUIGHMO73E RedFox

    I have always been able to block Sheeva’s teleport move by ducking and blocking. Works against almost any move, now that I think about it. Unless MK9 changed it.

  • http://twitter.com/Thammuz90 Thammuz

    Being a lover of fighting games and a hater of thumbsticks, i had already bought a silver edition 360 controller with a d-pad that actually works, unlike the ones on the normal 360 controller before this game came out. I tried it on both and i have to tell you: there’s no match.

    Fatalities pretty much always work if you use the silver edition, it’s just the normal controller that is shit, the input actually passes through really well once you get a good controller to play on.

    I know it’s not a plus, i’m just saying it’s not a fault of the game itself, which is clearly not meant to be played on a thumbstick, anyway.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529420579 Michael Mastri

    I do agree that too many characters are able to teleport. For example, Cyrax doesn’t really need a teleport since his move set is solid enough. The teleports are very blockable though, and if you do block it, you go to town on the opponent. You’re right, if you’re jumping you’re screwed, so play it defensive. If you see Scorpion start to teleport, just stand there and hold the block button. You will block it, he’ll pop up into the air and be completely vulnerable. My main is Kano and so far I haven’t really had a problem against people spamming teleport moves, just be smart with how you attack. Oh and as for Kintaro’s teleport move, you can’t block that, but you can intercept him with a careful jump kick right before he comes down on you, just like in MK2.
    But I do admit the online is pretty laggy, and the ps3 controls do feel a lot better than the xbox360 having played both and completed the challenge tower for both versions. Oh and yeah, the story mode really is that awesome, and Johnny’s the best.

  • Anonymous

    Your talk about how BlazBlue does it so much simpler is exactly why I love Super Smash Bros. so much.

  • Anonymous

    Your talk about how BlazBlue does it so much simpler is exactly why I love Super Smash Bros. so much.

  • http://www.utahraptorz.deviantart.com Petra Michael

    I haven’t really played that many fighters, and I’ve barely even played Mortal Kombat, so I can’t really say much on the new game. ^^; It was really interesting to hear the different point-of-views from both you and Angry Joe though. I had watched his review of the game before I saw your’s, so I think that it’s kinda cool to hear two people’s different opinions on a game. :)

    Lol, and I would probably majorly suck at Mortal Kombat, for my memory skills are quite terrible. XD Oh well, I’ll have to try to get ahold of this game to see what I’ll think of it. :)

    However, I have played Super Smash Bros. Brawl before…do people really take that game that seriously? O_o Lol, I’ve never token the game seriously except when trying to unlock other characters. (I love to unlock extra content. XD) Even then, I only play this game if I have a friend over and if we both feel like playing it.

    Edit: Lol, I just wanted to point out that I do love Super Smash Bros. Lol, I wasn’t sure if what I said made it seem like I didn’t like it very much. ^^;

  • Anonymous

    I have to say, I understand a lot of your points on the game, though don’t exactly agree on all of them.

    Honestly, I think it’s good that there’s an obvious advantage for players who have spent their time in practice mode and learned their shit. You mention BlazBlue, and that’s my game. Building good fundamentals is important, but even if you’re outplaying me, if you can only tag me for 2k each time, and when I land a hit I can convert it to 5-7k, you’re not going to win the majority of the time. If you want to win at a fighting game, you need to build both these things, and IMO, that’s how it should be. I definitely see how Mahval is an exception to this, ’cause in that game the most random crap can lead to instant death. Doesn’t matter if you’ve played for two months or two minutes, Sentinel’s launcher can still KO you on the spot. That might make Marvel the better party game, but competitively, I can’t imagine how salty you’d get every time you get tagged by some random attack and all of a sudden they’ve got x-factor on and you’re dead. Not to say Marvel’s a bad game, by any means.

    But at the same time, I agree with you on a lot of levels. For the sort of game you’re looking for, Marvel is definitely the better game to just mash some buttons and have a blast. Plus, you’re playing on the 360 controller. My God, that controller. I’m sure a lot of those control issues would vanish if you picked up stick, but you need to be pretty committed to shell out for one of those. Still, I do feel for you trying to play fighters on that pad. MK also has a lot of obnoxious things. Teleports are definitely obnoxious, as are the numerous unblockables in the game, as is the high chip damage even when you do block attacks. But as you made note of, one of the most obnoxious parts of the game are those x-ray animations. It’s normal in fighters for super moves to have some form of special animation that slows down the game, but the x-ray attacks are definitely the most annoying in, at least, any recent game. The problems with them stem from, one, them simply taking way too long to do their animation, and two, their animation not actually being all that exciting. There’s a limit to how many times you find the same slow-mo bone-snapping animation exciting, and that limit’s probably about three times total, not every time you have the meter to end your combo with it in every match you play. You can work around all these mechanics, but personally, I do find them incredibly annoying. I agree that this isn’t a title I’ll likely be buying, but it is at least worth a rent (or a friend who is buying it), just to see if you like it.

    tl;dr
    Definitely the best MK game in a LONG time, but not looking more impressive than all the other fighters that have been coming out of the revival, and it really comes down to preference. But, we can all agree that the 360 pad is terrible for fighting games.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ph1l333 Philip Angana Cain

    YES FINALLY. I’ve never understood the so called “tourny players” for super smash. I wanted to play one of my friends and he said items off, these 2 or 3 maps only, you cant pick these characters because they are OP, oh no dont pick him hes low tier… seriously? you’re taking all the fun parts of the game out for your stupid elitism.

    /rant

  • Anonymous

    There is something to be said of fighting games where combo memorization trumps everything.
    Well, no shit. That’s the whole appeal of these games: Being able to curb stomp someone else into the ground and doing so in an incredibly flashy or technical-looking display.

    But even the flashiest combo will become droll after seeing it 7, 8, 20 times in an evening.
    Tiered characters also create this problem. I cannot begin to mention how my appreciation of Smash Bros tanked when the online community began crafting tiers for characters and then subsequently insulting you if you happened to like, or heavens, play one that wasn’t purely competitive.

    Competing on a game of feints, timing, traps, etc is one thing. I can appreciate that.
    But when a game degenerates into Fox Shine combos or corner loops or juggling; where once a combo begins your only hope is to unplug the other guy’s controller? That’s when fighting games lose their appeal for me because it’s only a matter of time before one player lands that initial hit that starts the whole thing.

    Hell, MVC turns that sort of outrageous combo looping into the core of its game. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the oh-so-original reversal of Air-Hyper Viper Beam, or any of Storm’s shenanigans. Or Sentinel.

    I’m sure that Mortal Kombat has its share of degenerate combos, but from what little I’ve played, so far that hasn’t been the case.

  • Anonymous

    There is something to be said of fighting games where combo memorization trumps everything.
    Well, no shit. That’s the whole appeal of these games: Being able to curb stomp someone else into the ground and doing so in an incredibly flashy or technical-looking display.

    But even the flashiest combo will become droll after seeing it 7, 8, 20 times in an evening.
    Tiered characters also create this problem. I cannot begin to mention how my appreciation of Smash Bros tanked when the online community began crafting tiers for characters and then subsequently insulting you if you happened to like, or heavens, play one that wasn’t purely competitive.

    Competing on a game of feints, timing, traps, etc is one thing. I can appreciate that.
    But when a game degenerates into Fox Shine combos or corner loops or juggling; where once a combo begins your only hope is to unplug the other guy’s controller? That’s when fighting games lose their appeal for me because it’s only a matter of time before one player lands that initial hit that starts the whole thing.

    Hell, MVC turns that sort of outrageous combo looping into the core of its game. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the oh-so-original reversal of Air-Hyper Viper Beam, or any of Storm’s shenanigans. Or Sentinel.

    I’m sure that Mortal Kombat has its share of degenerate combos, but from what little I’ve played, so far that hasn’t been the case.

  • Anonymous

    Huh. Coming from an MK fanboy – who absolutely LOVES the new MK – I gotta say, I agree with most of what you said. Yeah, it’s a lot of memorization and I’m not a fan, yeah, the teleport moves (especially Sheeva’s who is UNBLOCKABLE) are cheap, the d-pad on the 360 sucks for fighters as a whole (even for MvC3 imo), and as it is right now, King of the Hill is unplayable.

    That said, I loved the game. Then again, I’m borderline masochistic.

    Also, do you have plans to ever do more on the Let’s Play of Deadly Premonition?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      If you do an early jump kick, you’ll knock Shiva out of the teleport while she’s coming down. The other teleports mainly get use as anti zoning tools to keep fireball spam down. If you block those, the teleporter is in trouble.

      • Anonymous

        Yeah, I’ve gotten the hang of knocking her out of the air – Shang Tsung’s up-skulls do the trick quite nicely – or getting out of the way. The only problem I have with Sheeva, Goro, or Kintaro’s teleporters is the whole unblockable thing is just because every other teleport is blockable, and my first instinct is to block only to get squashed.

        I will say though, that two teleporters going up against each other is rather amusing to watch. Especially when they use the teleports to evade each others’ teleports. Once, I had a fight between Cyrax and Sektor, and every time Sektor would do his tele-punch, I’d pop behind him, attempt a reversal kick, only to have him tele-punch, rinse repeat. It was rather comical really.

  • Anonymous

    Huh. Coming from an MK fanboy – who absolutely LOVES the new MK – I gotta say, I agree with most of what you said. Yeah, it’s a lot of memorization and I’m not a fan, yeah, the teleport moves (especially Sheeva’s who is UNBLOCKABLE) are cheap, the d-pad on the 360 sucks for fighters as a whole (even for MvC3 imo), and as it is right now, King of the Hill is unplayable.

    That said, I loved the game. Then again, I’m borderline masochistic.

    Also, do you have plans to ever do more on the Let’s Play of Deadly Premonition?

  • http://profiles.google.com/satansbestbuddy SatansBestBuddy >.-

    Super Smash Bros. was a party game on the N64, but then they actually balanced it somewhat and sharpened the speed for Melee and it turned out to be a very good fighter with tight controls and a wealth of strategy, so when they went back to the party game format on Brawl everybody cried and holy crap why do I even care?

    People can play their games however they want so long as they’re having fun, but I do have to agree that Brawl is not a fighter tuned to the rigors of competitive play ala Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue.

    Speaking of BlazBlue, I loved that game as well!

    Anyway, I think your biggest problems with MK is that it’s on the 360 controller, which sucks for any game that requires quick, precise movements, as both the stick and the d-pad are simply not designed for precision, like, at all.

    Either buy an arcade stick or go PS3, as that d-pad actually works really well for fighting games, I think once I got a PS3 I stopped playing fighting games on 360 altogether because the difference in how well the games controlled was massive.

  • http://profiles.google.com/satansbestbuddy SatansBestBuddy >.-

    Super Smash Bros. was a party game on the N64, but then they actually balanced it somewhat and sharpened the speed for Melee and it turned out to be a very good fighter with tight controls and a wealth of strategy, so when they went back to the party game format on Brawl everybody cried and holy crap why do I even care?

    People can play their games however they want so long as they’re having fun, but I do have to agree that Brawl is not a fighter tuned to the rigors of competitive play ala Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue.

    Speaking of BlazBlue, I loved that game as well!

    Anyway, I think your biggest problems with MK is that it’s on the 360 controller, which sucks for any game that requires quick, precise movements, as both the stick and the d-pad are simply not designed for precision, like, at all.

    Either buy an arcade stick or go PS3, as that d-pad actually works really well for fighting games, I think once I got a PS3 I stopped playing fighting games on 360 altogether because the difference in how well the games controlled was massive.

  • Anonymous

    What about Deadly Premonition? You still have yet to finish that game, and I would really love to see you play through that game.

  • Anonymous

    What about Deadly Premonition? You still have yet to finish that game, and I would really love to see you play through that game.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    I never never NEVER understood the appeal of Smash bros. The controls are crap and the majority of the game is luck.

    Now about MK… who the hell uses the thumbstick? maybe m old school but i always use the D-Pad, i even think arcade joysticks are crap compared to a good D-pad. I for one am glad every characters moves are unique. It eliminates the cheese whores and button jaggers. Nothing worse then someone who has never played the game wiping the floor with an experienced player just becasue the moves are so easy and predictable anyone can do them just mashing on the controller. (Eddy Gordo anyone?)

    All the teleport moves are kind of cheesy though i will agree. Old School Scorpion was unique as he was almost the only one with that kind of move, now everybody has one.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    I never never NEVER understood the appeal of Smash bros. The controls are crap and the majority of the game is luck.

    Now about MK… who the hell uses the thumbstick? maybe m old school but i always use the D-Pad, i even think arcade joysticks are crap compared to a good D-pad. I for one am glad every characters moves are unique. It eliminates the cheese whores and button jaggers. Nothing worse then someone who has never played the game wiping the floor with an experienced player just becasue the moves are so easy and predictable anyone can do them just mashing on the controller. (Eddy Gordo anyone?)

    All the teleport moves are kind of cheesy though i will agree. Old School Scorpion was unique as he was almost the only one with that kind of move, now everybody has one.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    I never never NEVER understood the appeal of Smash bros. The controls are crap and the majority of the game is luck.

    Now about MK… who the hell uses the thumbstick? maybe m old school but i always use the D-Pad, i even think arcade joysticks are crap compared to a good D-pad. I for one am glad every characters moves are unique. It eliminates the cheese whores and button jaggers. Nothing worse then someone who has never played the game wiping the floor with an experienced player just becasue the moves are so easy and predictable anyone can do them just mashing on the controller. (Eddy Gordo anyone?)

    All the teleport moves are kind of cheesy though i will agree. Old School Scorpion was unique as he was almost the only one with that kind of move, now everybody has one.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    I never never NEVER understood the appeal of Smash bros. The controls are crap and the majority of the game is luck.

    Now about MK… who the hell uses the thumbstick? maybe m old school but i always use the D-Pad, i even think arcade joysticks are crap compared to a good D-pad. I for one am glad every characters moves are unique. It eliminates the cheese whores and button jaggers. Nothing worse then someone who has never played the game wiping the floor with an experienced player just becasue the moves are so easy and predictable anyone can do them just mashing on the controller. (Eddy Gordo anyone?)

    All the teleport moves are kind of cheesy though i will agree. Old School Scorpion was unique as he was almost the only one with that kind of move, now everybody has one.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bastian-Tavrytzky-Vasquez/1074195975 Bastian Tavrytzky Vasquez

    i liked the review even though i loved the game.
    but i must say a lot of the complaints about the difficulty curve of the game can also be used for street fighter, especially SSFIV (focus canceling is many things, but is not a easy mechanic for new comers) with his frames cancelling combos and really hard timing chains, also about the teleport moves i know that for someone who has only played MK2 or the 3d games is not prepared for the speed of them, but if you had played MK3, UMK3 or trilogy, you know that when your opponent is far from you or he want to catch you for a combo you have to simply press block button and bam you can punish them hard for it, an experience MK player can make a teleport spammer regret their moves very easily if you mix up your game to be defensibly, also more experience gamers rarely use teleport moves except for beefing up combos or escaping projectiles.

    Well thats my thoughts on the game but i must say i liked your insights of the game, i agree the IA can be cheap as hell and the online need fixing up, good video man keep them coming.

  • Anonymous

    Well, since you asked for hate mail….
    No, but seriously, Smash Bros. is a fun game. Maybe not 8 hours straight fun, but still pretty fun. Yes, there are issues with some of the items making matches more randomized, etc, but the fact is, you can turn those things off if you want to to make it more about fighting and less about chucking a bomb in someone’s face. It’s Nintendo, you know? It’s done well, and it’s done to appeal to as many people as possible.
    I don’t know. I enjoy it. Maybe it’s because I’m good at it, but not so good that I learned every conceivable way to break it. I actually am not that great playing as MetaKnight. ROB is more my style.

    Incidentally, I avoided playing FF XIII for a long time because of the review you gave it, but I recently purchased it for cheap just because I wanted to see for myself, and I absolutely love it and think you were completely wrong and totally jumped the shark with your judgment of it. So nyeh, Spoony. I am someone on the internet who disagrees with your opinions sometimes.
    ;-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gabriel-E-Vazquez/507749354 Gabriel E. Vazquez

    I play on PS3, I haven’t had these controller problems o.O

  • Anonymous

    you hate SUPER SMASH BROS.???????????????? i cried a little inside!!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Grzegorz-Wojtczyk/100000046280578 Grzegorz Wojtczyk

    Getting an arcade stick dedicated for Xbox 360 is the best way to play any fighting game on that console. At least that’s what I think.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jack-Donald/547723767 Jack Donald

    Ah, so the spoony one is a fan of the nut shot? I do agree on the teleport moves, they’re so easy to pull off and they deal special move amounts of damage. The computer can usually deal with them, they just turn around and block or they just move if you’re Sheeva but you get so little warning that, against most players, its a pretty guaranteed hit.

  • http://profiles.google.com/addermoray Adder M

    If the person who had to win had won too early then everything would be even MORE screwed, hence ‘He must win’

  • Anonymous

    This reminds me of the old WWF games and how they came and went back in the trampoline days. it seemed like gaming went from button mashing and living room birthday party fist fighting. to just plane boreing code lists and the “are you done yet?” idea. it was lame but understandable and conclusive.
    keep in mind that most people dont have good hand eye coordination. people act like we “have” to play these games. the first games had a single knob for just this reason. talking about games to kick ass at by memorizeation, this is strange scrutinization comeing from a chess player. I always liked mortal kombat and street fighter. but this mortal combat is like a tribute to itself and it comes across as a bit selfish in that way. alway could use less codes more moves.

    I’m spade and never miss “the experience”.

  • Anonymous

    This reminds me of the old WWF games and how they came and went back in the trampoline days. it seemed like gaming went from button mashing and living room birthday party fist fighting. to just plane boreing code lists and the “are you done yet?” idea. it was lame but understandable and conclusive.
    keep in mind that most people dont have good hand eye coordination. people act like we “have” to play these games. the first games had a single knob for just this reason. talking about games to kick ass at by memorizeation, this is strange scrutinization comeing from a chess player. I always liked mortal kombat and street fighter. but this mortal combat is like a tribute to itself and it comes across as a bit selfish in that way. alway could use less codes more moves.

    I’m spade and never miss “the experience”.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DVHORZ64LS4U6IB4HGQPPXW564 Anonomous Hippopotamus

    I love the new MK, and yet I completely agree with your opinions. It’s just that what you hate I like. Although FUCK SHAO KAHN AND NOOB. I also agree with you on SSB. My friends love to play it when we get wasted, but no one takes it seriously.

  • Renaissance_nerd

    Try the 360 silver controller with the new “transforming” D-Pad Spoony. Works like a charm for MK , yea i know there is a legitimate bitch about having to buy a special controller but it does work much better then the default 360 controller.

  • Anonymous

    spoony i love all your stuff and you provide so much entertainment for me. but man when it comes to games I’m mostly disagreeing with you on most things. too me it seems like you just don’t like modern games.

    now For me mortal kombat 2 was the best of the series. no other game could top it. but i can honestly say that the day i thought would never come has arrived. the new Mortal Kombat actually tops MK2.

    i kinda knew you weren’t going to like it before seeing it. you didn’t seem that impressed with it at E3 (or was that PAX?). Anyway i also want to say that nether realms already made a announcement about the online lag. Which was that they didn’t expect MK to be so damn successful and their servers weren’t prepared for the huge amount of stress players put on them and they’re working to address the problem. they said in roughly 2 weeks the lag should be much less. That announcement was posted about a week ago.

    Anyway man still love ya. i hope you get well soon!!

  • Anonymous

    spoony i love all your stuff and you provide so much entertainment for me. but man when it comes to games I’m mostly disagreeing with you on most things. too me it seems like you just don’t like modern games.

    now For me mortal kombat 2 was the best of the series. no other game could top it. but i can honestly say that the day i thought would never come has arrived. the new Mortal Kombat actually tops MK2.

    i kinda knew you weren’t going to like it before seeing it. you didn’t seem that impressed with it at E3 (or was that PAX?). Anyway i also want to say that nether realms already made a announcement about the online lag. Which was that they didn’t expect MK to be so damn successful and their servers weren’t prepared for the huge amount of stress players put on them and they’re working to address the problem. they said in roughly 2 weeks the lag should be much less. That announcement was posted about a week ago.

    Anyway man still love ya. i hope you get well soon!!

  • Anonymous

    spoony i love all your stuff and you provide so much entertainment for me. but man when it comes to games I’m mostly disagreeing with you on most things. too me it seems like you just don’t like modern games.

    now For me mortal kombat 2 was the best of the series. no other game could top it. but i can honestly say that the day i thought would never come has arrived. the new Mortal Kombat actually tops MK2.

    i kinda knew you weren’t going to like it before seeing it. you didn’t seem that impressed with it at E3 (or was that PAX?). Anyway i also want to say that nether realms already made a announcement about the online lag. Which was that they didn’t expect MK to be so damn successful and their servers weren’t prepared for the huge amount of stress players put on them and they’re working to address the problem. they said in roughly 2 weeks the lag should be much less. That announcement was posted about a week ago.

    Anyway man still love ya. i hope you get well soon!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nick-Vossen/100000145404231 Nick Vossen

    I can see where you’re getting at with your points but I have to admit I LOVE the new MK! I haven’t had any problems getting moves or fatalities to work but I do have to say I play it on the PS3, which has a nicer d-pad, admit it ;) . I mostly agree with your standpoints on gaming Spoony but this is clearly one of those rare occasions. For the rest, get well and fuck SSB! :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nick-Vossen/100000145404231 Nick Vossen

    I can see where you’re getting at with your points but I have to admit I LOVE the new MK! I haven’t had any problems getting moves or fatalities to work but I do have to say I play it on the PS3, which has a nicer d-pad, admit it ;) . I mostly agree with your standpoints on gaming Spoony but this is clearly one of those rare occasions. For the rest, get well and fuck SSB! :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Caleb-Burkes/100001792771923 Caleb Burkes

    try turbofire 2,I broke my two controllers playing this game,this controller fixed all your problem, and it is very cheap

  • Anonymous

    I was all with you on your little smash bros rant until you started saying that it was a kids game and deriding 40 year old’s for playing it. Really, isn’t that the type of argument that non-geeks use to attack people who are interested in video games and RPG’s and stuff “why are you playing with kids toys?” Seriously.

    As far as smash bros, I think it is a bit more than just a party game, but I do agree that it is simply not designed for competition the same way that something like street fighter or Tekan is, and I think that is a good thing. I have some friends who play melee “seriously” and they use 5 characters tops, with one or two of them being considered a handicap, and they only use 3 levels and of course no items. They then have the nerve to be have a problem with me actually wanting to play the entire game (with all of the items and all of the fun and random levels) instead of just the 5% of it that works competitively.

    And why does random chance destroy skill? If we both have an equal chance to benefit from random events in the game shouldn’t the better player still come out on top, at least over all. And knowing how to anticipate and utilize the randomness that the game throws at you is a skill unique to Smash Bros that I love and I hate that people want to get rid of it as much as possible.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

      the random levels aren’t fun to them.

      funny how it works the opposite way, huh?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-White/1325927293 Matthew White

    Here’s the thing about Memory Vs Skill:

    It’s all got to do with memory…

    Let’s be real here. Tekken and MK are notorious for memory of actual combos. (Input these commands in this order to perform a predetermined attack combo for damage) The skill is actually inputing the sequence of commands to make the combo happen, they’re long and you have to be quick and know the right timing to pull it off. With the wrong controller it makes it difficult and annoying to be so precise in pulling it off. DOA4 to a lesser extent has predetermined combos but has more “freedom” which small combos to perform (like doing a combo into a high attacks or low attack)

    Then there’s SSF4, KOF, BlazBlue where the memory are when to use the special moves. (Input of these special moves are simple and span across multiple characters) There are no real “combos” except for ones you can string with the set of special moves (plus punches, kicks and throws). The skill? Knowing when to use a move at the right time, AND -more importantly- performing the special moves back to back. So the difficulty is actually performing the special move with another move which requires placement, timing and execution. So you could come up with a neat combo of say for Ryu: punch, punch, low punch, dragon punch (special) and THEN cancel into the same special again. Well that’s all good and all it’s just a different mechanic of the game right?

    Once you find a combo you will stick with that combo cause of difficulty and reward. So as for skill goes it’s all just memory it’s just a different way of practice. It’s either practice the predetermined combo or the combo you came up with. I’ve gotten rocked in MvC3 by guys doing crazy ass combos with characters I would never thought of but then agan that’s ALL they do cause it’s the most effective move they found and I don’t blame them I bet that was a pain in the ass to find out…or they just saw it online against someone else and copied it or looked online for a good team to cheese with. :/

    Another thing with unbalanced difficulty is that irregardless of what fighter it is, if you haven’t played it enough you’re not gonna win, period. You make get that lucky streak of button mashing but it ain’t gonna net you a 5:1 ratio of wins and losses. So it’s a moot point to say if someone knows a combo (whether they found it out their own or not) and you don’t that you just can’t win and you HAVE to memorize a combo to win. Get what I’m saying? You have to memorize SOMETHING right?

    I get what you mean not to memorize every damn move of a character. Shit I started playing Tekken 6 and I always liked King so I’m all like “Okay let’s see his moveset” and the fucking pussy (pun) has 129 moves. 129MOVES!? Shit I wasn’t gonna remember every one of those. So I didn’t just the ones I knew I could perform the easiest and were best used practically (I would bold that word a lot).

    I agree though it’s easier to have a input system the same across characters and they all do different things so it comes down to stringing those moves together to be supa-badass. I love MK and SS (I really love BB and DOA4 a lot). But then again I’m meh on MvC3 for different reasons (mostly that playing my favorites just doesn’t cut it cause they don’t fit well together in a fight).

    It’s nothing against you liking a certain fighter. Shit I wish they brought DOA5 to the table but oh well. Just saying some points seem mer on validness cause they can be easily applied to other fighters (unbalance, glitches, skill v memory) Otherwise I understand and can agree with your points completely.

  • http://www.facebook.com/themonsean Sean Keller

    I think your problem, Spoony, and I may be guessing is that you have it for the 360. Cuz I have it for the ps3 and the controls work perfect. I want to do a move and it happens. I never liked the 360 d-pad and for a fighter on a 2d plane that is what I use. So if the controller is your problem its cuz of that. Or you just suck and need to stop playing games over the difficulty or skill of Peggle.

  • http://twitter.com/getintheVandell Vandell

    While I agree that Super Smash Bros is a strange game to take seriously, it IS taken seriously. There’s a whole slew of characters you can’t use in MVC2 tournaments, errata of abilities you can’t use, infinite combos that are axe’d.. same with SSFIV, there are characters that are “top tier” and “god tier” and etc., while with others you are considered to be shooting yourself in the foot for using them.

    • Anonymous

      The only thing you can’t use in mvc2 and sf tournaments are gamebreaking bugs and occasionally an obviously op character like akuma in super turbo.

    • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

      Competitive Smash Bros play is interesting in that the tiers and perceived handicaps are constantly changing, and not just game-to-game, but within each game as the community starts to learn the subtleties of the characters better. The same may be true in other fighters as well, but it’s one of the reasons the Smash series has always appealed to me.

    • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

      Competitive Smash Bros play is interesting in that the tiers and perceived handicaps are constantly changing, and not just game-to-game, but within each game as the community starts to learn the subtleties of the characters better. The same may be true in other fighters as well, but it’s one of the reasons the Smash series has always appealed to me.

    • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

      Competitive Smash Bros play is interesting in that the tiers and perceived handicaps are constantly changing, and not just game-to-game, but within each game as the community starts to learn the subtleties of the characters better. The same may be true in other fighters as well, but it’s one of the reasons the Smash series has always appealed to me.

  • Anonymous

    Sorry Spoony I disagree, I have had a much better time with Mortal Kombat then I did with MVC3. I love the vs. series, but I was disappointed with the package the presented after a decade of waiting. Mortal Kombat put a lot more content into in and I am really enjoying it.

    Though I played on the PS3, not to start fan boy rants, but I haven’t had any trouble with the moves on the dpad of that controller. Give it another chance on a ps3 if you can, also with PSN down I only got to play MK online for the first day so I can’t address those issues.

    Thanks for the entertainment as always.

  • http://profiles.google.com/229291 Jim Marston

    I like the new Mortal Kombat, but I can see where you’re coming from, Spoony. What I want to know is what you think of that new Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries they have coming out? It’s up to episode four, now.

  • http://profiles.google.com/229291 Jim Marston

    I like the new Mortal Kombat, but I can see where you’re coming from, Spoony. What I want to know is what you think of that new Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries they have coming out? It’s up to episode four, now.

  • http://profiles.google.com/229291 Jim Marston

    I like the new Mortal Kombat, but I can see where you’re coming from, Spoony. What I want to know is what you think of that new Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries they have coming out? It’s up to episode four, now.

  • http://twitter.com/Nast3e Nikolay Valkanov

    Okay dude, I love a lot of your reviews and rants, but only when they are logical and have basis.
    I knew you would find a way to shit on this game.

    I am halfway through this vlog, and every single thing you mentioned was… well, bullcrap.
    > “the movelists are different for the characters, I have to memorize new ones every time!”
    …duh. fighting game with different moves for characters? The only exception to the rule are the shoto characters in SF. I bet you suck at Tekken.
    > “when I play online it lags.”
    …in this and many other games.
    > “characters’ teleport moves piss me off”
    …been there since the beginning, you can’t complain about them. That’s what you get with MK gameplay, same as Sagat spamming “Tiger!” in SF every time.
    > “I can’t perform fatalities, the guy just does a punch to the face”
    …If you were able to do the fatalities easy, wouldn’t it take away from the game? It’s supposed to be cool and satisying when you do them, and if it takes some skill to pass the tricky part, it’s better when you pull it off. It’s been like that always. Push “A”? Screw you, bro.
    > When there are a few blokes gathered in a room playing, and one of the guys has memorized the movelist for his favorite characters well, and beats you, is that a bad thing? Of course the guy who has played more and knows his moves will beat you. Of course it would be much better is everyone playing was good at the game!
    Besides, you can learn to play well with a chosen character in about 20 minutes. Who the F goes against against friends and complains about these things when they haven’t taken the time to play and learn?
    > Then, Xbox controller thumbstick is shit. Well, yes. That is the controller’s fault. You should’ve played the PS3 version with the superior controller.
    > You want the special moves and the fatalities assigned to single buttons? Why not want a game that plays itself while you sit there and eat a sandwich?
    Besides, MK was never the game with deep strategic battle system. Go to Tekken or SF for that.
    > “…some stuff in the krypt are worthless, stick figure drawings”
    I enjoy seeing early game development materials once I’ve bought out the extra costumes and stuff. It’s called extra content, it is always welcome. The stick figure drawings are cheap as hell, take note, and pass them over if you want an extra costume.

    >> The ONLY thing that I give you was that the X-Ray moves are indeed ridiculous, and no one would be able to keep fighting after they’ve had their skull crushed to bits or internal organs frozen and shattered. :D This was a huge overkill which really took me out of the game. I also wanted to disable them after seeing them 4-5 times.

    The thing is you took a dump on the game based on a lot of things present in almost every fighting game – memorizing moves, bad online play, shit xbox controller, hard to do moves (in this case fatalities)?
    Street fighter is close to this game in every aspect you complained. You were just looking to bash it and complained about things you have no right to complain about.

    I would rate the game 9/10, taking a point off because of the X-ray moves and some other minor things. First great and deserving sequel in the series.

    • Anonymous

      No offense to Spoony, but he really is just an asian fan-boy. Meaning, anything that comes out of Japan is either agreeable, or better than anything American. It just felt like he was just bashing it, because it wasnt a Capcom game. He even said in the beginning he wasnt ever really into MK.
      The vlog was really just his own opinion, which he stressed heavily, but what kinda ticked me off was his comment on: “I’d rather a game that takes skill to play.” … excuse me? So your suggesting MK takes no skill what-so-ever to play? Yeah, that kinda angered me.

      • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

        He could’ve worded that better. I’m assuming his point was that it requires too grueling an investment to even get to the point where skill actually does matter. Playing it on a casual level, skill and strategy are especially irrelevant, and that certainly isn’t the case for an awful lot of other fighters – even those that offer similar levels of competitive play.

      • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

        He could’ve worded that better. I’m assuming his point was that it requires too grueling an investment to even get to the point where skill actually does matter. Playing it on a casual level, skill and strategy are especially irrelevant, and that certainly isn’t the case for an awful lot of other fighters – even those that offer similar levels of competitive play.

      • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

        He could’ve worded that better. I’m assuming his point was that it requires too grueling an investment to even get to the point where skill actually does matter. Playing it on a casual level, skill and strategy are especially irrelevant, and that certainly isn’t the case for an awful lot of other fighters – even those that offer similar levels of competitive play.

    • Anonymous

      “…been there since the beginning, you can’t complain about them. That’s what you get with MK gameplay, same as Sagat spamming “Tiger!” in SF every time”

      Okay, I have to say, that’s just asinine. Just because a mechanic has ‘been there since the beginning’ doesn’t mean it’s automatically exempt from frustrating people. There are people who get frustrated as all hell because they can’t carry every weapon they find in Halo with them at all times like you could in Doom.

      Does that make their frustration any less valid? Does a person’s foot hurt any less when they drop a hammer on it just because gravity has been there from the beginning?

      The simple fact is that Spoony has every right to get frustrated, pissed, or whatever at whatever he damn well feels like. Who the hell do you think you are, dictating what people can or cannot feel? Didn’t realize Castro frequented TSE.

  • Anonymous

    You refuse to let any game love you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Licantro Leonardo A. Vidal Fernández

    Fatalities are not that hard to pull off, this is what you need to keep in mind:

    1- Check the fatalities on your move list to see how far or close they need to be done.

    2- Don’t try doing these moves like Street Fighter, where you usually need to nail down “rounded inputs”… Let’s say on MK a down – forward+x (Sub zero freezing ball) against Ryu’s fireball : down->down/forward-> forward+punch. In the execution they look similar and they may work identically for you, but on MK you can actually “type” down and forward with the d-pad while on SF you need to input the move in a rounded way without releasing your thumb.
    The same goes for fatalities, “type” them down with the D-pad, don’t try to “move” the d-pad in order to create half U /Z moves or something even if they look so.

    3-Don’t use the thumb stick, just the d-pad. If you only have the horrible original xbox 360 controller and you keep failing…you can use that controller to smash a window or a thief someday. (Get the new model: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Silver-Controller-Play-Charge/dp/B0041HROGG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304551268&sr=8-3 (Check the product description below)

  • http://www.facebook.com/Licantro Leonardo A. Vidal Fernández

    Fatalities are not that hard to pull off, this is what you need to keep in mind:

    1- Check the fatalities on your move list to see how far or close they need to be done.

    2- Don’t try doing these moves like Street Fighter, where you usually need to nail down “rounded inputs”… Let’s say on MK a down – forward+x (Sub zero freezing ball) against Ryu’s fireball : down->down/forward-> forward+punch. In the execution they look similar and they may work identically for you, but on MK you can actually “type” down and forward with the d-pad while on SF you need to input the move in a rounded way without releasing your thumb.
    The same goes for fatalities, “type” them down with the D-pad, don’t try to “move” the d-pad in order to create half U /Z moves or something even if they look so.

    3-Don’t use the thumb stick, just the d-pad. If you only have the horrible original xbox 360 controller and you keep failing…you can use that controller to smash a window or a thief someday. (Get the new model: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Silver-Controller-Play-Charge/dp/B0041HROGG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304551268&sr=8-3 (Check the product description below)

  • Anonymous

    I Like Mortal Kombat, but I respect your opinion, my advice, play fighting games on the ps3, the controller is a little bit better for those types of things.

  • http://www.facebook.com/robbieelliott Robert Elliott Simmons

    One thing i really don’t like is how fuckin’ stiff the characters are. The namco fighters have a finesse to their movement the MK team can’t just seem to nail.

  • http://www.facebook.com/robbieelliott Robert Elliott Simmons

    One thing i really don’t like is how fuckin’ stiff the characters are. The namco fighters have a finesse to their movement the MK team can’t just seem to nail.

  • http://www.facebook.com/robbieelliott Robert Elliott Simmons

    One thing i really don’t like is how fuckin’ stiff the characters are. The namco fighters have a finesse to their movement the MK team can’t just seem to nail.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jenfinger77 Jennifer Enfinger

    Virtua fighter 5 is the best online fighter ever.

  • http://twitter.com/Rasj1987 Roger

    In response to your argument with the MK controls not being suited for the Xbox 360 controller I agree completely. I recently got myself a Razer Onza TE and the D-pad on that controller is almost perfect for MK.

  • http://profiles.google.com/roamingwolf Morgan Wilson

    I’m sorry you didn’t like this one Spoony especially since you enjoyed MK II. I lost a fair share of quarters to that cabinet back in the day. I however really enjoyed the new game. I am really impressed that after a slew of Mediocre MK titles and Midway going under that Mortal Kombat has resurfaced with such a solid game.

    Despite liking the new game I do agree with the majority of your criticisms. There are a few things I’d like to point out though.

    Controller:
    First and foremost the Xbox controller is garbage not just for MK but for 2d fighting games in general. The D-pad is extremely sloppy and the analog stick doesn’t fair much better. This makes combos, fatalities, and even simple moves far more difficult to execute then they need to be.
    Having played MK on both PS3 and Xbox pretty extensively i can say that a precise D-pad eliminates a great deal of frustration.

    Fatalities:
    Obviously this is the key feature that makes MK the game that it is so I understand your irritation when you can’t pull them off. The thing is, they aren’t hard to do. Except of course if your using the classic Xbox controller. Which again is garbage.

    You don’t actually have to unlock the fatalities in the krypt to perform them. You can do them any time and they are added to the move list once you’ve successfully done them either in training mode, ladder, or multi-player. However, Babalities have to be done outside of training mode it seems. This brings up a different issue entirely. Its true that theres pretty much no way of performing them without knowing the right combination which means you have to go online and find them. If you do, it makes finding them in the krypt pretty much a waste of koins.

    Characters:
    Yes the characters are different enough in moves that most people just stick to getting good with one character. Thats the story for most fighting games. Alot of characters share similar button combinations however. Its not on the same level of unity as Street Fighter, that much is true, but learning a new character isn’t too difficult because their move lists are spartan and combos are pretty simple. I agree that its annoying when someone has to repeatedly pause the game to look at moves but I haven’t played a fighting game yet where this didn’t happen. At least there are controller presets so that one player doesn’t spend five whole minutes fucking up the controller to his liking every time its their turn.

    Teleport Moves:
    They are annoying I agree. They were annoying back in MK II as well. However they come with risk since most basically stun the attacker when blocked. Its one of those things thats off putting for new players but becomes less annoying as you get more proficient.

    Memorization of Combos:
    If anything MK is bad because you can run into a juggle combo that shaves 50% or more of your life without anything to save you unless you waste two super bars for a counter. This is bullshit I agree but as far as memorizing combo strings go its not localized to MK. You say MvC isn’t about memorizing massive combos? I’m not sure if we are playing the same series of games.

    Street IV:
    I know I keep going back to the controller but if you think you suck at Street IV and play on the Xbox take solace in the fact that a portion of your suckitude is due to that horrid piece of plastic. However if your core strategy is jump kick, sweep, jump kick, throw then you might consider rethinking your game plan.

    Any way, to each his own. I hope you feel better and I look forward to your next videos.

  • doresh

    I actually like Super Smash Bros. – well, at least the first (haven’t played the others). I also have no idea why people take it so damn seriously. The series was NEVER supposed to be taken seriously! Just look at the crazy-ass commercial for the first one! Somehow, this series get’s the attention other fighting games like BlazBlue deserve better.

    And you play BlazBlue with the instant moves? It’s a cool feature, but I like doing it oldschool till my thumb starts to hurt ^^ !

  • doresh

    I actually like Super Smash Bros. – well, at least the first (haven’t played the others). I also have no idea why people take it so damn seriously. The series was NEVER supposed to be taken seriously! Just look at the crazy-ass commercial for the first one! Somehow, this series get’s the attention other fighting games like BlazBlue deserve better.

    And you play BlazBlue with the instant moves? It’s a cool feature, but I like doing it oldschool till my thumb starts to hurt ^^ !

  • doresh

    I actually like Super Smash Bros. – well, at least the first (haven’t played the others). I also have no idea why people take it so damn seriously. The series was NEVER supposed to be taken seriously! Just look at the crazy-ass commercial for the first one! Somehow, this series get’s the attention other fighting games like BlazBlue deserve better.

    And you play BlazBlue with the instant moves? It’s a cool feature, but I like doing it oldschool till my thumb starts to hurt ^^ !

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

    Really, Spoony? Really? The first clip you show from the game is one of the latest chapter of the fucking story. Thank you very fucking much, asshole.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

    Really, Spoony? Really? The first clip you show from the game is one of the latest chapter of the fucking story. Thank you very fucking much, asshole.

    • Anonymous

      How would anyone know this unless they’ve already played through and seen it?

      And to be fair, that cutscene was a deliberate “echo” of the opening cutscene. Shao Kahn even had some of the same lines. That was the point. Hell, maybe Spoony even got confused thinking it was the opening scene (he was tired and sick, and looking at what location was in the background was probably the least of his concerns).

      But anyway, it’s hardly a spoiler. Raiden got his butt kicked by Shao Kahn in the beginning of the game, and he got his butt kicked by Shao Kahn at the end of the game.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

        I’m not even halfway through the story mode and I know that’s the end. And yeah, it is a fucking spoiler because it’s supposed to be an alternative reality, so I didn’t expect Liu Kang to die and the same bs happen again. And don’t give me that crap “Spoony is sick the poor guy”. I don’t really give a shit, and why are you suddenly his White Knight?

        • Anonymous

          Just making sense of things. And it’s a lot better than whining about what cut scene somebody showed.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

        I’m not even halfway through the story mode and I know that’s the end. And yeah, it is a fucking spoiler because it’s supposed to be an alternative reality, so I didn’t expect Liu Kang to die and the same bs happen again. And don’t give me that crap “Spoony is sick the poor guy”. I don’t really give a shit, and why are you suddenly his White Knight?

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

        I’m not even halfway through the story mode and I know that’s the end. And yeah, it is a fucking spoiler because it’s supposed to be an alternative reality, so I didn’t expect Liu Kang to die and the same bs happen again. And don’t give me that crap “Spoony is sick the poor guy”. I don’t really give a shit, and why are you suddenly his White Knight?

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

        I’m not even halfway through the story mode and I know that’s the end. And yeah, it is a fucking spoiler because it’s supposed to be an alternative reality, so I didn’t expect Liu Kang to die and the same bs happen again. And don’t give me that crap “Spoony is sick the poor guy”. I don’t really give a shit, and why are you suddenly his White Knight?

  • http://twitter.com/OniYouji Patrick Willett

    No one plays Calamity Trigger anymore; you haven’t gotten Continuum Shift, have you? Plenty of people are still playing that, especially when the CS2 patch comes out. Plus, the right thumbstick thing is not there anymore in CS; the “Beginner” mode allows you to essentially mash one button to execute a basic combo, and hold them for super special moves.

    Trust me Spoony, if you went all Irate Gamer on us, you would have only played the game for ten minutes and didn’t even know Mortal Kombat was a fighting game.

    Also, do you have a problem with adults playing games made for children?

  • Anonymous

    Not knowing what you’re unlocking in the Krypt has been a part of Mortal Kombat since Deadly Alliance. I’m cool with it, because I like to unlock everything anyway.

    Also, you can do your other fatalities from the beginning of the game. All you get in the Krypt is the push-button information. If you’d known that from the start (looking up online, etc), then you can pull them off from the start.

    Also, fatalities seriously aren’t that hard to pull off. But then again, I was using a PS3 controller.

  • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

    - Characters control differently for diversity. Lots of fighting game fans used to rag on the MK series because every character had the same normal moves, and it’s not a bad thing when you move away from the Karate Champ formula in a modern fighter. They also call Blazblue “Guilty Gear Lite”, partly because of the characters all having the same special move motions. Also, not controlling like Street Fighter is part of what gives MK it’s unique flavor.

    - Teleports are easily punished by baiting and blocking if you indeed know the strategy.

    - Fatalies are stupid but it’s not because they’re hard to do it’s because they’re superfluous cutscenes after the fact that get old and waste time that could be used actually fighting. Watch any tournament footage of MK and you’ll generally see a simple punch or kick after “FINISH HIM” to get to the next match quicker. X-Ray attacks have the same cutscene problem but you’ll find that in most fighters nowadays unfortunately. At least they’re relevant to the fighting.

    - Execution of moves is part of the skill of fighting games. Like in boxing, you know you want to punch the other guy in the head, but actually doing it is half the battle. It adds to the complexity.

    I’d go on but I’m sure anything else I’d have to say would be covered somewhere in 144 comments. I can tell you’re not a big fighting game guy so I can get where you’re coming from. You’d feel the same way if I said Worms Armageddon was the best strategy game I’ve ever played.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Zach-Gacula/100000350486881 Zach Gacula

    Hey Spoony. Did u know that u can by Blazblue on Xbox Live in the market now? Just recently been added.

  • Anonymous

    I must be the only person in the universe who doesn’t like MK9′s story mode.

    Ok, granted – it probably IS the best produced story mode of any fighter to date. But in a genre notorious for poor, lazy or completely nonexistent story modes that’s not really saying anything.

    The story itself is long-winded, overly-convoluted, self-important drivel. It utterly lacks focus as you jump from character to character. Instead of taking time to develop a single protagonist and endear him/her to the player, it spends 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there and you ultimately end up with a mish-mash of semi-realized ideas.

    I know, I know, I’m taking it too seriously – it’s just a fighting game and I shouldn’t expect the same level of storytelling that I’ve grown accustomed to from other genres of games. To an extent that’s true, and I give MK9 props just based on effort – that alone puts it above 99% of its competition in-genre. But ultimately what it comes down to is whether or not it tells a compelling story and maintains my interest throughout – and unfortunately it does not.

    On to the story mode’s gameplay – this is where it really fails to impress at all. There’s no creativity whatsoever, the gameplay itself is no better than any other story mode in any other fighting game. Watch cutscene, fight, watch cutscene, fight – rinse and repeat until you reach the credits. The only variation on the formula are when it has you fight 2 opponents (wow, so creative) and the boss fights. Obviously fighting 2 opponents doesn’t add anything, and Spoony did a nice job of covering the problems with the boss fights.

    So in the end we have some nicely produced cutscenes – delivering a poorly written, uninteresting, convoluted story – wrapped in a gameplay package that fails to innovate in any way. Sorry, just not seeing where all the praise is coming from. Ultimately the fact that all other fighting games fail even harder isn’t enough for me to consider this one good.

    Oh yeah, and there are no fatalities in the story mode – whose fucking brilliant idea was that one?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=20619690 Michael Sundman

    Dear god… You know Spoony, every time I read the comments page in one of your vlogs, I realize why I never play online. It’s a raving cesspool of fanboys who must always be right.

    • Anonymous

      It’s that very cesspool that made me SO happy to cancel my old Xbox (original) Live subscription. Halo 2′s fanbase alone was such an anti-intellectual collection of brain-dead monkeys that it scared me away from online shooters until Team Fortress 2 finally came out (luckily, that game has an amazing fanbase).

      This cesspool is also what made me very comfortable with leaving the G4 forums where I was a senior moderator. Yeah, G4TV forums. Senior Moderator. Me. Trust me when I say it was a LOT of shit to clean up from immature gamers (mostly whiny Nintendo fans who couldn’t understand why everyone picked on them).

      It’s like being back in high school (crap, accidental Johnny Cage movie quote!) where you can find every breed and variety of socially awkward weirdo.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=20619690 Michael Sundman

    Dear god… You know Spoony, every time I read the comments page in one of your vlogs, I realize why I never play online. It’s a raving cesspool of fanboys who must always be right.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jose-Marrero/100000950805719 Jose Marrero

    I like your reviews for your movies but when it comes to fighting games you have no clue what you’re talking about. You’re a casual gamer I get that. But you’re complaining about the move motion and skill gap? Then whats the point in learning the game? In any fighting game it’s not about doing combo’s but it’s about “hit confirming” “pokes” and “punish”. When you were bitching about teleports moves like scorpion or emac there’s a thing called blocking. When you block it and they’re spinning they can get punished by anything you dish out. I like the game, I’d prefer other fighters like Guilty Gear Accent core or Street Fighter 3 Third Strike( When fighting game were at their prime). I like to play fighters competitively and I learn at least I learn the game at a intermediate level before I’d make a review or a rant so I won’t sound like a complete scrub.

    In my opinion if you’re gonna review a fighter you can’t view it as a casual but at least in a competitive point of view.

  • http://www.cuteoverload.com Jacob Barnes

    I haven’t played any MK games since the SNES, but this sounds about par for the series. My memories of the older games in the series are exactly as you described: it’s moderately fun while everyone’s clueless, but someone inevitably learns one of /those/ moves, and frustrates the hell out of everyone else. It’s never really succeeded as a casual, party game.

    That said, I don’t think it’s ever meant to be a party game. It’s always felt like it was made for a pretty specific niche audience, and I’m sure there’s a crowd out there that loves knowing the ins and outs of every character and combo. It’s probably a bit naive to expect it to be anything other than what it’s always been, but the point’s still well made. There are plenty of games that play well across the skill-spectrum, Smash being my personal favorite.

  • Anonymous

    Guile will shit on any MK char. He only needs 2 special moves.

  • Anonymous

    Guile will shit on any MK char. He only needs 2 special moves.

  • Anonymous

    Guile will shit on any MK char. He only needs 2 special moves.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Ryan.Larkyn.Christopher Ryan Christopher-Murphy

    I totally agree with everything you said about Super Smash brothers. I had a blast with the original when I was 11. But come on people, upgrade your hardware and play a real fucking game for once!

    As for MK, I haven’t played since the first one, and even then I was never really into them. I’ll take your word for the story aspects; I might try it out sometime just on that merit alone.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Ryan.Larkyn.Christopher Ryan Christopher-Murphy

    I totally agree with everything you said about Super Smash brothers. I had a blast with the original when I was 11. But come on people, upgrade your hardware and play a real fucking game for once!

    As for MK, I haven’t played since the first one, and even then I was never really into them. I’ll take your word for the story aspects; I might try it out sometime just on that merit alone.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Ryan.Larkyn.Christopher Ryan Christopher-Murphy

    I totally agree with everything you said about Super Smash brothers. I had a blast with the original when I was 11. But come on people, upgrade your hardware and play a real fucking game for once!

    As for MK, I haven’t played since the first one, and even then I was never really into them. I’ll take your word for the story aspects; I might try it out sometime just on that merit alone.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1532562130 Dakota Trotter

    I’m not really certain if you’ll even read this, but I figured I’d at least throw my opinion into the Super Smash Bro’s hat. The main reason why my group of friends love to play this game competitively is because of the random knockdowns/events as it makes the game much more akin to a real sport. The fact is, one of the amazing things about watching a game of soccer or football are those moments when the completely unexpected happen, those random happenstances that change up the tide of the game. To us, random is nothing more than an enemy we must adapt to and overcome.

    Also, I never understood the complaints about Metanight. As long as you knew what you were doing, it is very possible to counter his attacks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1532562130 Dakota Trotter

    I’m not really certain if you’ll even read this, but I figured I’d at least throw my opinion into the Super Smash Bro’s hat. The main reason why my group of friends love to play this game competitively is because of the random knockdowns/events as it makes the game much more akin to a real sport. The fact is, one of the amazing things about watching a game of soccer or football are those moments when the completely unexpected happen, those random happenstances that change up the tide of the game. To us, random is nothing more than an enemy we must adapt to and overcome.

    Also, I never understood the complaints about Metanight. As long as you knew what you were doing, it is very possible to counter his attacks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

    One thing you didn’t make clear. Can you diferenciate skill from memorization?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

    One thing you didn’t make clear. Can you diferenciate skill from memorization?

  • Anonymous

    Spoony,I love you and all,but these are some of the pettiest complaints I think I’ve ever seen you sling at a game.

    >>A GUY WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING WILL DOMINATE THE GUY WHO WAS TOO LAZY TO EVEN LOOK UP THE BASIC MOVELIST OF A CHARACTER HE’S TRYING TO PLAY WITH

    No fucking shit,really? Yeah,a guy who knows how to drive will probably win the race if the other guy doesn’t know the gas pedal from the brake. That’s how it should be. If you randomly dive into a fight without knowing your head from your ass,you deserve to get beaten.

    This just makes no sense to me. You’re entering a match with the intention of winning,right? So you’re going to pick a random character you’ve never played before,never even bother to try him out in practice mode beforehand to have even a slight idea of what that character is capable of and expect to kick ass right away by mashing random buttons?

    Protip: If a seasoned pro can be reasonably beaten by a newbie who just picked up the controller – you’re playing a bad fighting game. That’s why I was never a fan of the Soul Calibur games – the idea that you can mash the buttons with your face,and any random combination of buttons that you press will somehow result in a sweet-looking combo never sat right with me.

    >>YOU HAVE TO MEMORIZE MOVES

    The special move inputs in MK aren’t rocket science. It’s two directions and a button. At its absolute worst,it’s 3 directions and a button (<, + B). Is it unreasonable for a game to expect for you to remember this impossibly arcane combination?

    Hell,if anything,the fact that the special inputs are so different between the characters is a good thing. In my experience with Japanese 2D fighters,every single input has some variation of a QCF or QCB or HCB in it,and you can only memorize so many of those before it all starts to mesh together and you get confused.

    >>WHERE ARE MAH HADOUKENZ

    So you’re basically saying that every character in MvsC3 has variations of the same hadoukens and shouryukens that every other character has?

    …And you’re saying that’s a GOOD thing?

    When every character plays exactly the same and encourages mashers to keep mashing the one hadouken input they remember?

    Because it’s not.

    >>I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PULL THE FATALITIES OFF WITH ONE BUTTON

    This just floored me with how ridiculous that demand was. That’s like,I dunno – playing Ultima or something and demanding that the Armageddon spell or whatever be available to you from the start.

    “It’s the best spell in the game,of course I’m going to spam once I get it,so why do the developers make me jump through all of these hoops to learn it? They might as well just cut the bullshit and give it to me from the very beginning! I bought the game and,goddammit,I’m entitled to it!”

    The fatalities were always hard to do,but that’s why it was immensely satisfying when actually you pulled one off. It was always about skill. And it’s not like this randomly blindsided you out of nowhere – in that aspect,nothing changed from the days of MK2.

    In fact,this game actually gives you the courtesy of letting you pause the game and looking up the fatality input if you forgot it. No to mention that it’s the first MK game ever to have a Fatality Trainer mode,which is specifically designed so that even your grandma can learn how to do the fatalities.

    And as others before me have said,you don’t have to actually unlock any of the fatalities in order to be able to do them. You just have to know the button combination. Gamefaqs is one mouseclick away.

    >>FUCKING MOVES DON’T WORK

    Okay,this is the one thing I’ll actually agree with you on. And the reason for that is the 360 controller. I swear to god,it’s like this abomination was scientifically designed to be nearly unusable in fighting games. Personally,I’m always using the d-pad,so I have a pretty consistent success rate when I’m trying to pull something off,but it’s still a notorious piece of shit.

    If you’re actually serious about fighting games,consider investing into an arcade stick. Personally,I’ve been trying to use the one that came with my Tournament Edition,and as far as sticks go,I hear that one is really good,but it feels so completely alien compared to a controller that I have to completely rewire my muscle memory and relearn how to do even the most basic fucking things.

    Does anybody have that new 360 controller that supposedly addresses the d-pad issue? How is that thing?

  • Anonymous

    Spoony,I love you and all,but these are some of the pettiest complaints I think I’ve ever seen you sling at a game.

    >>A GUY WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING WILL DOMINATE THE GUY WHO WAS TOO LAZY TO EVEN LOOK UP THE BASIC MOVELIST OF A CHARACTER HE’S TRYING TO PLAY WITH

    No fucking shit,really? Yeah,a guy who knows how to drive will probably win the race if the other guy doesn’t know the gas pedal from the brake. That’s how it should be. If you randomly dive into a fight without knowing your head from your ass,you deserve to get beaten.

    This just makes no sense to me. You’re entering a match with the intention of winning,right? So you’re going to pick a random character you’ve never played before,never even bother to try him out in practice mode beforehand to have even a slight idea of what that character is capable of and expect to kick ass right away by mashing random buttons?

    Protip: If a seasoned pro can be reasonably beaten by a newbie who just picked up the controller – you’re playing a bad fighting game. That’s why I was never a fan of the Soul Calibur games – the idea that you can mash the buttons with your face,and any random combination of buttons that you press will somehow result in a sweet-looking combo never sat right with me.

    >>YOU HAVE TO MEMORIZE MOVES

    The special move inputs in MK aren’t rocket science. It’s two directions and a button. At its absolute worst,it’s 3 directions and a button (<, + B). Is it unreasonable for a game to expect for you to remember this impossibly arcane combination?

    Hell,if anything,the fact that the special inputs are so different between the characters is a good thing. In my experience with Japanese 2D fighters,every single input has some variation of a QCF or QCB or HCB in it,and you can only memorize so many of those before it all starts to mesh together and you get confused.

    >>WHERE ARE MAH HADOUKENZ

    So you’re basically saying that every character in MvsC3 has variations of the same hadoukens and shouryukens that every other character has?

    …And you’re saying that’s a GOOD thing?

    When every character plays exactly the same and encourages mashers to keep mashing the one hadouken input they remember?

    Because it’s not.

    >>I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PULL THE FATALITIES OFF WITH ONE BUTTON

    This just floored me with how ridiculous that demand was. That’s like,I dunno – playing Ultima or something and demanding that the Armageddon spell or whatever be available to you from the start.

    “It’s the best spell in the game,of course I’m going to spam once I get it,so why do the developers make me jump through all of these hoops to learn it? They might as well just cut the bullshit and give it to me from the very beginning! I bought the game and,goddammit,I’m entitled to it!”

    The fatalities were always hard to do,but that’s why it was immensely satisfying when actually you pulled one off. It was always about skill. And it’s not like this randomly blindsided you out of nowhere – in that aspect,nothing changed from the days of MK2.

    In fact,this game actually gives you the courtesy of letting you pause the game and looking up the fatality input if you forgot it. No to mention that it’s the first MK game ever to have a Fatality Trainer mode,which is specifically designed so that even your grandma can learn how to do the fatalities.

    And as others before me have said,you don’t have to actually unlock any of the fatalities in order to be able to do them. You just have to know the button combination. Gamefaqs is one mouseclick away.

    >>FUCKING MOVES DON’T WORK

    Okay,this is the one thing I’ll actually agree with you on. And the reason for that is the 360 controller. I swear to god,it’s like this abomination was scientifically designed to be nearly unusable in fighting games. Personally,I’m always using the d-pad,so I have a pretty consistent success rate when I’m trying to pull something off,but it’s still a notorious piece of shit.

    If you’re actually serious about fighting games,consider investing into an arcade stick. Personally,I’ve been trying to use the one that came with my Tournament Edition,and as far as sticks go,I hear that one is really good,but it feels so completely alien compared to a controller that I have to completely rewire my muscle memory and relearn how to do even the most basic fucking things.

    Does anybody have that new 360 controller that supposedly addresses the d-pad issue? How is that thing?

  • Anonymous

    Why did you choose footage from the second to last cutscene of story mode to show?

  • Anonymous

    Why did you choose footage from the second to last cutscene of story mode to show?

  • Anonymous

    Good grief… looking through these comments I’ve come to realize fighting game snobs are almost as unbearable as Final Fantasy fanboys and anime fanatics.

    • Anonymous

      This is one reason why I prefer to be VERY casual when it comes to Fighting Games. And it’s also why I have favored Mortal Kombat for almost 20 years. Thankfully, you get less of these types with MK.

      The people who take fighting games too damn seriously are very embarrassing, almost as much as Final Fantasy freaks and weeaboos. They’re the kind of people where even a geek will look at them and say “get a LIFE”.

      “Just shut up and have fun” is my attitude with fighting, or any game really. When people start boasting and bragging and whipping out their invisible ego-dicks over tournaments and such, it makes me want to just kick ‘em in the balls to knock them down a peg. Or just for personal amusement.

      It’s a GAME. I’d expect arrogant snobbery in a college English Department where people actually have intellect to back themselves up, but are people really going to apply that snobbery to Street Fighter and Smash Brothers?

      Apparently, yes. And I’ve seen Dane Cook routines that didn’t make me feel such pity toward one’s being.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

        If you don’t get it don’t bash it.

        • Anonymous

          Oh, I “get” it. It’s arrogant elitism and obsession.

          I just chose not to be apart of it because I couldn’t stand the people who did choose to take it too far. They tend to be so insecure, they can’t even stand the thought of someone disagreeing with their opinions. Quite a lot of that going in this area here alone.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Walter-Mason-Sunderland/100000432896070 Walter Mason Sunderland

            I like it how you try to sound refined while speaking random inputs you heard from an 80′s movie. There’s a difference between having a point and “This game is so bad because every character doesn’t play the same”.

          • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

            No, you don’t. Because you don’t want to. You’re so up in your little world where you’re better than everyone else who try to take what you think should just be a hobby seriously.

            You’re the one with the problem here, not everyone else.

            Everybody is having fun and you just want to shit on everybody’s parade because you’re jealous that you aren’t.

            Fighting game players are different. We’re elitist for a reason.

            We are better.

            You can’t be better than someone else at watching anime or loving Final Fantasy. Everyone has their own opinions and it’s entirely subjective apart from a few cases.

            If you beat someone at a fighting game, you beat them. You are better. If you beat someone who always beat you before, you will feel proud whether or not you two sucked or you two were actually good. Competing in real life, to be the best at what you do, people striving for victory in games that are exciting to play and exciting to watch. We do “shut up and have fun”. That’s exactly what we’re doing. Playing seriously to us is having fun.

            Maybe it isn’t to you, and I’m fine with that.

            But you’re the elitist jerk here, and I’m not sure you even realize it.

          • Anonymous

            “Fighting game players are different. We’re elitist for a reason.

            We are better.”

            Nothing justifies elitism. Not even being good at the game.

            Being pragmatic; working with empirical facts is one thing. Throwing your ego into the matter is different. When you throw your ego in, that’s elitism.

            Why? Because your ego adds nothing to the game.

            Someone who is genuinely confident in their game wouldn’t need to smack-talk or talk-down to anyone because they can simply show them in the game itself.

          • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

            No, you don’t. Because you don’t want to. You’re so up in your little world where you’re better than everyone else who try to take what you think should just be a hobby seriously.

            You’re the one with the problem here, not everyone else.

            Everybody is having fun and you just want to shit on everybody’s parade because you’re jealous that you aren’t.

            Fighting game players are different. We’re elitist for a reason.

            We are better.

            You can’t be better than someone else at watching anime or loving Final Fantasy. Everyone has their own opinions and it’s entirely subjective apart from a few cases.

            If you beat someone at a fighting game, you beat them. You are better. If you beat someone who always beat you before, you will feel proud whether or not you two sucked or you two were actually good. Competing in real life, to be the best at what you do, people striving for victory in games that are exciting to play and exciting to watch. We do “shut up and have fun”. That’s exactly what we’re doing. Playing seriously to us is having fun.

            Maybe it isn’t to you, and I’m fine with that.

            But you’re the elitist jerk here, and I’m not sure you even realize it.

  • Anonymous

    Good grief… looking through these comments I’ve come to realize fighting game snobs are almost as unbearable as Final Fantasy fanboys and anime fanatics.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Pat-Murphy/1197737728 Pat Murphy

    watch this post vanish magically

  • http://shadowdancersworldo.blip.tv/ Shadowdancer21b

    I decided long ago that MK was not skill based, but rather cheapness based. MK 3 was especially cheap. I love Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, Marvel VS Capcom, Capcom VS SNK, and similar. I despise Smash Bros. It sucks hard.

  • Anonymous

    I agree a lot with the special move inputs. In Capcom/Ark games, you can pick up any character. Do the standard set of inputs, of which there’s like 6, see what they do, and you’re set. In MK, there’s like 40 (two directions and a face button, with a few additional oddballs here and there) possible inputs, all used with fairly high frequency. It doesn’t matter in the long run, but when you’re just starting, it’s really irritating.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jason-Guardino/579266632 Jason Guardino

    I respectfully disagree with your statement that MVC3 is better than MK. Why? There is nothing fun about being endlessly chained combod to death in MVC3 by virtually anyone over the internet. Sentinel is a no good dirty rotten cheating bastard. My girlfriend who never plays video games whipped my bitch ass in MVC3 singlehandedly with storm, and she even admitted to just button mashing. I played her in MK and she did not stand a chance against me using the same button mashing strategy. Now tell me which game requires more skill?

    But then again it’s like you said it’s all about what you prefer more so who gives a shit in the end..

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

      did you consider the random chance that you sucked really hard?

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jason-Guardino/579266632 Jason Guardino

        Yes I do suck at MVC3 (and MK compared to online enthusiasts)there is no denying it but you missed the point of my comment entirely. In MVC3 button mashing was a legitimate strategy, and the same exact person using the same exact strategy in a different fighting game yielded the complete opposite results. Everything about the two conditions was precisely the same except for the game being played.

        PS – You can’t sit there and tell me Sentinel is not OP, if you do then your lying or in denial.

        • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531543828 Pablo Contreras

          Sentinel is not OP.

          His risk/reward ratio is just sky fucking high… and even then it’s not the highest.

          I completely destroy everyone I know in fighting games who button mash because I know what the fuck I’m doing. I actually learn whatever character I want to learn, not just memorize their special moves and use them repeatedly. I learn their strategies, combos and how they matchup against other character, and then go out and play other people better than me, which is how you improve.

          You just play the game, push buttons and lose or win.

          Whether or not a game lends itself to button mashing has absolutely no impact on a hypothetical match between you and me.

          I will still destroy you. Why? Because I’m playing the real game.

          and to be honest MK is easy compared to Marvel, and marvel is a pretty easy game.
          Ha.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Ellsworth/1339267702 Ryan Ellsworth

    Disagree completely, but I understand were your coming from.

  • Anonymous

    Don’t worry Spoony, I don’t get Smash Brothers either.

    I was on the fence with MK and I think I’ll pass. Gotta get LA Noire and Duke Nukem anyway.

  • Anonymous

    Yes Mr. Spoony, you are indeed going to draw a shit storm over Smash Bros, namely from me. HOW DARE YOU IGNORANT SIR.

    1.

    What are you on about with the randomness?

    You can turn off every element of randomness from the game if you wish, to the point where it’s as straight laced and fair as any other fighter (hence the talk of ‘no items’ and such).

    The tripping in Smash Bros Brawl is the equivalent of getting dizzy in Street Fighter, so they are practically the same in terms of fairness.

    (I would also argue it’s deeper, but that’s a different argument)

    The game gives you the CHOICE.

    The fact of the matter is that Smash Bros GREATEST strength, is that it can basically be anything to anyone, explosively silly party game one second and brutally serious tourney fighter the next. That’s why the people that actually play it hold it in such high regard, it’s a game that lasts and lasts.

    I mean hell, if you want to just chill… just listen to the 300-something kickass music tracks the game has to offer.

    2.

    Metaknight is not broken, AT ALL. The dudes special moves leave him stunned until he hits the ground for christ’s sake (so you can’t recover when off the side), he has no projectiles, he’s not very fast when it comes to general movement, and he’s one of the lightest characters.

    Compared to Fox from Melee, he’s a complete pussy. Metaknight is simply an accessible character, and I have never had a problem taking him.

    Everybody has their own preferences and rule lists, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was limited to the point where only 6 characters were playable in tournaments for instance. Next time you see those gamers when you go to the store, tell them to stop being so scared of someone else’s list.

    3.

    Smash Bros is a tournament game because it takes incredible skill and patience to get good at even a few characters, and it’s impossible to master all of the characters simply because of the vastness of the task. Watch a match on Youtube and just see what they’re capable of.

    The fact that they get paid for it has nothing to do with the game, that’s just how these tournaments work.

    4.

    Smash Bros is EXACTLY what you just explained you wanted in a fighter, a game that isn’t about memorization of silly gestures, all you need to know is the basic controls and mechanics and you can have fun. This simplicity allows the games roster to have a ridiculous amount of variety and depth, to the point where just casually moving around feels completely different. Most fighting games just change the characters moveset, Smash Bros changes the whole character.

    Smash Bros is known for it’s ridiculous amount of unlockable content, and unlike with Mortal Kombat it doesn’t hide it in plain sight with ambiguous tombstones that waste your time (I hated that in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance…). Smash Bros rewards you as you play, offering a constant feedback loop.

    5.

    YOU HAVE NO SOUL :P .

    6.

    What the hell is with the hate man :( .

    It just sounds like you’re angry you aren’t good at the game, OR you’re being superficial and judging it based on it’s Nintendo charms… which is what is TRULY childish.

    Simple question….

    If it’s a game for children, why is it that you won’t ever be as good as the best players?

    * Is proud to play and enjoy a crap ton of fighting games regardless of what they are and where they come from.

    • http://twitter.com/ZBscoops Zack Bagley

      “The tripping in Smash Bros Brawl is the equivalent of getting dizzy in Street Fighter, so they are practically the same in terms of fairness.” I cannot believe the two share this “fairness” you speak of. So you’re saying that randomly tripping is equivalent to a set stun limit that each character has. Its not like people randomly start getting stunned for no good reason.
      You may get mixed up after a combo and leads to another combo so you get stunned. Where as in Smash, you randomly trip. How can you compare randomness to a legitimate mechanic you have to factor into your game play. With tripping, it may, or may not happen and you have to deal with it.

      • Anonymous

        The probability of Tripping rises as you take damage, and it only happens when you’re actually running around. It stops people running around like crazed idiots, and actually focus on the fight and other movement options.

        Considering the fact that you essentially have invincibility frames when you trip, you could say it’s a LOT fairer than Street Fighters dizzy.

        Playing the game for any decent length of time makes this clear.

        • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

          I would agree with most of the rebuttals if you’re talking about Melee. Brawl is not a tournament-compatible fighter at all because of the unbalanced roster. Characters like MetaKnight and DeDeDe are top-tier and way better compared to the rest. Falcon, Ganondorf and Bowser, on the other hand…a lot of people complain about because they’re slow or not agile enough to perform combos and the like. Also, a lot of the speed and tech moves from Melee (wavedashing) has been completely removed in Brawl.

          If you combine Brawl with hack projects such has Balanced Brawl and Brawl Plus, then it becomes tournament-compatible. And both hacks remove random tripping, btw. No matter how you defend it, tripping is something that shouldn’t be in the game. To get to your opponent, one should run or charge to him…like any other fighter….not being forced to jump like a crazed idiot just to avoid tripping.

          • Anonymous

            I believe that mindset to be ridiculous.

            For one thing, I have already explained why Metaknight is far from being ‘god tier’, and nobody ever banned Fox in Melee even though he was ACTUALLY far better than everyone else when the glitches/metagame was applied to combat. This is nothing but hypocrisy.

            Unbalanced roster? Says who? The people at the Smash Bros forums that change their damn tier list every 5 seconds? GOD FORBID, every character is good in their own special way, which becomes apparent after extensive play?

            It’s ridiculous to even think these players know more than the actual testers and programmers who actually worked on the game.

            Pichu was a joke character in Melee, but in Brawl EVERY character is applicable.

            Wavedashing is a glitch, Sakurai himself said he knew this but left it in because they ran out of time. Brawl got rid of it and that says enough on the matter.

            In my opinion any community that accepts obvious glitches as ‘advanced gameplay’ (which ruins the main game) have NO right to call out anything else as being unbalanced.

            The Brawl hacks can kiss my ass, again with people thinking they know better than the professionals. Trying to make Brawl exactly like Melee is a pathetic sight, just butthurt people who can’t stand for some damn diversity (which fighting games desperately need).

            If they want to play Melee, then they should stick to Melee.

            I like the addition of tripping, it barely affects the fairness of the game and unlike Street Fighter, is your own fault for running around like an idiot. It stops people being boring by just dashing around back and forth like they would in Melee just to annoy you. It makes you actually THINK about your approach, as opposed to just dashing/wavedashing in.

            ‘like any other fighter…’

            This is where your argument shatters into pieces. Smash Bros is NOT ‘like any other fighter’ and that’s exactly why it’s so special. You don’t want to jump around in a game with platforming at its core? It’s a good thing the game has more movement options that every other fighter out there then isn’t it?

          • Anonymous

            @Dr_Peace:disqus

            Your commentary on Smash Bros sums up my #1 problem with it: The community.

            For once, I think that Nintendo make the mistake of not putting another Smash Bros title out quick enough to break the monotony of wavedashing bullshit.

            Fox, Marth or Sheik on Final Destination.

            Yeah, that’s the pinnacle of balance and clearly what Brawl was missing.

            It slays me how so many people demanded that wavedashing be put back in; just so that they could feel like they were part of a special elite club.

            In any case, Smash Bros Melee was the final nail in the coffin for my fighting game “career” (for lack of a better term). Not because I lacked skill or the willingness to learn tricks, but because of the incredibly elitist pricks who made up the playerbase.

            Hell, I saw a fistfight break out over a Melee Tournament in college. Like, 10 man brawl.

            It wasn’t over money either.

            I don’t even bother with Brawl today because I already know what to expect from these people.

          • Anonymous

            @Dr_Peace:disqus

            Your commentary on Smash Bros sums up my #1 problem with it: The community.

            For once, I think that Nintendo make the mistake of not putting another Smash Bros title out quick enough to break the monotony of wavedashing bullshit.

            Fox, Marth or Sheik on Final Destination.

            Yeah, that’s the pinnacle of balance and clearly what Brawl was missing.

            It slays me how so many people demanded that wavedashing be put back in; just so that they could feel like they were part of a special elite club.

            In any case, Smash Bros Melee was the final nail in the coffin for my fighting game “career” (for lack of a better term). Not because I lacked skill or the willingness to learn tricks, but because of the incredibly elitist pricks who made up the playerbase.

            Hell, I saw a fistfight break out over a Melee Tournament in college. Like, 10 man brawl.

            It wasn’t over money either.

            I don’t even bother with Brawl today because I already know what to expect from these people.

          • Anonymous

            @Dr_Peace:disqus

            Your commentary on Smash Bros sums up my #1 problem with it: The community.

            For once, I think that Nintendo make the mistake of not putting another Smash Bros title out quick enough to break the monotony of wavedashing bullshit.

            Fox, Marth or Sheik on Final Destination.

            Yeah, that’s the pinnacle of balance and clearly what Brawl was missing.

            It slays me how so many people demanded that wavedashing be put back in; just so that they could feel like they were part of a special elite club.

            In any case, Smash Bros Melee was the final nail in the coffin for my fighting game “career” (for lack of a better term). Not because I lacked skill or the willingness to learn tricks, but because of the incredibly elitist pricks who made up the playerbase.

            Hell, I saw a fistfight break out over a Melee Tournament in college. Like, 10 man brawl.

            It wasn’t over money either.

            I don’t even bother with Brawl today because I already know what to expect from these people.

          • Anonymous

            @Dr_Peace:disqus

            Your commentary on Smash Bros sums up my #1 problem with it: The community.

            For once, I think that Nintendo make the mistake of not putting another Smash Bros title out quick enough to break the monotony of wavedashing bullshit.

            Fox, Marth or Sheik on Final Destination.

            Yeah, that’s the pinnacle of balance and clearly what Brawl was missing.

            It slays me how so many people demanded that wavedashing be put back in; just so that they could feel like they were part of a special elite club.

            In any case, Smash Bros Melee was the final nail in the coffin for my fighting game “career” (for lack of a better term). Not because I lacked skill or the willingness to learn tricks, but because of the incredibly elitist pricks who made up the playerbase.

            Hell, I saw a fistfight break out over a Melee Tournament in college. Like, 10 man brawl.

            It wasn’t over money either.

            I don’t even bother with Brawl today because I already know what to expect from these people.

        • http://twitter.com/NowOnAFM Ahmed Mosly

          I would agree with most of the rebuttals if you’re talking about Melee. Brawl is not a tournament-compatible fighter at all because of the unbalanced roster. Characters like MetaKnight and DeDeDe are top-tier and way better compared to the rest. Falcon, Ganondorf and Bowser, on the other hand…a lot of people complain about because they’re slow or not agile enough to perform combos and the like. Also, a lot of the speed and tech moves from Melee (wavedashing) has been completely removed in Brawl.

          If you combine Brawl with hack projects such has Balanced Brawl and Brawl Plus, then it becomes tournament-compatible. And both hacks remove random tripping, btw. No matter how you defend it, tripping is something that shouldn’t be in the game. To get to your opponent, one should run or charge to him…like any other fighter….not being forced to jump like a crazed idiot just to avoid tripping.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Blayney/683346875 Michael Blayney

    I’m fucking terrible at Smash Bros, but I’m decent at Virtua Fighter (and I played through 5 with the X-Box controller). :-S

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Jones/503193818 Ryan Jones

    Like many people I played on the PS3 and I did not have any controller issues. The 360 d-pad just stinks for fighting games as I’ve had problems with it playing Street Fighter 4 as well. I think Mortal Kombat is more accessible with moves because they don’t require the directional inputting.

    One thing about Mortal Kombat (especially this game) is like you said, you can’t fake playing this game. Like.. Street Fighter you can just say, this dude is like Guile, simple, but Mortal Kombat you can’t do that. In MK you gotta learn the person or else you’re kind of boned.

    I also think because the way Mortal Kombat is I actually kind of like it better in the long run. The reason being is because the difference in skill required to win between a beginner to expert in say Street Fighter 4 or Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in HUUUUUUGE. In Mortal Kombat the range difference from beginner to expert I feel is not as big. I do think a game like Street Fighter or MvC3 is more accessible for a beginner, but an intermediate player can totally decimate a beginner and an expert player can totally decimate both. Mortal Kombat I feel like you can always stay up there with the expert if you’re careful.

    Also, Noob is unconventional, you gotta stay on your toes.

  • Anonymous

    Memory and skill are the same thing. You NEED BOTH to succeed in fighting games. There’s just no questions asked. It’s important to understand this part. A lot of people are stuck on the “Skill OR Memory” aspect and forget that you need both.

    You need memory to well, memorize your combos and inputs. This translates to muscle memory so that you don’t THINK “How do I do this input?” but you say instead “Dragon punch” and your muscle memory does the input for Dragon punch. Skill comes in when you train out autopilot and you learn how to strategize, know how to spot advantages, how to read the opponent, etc. You cannot be good with one or the other…you need both.

    I love your videos Spoony. Long time watcher. Gonna touch on a few points you make.

    Teleports. There’s a lot of teleport moves in a lot of games, and one of the things you learn about them is that it DOES take skill to beat them. I’m a MvC3 player, and my friend plays a lot of good Wesker. I try to bait out his teleports to punish, and I haven’t played MK9 but it appears it could be the same concept. Be patient and don’t rush rush rush to win. Bait teleports and punish accordingly.

    Better players beating on lesser ones: That’s a given. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Fighting games are head to head competition where the very idea is that the better player comes out on top. Nothing anyone can do about that other than just learning the game. There’s a ton of resources on the internet to help improve fighting game play if one is interested. I’ll probably sound elitist when I say this but…bad players get beaten until they get better. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve got beat when I was learning a game, but I just resolved to get better and then well…now I beat on people instead of getting beat on.

    Moves: MK moves have always been odd. No “rounded” inputs and strange inputs for stuff. The solution to this is usually a few hours of training mode for your selected character. As I said previously…if you keep doing a move over and over again, repetition, you’ll commit it to muscle memory. Then you don’t have to really worry about it. You talking about BlazBlue made me chuckle, because BlazBlue is Guilty Gear Lite, and GG was the hardest 2D fighting game out there as far as skill and execution is involved. There was no less memorization required in BlazBlue than in Mortal Kombat.

    One characters: All of the top level of fighting game players know one to three charaters inside out at the expense of the rest of the cast. It’s something to be expected within a fighting game. When I play I choose a character that best fits my favorite playstyle…aggressive pressure play. If a character is more of a keep away or zoner? I’m not going to touch them with a ten foot pole. WIth the exception of Marvel vs Capcom, you’ll rarely find anyone who plays more than 2 characters from the cast at most. The idea of improvement is learning the game and your character inside and out. If you spend too much time with the rest of the cast, then you suffer with your learning and improvement in the game.

    Thumbstick…or chosen method of control: 360 controller is a spawn of Satan. There’s a “transforming” 360 controller that turns the D-pad into a traditional D-pad if you’re willing to invest in one. Either that or go with an arcade stick. ;)

  • http://www.facebook.com/zehutsumei Zehutsumei Ankoku

    Finally! Someone bitches out Smash Bros.! I honestly have no idea why that game is played competitively. As for MK9, all of your complaints are completely valid, although I have a feeling that if you played Deadly Alliance onward, you’d have a better grasp on MK9.

  • Anonymous

    Smash Bros has a pretty high skill ceiling. It really isn’t as balanced as most fighters, but it’s certainly not random (if you turn items off) and certainly can be played competitively. Melee moreso than Brawl though, since Brawl lacks offensive options and turns into a turtle-fest.

    • Anonymous

      I still remember playing the original smash bros on an emulator back in high school, its fun and generally random when your like me and wont take games too seriously because the is no reason for me to. I’m the kind of person that realizes only after playing a game for over 100 hours that it actually sucks, well unless the story’s obvious and i can guess plot points a half a game away. Also there no way am i going to play a fighting game without an arcade stick, i’ve learned the hard way from people that used to play in tournaments that i suck harder than the vacuum of space on a breach of the hull for a spaceship.

  • Anonymous

    I do have to chime in a little bit on the Smash Bros bit. Don’t take it as a fight or anything it’s just a different point of view. But hopefully one that will at least make you think a little differently about it even though it probably won’t change your mind. Yes it IS indeed a party minded game moreso than a traditional fighter, and yes I do agree some people take it (And other games) a bit too seriously. That said, while the button combinations are the same for every character (Direction with a button, or at the same time as a button) They all do different things. Some characters are indeed a lot more powerful than others, and this is why you do see the snobs coming up with tier lists, and frame data. These are the same people doing this with Street Fighter, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Soul Calibur, Vs series, and yes even Mortal Kombat. For some real fun enter a thread about SSBM vs SSBB. If an 8 hour marathon gave you a headache, this will be a migrane after three posts.
    That said, the simplicity does not mean there is no strategy involved. A lot of the strategy, and subsequent fun of all of the smash games, is keeping people off of the play field, and the challenge of trying to make it back. Especially when you pick a weak character. When I go back to Brawl every so often, I predominantly use Mr. Game & Watch simply because he’s a light character who can easily be KOed, yet somehow holds his own if you’re doing well.
    I will also say that Smash is not a quote unquote KIDS game. There is a world of difference between a game intended for all ages, and a game exclusively made for children. Smash is the all ages camp, and has a ton of fan service in it between characters, stages, music, unlockable trophies, etc. etc. for anyone who is a fan of any of Nintendo’s franchises.
    But I will again admit that while it is a fun, and challenging game it is not of the competitive seriousness of other mainline fighting games.
    In fact I would almost submit to you that what you seem to want out of MK in some respects is to be MORE like Smash. (One button fatalities, less exploitable moves, etc.)
    I haven’t played the new MK yet, so I can’t comment on that, but most people I know who have played it say it really hearkens back to MKII where there were no Dial-a-Combos, and the few combos you do have are usually 10 hits or less. That alone would make me a happy camper as MKII has arguably until now been the apex of the series. And I’ve played every MK mainline game. They’ve all been fun, but MKII was really the last one to hang with other big name fighters when it came to gameplay (Not that MK is as deep a series, that’s always been one of it’s criticisms)
    I know you’re not much of a Wii gamer Spoony, but you may want to check out the Wii Version of MK Armageddon. It’s honestly what you seem you would like out of MK. The moves can all be done with easy to do gestures. It has a lot of fun characters that are easy to pick up. There is a Krypt system but you can bypass the shopping experience with a few cheat codes that give you all the hidden characters, and costumes.
    In any event my favorite line of fighters has always been, and probably will always be the Street Fighter games. They just seem to get the “Minute to learn, lifetime to master” vibe better than any other fighter.
    Anyway I enjoy the shows, and Vlogs even if I don’t always agree with you, they are generally entertaining. I will say when I don’t agree with you, you still manage to give pretty good reasons why you like or don’t like something.
    Keep up the good work man.

  • http://profiles.google.com/bahamut66 Stephen Nordan

    You feed off my hatred, eh? Sorry then, because I really agree with alot of what you said about fighting games in general and about Super Smash Bros. Now, I LOVE super smash bros. I think it is damn fun and while I can understand your hesitance towards it, I still just love it to death. But serious fighters…what in the hell…I mean seriously, why take out the items, why no Ike, why no Meta knight…just laugh your ass off at how fun it is, even if you lose. I actually used to compete in tourneys and…that is not fun. It’s lame, it sucks all the joy out of the game. And I do wish more fighters were like Blaze Blue…god do I ever. Memorization might be argued for skill by some, but it’s not fun. When gaming becomes work, it is not damn fun. So, anyway, looking forward to your boundless rage at FFX-2(which I also like…but I understand why you’ll hate it.)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000766546765 Michael StClair

    Y’know, I kind of actually agree with you when it comes to Smash. I LOVE the Super Smash Bros series, and I’ve been playing for years, but you definitely can’t take it seriously. I mean, when I play I try to win, which makes me slightly hypocritical, but you’re right. The randomness definitely makes it hard to take seriously.
    I also agree with you on Mortal Kombat in general. For some reason, I enjoy playing the older games even though the gameplay sucks and I don’t like the gore. I don’t understand why, because the games are (IMO) not very good. I haven’t played the new Mortal Kombat, I just feel that way about the series as a whole.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ULUK3HNFCHM6ZAJOVACZ3YQDZA Hathor Liderc

    Coming from a Fighting game fan, your argument is mainly about both the learning curve as well as the 360 controller’s inability to perform during fighting games. I honestly can agree that some games can’t be even remotely enjoyable unless you practically close yourself off from society, playing the game non-stop and Mortal Kombat is, unfortunately, one of those games. With the controls, the 360 controller really SUCKS for most fighting games as a game like MK requires a joystick to really be effective at it. I’ve met very few fighting game players who actually enjoy using a standard pad.

    As for the online mode, I love the overall concept of King of the Hill Mode emulating an actual arcade. From what you’ve said, it seems like its dependent on either the connection or they might have dropped the ball on that one. I also agree on the unlockables and that they should be more specific on what you’re spending you Koins on.

    Lastly, I REALLY agree on Smash Bros. Brawl. That game really is pretty random as I’ve both won AND lost matches due to either my character or the opponent’s character randomly slipping and the fact that people take that game WAY too seriously (I’ve met a few people like that) is laughable as its like taking a game like Mario Party seriously and holding competitive tournaments for that.

    Anyways, I hope you get better and if you like BlazBlue, I highly recommend Melty Blood as it has a very simple learning curve, but at the same time, takes time to actually master the timing, combos, etc. Probably the only thing that will turn you away is that its one of those “freaky anime” games and I recall you hating that particular genre with a passion.

    • http://profiles.google.com/supersqualllee squall lee rhodes

      I think the fact that there is a learning curve is one thing that’s inherently wrong with Mortal Kombat. The whole point of fighting games is that you’re just supposed to be able to pick up and play them.

      Like, when I was 5, I had zero coordination when it came to games, let alone fighters, and even then, after I was told by another person that the extent of knowledge you needed was quarter-circle, and half-circle moves, and once I knew that, I was good to go.

      When you have so many characters with so many obtuse moves, and combinations that you absolutely have to take a supplementary weekend course to study, it just completely takes away from the experience. Which was pretty much Spoony’s main grievance.

      • Anonymous

        >>The whole point of fighting games is that you’re just supposed to be able to pick up and play them.

        Somehow,you managed to miss the entire point of fighting games. God forbid people have to spend ten minutes after starting the game actually learning how to play.

        Fucking kids these days…

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ULUK3HNFCHM6ZAJOVACZ3YQDZA Hathor Liderc

          I agree. Learning a fighting game is like learning anything in general. You’re almost never going to pick it up off the bat, as things take time to set in. After that, its almost like riding a bike.

          Why do kids always feel the need to rush things?

    • Anonymous

      Melty Blood is my god

  • Anonymous

    DISCLAIMER: I suck at fighting games, so I’m really not trying to come off as a condescending dick. After proof-reading my wall of text, I realized it kind of seems that way xD I’m also apologizing for the length of this comment. I doubt you’ll read all of it, but I’m a huge fan of this game and it’s been fun agreeing to or arguing your points.

    100% agree with you on the teleporting moves. I have 2 friends I play this with; one plays Smoke and Noob Saibot and the other plays Kung-Lao. I play Sub-Zero and Barakka. It’s SO annoying how desperate people get when they’re about to lose and have a teleporting move at their disposal. It’s relatively easy to counter, but when your perspective and direction buttons are constantly getting reversed, it’s just fucking obnoxious.

    As for the controller, I’d have to say this game is definitely a D-pad game. Sure it’s blister inducing, but it’s so much easier to play as such. Even so, I can’t stand the Xbox controller’s D-pad. I’ll admit, I don’t play Xbox much, but it really feels more like an extra stiff joystick and less like buttons. When I’m trying to do swoop moves, I find my finger constantly slipping off the damn thing. Just saying, PS3 controller feels a helluva lot easier…but our network is down, so jokes on us!!!

    I also agree that the Kombos take some getting used to. The positioning, remembering which direction to push for which Kombo, and reacting fast enough to do them in a practical situation, it’s all a pain to get used to. In my opinion though, it adds depth to each character, which I don’t think is a bad thing. It also gives off a real sense of accomplishment when mastering each of the characters you like.

    Fatalities, kind of a petty point =/ I personally wish they were as hard as they used to be because you’re right, it was a badge of honor. The fact that you can still fail them is good enough for me. Sure it’s disheartening for the player, but it’s quite hilarious watching your opponent try to be a cool-guy and failing miserably. All I can say is memorize the ones you like the most with the characters you like the most. Once you do that, you can land them 99% of the time. You don’t have to be a cool-guy with EVERY character. Sometimes a limp-wristed slap in the face is good enough mockery, especially when it’s intentional.

    High damaging Kombos are way too readily available online, I’ll give ya that. In the days when internet was rare, it was impressive to see people pulling off insane Kombos. Now you just watch a damn video on youtube. Counter-point!!! It still requires skill, timing and positioning to pull off said Kombo. I basically have every move on Sub-Zero’s move list memorized, but being a sub-par fighting gamer, I still get my ass handed to me by a guy who doesn’t even own the game, but is really good at fighters. Have you done the challenges in MVC3? If not, let me sum them up: “memorize this insane fucking combo-chain.” They’re meant to teach you unblockable, insanely high-damaging combos, clearly making it the superior way to play, if mastered.

    Grabs in this game seem designed for ant-block/anti-air measures, not as the primary damage output (except for characters like Jax, whose specials are a variety of grabs.) I much prefer it this way, intentionally or not. Characters like Sheeba can actually grab oncoming foes out of the air, while characters like Smoke can jump into the air and grab people while they themself are airborne. If your character possesses them, air grabs are a a great counter to heavily-aerial players/characters. As for regular grabs, they’re a great counter to people who are heavily reliant on blocking. Not much more to say there. My point is, grabs have their uses, and when used properly, they work great. When you’re trying to spam-grab people for easy damage, they’re not gonna work as well as you’d like. Even if this was an unintentional gameplay “flaw”, it’s a welcome one in my opinion.

    I’ll admit, they Krypt was a kind of annoying until I learned that if you know how to do the fatality, you can do it without unlocking it. Unlocking it merely makes it more easily accessible in the move list. Also, you can unlock alternate costumes by beating the Arcade Ladder with characters. If you like the character enough to want the alternate costume, beating Arcade Ladder with said character is not that much of a chore. After that, it’s all about taste and you can’t blame the game for not appealing to everyone. I personally don’t care much for concept art, but some of it is pretty cool. I’d rather have the Krypt than not have it.

    People use X-ray moves too much…that is for certain. Especially when the super meter’s other functions are far superior. When you play against people that actually know what they’re doing, you don’t have to endure the X-ray moves as often. You’ll find that using the super meter to juice up a special move, or to escape from a super long combo is far superior than one hit of 35% damage. It gets annoying when you’re destroying someone, and they use an X-ray move for the sole purpose of wasting your time. They still lose. They may have had a shot if they used a bar of that special meter to freeze you really fast and kick off a huge combo, or to escape from my 45% damaging combo that only used 1 bar of the special meter. It’s really the fault of inexperienced players, and not the game itself that X-rays are overused. As I said before though, play with people that know what they’re doing and you’ll only ever see an X-ray used as a last ditch effort to finish off your small remainder of a health bar after an intense battle.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_U677UWGWLROKLO2IDE4DJTBCIU Justin

    Fuck doing your damn FFX-2 i want WrestleWrestle.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1813118664 Reza Stephen Lustig

      Bite your tongue!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1813118664 Reza Stephen Lustig

    Flame me for this if you want (and I know that SOMEONE will), but I’ve always considered Mortal Kombat to be an inferior fighting game series overall.

    First three games–

    Controls and gameplay: Controls are (to put it succintly) sluggish, slow, and awkward. Reaction time for attacks struck me as way too slow. Enemy AI is overall counterintuitive: even though you CAN duck, leg sweep, and do special moves, the enemy is programmed to avoid/block them 99.999% of the time, meaning you’re stuck just spamming the punch button; thus, you’re encouraged to not fight tactically, but more like a cheating spaz. Less said about the special moves and fatalities the better; suffice to say, why have special moves and fatalities if you’re not going to tell the players how to use them?

    Character design/graphics: Ridiculous and really distracting. Who’s idea was it to dress a bunch of dorks in unconvincing halloween costumes, give them stupid names, and mocap them?

    Music: Really cheap sounding.

    Story: Lame (to be fair, Street Fighter 2 had a lame story as well; however, it made up for it by having smooth and user-friendly gameplay, cool art design, and cool music. And they told you how to do the special moves).

    The later games (MK4 to Armageddon and this one)–

    Controls and gameplay: Highly derivative of all the other 3d fighting games that came out before them. Essentially realized that they could only be successful by ripping off Tekken (a FAR superior series in every way).

    Character design/graphics: Meh. Nothing anyone hadn’t seen before.

    Music: Forgettable.

    Story: Only got more and more convoluted.

    Overall, I think it’s safe to say that the ONLY reason this series ever got off the ground in the first place was the blood and gore. It’s kept the series on life support for a while now, but it’s wearing thin, and even more thin with every new game.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1813118664 Reza Stephen Lustig

    Flame me for this if you want (and I know that SOMEONE will), but I’ve always considered Mortal Kombat to be an inferior fighting game series overall.

    First three games–

    Controls and gameplay: Controls are (to put it succintly) sluggish, slow, and awkward. Reaction time for attacks struck me as way too slow. Enemy AI is overall counterintuitive: even though you CAN duck, leg sweep, and do special moves, the enemy is programmed to avoid/block them 99.999% of the time, meaning you’re stuck just spamming the punch button; thus, you’re encouraged to not fight tactically, but more like a cheating spaz. Less said about the special moves and fatalities the better; suffice to say, why have special moves and fatalities if you’re not going to tell the players how to use them?

    Character design/graphics: Ridiculous and really distracting. Who’s idea was it to dress a bunch of dorks in unconvincing halloween costumes, give them stupid names, and mocap them?

    Music: Really cheap sounding.

    Story: Lame (to be fair, Street Fighter 2 had a lame story as well; however, it made up for it by having smooth and user-friendly gameplay, cool art design, and cool music. And they told you how to do the special moves).

    The later games (MK4 to Armageddon and this one)–

    Controls and gameplay: Highly derivative of all the other 3d fighting games that came out before them. Essentially realized that they could only be successful by ripping off Tekken (a FAR superior series in every way).

    Character design/graphics: Meh. Nothing anyone hadn’t seen before.

    Music: Forgettable.

    Story: Only got more and more convoluted.

    Overall, I think it’s safe to say that the ONLY reason this series ever got off the ground in the first place was the blood and gore. It’s kept the series on life support for a while now, but it’s wearing thin, and even more thin with every new game.

  • Anonymous

    I tried to do Mileena’s “”Be Mine”" about 70 million times and I couldn’t fuckin’ get it to work.

    “”Back Forward Back Forward Triangle”". THAT’S ALL IT IS and it won’t fuckin’ work.

  • Anonymous

    I tried to do Mileena’s “”Be Mine”" about 70 million times and I couldn’t fuckin’ get it to work.

    “”Back Forward Back Forward Triangle”". THAT’S ALL IT IS and it won’t fuckin’ work.

  • Anonymous

    I still play Blazblue. The CS2 upgrade comes out this month. I’d love to get a few matches in and get stomped. I learn more that way.

  • Anonymous

    There -is- a shocking amount of strategy and depth to Super Smash Bros., but yes, there are a lot of random qualities that make it more like a Party Game. My friends and I typically don’t fight with items, though. It’s a pretty damn fun game, and we work hard to find new strategies to beat each other.

    That said, random tripping is the worst thing ever.

    EDIT: Also, Metaknight has a lot of weaknesses. He’s extremely light, very weak… it’s pretty easy to kick his ass if you know how. :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=679095318 Randy Marchese

    I have to agree with you Spoony on having to look up on moves list issue. I pretty much have to look at it for every character which can get annoying. As for the controller issue it is a lot better on the PS3 controller. The PS3 d-pad works great and I can pull off fatalities and attacks easily and the analog stick is passable. So the controller problem you have with the Xbox is the Xbox’s problem. Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to play online due to the PSN hacker attack :(
    All in all I like this game and I’m a guy who ordinarily not drawn to fighting games so that’s my two cents

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=679095318 Randy Marchese

    I have to agree with you Spoony on having to look up on moves list issue. I pretty much have to look at it for every character which can get annoying. As for the controller issue it is a lot better on the PS3 controller. The PS3 d-pad works great and I can pull off fatalities and attacks easily and the analog stick is passable. So the controller problem you have with the Xbox is the Xbox’s problem. Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to play online due to the PSN hacker attack :(
    All in all I like this game and I’m a guy who ordinarily not drawn to fighting games so that’s my two cents

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=679095318 Randy Marchese

    I have to agree with you Spoony on having to look up on moves list issue. I pretty much have to look at it for every character which can get annoying. As for the controller issue it is a lot better on the PS3 controller. The PS3 d-pad works great and I can pull off fatalities and attacks easily and the analog stick is passable. So the controller problem you have with the Xbox is the Xbox’s problem. Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to play online due to the PSN hacker attack :(
    All in all I like this game and I’m a guy who ordinarily not drawn to fighting games so that’s my two cents

  • Anonymous

    Ugh, Soul Calibur… I’d say it suffers from the “Too good installment” syndrome where after one game (specifically the second one) the developers seem to think they can make a living off of the nostalgia of how great one is, and completely skimp of the content and neglect to update anything but the graphics, if not downgrade the game by ironing out the bugs. This is extremely evident when a fifth Soul Calibur game is coming out, and the last two were flops. SC3 had a great RTS/Fighting game in it, which might as well have been single player, but it was poorly balanced. What SC3 also forgot until the last minute was the story that it was supposed to have been following, so the fans of the series got a slapped together arcade mode with some scenes using the fighting engine instead of cinematics, when it wasn’t just scrolling text over a jpeg. It’s obvious they didn’t want to make a fighting game, or a game with story (except for the story writers whom I suspect were locked in a basement until someone remembered there needed to be story progression to the main characters.) SC4 was even worse, they got rid of the fun RTS game, which helped it stay a Soul Calibur game, and kept nothing in except the dress-up mode, a story mode consisting of 5 battles tied together with scrolling text, arcade mode, and the versus mode.

    Maybe that’s why they tied it in with Star Wars… something about a betrayal of the fanbase…

    Sorry bout the rant

    • http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/cornbredx/ CornBRED-X

      Just wanted to say, I completely agree. It’s a shame the Soul Caliber series never really progressed passed 2 and in a lot of ways (so far) have just gone down hill.

      Had a lot of potential when SC2 came out. Damn shame.

      But ya, don’t feel bad- your rant is highly justified.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      SC IV sold over 2 million copies. It didn’t flop by any definition.

  • madman9910

    I like watching Mortal Kombat on youtube. I’m expecting it to get better, but the players I’ve seen are learning how to do it.

    I’m really looking forward to Captain Power. My Grandpa, Father, and I all loved that show. I still remember most of the regular characters:)

  • http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/cornbredx/ CornBRED-X

    It’s ok Spoony. Even though I disagree and love the New Mortal Kombat nothing is for everyone and this game is no exception.

    Don’t get me wrong either, I suck at it, and I don’t have the time like I did in the old days to get any good at it. I appreciated the story mode as that gave a guy like me a chance to play it and have fun with it because playing it online for me is pointless.

    Few things, though. The control on XBOX I hear is really bad- but the newer xbox controller supposedly works great with it (I have this on PS3 and I don’t have controller issues, it works great). Since you don’t like it I don’t suggest you buy the new controller just for that, but its something to know i guess.

    You probably know this already, but the fatalities are distance based. If you stand in the right place, and your controller isn’t fucking you over, landing fatalities is easier in this than any of the original MKs (I didn’t play the xbox/PS2 generation of them except deception so I cant speak to much for those).

    I don’t mind the X-Rays but i do agree they are way to long. When your doing a fight over and over and the AI does a XRay (which you always know is going to happen; by the way they are blockable) you just want to smash the screen sometimes. But its new, and its something to make better for next time. I’m ok with that, and the concept is really cool.

    Anyway, I’m not gonna ramble on, you probably wont see this anyway, but just wanted to say- dont beat yourself up. It’s ok if you don’t like something other people do. It’s just your opinion and you give it very responsibly I think. So, you know, I’m cool with that.

    Oh and feel better, dude. I know what it’s like. I’ve been fighting a sickness myself for almost a year now. I hate being sick.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Hewitt/510225210 Josh Hewitt

    so basically you suck at this game lol. i had no problems with anything you said. i absolutely love this game my favorite fighting game so far.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DKVGLGPO6CU4L5IY7ZO5PGKT5A Fey Ingraham

    Spoony, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me with that statement of love for BlazBlue. It was the first fighter I’ve picked up and constantly loved, and it has remained the only one to hold that position for me. I would like to note that it’s still living in the online community. Admittedly not as active as it used to be, but it’s still there, and there’s still a lot of fun to be had there! Hopefully other people will have commented similarly, and people might see you running in a few matches there sometime! n_n

  • http://twitter.com/Bahamutknight0 Fernando Fernandez

    After watching both your vid and then Joe’s, I would say this is probably the better review than the other…what’s the word….”biased?” review. You gave some pretty valid points and didn’t exactly treat it as a total grudge over something and voiced some good positives to go along with the negatives. Now I know I’m probably going to be beaten down by the MK fan masses for speaking blasphemy about their precious game, but it’s probably the honest truth here and for actually breaking from the norm and doing it with some thought, I salute you.

    • Anonymous

      Wow seriously stfu and try the game then come back here and comment, dumbass.

    • Anonymous

      Wow seriously stfu and try the game then come back here and comment, dumbass.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=663389584 Andrew St. Andrew

    I couldn’t imagine playing a fighter with the thumbstick..

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Elliott-Koepp/100000220245559 Elliott Koepp

    Like Me you’re a dinosaur gamer. This is the best game they’ve released since mkII. It’s old school MK mixed with Tekken style combo moves with Street Fighter style super moves in the mix. I’m not sure what more you could ask for in a fighting game. Online modes usually suck no matter what game you play unless you’re a 24/7 gamer that has no life (13 YO basement dwellers)! To me this seems like a vlog just to have a vlog. Then again you’re popular and have to put out original content. (sucks to be you) :(

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Elliott-Koepp/100000220245559 Elliott Koepp

    The BBC would like to apologize for the preceding comment. Basement dwellers is a non PC term and I should be arrested for saying it. Now for the 2 minutes of hate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Lubben/16921448 Tyler Lubben

    YOU’RE A CHILDREN’S GAME!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Elliott-Koepp/100000220245559 Elliott Koepp

      I totally sarcastically agree! I was 12 when the first Mortal Kombat came out. Back then we didn’t have all these pussy “rating systems” except the ones sega put out independently, which weren’t recognized by retail stores. So me as a 12 year old walked into Kmart and bought Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis. While all the news programs at the time were demonizing the game, me and all my friends already had it and nobody really cared. Because there used to be a thing in this country called personal responsibility, and furthermore, parents of today should remember what it was like when they were 12 and played “violent games”. Nobody cared and nobody ever got hurt (unless you lived in Detroit) :)

      • Anonymous

        To paraphrase George Carlin:

        “You show me someone sitting at home and playing video games all day, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t causing any fucking problems!”

        I was even younger than 12 when MK came out and scared the US FREAKIN’ GOVERNMENT into stepping in and forcing their views onto games. I was maybe 8 years old, I would see all this stuff on the news; Mortal Kombat with whatever other random games they could find that were even remotely violent (Night Trap? Are you friggin’ kidding me?) and I just laughed. Mortal Kombat didn’t make me want to kill people…idiots who told me how to behave and tried to control my life maybe, but never Mortal Kombat. Even a damn child had more sense than pissed off parents and US politicians.

        This is indeed a disturbing universe.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Ryan.Wraight Ryan Wraight

    Hey Spoony,

    I suck at this game too. I’ve just played the demo for PS3 but here is my two cents. I think this is a game that might be better for the PS3 then the X-box just because of the controller setup. This because the D-pad is more like the Snes controller (For a lack of a better comparison) D-pad.

  • Anonymous

    Guilty Gear and Soul Calibur are the best fighting games.

    • Anonymous

      hahahahahahahahahahanotheyaren’t. :/

  • Anonymous

    Guilty Gear and Soul Calibur are the best fighting games.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michal-Puczynski/1762678166 Michał Puczyński

    They should’ve assigned face buttons to finishers. X – Fatality 1, Y – Fatality 2, A – X-ray 1, B – X-ray 2 – or something like that. If you had to choose finishing moves, they wouldn’t get boring quickly, and you wouldn’t get annoyed by having to do those sick combinations to perform them.

    But well, that’s MK I guess.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5YGILMTGO5SI4KJI4UN2JWW6CI Nj

    I normally don’t post comments, but I have to disagree with you Spoony. The 360 controller is bad for fighting games, which is why so many people buy pads or fight sticks. I don’t think it’s fair to rip MK when it’s the crappy 360 controller to blame.

    Also, fatality tutorial is there for a reason you know.

  • Anonymous

    I still play Blazblue; it’s probably my favorite 2D fighter ever (my main three being hero Ragna, squirrel-girl Makoto, and werewolf-butler Valkenhayn). I also really like its plot since I find the characters and story to be interesting (even if it has to be presented via static talking heads). I can’t wait for the Continuum Shift 2 update later this month (as well as Platinum, the final DLC character).

    I also really like MvC3 (even if I get my ass kicked by people who probably take it way, WAY too seriously) despite not having a proper single-player campaign and I find Smash Bros to be fun (even if, again, the experience is somewhat marred by boring people doing nothing but the Final Destination stage with NO items) since its randomness makes it hilarious to play.

    MK I never really found to be that interesting. I’ll probably rent it to gauge it but I’m positive that its peers will just leave it in the dust

  • Anonymous

    Sorry Spoony. But I think you are 100% full of shit on this one.

    I got Mortal Kombat the very minute it was released from the local Gamestop, got it, loved it, still love it, keep playing it, been playing it some more, and have enjoyed every minute of it. I’m addicted with this game, the gameplay is really good, the replay value keeps me coming back almost every day, and I have no problems with this game.

    My favorite game of the year so far, and there’s not one single of your negative, critical points that I even remotely agree with you here. Not one.

    This is one of those times where not only do I think you’re really hard on the game, but that I can’t even respect your critisisms since I think the direct opposite of all of them are actually true. I honestly, with all my heart know that you’re 100% full of crap here, and I seriously am starting to think you’re just trolling, for the lulz now.

    Not a single criticism you have with this game makes sense to me. Maybe it would if I lived in bizarro world, but I don’t.

    You’ve lost almost all credibility as an informed critic with me on this. You’re going to have to do a hell of a lot to make up for this. Because your opinion on Mortal Kombat is sheer bullshit to it’s core.

    • http://profiles.google.com/supersqualllee squall lee rhodes

      so because you don’t agree with him, you hate him now? nice. real nice.

    • http://profiles.google.com/supersqualllee squall lee rhodes

      so because you don’t agree with him, you hate him now? nice. real nice.

    • Matsern

      I started to listen to Spoony bashing my favorite game of all time (FF8), and I consider it a honor. All games have problems, and some games, like FF8, have many and many of them are really fun and wierd. People are different, and a game that rocks for one person may have gamebreaking flaws/problems to another person.

      And one more thing; dont bash Spoony. He sure as hell dont deserve it!
      If you dont like it, feel free to GTFO.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Brule/100000038137817 Steven Brule

    Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right.
    Theres your solution to Mortal Kombat: more fun when you have the cheats enabled. I have never performed one of the Fatalities for any MK game without having the “one button Fatality” cheat enabled. The explanation for my reasoning of cheating is because if you have ever played any of the early SNES or Genesis MK games and did the “story mode”, the fucking guys get INSANELY hard by about the second match. I mean, I remember playing on the easiest difficulty on MK3 and fighting Jax as my second combatant and he would instantly dash at me and perform a 30 hit combo which would leave me at about 1/4 life. It was fucking retarded how stupid the AI was. I know they have made the game retard friendly now because all fucking games nowadays are, but no doubt they still put in the same amount of idiotic “skill” that Spoony touched on. In all honesty, fuck MK and all it’s idiotic incarnations, it died with MK3.
    Also, as far as the “teleportation moves” they have another name: they’re called “infinite combos” and every MK has been littered with them. I remember playing MK for the Game Gear (I forget which one it was… mighta been a clone of MK1) and ally you had to do was sweep the leg. It was literally like beating Simon Phoenix on the Demolition Man game in the MK clone fighting part. Hell, all you had to do to win in MK3 was play Sheeva and use her “teleportation attack” over and over until your friend tried to strangle you with the controller cord.
    Yeah, MVC will always be better than the hocus pocus over the top gore games.
    And fuck Super Smash Brothers. I hope BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWLLLLL is it’s last incarnation, but knowing Nintendo and it’s magical wand of shitty Zelda/Mario clones, it won’t be.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll bet next, you’ll be telling me that Tekken has a deep fighting system and that you totally don’t just mash buttons to win.

    By the way, i’m also assuming that you think Sonic The Fighters is a great fighting game as well.

    • http://twitter.com/Nast3e Nikolay Valkanov

      Have you watched good players play Tekken?

      If you’re a button masher, you will be eaten alive. I am a relatively good player(although I still get my ass kicked by the very good ones) and button mashing has never entered my thoughts. Tekken is one of the most strategic fighting games.

    • http://twitter.com/Nast3e Nikolay Valkanov

      Have you watched good players play Tekken?

      If you’re a button masher, you will be eaten alive. I am a relatively good player(although I still get my ass kicked by the very good ones) and button mashing has never entered my thoughts. Tekken is one of the most strategic fighting games.

    • http://twitter.com/Nast3e Nikolay Valkanov

      Have you watched good players play Tekken?

      If you’re a button masher, you will be eaten alive. I am a relatively good player(although I still get my ass kicked by the very good ones) and button mashing has never entered my thoughts. Tekken is one of the most strategic fighting games.

    • http://twitter.com/Nast3e Nikolay Valkanov

      Have you watched good players play Tekken?

      If you’re a button masher, you will be eaten alive. I am a relatively good player(although I still get my ass kicked by the very good ones) and button mashing has never entered my thoughts. Tekken is one of the most strategic fighting games.

  • http://twitter.com/eqalidan kyle

    lol ok, let me start this out by saying i am a natural at fighting games, i mean this seriously, i have play games in arcades and such, where one person is dominating, than i go up there, and he loses almost effortlessly. my friend, who i personally watched beat 10 people in a row, at an arcade tekken (forget which one) machine, and i say “dood, is that the best you got” so he is pissed i said that, and payed for me to “get my ass kicked” and i danced circles around him, literally, he couldn’t touch me.

    every fighting game i play its like this. my favorite is virtual fighter, which i never looked at a move list, i went multiplayer, and i played as each of the fighters once, and figured out which ones played to my style (very fast but low dmg) and its usually a female, when ever i play ANY fighting game. so anyway, i play the game and i keep playing it, and i have never once, once i found my character, lost to the computer, not even one round. i mean i know i’m not that great at it, i know i can do better but not once losing a match good? i need real people, i never play online, just because i never want to lose and feel like it was lag or any other shit like that. i need to play people in real life, but everyone i know, good by anyone else definition, cant hold a candle to me… i mean for them to even have a 5050 chance at winning, i have to pick a character that i hate playing as, usually a grappling character, and not watch the screen, in fact i turn around, backwards, and still kick their asses. if i play a character im good at, i never lose EVEN WITH that handycap.

    now mortal kombat, another one i love, i started playing it not knowing a damn thing, and through playing a character for 1-2 hours, i learn every move they have almost, asside from fatalities. in the arcade, this is another game were i was untouchable. i was the person who did the fatalities, and than carved them into the cabinate somewhere (by the coin slot mostly)

    god i miss arcades.
    anyway, good to see someone besides me plays blazeblue.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      You should take your super powers and win tournaments if you’re so incredibly untouchably good.

      • Anonymous

        I stopped reading past the first sentance.

        • Anonymous

          Then you beat my time. I stopped reading past the first sentence *after* I stopped groaning and rolling my eyes first.

          And while scrolling down looking at new posts, I read that first sentence again and went “oh not THIS one again!”. And then I skipped down to your sentence and I gotta say, it’s a much, much better one!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Vaughan-MacDonald/100000473507885 Vaughan MacDonald

    Spoony, this is one of the rare times when you are made of stupid.

    MK is a great game, I have no idea what you played because it sure as hell isn’t what I played. Seriously dude, chill the fuck out and remember one thing: Its better then Deadliest Warrior. :P

    • Anonymous

      Though to be fair, a dog jumping up and smacking you in the balls and having it sent to American’s Funniest Home Videos is better than Deadliest Warrior.

      But it is still a good point.

  • Anonymous

    bitch bitch bitch whine whine whine you must be mentally retarded this is easily the best fighting game thats came in in awhile and game of he year grow a fuckin brain you stupid piece of shit

  • Anonymous

    bitch bitch bitch whine whine whine you must be mentally retarded this is easily the best fighting game thats came in in awhile and game of he year grow a fuckin brain you stupid piece of shit

  • Anonymous

    bitch bitch bitch whine whine whine you must be mentally retarded this is easily the best fighting game thats came in in awhile and game of he year grow a fuckin brain you stupid piece of shit

  • Anonymous

    “blah, blah, blah” “bitch, bitch, bitch” “whine, whine, whine” that’s all I heard for the first 20min then I shut the video off, ok so you must be MENTALLY FUCKING RETARDED grow a fucking brain! you must of been high or something in this review cuz you had no clue what the fuck you were talking you were complaining about fucking non-sense that didn’t matter anyway MK9 easily GAME OF THE YEAR and the best fighting game in years so go fuck yourself and get some taste

  • http://twitter.com/AlecPyron Dario Chung

    Spoony, you should have used a PS3 controller for fighting games. You may have no problem with MvC3, SF4, Tekken, and so on on 360 controller, but actually the game is pretty forgiving for inputting the fatalities and the special moves. At least for a semi-competent controller like PS3 this is a non-issue.

  • http://twitter.com/AlecPyron Dario Chung

    Spoony, you should have used a PS3 controller for fighting games. You may have no problem with MvC3, SF4, Tekken, and so on on 360 controller, but actually the game is pretty forgiving for inputting the fatalities and the special moves. At least for a semi-competent controller like PS3 this is a non-issue.

  • Matsern

    Hmm…. But… The only reason why I’m even considering buying MK is because of it’s accessibility. I suck at SF now and forever. Nothing can help that fact. But closing in on thirty I also suddenly suck at Tekken…. WTF! So MK is my last fighterhope. I think the truth lies somewhere between Noah and Joe on this one…. I’ve decided; I’m buying MK! If it sucks I’ll complain to Joe. If it rocks I’ll complain to Noah. Quite easy actually. :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Thomas-Bret-Tyler-Kelley/1188790055 Thomas Bret Tyler Kelley

    Spoony I wish you a speedy recovery or at least an enjoyable recovery. I miss your TNA rants and I always look forward to all your reviews.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmy-TheFish/100000139595167 Jimmy TheFish

    Spoony you should do a review of Dead Space II

  • http://www.facebook.com/niceguybuddha Jeremy Andrew Zitnik

    wow a lot of people here are being quite rude, I mean It’s just an opinion ladies there’s no reason to get your panties in a wad about it. This is the internet after all if you want someone else’s opinion he even mentioned Angry Joe in the opening of the video. and yeah sure maybe your just trollin and I should pay you no mind but please find something better to do with your life, there are much more important things in this world to do other than give people shit for no reason, fer christ sake its just a waist of energy and effort to partake in this act of sadism. Not to say that such things don’t have there time and place but jeeze haters gonna hate spoony can’t let em get you down.

  • http://www.facebook.com/niceguybuddha Jeremy Andrew Zitnik

    wow a lot of people here are being quite rude, I mean It’s just an opinion ladies there’s no reason to get your panties in a wad about it. This is the internet after all if you want someone else’s opinion he even mentioned Angry Joe in the opening of the video. and yeah sure maybe your just trollin and I should pay you no mind but please find something better to do with your life, there are much more important things in this world to do other than give people shit for no reason, fer christ sake its just a waist of energy and effort to partake in this act of sadism. Not to say that such things don’t have there time and place but jeeze haters gonna hate spoony can’t let em get you down.

  • Anonymous

    what the fuck?! why was my comment removed? can’t handle an opinion? well again your a fucking mentally retarded piece of shit you complained about non-sesne MK9 is game of the year and best fighting game in years grown a brain and get some taste your fucking piece of shit

  • Anonymous

    what the fuck?! why was my comment removed? can’t handle an opinion? well again your a fucking mentally retarded piece of shit you complained about non-sesne MK9 is game of the year and best fighting game in years grown a brain and get some taste your fucking piece of shit

  • Anonymous

    what the fuck?! why was my comment removed?! can’t handle an opinion? well again your a fucking mentally retarded piece of shit because you complained about utter fucking non-sense, I can see the online gameplay being bitched about cuz I heard its laggy as fuck but I don’t care cuz I don’t play online I find it pointless anyway MK9 is easily game of the year and the best fighting game in years, grow a brain and get some taste your fucking cum chugger

  • Anonymous

    what the fuck?! why was my comment removed?! can’t handle an opinion? well again your a fucking mentally retarded piece of shit because you complained about utter fucking non-sense, I can see the online gameplay being bitched about cuz I heard its laggy as fuck but I don’t care cuz I don’t play online I find it pointless anyway MK9 is easily game of the year and the best fighting game in years, grow a brain and get some taste your fucking cum chugger

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Cuthbertson/1321716776 Stuart Cuthbertson

    Woah. Whats with all the rage? Can’t believe how childish some people are being just because they don’t agree with Spoonys opinion. Unless they are actually children of course. Wouldnt surprise me…

  • Diggerjohn111

    I agree with you, I am not one for button-mashers and memorization either. But I also can see Joe’s points. Am I going to play this? I barely had time to watch your Vlog, so no, lol.

  • Anonymous

    The 1 thing I don’t understand, Spoony says MK is only about remembering moves. What fighting game isn’t? Also you say MK is all about hitting that 1 combo actually that’s not true at all. Marvel vs Capcom is guilty of the 1 huge combo=instant death mechanic. In MK you’ll be lucky to hit a long enough combo without being punished. Marvel vs Capcom you can easily hit 100+ hit combos and not get punished.

    MK isn’t all that newb friendly, so I guess that’s where most folks get frustrated. However, for people who have played the series for years it is easy to pick up and play. For me it was easy to get back into, the game plays just like classic MK. Even a lot of the moves are the same like Scorpion’s spear is still back, back low punch.

    By the way their are MK tornys right now with well known top players. MK will be at EVO this year, high level play is out there.

    • http://www.facebook.com/dimitrios.papadimitriou1 Dimitrios Papadimitriou

      I’d love to see him play Virtua Fighter 5.

  • Anonymous

    The 1 thing I don’t understand, Spoony says MK is only about remembering moves. What fighting game isn’t? Also you say MK is all about hitting that 1 combo actually that’s not true at all. Marvel vs Capcom is guilty of the 1 huge combo=instant death mechanic. In MK you’ll be lucky to hit a long enough combo without being punished. Marvel vs Capcom you can easily hit 100+ hit combos and not get punished.

    MK isn’t all that newb friendly, so I guess that’s where most folks get frustrated. However, for people who have played the series for years it is easy to pick up and play. For me it was easy to get back into, the game plays just like classic MK. Even a lot of the moves are the same like Scorpion’s spear is still back, back low punch.

    By the way their are MK tornys right now with well known top players. MK will be at EVO this year, high level play is out there.

  • http://www.facebook.com/orinbishop Orin Bishop

    I may have misunderstood what you meant, but the KOs in Smash Bros. aren’t random. If you get hit with a certain strength of attack at a given damage percentage, you’re always going to fly the same distance.

    And the random elements such as items and some stages don’t diminish the strategy, they just reduce the likelihood that the better strategist will win, hence why they are disallowed in serious tournaments.

    I agree that the games are not as finely balanced as some fighters since the developers were more focused on the casual players, but the depth of gameplay is definitely there. I’ve been playing and getting better at the series for years, and even done decently at a couple of tournaments, yet there are still tons of people who can kick my ass, items or not.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Drew-Taylor/1434335676 Drew Taylor

    I know what you mean with Super Smash brothers, I cannot see that game as anything more then a party game.

  • Anonymous

    The biggest thing I agree with about Spoony’s review is the “cheat code” input for the Mortal Kombat fatality system. I agree; it would be far better to have a system where any attack becomes a fatality. The cheat code input should be a thing of the past.

    Another thing I agree with about Spoony’s review is the “pinball machine” mechanics. A good fighter should have many universal inputs for the characters, such as in Marvel vs Capcom 3, with a few being special or unique to that character only. Smash Bros. was really good at this.

  • Anonymous

    I think anybody can agree here with a lot of Spoony’s issues but still love the game. Also he said, if I remember right, MK is not a bad game at all. It is just made for those who like more hardcore type of game or what ever.

  • Anonymous

    I think anybody can agree here with a lot of Spoony’s issues but still love the game. Also he said, if I remember right, MK is not a bad game at all. It is just made for those who like more hardcore type of game or what ever.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=638786969 Stephen Clancy

    You see, the real problem here is that you can’t jump kick to win every battle anymore. Its a shame really.

    • Anonymous

      You know, I was waiting for someone to finally make a remark about the old Jump Kick bit. I was tempted to do it myself, but I already wrote so much I figured I’d play a little game and wait until I saw someone else do it.

  • Anonymous

    A few thoughts on this Vlog:

    -First, I LOVE that you trashed Super Smash Bros. I feel the exact same way, and you pretty much summed up my thoughts perfectly. It’s one of those games that everyone else seems to love, and for some reason, me not liking it makes me a weirdo. I look at it as a game for 8 year-olds.

    -The bit about unlockables was interesting. I hate when you get a game and half the characters are locked to start, and you have to beat the game over and over with stupid characters to unlock the good ones. As long as a game doesn’t make me do that, I’m fine with it. All the art galleries etc are just fluff, and I’m not going out of my way to unlock them.

    -I think part of your frustration in playing MK is that you’re using the analog stick on the 360 controller. The 360 controller is really built for FPS games. The d-pad is notoriously crappy. Speaking as someone who owns all the consoles, the PS3 controller works much better for any game that involves tapping motions, and even the rolling circle motions are way easier on its superior D-pad.

    -As for your complaints about the actual gameplay, I can only say this: I played MK/MK2/MK3 in the arcade and I owned the console versions as well, and this is how the series has been from the beginning. There have always been teleport moves, most of which are rendered useless with the block button. There have always been a range of tapping and circle control inputs to do special moves. There have always been fatalities which were hard to pull off without a little practice. It’s fine if you don’t like these things, but you seem to be acting as if you are an old-school fan of MK who is annoyed with all these changes, when the truth is this game is essentially a hybrid of MK2/MK3 with a few modern tweaks.

    A couple of your comments made me really think you’re just not much of a fighting game player (which is fine, but you seem to present yourself as a fan of the genre):

    1) You praised BB for having special moves mapped to the D-pad. Having the game execute special moves for you with 1 button pretty much takes away the point of playing it for many of us. You like RTS, right? Would you play an RTS game where the micromanagement consists of pressing a “GO FIGHT” button every round? Wouldn’t that be boring as hell? Wouldn’t it feel like the game is playing itself?

    2) You complained about every character’s moves having to be executed differently. This is not a bad thing, and here’s why. Nothing is more irritating than playing someone in a fighting game who is a new player, and watching him button mash his way to victory over a more experienced player. This game doesn’t allow noobs to consistently win by randomly hitting buttons. This doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means the game is meant for people of equal skill levels. If you have people over and they all suck equally, it’s still fun. If you have people over that can play, it’s still fun.

    -I can’t comment on the netcode, as PSN is down at the moment, but since you seem to praise MVC3 so much, I have to bring something up in the design category (as opposed to the performance category.) At least MK lets you see the people ahead of you fighting so that you can be entertained and learn player tendencies. MVC3 literally shows you 2 cards bumping together instead. That seems like a horrible joke in 2011. Hopefully, MK will be patched and they can tighten up the netcode to make it decent.

    • http://twitter.com/JJJMMM1 JM

      “You like RTS, right?
      Would you play an RTS game where the micromanagement consists of
      pressing a “GO FIGHT” button every round? Wouldn’t that be boring as
      hell? Wouldn’t it feel like the game is playing itself? ”

      You completely missed Spoony’s point. He doesn’t think the skill portion of the game should rely mostly on how well you master button combinations, but rather when to use the moves and how. Having special moves as single buttons does not make the game “play itself” unless the fighting is determined purely on how well people can tap the combinations.

      RTS is actually a pretty good analogy: would you like it if in Starcraft everytime you wanted marines to use stimpak you had to tap A+Y+F+A and do a half circle with your mouse? Or if you wanted to use plague you had to type A+B+left mouse+right mouse+left mouse and if you did it slightly wrong, the defiler would burrow itself?

      Having those special actions at your fingertips certainly takes one skill aspect away but it also makes the focus on how the units are used instead of button combination mastery. This is exactly what Spoony wants from MK.

      If an unexperienced player can button-smash his way into victory in a fighting game, then the game is simply bad and requires no skill. Making character moves obscure and un-intuitive is no way to fix a game. I’m don’t know if this would be the case with the newest MK, but I certainly agree with Spoony and I’ve felt the same way since I played MK1 on snes. Bottom line: make the moves simple and intuitive!

      • Anonymous

        “RTS is actually a pretty good analogy: would you like it if in Starcraft
        everytime you wanted marines to use stimpak you had to tap A+Y+F+A and
        do a half circle with your mouse? Or if you wanted to use plague you had
        to type A+B+left mouse+right mouse+left mouse and if you did it
        slightly wrong, the defiler would burrow itself?”

        To be honest, I find the special moves to be incredibly simple to input, so much so that it’s basically second nature. Most of them are basic inputs taken from Street Fighter 2, or equally simple tapping motions from the earlier MKs, both of which I’ve been doing for almost 20 years now. The ones you listed above are exaggerated. They just don’t get in the way of the gameplay at all, and my ability to think strategy isn’t compromised because I’m so focused on doing special moves. I still think a lot of Spoony’s frustration came from the 360 controller, which is terrible for fighting games.

        The fatalities ARE more complicated than the special moves, but here’s the thing: they don’t matter. The match is already over. It’s just something to show off your practice with, and doesn’t affect the outcome of the match. I don’t mind them being a little more involved and challenging.

      • Anonymous

        “RTS is actually a pretty good analogy: would you like it if in Starcraft
        everytime you wanted marines to use stimpak you had to tap A+Y+F+A and
        do a half circle with your mouse? Or if you wanted to use plague you had
        to type A+B+left mouse+right mouse+left mouse and if you did it
        slightly wrong, the defiler would burrow itself?”

        To be honest, I find the special moves to be incredibly simple to input, so much so that it’s basically second nature. Most of them are basic inputs taken from Street Fighter 2, or equally simple tapping motions from the earlier MKs, both of which I’ve been doing for almost 20 years now. The ones you listed above are exaggerated. They just don’t get in the way of the gameplay at all, and my ability to think strategy isn’t compromised because I’m so focused on doing special moves. I still think a lot of Spoony’s frustration came from the 360 controller, which is terrible for fighting games.

        The fatalities ARE more complicated than the special moves, but here’s the thing: they don’t matter. The match is already over. It’s just something to show off your practice with, and doesn’t affect the outcome of the match. I don’t mind them being a little more involved and challenging.

        • http://twitter.com/JJJMMM1 JM

          I agree with you on the fatalities. They can and should be difficult to pull off so that it’s cool when they work.

    • http://twitter.com/JJJMMM1 JM

      “You like RTS, right?
      Would you play an RTS game where the micromanagement consists of
      pressing a “GO FIGHT” button every round? Wouldn’t that be boring as
      hell? Wouldn’t it feel like the game is playing itself? ”

      You completely missed Spoony’s point. He doesn’t think the skill portion of the game should rely mostly on how well you master button combinations, but rather when to use the moves and how. Having special moves as single buttons does not make the game “play itself” unless the fighting is determined purely on how well people can tap the combinations.

      RTS is actually a pretty good analogy: would you like it if in Starcraft everytime you wanted marines to use stimpak you had to tap A+Y+F+A and do a half circle with your mouse? Or if you wanted to use plague you had to type A+B+left mouse+right mouse+left mouse and if you did it slightly wrong, the defiler would burrow itself?

      Having those special actions at your fingertips certainly takes one skill aspect away but it also makes the focus on how the units are used instead of button combination mastery. This is exactly what Spoony wants from MK.

      If an unexperienced player can button-smash his way into victory in a fighting game, then the game is simply bad and requires no skill. Making character moves obscure and un-intuitive is no way to fix a game. I’m don’t know if this would be the case with the newest MK, but I certainly agree with Spoony and I’ve felt the same way since I played MK1 on snes. Bottom line: make the moves simple and intuitive!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Philipskiii Filip Aleksandrov Mihaylov

    Baww, no worries Spoony, I will play BlazBlue with you :< if it's the PC version that is. (I know he won't read this)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Weng/1538520650 Chris Weng

    In my personal opinion, there has been a pretty rapid pussification of game design theory ever since Farmville appeared on the scene. People aren’t willing to invest TIME to learn a game, to learn how to play. They just want to sit down and instantly be able to be good at the game.

  • Anonymous

    My god. I thought I was the only one who feels Smash Bros is terrible. This is like finding out there are other survivors in a zombie apocalypse. I’m so happy.

  • Anonymous

    My god. I thought I was the only one who feels Smash Bros is terrible. This is like finding out there are other survivors in a zombie apocalypse. I’m so happy.

  • Anonymous

    My god. I thought I was the only one who feels Smash Bros is terrible. This is like finding out there are other survivors in a zombie apocalypse. I’m so happy.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YLXB5QMXN5EDGT5FRXDJUQ6O24 Celeste Serenity Starfyre

    Do you play BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger or Continuum Shift?

  • http://twitter.com/ToastyNovaBunny Jon-E. Krane

    I like your vids/opinions in general Spoony, but I don’t agree with your views on this game. Mainly cause my experience has been very different and I think your simplyfing a few things a bit too much.

    Anyone who is competent in BB will wipe the floor with their opponent. And it’s largely thanks to memorizing 22-30+ hit combos and knowing obscure mechanics/timings (JC, RC, instant block, barrier). These are not apparent unless you have gone trough training mode or looked them up on the net.

    I’ve been a heavy GG player before BB and hosted evenings with various fighting games for years, and I’ve found MK9 to be a successful party game so far. The problem you mention with people checking command list ingame, has happened here with every new fighting game release. Solution? Hook up a laptop and find a site with move lists, so people can check it when they are not playing.

    Here is a better complaint, where the hell is the manual with the move lists? =)

    I will give you that the move list can be improved a little. Reduce the mix of inputs, a good example; Cyber sub-zero’s icebomb.

    Instead of this:
    66FK (middle)
    44FK (close)
    466FK (far)

    It could be:
    66FK (Middle)
    66BK (Close)
    66FP (far)

    Btw, now that I think about inputs, you might want to check up on “Negative edge”.

    Teleports is not that big of a problem, you can block them or duck if it’s a throw. We were about 7-8 people playing MK9 and everyone learned to deal with teleport cheese. All it took was one guy spamming scorpion/Noob/shiva port, forcing his opponents to block/duck/bait/dash. The gimmick was short lived and lead to more defeat than wins.

    Saying MK9 is a worse party game than BB or MVC3 is something I’ve seen not to be the case. I got BB and BBCS at launch and hosted many evenings with it. The mood was good but not many seemed interested enough to keep playing, mostly cause the skill divide got too big, too fast. Me and another would own everyone just based on the fact we knew the more subtle mechanics, timings, priorities and had memorized combo strings.

    MVC3 was fun too, but the aesthetic novelty of having wacky characters pummel the shit out eachother would wear off quickly. After that, it felt rather empty and quickly boiled down to cheese tactics that toppled clever play.

    With MK9 everyone felt the skill divide got less. It wasn’t because the system was shallow, but because it is very transparent and easier to grasp the mechanics by just playing. No one felt the inputs were a problem either, not with fatalities or special moves. I find MK9 a lot less hardcore then BB, GG and MVC3 and since it doesn’t daunt players with alot of subtle mechanics.

    Another common thing to point out about fighting games is that people usually only mains with 1-2 characters.

    We played on the PS3 which has better pad for fighting games, eventhough I prefer arcade stick, don’t feel that it lends itself that well to mk as ASW games.

    The X-rays I can agree on, they do last long and become tedious. But that got better when players used enhanced specials and breaker more often, since X-ray is not really convenient.

    The netcode I can’t say anything about.

    I’m not saying MK is better than BB or MVC3, but I will say that it isn’t much more hardcore and it is a good party game based on the experience me and my friends had with it.

  • http://furlugedepot.com/ Furluge

    Well I for one found this rant entertaining. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never liked Mortal Kombat (And hey, I just featured it in a local gaming tournament here.) and probably never will. I didn’t like it as a kid, and I’m probably not going to like it now. To me the image of Mortal Kombat forever ingrained in my brain is any character spamming high-punch repeatedly.

    Also, is it just me, but have Mortal Kombat 1 & 2 not aged well? I mean, when I was giving it it’s run through for our tournament I knew it wasn’t my favorite, but compared to so many other games of that time the digitized actors and blood splatters really looked bad on this one.

    Also, I have to admit I find it funny that you hate Smash Bros when it seems like it pretty much matches exactly what you’re looking for in a game. Simple gestures for moves that are the same for the entire roster but do different things so you can master the timing and mechanics of the moves rather than how to execute them, but, whatever.

  • Anonymous

    Well first I’d like to address Spoony in saying something that a lot of people before already might have said, but Brawl sucks for competitive play. And I mean, REALLY sucks. You keep citing Brawl when most people that play Smash Bros. competitively still play Melee. The combat system for Brawl had been scaled down and restricted all to hell in comparison to Melee. Not to mention that Melee is far more balanced rosterwise then Brawl is. Melee is still imbalanced, but not to the point that low tiers like Bowser and Mewtwo can’t make a good showing. And the house rules for Melee are simple. No items and only stages that have no hazards. That’s it. That way, the KO condition is far less random, as you would put it.

    Now as for games that beginners can pick up and little to no memorization, I can name two very special games to the people here.

    The first is Gundam Wing: Endless Duel for the SNES. Many people here have probably have emulated this game at one time or another if you are any kind of fighting game fan. I used to play this game online through zbattle a lot back when I was in High School (back when the show was on Toonami no less). But this is the kind of game that Spoony described when he described Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The roster of characters all have similar movesets. But also, the combo system is so intuitive and forgiving that you can pick this game up and start improvising combos after about 20 minutes of gameplay. But you can play this game just about however you want for the most part. If you like playing mid-long range, go for it. If you like playing combo heavy, go for that. You can have a few different styles of play and it will work for you.

    Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKL2FfTFKgc&amp;

    The second is Breaker’s Revenge for the Neo Geo. I’ve always liked to call this the MUGEN of fighting games mainly because this game is so good in making you look like you know what the hell you’re doing. The fluid controls of this game are almost orgasmic to handle. And like GWED, you can pull combos out of your ass after awhile but it takes much less time to get used to. You can link almost anything into anything with this game and to top it off, the damage scaling is fairly strict to compensate. So you can get about a 30 hit combo slammed into you and it only take about 1/4 of your health instead of 1/2 so you have more opportunities to comeback. This is probably the king of the “party” fighting games that you’ve never heard of and you need to download MAME and check this game out.

    Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13m6XVWHxoI&amp;

    Those two games are prime examples that fighting games don’t need to control like shit or be overly gimmicky to be fucking awesome. And I really wish the people at Midway would learn this lesson. And even those trying to get into MK9 competitively are finding that these characters don’t have too many options in terms of comboing. Like the Super (X-Ray) moves, each character only has one real practical combo. So if you do play against someone who knows what he/she is doing and isn’t fucking around, you’re going to see your opponent basically finding openings to do the same shit over and over.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Quinn/606326465 Robert Quinn

    You, my friend, are bitched about what most fighting game players already know. The xbox controller sucks dicks. The d-pad is a novelty and the stick isn’t precise enough. So don’t blame a game if a controller sucks. Get a fight stick :[

    I play a shit ton of BlazBlue and there really is a ton of memorization (if you want to be good). It just takes more time to reach that threshold where shit breaks and you become god to somewhat new players. Also, since it sounds like you are talking about calamity trigger (the cheat stick), no one plays Blazblue because BlazBlue:CS is out.

    And I totally agree with ssb. I don’t make no sense.

  • Anonymous

    There are still several people playing Calamity Trigger. Atleast on the PC and 360, myself included. I have to give this one a shot before knowing if the balance issues are that big.

  • Anonymous

    There are still several people playing Calamity Trigger. Atleast on the PC and 360, myself included. I have to give this one a shot before knowing if the balance issues are that big.

  • Anonymous

    I can understand some of your frustration, Spoony, but a lot of what you’re complaining about are just issues endemic to the fighting game genre as a whole. Combo memorization, complicated command inputs and busywork unlockables are part of the genre and have been for decades now. Now, to be fair, you can eliminate some of these issues; command input complexity can be smoothed out by having characters with basic but effective movesets, and characters with movesets that are much harder to learn, but often more rewarding. Unlockables are being made more accessible, either by eliminating them altogether, or allowing them to be unlocked multiple ways. And while I’ve always been annoyed by the difficulty of the Fatalities in MK, the idea of simplifying it to such an extent is pretty annoying. In my experience, you either end up with a crippled beginner mode, or with a game that’s overly simplistic, like the Dragonball or Naruto fighters.

    I can understand your annoyance with SSB, too. I hate people who play the game “competitively.” I always play the game with a bunch of friends, on crazy stages, no character restrictions, item spawns on high. When you have to implement house rules to make the game work on a competitive level, it’s not a good game choice.

    Anyway, always good to hear your opinion on things. Looking forward to your next video!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Watson/100000370310689 Brian Watson

    You would probably like it better on the ps3, a lot of your complaints are directed towards the controller.

  • Anonymous

    What I demand to know about the storyline mode is why the fuck do I have to fight Reptile so many goddamn times? It kinda makes the character look less cool and more like Shang Tsung’s little bitch when he’s forced to have his ass handed to him over and over again.

    • Anonymous

      And Baraka.

      I really felt bad for Reptile and Baraka in the story mode, since they were essentially reduced to punching bags. They might as well have put “POW! ZAP! BLAM! TOASTY!” pop up whenever they fought.

      Though the moment with Reptile and Stryker was actually pretty cool, heh.

      • http://twitter.com/AlecPyron Dario Chung

        Actually even Goro and Kintaro were punchbags too.

        • Anonymous

          They were fine when they were used in their original sub-boss rolls within the story, but they did seem to get a bit thrown out there later.

          Kintaro was even reduced to a rather generic underling during the raid on the city. Tarkatans with shotguns: Friggin’ awesome (and even a bit hilarious!). but having Kintaro, the bigger, badder version of Goro, come out for a basic fight against Stryker…kind of a demotion in character. Though I guess he’s lucky, since Baraka was probably left cleaning guardhouse toilets in Outworld with a bandage over his head, repeating “that bitch…” to himself over and over again. But it was still sad seeing Kintaro in such a “beneath him” fight. A Sub-Boss going out to fight the good guys, it really is a polar-reversal.

          And he and Goro were just put on baby-sitter guard duty together not long after that. I guess Sheeva got beat up too many times, so they had to let the big four-armed grunts do the lower work. Putting them together in a Handicap fight against Cyber-Zero was a good idea, but the confrontation coming from them doing guard duty was really selling them short.

          It’s a shame Motaro is such a pain for 3-D programming (hence his “Minotaur” form in Armageddon), because it would have been nice to have him in real battles instead of having him die in an off-screen fight to Raiden. At the very least, it would have given one more boss so Goro & Kintaro wouldn’t be overused, but as I said, Motaro’s complicated, so it was an understandable sacrifice.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000831713770 Mike Maldonado

    spoony, honest question: you complain about needing to learn each character and figure out moves and yadda yadda yadda, but i recall you once saying you love tekken, where most characters are really unique with their own fighting styles. so y give the same flak to mk? and you also complain about the xbox controller…. not being a fanboy, but i have no problem doing moves on my ps3 controller :D and one last question: final fantasy x-2?

    • http://twitter.com/FinnishPhenom Mikko Laurinen

      What he was talking about is how the type of commands you input are so different from any other fighter. Only MK rip-offs really use the back,back+button or up,down+button kind of input for special moves. In Blaze Blue EVERY character is VERY different in function, but all use similar inputs for moves, quarter circle+button being the most common.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000831713770 Mike Maldonado

    spoony, honest question: you complain about needing to learn each character and figure out moves and yadda yadda yadda, but i recall you once saying you love tekken, where most characters are really unique with their own fighting styles. so y give the same flak to mk? and you also complain about the xbox controller…. not being a fanboy, but i have no problem doing moves on my ps3 controller :D and one last question: final fantasy x-2?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1217767934 Elizabeth HororPulp

    Great review, I pretty much agree with ya man, Brawl isn’t a game you’re meant to take seriously, its for fun! for kids! me and my friends play Brawl every so often just to mess around and laugh.
    Anyone who takes this cartoon of a game seriously has obviously not played better fighters.
    And I used to LOVE Soul Calibur, but now when I play it all I think of is: “WWHYYY?? THIS GAME SUCKS!” Its slow and hyped :/
    Anyway, really good vid, can’t wait for your next ones, get well soon! :D

    • Anonymous

      Cartoon?Cartoon? Brawl is a cartoon! It’s made for little kids this is a game for seasoned MK veterans that you don’t understand. I played brawl pretty much all characters in it are broken i know because you can spam without counters with characters like Sonic and Snake. This is an excellent fighter what was brawl’s story again? Oh yeah bwarrr! Dark Fighters! Bwarrr giant villain! Everyone teams up. Dead. Have you ever played a serious fighter because i played soulcaliber and beat it in about ten minutes using just kilik!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1217767934 Elizabeth HororPulp

    Great review, I pretty much agree with ya man, Brawl isn’t a game you’re meant to take seriously, its for fun! for kids! me and my friends play Brawl every so often just to mess around and laugh.
    Anyone who takes this cartoon of a game seriously has obviously not played better fighters.
    And I used to LOVE Soul Calibur, but now when I play it all I think of is: “WWHYYY?? THIS GAME SUCKS!” Its slow and hyped :/
    Anyway, really good vid, can’t wait for your next ones, get well soon! :D

  • abefos

    i love this review spoony, i also really like mortal kombat. i royally suck at mk2 but mortal kombat defines my summer vacations as a kid. street fighter was never my bag, mk never took itself seriously… at all. the ps3 controller is sooo much better. but psn is down so catch 22. tekken is great too, unless you’re getting air juggled, i want to buy that lord of tekken shirt at the shop and wear it like a badge of honor, or virginity, not sure what message it gives. but anyway review was great, the quality is getting better, you’re mixing gameplay footage with your review footage at the same time. kudos. i only agree with you 75% of the time and you’re still the best critic out there.

  • abefos

    i love this review spoony, i also really like mortal kombat. i royally suck at mk2 but mortal kombat defines my summer vacations as a kid. street fighter was never my bag, mk never took itself seriously… at all. the ps3 controller is sooo much better. but psn is down so catch 22. tekken is great too, unless you’re getting air juggled, i want to buy that lord of tekken shirt at the shop and wear it like a badge of honor, or virginity, not sure what message it gives. but anyway review was great, the quality is getting better, you’re mixing gameplay footage with your review footage at the same time. kudos. i only agree with you 75% of the time and you’re still the best critic out there.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1803162854 David Archer StClair

    Huh. As I watch this, my brother’s practicing BlazBlue as Ragna. Also, Smash Bros. is a party game and a fighter for kids, and I love it. Fun stuff.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1803162854 David Archer StClair

    Huh. As I watch this, my brother’s practicing BlazBlue as Ragna. Also, Smash Bros. is a party game and a fighter for kids, and I love it. Fun stuff.

  • Anonymous

    I have the PS3 version but if i were you spoony id use the d-pad for the whole game

  • Anonymous

    I have the PS3 version but if i were you spoony id use the d-pad for the whole game

  • Anonymous

    I have the PS3 version but if i were you spoony id use the d-pad for the whole game

  • http://twitter.com/kuroitenshi kuroitenshi

    Since you love BlazBlue I’d recommend the Guilty Gear series, done by the same people. At least the first 2 games, though those are for older systems. I love fighting games and those are at the top for me. Good to know about Mortal Kombat, it really sounds ridiculous.

  • http://twitter.com/kuroitenshi kuroitenshi

    Since you love BlazBlue I’d recommend the Guilty Gear series, done by the same people. At least the first 2 games, though those are for older systems. I love fighting games and those are at the top for me. Good to know about Mortal Kombat, it really sounds ridiculous.

  • http://twitter.com/kuroitenshi kuroitenshi

    Since you love BlazBlue I’d recommend the Guilty Gear series, done by the same people. At least the first 2 games, though those are for older systems. I love fighting games and those are at the top for me. Good to know about Mortal Kombat, it really sounds ridiculous.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah I totally agree about memorization or move execution based fighters being lame. None of the standard console controllers work well for such games. You pretty much have to go buy an Arcade Joystick if you expect to play them worth a damn. Cause that’s what all such games were made for. The Arcades where knowing a secret move was cool an you could trade secrets with other people there. But on home consoles where people just want to sit down gather around an be able to play the game it feels out dated an stupid. 360 controller is especially bad as even its D-Pad is ****.

    I also agree on the X-Ray things. Those should have just been fatalities. Since they pretty much remind me of Brutalities from MK3.

  • http://twitter.com/Okanehira Okanehira

    Yes Yes Yes_M_Bison.avi
    FINALLY someone who agrees with me about Smash Brothers! Its a fun little game but its a party game all the threads and information i see about it being played competitively are INSANE, it must just be those classic nintendo brand nostalgia googles that make people think the Wii is a relevant console with any worthwhile games.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Travis-Hinton/508133848 Travis Hinton

    all i have to say here is Hyper Sentinel Force

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UGgSYiG9Z4

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cohen/100000783412909 Brandon Cohen

    I kan see why the PS3 version has Kratos (may be the fav version by the kreators), other than being one hell of a gory man, the PS3 kontroller has the advantage of the d-pad right next to the thumb, and is less slippery, I play 360 before (sadly don’t own one), and it is slippy and a bit off, well for me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cohen/100000783412909 Brandon Cohen

    Wait wait wait wait wait wait, Super Smash Bros. is taken seriously?!?!?!? I love this series, I thought these rules were for fun, what the hell!!! Fun as hell (I would play for 4 hours), but still, only thing SSBB should be taken seriously is probably the interesting no talking story, but still.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cohen/100000783412909 Brandon Cohen

    Wait wait wait wait wait wait, Super Smash Bros. is taken seriously?!?!?!? I love this series, I thought these rules were for fun, what the hell!!! Fun as hell (I would play for 4 hours), but still, only thing SSBB should be taken seriously is probably the interesting no talking story, but still.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cohen/100000783412909 Brandon Cohen

    Wait wait wait wait wait wait, Super Smash Bros. is taken seriously?!?!?!? I love this series, I thought these rules were for fun, what the hell!!! Fun as hell (I would play for 4 hours), but still, only thing SSBB should be taken seriously is probably the interesting no talking story, but still.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cohen/100000783412909 Brandon Cohen

    Wait wait wait wait wait wait, Super Smash Bros. is taken seriously?!?!?!? I love this series, I thought these rules were for fun, what the hell!!! Fun as hell (I would play for 4 hours), but still, only thing SSBB should be taken seriously is probably the interesting no talking story, but still.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Novak83 Ed Novak

    Wow, I thought the “people bringing a TV and N64/GameCube/Wii to the shop and playing Smash Bros” thing was a local phenomenon. I feel your pain, Spoony.

    Also, having played MK at a friend’s house for a couple hours, I’ve gotta agree with all your points. Think I’ll check out the single player cutscenes on YouTube some day, though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Novak83 Ed Novak

    Wow, I thought the “people bringing a TV and N64/GameCube/Wii to the shop and playing Smash Bros” thing was a local phenomenon. I feel your pain, Spoony.

    Also, having played MK at a friend’s house for a couple hours, I’ve gotta agree with all your points. Think I’ll check out the single player cutscenes on YouTube some day, though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Qadir/100001405926671 Ben Qadir

    There is a huge amount of skill involved in SSB. It was designed to fit both the hardcore and the new gamer IE: Items, cheap noob characters, and gimmicky stages. However the thing is a really good person with a OK character will always beat a average player with a cheap character. If someone is skilled enough they can beat people who use cheap characters. There is a immensely good Diddy Kong player who beats world class Metaknight players all the time. Plus each character has other characters that counter him. For example, with a little skill Olimar is SOOOOO cheap. However snake and meta counter him. Then in turn donkey kong counters those two.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597188549 W.d. Daughenbaugh

    It’ probably already been said, and has nothing to do with what he was ranting about…but holy crap Spoony cut his hair. And as for MK, i’ve played it on PS3 and 360. I prefer playing it on PS3

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597188549 W.d. Daughenbaugh

    Also, is it just me or has there been a new influx of bashing the IRateGamer? LOL I Love It!

  • Anonymous

    Spoony isn’t sick…Like me, he is just jonesing for a new, better Tekken.

  • eggnogstache

    Well, I really enjoyed this game. The story mode has got to be the coolest mode I have played in a fighting game in a while. Adding in the Challenge Tower and the Krypt, and I still have plenty to do. As far as your complaints go, I don’t agree with all of them. Almost all teleport moves can be blocked, simple as that. And if blocked they leave your opponent wide open. But I will agree that Sheeva’s is just stupid. It cannot be blocked and it’s a pain to try to avoid. And in my experience, the Xbox 360 controller kinda sucks for pretty much any fighting game I have ever played. I fair infinitely better with a PS3 controller. I got the sense that you are an avid Street Fighter fan(though I could be wrong) and honestly I find them to be less accessible. And I’m guessing you were talking about Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because the previous installments were probably much worse for newcomers. But 3 was almost too accessible for me. I could take a player I had never played with and beat Galactus on my first try. I find remarkably different characters to be a good thing because I don’t want to be inputting the same commands and using the same strategies. It ruins the fun for me. Ranting aside, it’s always good to get more content from you, keep up the good work!

  • http://twitter.com/Bearhardt Mark C. Bradley, Jr.

    I find it pretty interesting that Spoony had so much trouble here. I had the exact opposite happen to me. I’ve always found Street Fighter IV to be incredibly difficult and frustrating whereas Mortal Kombat felt very forgiving. I actually felt like I could improvise combos and such more in MK than I ever could in SFIV. I also ever only won a single game online in SFIV, not the case in the new MK. I suppose it really is just a matter of tastes.

  • Anonymous

    Spoony, I agree with everything you’re saying about Smash Bros., and I LOVE the series. Competitive Smash is and always has been a joke, and some people definitely take the games way too seriously. Believe me when I say that I, and many others, understand the appeal of playing Smash Bros. competitively just as little as you.

    I like Super Smash Bros. because it’s a blast to play with friends, the controls are simple and there are no combos to memorize, its fast paced, it plays like nothing else, and I like all of the characters. I don’t care about winning so much as just having fun, and I really enjoy the chaos of 4 players with bullshit unfair items on bullshit unfair stages. I dunno if I could play for 8 straight hours though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Purdy/100001228513207 Chris Purdy

    I play Smash Bros. occasionally, but I still prefer games like Street Fighter and MvC. For me, Smash is the silly fun game we play when we just want some random chaos going on. We don’t go for any of the “no items, Fox only, Final Destination” bullshit. Of course, the one that really confounds me is how people hacked Smash Brawl to play more like the previous version because there were glitches that they decided were an essential part of the gameplay and they raised a giant stink when Nintendo fixed them. With any other game, people would be glad about bugfixes, but with Smash…jeez.

    Anyway, hope you get to feeling better, Spoony.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Purdy/100001228513207 Chris Purdy

    I play Smash Bros. occasionally, but I still prefer games like Street Fighter and MvC. For me, Smash is the silly fun game we play when we just want some random chaos going on. We don’t go for any of the “no items, Fox only, Final Destination” bullshit. Of course, the one that really confounds me is how people hacked Smash Brawl to play more like the previous version because there were glitches that they decided were an essential part of the gameplay and they raised a giant stink when Nintendo fixed them. With any other game, people would be glad about bugfixes, but with Smash…jeez.

    Anyway, hope you get to feeling better, Spoony.

    • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

      Yeah but combos started off as a bug in Street Fighter 2, Devil May Cry juggles were a bug in Onimusha, etc.. If it makes the game better I wouldn’t call it a bug. I agree that turning off all the items and stages is stupid because then it’s just a bad version of Street Fighter instead of a unique party/fighting game.

  • Poipoi

    I think alot of people forget that fighting games are going to be liked or hated depending on your personal preference, style, and tolerance. Everyones experience is going to vary because of that. Also what we expect from a game will affect how we like/hate it. No one is right or wrong when it comes to their opinion of Mortal kombat or MvC 3.

  • Poipoi

    I think alot of people forget that fighting games are going to be liked or hated depending on your personal preference, style, and tolerance. Everyones experience is going to vary because of that. Also what we expect from a game will affect how we like/hate it. No one is right or wrong when it comes to their opinion of Mortal kombat or MvC 3.

    • Anonymous

      I will create a religion, and we will be called the Kombat Kollective! All others before thine might will be shunned as non-believers! The House of Capcom will faulter… with their polytheism. There is only one, and thy is Mortal Kombat!

      … ok, I can go forever with this, but I wont, lol.

  • http://twitter.com/PeterSkerritt Peter Skerritt

    Spot on about MK, Spoony. The biggest problem that I had with the game was the lack of accessibility for the character moves. Thanks to the revolution to kill off instruction manuals, players are now faced with either buying the strat guide, printing out pages of info from the web, or constantly pausing during games to figure out what to do. Very few of the moves feel intuitive, and, as you mentioned, the fatalities are needlessly difficult.

    I like what Netherrealm aimed to do with the MK reboot. It feels a bit closer to MKII than anything else, but without a special controller and without prior knowledge going in, it’s a punishing experience that washes away a lot of the nostalgia that the MK name brings forth.

    • Anonymous

      “Very few of the moves feel intuitive, and, as you mentioned, the fatalities are needlessly difficult.”

      Very few of the moves feel intuitive? Maybe if you’re a new player who’s never touched a fighter before. Otherwise, it feels exactly like it has from the early 90s.

      The fatalities don’t affect the outcome at all. They have no bearing on who wins. They are meant to take a little skill/practice, because they are essentially showing up your opponent after you beat him. If you’re not willing to practice a little to get good at them, it doesn’t matter. You’ve still won.

      “without a special controller and without prior knowledge going in, it’s a
      punishing experience that washes away a lot of the nostalgia that the
      MK name brings forth. ”

      First of all, if you have nostalgia for MK, that means you’re remembering back to playing it earlier. That automatically means you HAVE prior knowledge. By definition, it’s impossible to be nostalgic about a game series you’ve never played.

      Plenty of people are playing MK just fine without a special controller. I think in this case, it’s just really clear that the 360 controller is poor for fighting games. That’s not the fault of the game at all.

    • Anonymous

      “Very few of the moves feel intuitive, and, as you mentioned, the fatalities are needlessly difficult.”

      Very few of the moves feel intuitive? Maybe if you’re a new player who’s never touched a fighter before. Otherwise, it feels exactly like it has from the early 90s.

      The fatalities don’t affect the outcome at all. They have no bearing on who wins. They are meant to take a little skill/practice, because they are essentially showing up your opponent after you beat him. If you’re not willing to practice a little to get good at them, it doesn’t matter. You’ve still won.

      “without a special controller and without prior knowledge going in, it’s a
      punishing experience that washes away a lot of the nostalgia that the
      MK name brings forth. ”

      First of all, if you have nostalgia for MK, that means you’re remembering back to playing it earlier. That automatically means you HAVE prior knowledge. By definition, it’s impossible to be nostalgic about a game series you’ve never played.

      Plenty of people are playing MK just fine without a special controller. I think in this case, it’s just really clear that the 360 controller is poor for fighting games. That’s not the fault of the game at all.

      • Anonymous

        Wow. For such a goofy game, it sure has some long-winded fanboys.

        • Anonymous

          Do you plan on actually adding anything to this discussion, or just more name-calling?

          • Anonymous

            That’s disappointing, only 14 words this time?

        • Anonymous

          To paraphrase a classic, “tell me your favorite game,and I’ll tell you in how many ways it’s goofy.”

          • Anonymous

            A valid point… *if* I were prone to overreacting and posting pissy, nitpicky screeds in response to anyone who dared to criticize my favourite games.

          • Anonymous

            Well,that’s what you get when you come out and claim to be a fighting game enthusiast,only to reveal yourself as a scrub.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

        If you were used to Capcom fighters, MK felt unintuitive in the 90′s too. Very different control scheme, different move motions in general, different juggle dynamics. It only felt intuitive once you sat down and played the game enough for it to be second nature.

  • Lockark

    1) I think your criticisms of the mortal Kombat game were pretty legit and fair. Even from someone who enjoys the games.

    2)I VERY much agree about Super Smash Brothers. Competitive tournaments for that game is ridicules.

    =/

  • Lockark

    1) I think your criticisms of the mortal Kombat game were pretty legit and fair. Even from someone who enjoys the games.

    2)I VERY much agree about Super Smash Brothers. Competitive tournaments for that game is ridicules.

    =/

  • Anonymous

    Personally I have no trouble playing Smash either way (competitively or just crazy chaotic shenanigans) and enjoying it for hours on end. Even though I’m much more of a Brawl player I have to admit that Melee lends itself to competitive play far better than Brawl does. I think it’s really the tripping that does it. If you want a competitive experience though, you should really reconsider Melee.

    And lol I used to do that thing you’re talking about with the guys bringing in TVs, Wii’s and GCN’s and having a Smash session each week on campus. …And it was pretty damn fun. We’d play mostly competitively, but we’d also bust out items and random character selection now and then and we had a blast then too. It’s just a fun game in my opinion. In fact, I should go out to the lounge tonight and see if they’re still doing their weekly thing.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Marcus-Billett/1458953617 Marcus Billett

    It’s like I’ve always said; The X-box controller was not designed for fighting games. I always, ALWAYS, play fighting games on the PlayStation systems. The D-pad works so much better for when you’re trying to pull of combos, especially when it comes to the Mortal Kombat series. I tried playing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and didn’t like it because of the fucking controls. I don’t blame you for hating the game on X Box, in fact I agree with you. As for the whole thing about memory vs skill, one could argue that memorizing a characters move list is skill but that’s just my opinion.

  • Anonymous

    I hate fighting games altogether. I hate the memorization, the pointlessness of the directions and buttons you’re hitting to do the moves, and the huge gap in “expert” and “beginner” players. Plus, they’re boring 2D affairs that REALLY need to step into the 3D market. Seriously, put them in a field like in Dynasty Warriors. A 3D battlefield like that would work better for these stupid fighters. In fact, I really liked the original Smash Brothers because it was STRATEGIC and you learn the moves for one char, you have them all pretty much. And that game hasn’t been good since the original.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nate.pyrokai Nate Ashton

    Guy who takes Smash Bros. Brawl too serious (or used to) here.

    I love playing Smash Bros. in a competitive environment–Which is not to say I take it all too seriously. I main an intentionally low tier character just because I love the game he’s from. (Ness from Earthbound) To a certain extent I like the challenge on playing the game against people who really know what they’re doing. This is sort of the reason I feel anyone plays any fighting game–They know the game and they like playing other people who know it.

    However, the big competitive circuit for the game is absolutely saturated in BS. The game, if played by design would be a lot more fun, in my opinion. Which is not to say playing with items off is BS (Final Smashes are broken and unbalanced between all common reason) but that the metagame is largely predicated on the abuse of glitches and infinite combos.

    But hey, I’m a grown ass man who’s two favorite games to play against people are Pokemon and Smash Bros. I’m clearly not in the same demographic as you, Spoony, and I more than understand your opinion.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Casellas/838455062 Richard Casellas

    Think Spoony needed the bathroom with all that rocking back and forth in his chair – either that or he’s flipped for real.
    I have been weighing it up (I enjoyed the angry joe review immensely) but feel cautious to buy this one as I am awful at memorising moves and have issue with some of the graphical style and so will rent/ borrow this one, I need a good fighter in my small collection of games… not sure if this will be it. Have played mortal kombat before and loved playing as baraka but always thought it a bit cheesy compared to capcom fighters and can’t shake the connection with the abysmal pit fighter that preceded it.
    Looking forward to new soul calibre!
    Thanks for seeing past the glitz and pointing out the shortcomings of this title.
    And there is room for Reb every month, this month is Rebril.. Or Rapril..

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RDOUMRU4WP3PSFK7NBZW52IMPI Paul I

      You should definately get MK. It’s polished (i’ve seen no glitches), fun and accessible fighter. If you’ve played another fighter (any) the moves in MK aren’t that different or complex. I think spoony had some issues with the timing in mk moves (i.e. he could’nt pull off a basic 3 hit combo…), so basically don’t listen to what he said, make your own opinion.

  • http://profiles.google.com/michael.d.oreilly Michael OReilly

    I’m with Spoony. BlazBlue is my favorite fighting game of the last several years (limited character roster and all). I was a huge MvC2 fan and got pretty into Soul Caliber (We were a Dreamcast household), and I think those games do set themselves apart by making the moves and combos simpler and letting the player spend their time acting strategically instead of playing DDR with your fingers.

    We can throw down in BlazBlue any time, Spoony. I don’t mind losing.

  • http://twitter.com/TheSand_Man Toure Muhammad

    I found it hilarious how you were talking about how hard fatalities were, and I played this at a game store, and not only was it the first time I ever played Mortal Kombat, but I played against a guy who has at least played the original before me, I beat him with Johnny Cage, and did his Fatality on the first try. I was amazed I did it actually. But he pulled out sub-zero on me and tried spamming that Ice, once I found the block button I was able to get him down though. @GekiGamiTheReviewer:twitter

  • http://twitter.com/TheSand_Man Toure Muhammad

    I found it hilarious how you were talking about how hard fatalities were, and I played this at a game store, and not only was it the first time I ever played Mortal Kombat, but I played against a guy who has at least played the original before me, I beat him with Johnny Cage, and did his Fatality on the first try. I was amazed I did it actually. But he pulled out sub-zero on me and tried spamming that Ice, once I found the block button I was able to get him down though. @GekiGamiTheReviewer:twitter

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LS224RWK6KXR2HW5RAOXCHKWPQ the dragonboy

    Basically this is all boiling down to you not being good and of course (like most people) NOT READING THE MANUAL.

    If you like Mortal Kombat in the past, why are you complaining about memorization and fatality combos, when that was what the older games was about? So is that a bald faced lie? Are you sure you ever played MK back then?

    Not to mention your research is horrible which is one of the reasons you’re not a very good reviewer (E.G. to use your 2nd Fatality moves, you must unlock them first. This is not true, you can discover them first experimenting in practice mode)

    Mortal Kombat is all about trying out a combination of buttons to see just what happens and when you get good, you whip out your favorite characters (which is almost like an avatar) and duke it out.

    I played Mortal Kombat against people who owned the game and I didn’t. They played it way more than I did. I opened the move list once, check what was the most common pattern for that character (for instance Lu Kang is commonly a back forward kind of fighter), then tried out combos focusing on those movements and then started a strategy with them. I was actually winning a lot of fights.

    Basically, the game just isn’t for you. All the “flaws” you mentioned are all based around your personal preference and your bias to other fighting games. Most fighting games are all about picking your favorite characters and learning how to play them by just playing the game. Experiment with moves and try out neat attacks. Fighting games really aren’t all about winning, it’s about putting up a really good fight. In the end, that’s all that matters.

    A player spamming a move or projectile is just another obstacle to get past, which I have done before.

    Mortal Kombat is a wonderfully balanced and fun fighting game that is a nice little throwback to the old trilogy with a wide variety of modes such as story, ladder, challenge tower, tag team, ect ect.

    All the characters have good basic moves (which I can actually win a match against an expert with good use of basic moves and blocking at the right moment).

    Like Marval vs Capcom, Street Fight 4, Blaze Blue, MK9, ect ect we all got some great fighting games that are just too good to complain about.

    If there’s one thing Spoony will never be good at, it’s reviewing. He just likes to hate things a little too much and most of the time (like this one), it’s an excuse.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      Erm… MK doesn’t even come with a manual. It has a Katalog.

      Spoony did say he went through the tutorial mode, so I’m not sure where you arrived at this conclusion.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LS224RWK6KXR2HW5RAOXCHKWPQ the dragonboy

    Basically this is all boiling down to you not being good and of course (like most people) NOT READING THE MANUAL.

    If you like Mortal Kombat in the past, why are you complaining about memorization and fatality combos, when that was what the older games was about? So is that a bald faced lie? Are you sure you ever played MK back then?

    Not to mention your research is horrible which is one of the reasons you’re not a very good reviewer (E.G. to use your 2nd Fatality moves, you must unlock them first. This is not true, you can discover them first experimenting in practice mode)

    Mortal Kombat is all about trying out a combination of buttons to see just what happens and when you get good, you whip out your favorite characters (which is almost like an avatar) and duke it out.

    I played Mortal Kombat against people who owned the game and I didn’t. They played it way more than I did. I opened the move list once, check what was the most common pattern for that character (for instance Lu Kang is commonly a back forward kind of fighter), then tried out combos focusing on those movements and then started a strategy with them. I was actually winning a lot of fights.

    Basically, the game just isn’t for you. All the “flaws” you mentioned are all based around your personal preference and your bias to other fighting games. Most fighting games are all about picking your favorite characters and learning how to play them by just playing the game. Experiment with moves and try out neat attacks. Fighting games really aren’t all about winning, it’s about putting up a really good fight. In the end, that’s all that matters.

    A player spamming a move or projectile is just another obstacle to get past, which I have done before.

    Mortal Kombat is a wonderfully balanced and fun fighting game that is a nice little throwback to the old trilogy with a wide variety of modes such as story, ladder, challenge tower, tag team, ect ect.

    All the characters have good basic moves (which I can actually win a match against an expert with good use of basic moves and blocking at the right moment).

    Like Marval vs Capcom, Street Fight 4, Blaze Blue, MK9, ect ect we all got some great fighting games that are just too good to complain about.

    If there’s one thing Spoony will never be good at, it’s reviewing. He just likes to hate things a little too much and most of the time (like this one), it’s an excuse.

  • http://www.youtube.com/thefaustianman Faust

    Spoony of the future has a message for you:

    She must go.

  • Anonymous

    On another note have you tryed the dissidia games i really enjoy those simple and easy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Vaughan-MacDonald/100000473507885 Vaughan MacDonald

    Hey, genius, don’t use the thumb stick for fighter games. Moron.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      You don’t use a 360 pad for fighters either HIDjolev.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      You don’t use a 360 pad for fighters either HIDjolev.

  • Anonymous

    Man, you are so wrong about Smash Brothers. How can you have a TRUE contest of skill unless you turn off items, ban certain characters, and limit stage choices to those that have no special features. And don’t you dare even /think/ about playing any of the special settings – that’s just there to distract you from true mastery of the game, which can only be achieved once you’ve removed everything that makes that game even remotely interesting, and forced it into the same mold as every other 2d fighter ever made.

    Seriously, I /loved/ Smash Brothers, but eventually I couldn’t stand to play it any more because of exactly the same sort of people you mention – the ones who take it absolutely seriously, who demand that it be played at no less than competitive tournament level, including all the rules and restrictions – and consequently have to trash everybody else’s fun whenever you play the game.

    There’s a few other genres with equivalent subcultures – strategy games and competitive shooters spring to mind – but the way people try make an ultra-serious tournament fighter out of a game whose primary draw is having Mario fight Sonic is so ridiculous that it stands out.

  • http://twitter.com/pairofknaves Jack Seward

    Ah I love SSBB :) I’d never play it seriously though for the reasons you mentioned, plus it always feels a little bit like fanfiction watching Zelda beat up Ganon. Good luck surviving the flak you’ll get over having that opinion though! :p

  • http://twitter.com/pairofknaves Jack Seward

    Ah I love SSBB :) I’d never play it seriously though for the reasons you mentioned, plus it always feels a little bit like fanfiction watching Zelda beat up Ganon. Good luck surviving the flak you’ll get over having that opinion though! :p

  • http://twitter.com/pairofknaves Jack Seward

    Ah I love SSBB :) I’d never play it seriously though for the reasons you mentioned, plus it always feels a little bit like fanfiction watching Zelda beat up Ganon. Good luck surviving the flak you’ll get over having that opinion though! :p

  • Megadomeus

    I’ve ben playing games for 17 years (noooo i got other things to distract me other than games and no i’m not ranting about your own game expierience and not even your mortal kombat game expierience as a hole either) but i’d never played greater story mode then motal kombat….For a fighting game i’m very surprised about that (no

    te:
    probably
    the rest of the comment could be a lot swearing let me know if it’s too much ok).

    Yes i agree what you’ve said entirely about the bad stuff that you said there is. 1. it’s very glitchy here and there but not enough to put anyone off, 2. the content in the kript is mostly fucking useless, 3. the people that programed these’s computers in Ladder or any other modes sould be very fucking
    ashamed
    of themselves how is anyone new and expierienced ones to this are going to like this if the computers just skull fuck you to no end (witch is mostly beating the shit out of the character i’ve selected) (i can play all the characters professionally what i mean is i button mash the move’s smart wise by blocking and button mashing like mad witch is mostly successful so far),

    4. the control’s are the same with the ps3 version of the game you have to be 100% with the moves or otherwise you’ll fuck up and get defeated (i could use a fighting stick version of the game or any other fighting stick but the moves are so easy 85% of the time so i just use the ps3 controler) no matter if you had a xbox 360/ps3 version of the game, 5. the multiplayer is hard to get decsent people online that are the same as me by skill and expierience so if you get player that played mortal kombat for years chance’s are you’ll get defeated every time if you don’t learn how to defeat him next time (i don’t know if is random with the multiplayer modes on this game) and learning it is important, 6. And yes the final boss on story mode was a son of a bitch to beat he useing that hammer of his way to much so i could not bother doing 2 days of gameplay trying to defeat him on normal so i did it on beginner mode to find out the ending is and biside’s it the same ending on every mode of difficulty and only unlock Quan chi but i will try next time.

    All an all i could handal it ok and it’s really worth playing if you like blood and gore fighting games as for me is worth it (who would not like blood and gore fighting games anyway). But i do want to see more X-Ray moves on the next one. As for the others that are still new to this (meaning they havent got it yet or just started to play it) will
    probably think it’s a “Mindfucker” to them and stop playing so much of it or just sell it for something else.P.S: I was new to it as well but i managed to get to grips of it’s gameplay
    alright
    and getting use to it.IMPORTANT REQUEST NOTE: Have you done a game review of “Resonance of Fate” yet if you have please tell me where i can find it If you did that is becuase you mentioned it that your going to do a review of it not to long ago on your volg videos. I just like to know if your going to do it soon or next year givin the chance if it’s going to be reviewed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-McDade/100002310709188 Daniel McDade

    Honestly, it just sounds like you’re bad at fighting games. That’s fine but you shouldn’t bash the game for it.

    • Anonymous

      Except that he flat out said that he liked fighting games that he was bad at.

      • Anonymous

        That doesn’t mean anything. In this video he only hates the game ’cause he sucks at it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-McDade/100002310709188 Daniel McDade

    Honestly, it just sounds like you’re bad at fighting games. That’s fine but you shouldn’t bash the game for it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Hector-Velez/517495883 Hector Velez

    Spoony, you’re just salty and crying for a WAAAMBULANCE.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Hector-Velez/517495883 Hector Velez

    Spoony, you’re just salty and crying for a WAAAMBULANCE.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Eagar/832703065 Paul Eagar

    Spoken like a true PC gamer.

    But yeah I can see how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Honestly fighting games in general are just inherently weird as a genre.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=527628212 Arsalan گارام Malick

    Yeah, I don’t understand how these are complaints from someone ALREADY playing MK games. If you were new to the series, sure. But its EASIER in MK 9 than in previous games.

    I used to play MK games a lot, so I could immediately tell you that its more toned down here to appeal to broader audience.

    Besides, if it really boiled down to SF vs MK, then you shouldn’t even be complaining about half of these “issues”, because SF does it worse. Yeah, fighters have same button executions, but there’s so much theory behind each move the only time you could really “half ass” it is if you got really lucky.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

      I can understand where Spoony’s coming from here. I played MK1 and MK2, but tuned out around MK3.

      Nothing else really played like MK. Coming back to it after 16 years is making me play catch up and I find myself tripping over the controls more than I’d like. I’m acclimated to Capcom fighters and it goes kinda work against my mental gears to jump over into MK’s system.

      That doesn’t make the game bad by any means, but I definitely am feeling a learning curve. Since learning a new fighter takes a big time commitment, I can see why some folks wouldn’t think it was worth the effort to sit down and really learn the game’s ins and outs.

  • Anonymous

    Spoony I don’t know if you know about Blazblue Continuum Shift, because it seems like as though you only have Calamity Trigger, but it has a beginner feature where the game will pull off combos and attacks for people who didn’t even look at the combo list. All the beginners really have to do is spam buttons (which is what beginners usually do anyway), and the computer will use attacks best suited for the situation. =3

    I really like this feature because, as you said, there is a large gap between the beginners and experts. I tried this out with my brother and it gave me a challenge while it game my brother a whole ton of fun kicking my ass at a game I’m pretty good at.

  • Anonymous

    Spoony… there’s two things to remember about 2D fighters…

    1) Always use the directional pad (DPad) – thumbsticks are never as responsive.
    2) Even with #1, the standard 360 DPad is also not very precise. If you really like fighting games (especially 2D fighters), either buy a newer controller with the cross-designed DPad that can be adjusted, buy an arcade-style fight stick… or play on the PS3.

    Haters aside, the PS3′s DPad (most Playstation controller DPads in fact) is one of the most precise out of any controller… it’s considered by many to be the “fighting game’s choice” (if not a fight stick). Most serious fighters prefer it overall.

    As for Blazblue, you’re talking about “Beginner mode”, which, of course helps newbies, but comes with it’s own drawbacks. Still, like you said, most characters use quarter-circles, dragon punch motions and other standard movments.

    Looking at the controls for MK, I am a bit disappointed myself. Of course, I do need to play it on my own to see it in action. Still, if you want to try MK again, make sure you’re using the DPad… otherwise, precision is just terrible.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1152900027 Corey Cantrell

    I LOVE BLAZEBLUE! :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661037953 James Enri

    Oh wow Spoony… I completely agree with everything you said about Smash Bros. Brawl. I’m glad someone finally fuckin’ said it.

    My level of admiration for you has grown by 17% today.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661037953 James Enri

    Oh wow Spoony… I completely agree with everything you said about Smash Bros. Brawl. I’m glad someone finally fuckin’ said it.

    My level of admiration for you has grown by 17% today.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=661037953 James Enri

    Oh wow Spoony… I completely agree with everything you said about Smash Bros. Brawl. I’m glad someone finally fuckin’ said it.

    My level of admiration for you has grown by 17% today.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-McDade/100002310709188 Daniel McDade

    Man, I suck at fighting games and felt like the fatalities were pretty easy to pull off. I think a lot of you that are saying “Yeah, I do agree the fatalities are annoying to pull off.” are doing one or two things wrong:

    1. Certain fatalities require you to be within a certain distance of the opponent. Like, Ermac’s first fatality, just go to practice mode and you’ll see what I mean. I’m making this sound a lot more arcane than it really is. Basically, if you’re always right next to your opponent while doing the motions you won’t pull off a good chunk of the fatalities that require you to be farther away.

    2. For the stuff that’s like Up, Down, Down,UP+move you can hold down the block button while you key in the input. Again, the fatality practice mode tells you this.

    The only points I agreed with you on were the netcode sucking and The Krypt/Graveyard.

    I’m not flaming you at all but the rest of your “review” was pretty much subjective whining.

  • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

    I like how people are pretending being able to do complicated button
    combinations under pressure isn’t a skill just because they can’t do
    it. Why can’t they do it if it isn’t a skill? I guess anything
    involving dexterity like playing a piano isn’t a skill. Bottom line is
    if you want pure strategy with no dexterity stick with turn-based
    strategy games.

    Also, this is a huge point: Mortal Kombat 9 is a
    THROWBACK fighting game. Though it is the most complex of the 2D MKs
    (because MK was always years behind the competition and frankly
    unbalanced) it doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been seen in a 90s
    fighter. It isn’t anywhere near the level of Guilty Gear XX AC, Arcana
    Heart 3, or KOFXI in strategy or input complexity. Let’s not even
    mention Virtua Fighter 5. What should they have taken away to make it
    more basic? Should it have just been an MK2 remake? Don’t you think
    it’s unreasonable to sit out for 15 years or be new to a genre and
    expect to hang with tournament players immediately? MK9 would be a
    horrendous, worse-than-Deadliest-Warrior fighting game if it allowed
    that.

    And what’s not accessible about MK? You press a button
    and the dude punches. Infinitely more accessible than fighting in real
    life. If you’re really saying that the game isn’t so shallow that the
    most damaging moves aren’t instantly able to be performed by anyone the
    first time they pick up the controller, again that’s an unreasonable
    expectation (especially in a genre based in competition; this isn’t an
    everyone-gets-a-trophy mascot platformer we’re talking about.) I want
    to knock out Pacquiao but it turns out you have to lift heavy things and
    run and train and stuff. Boo! Reality is a bad game! The difficulty
    curve is TOO MUCH!

    If these games are too complicated for you try
    an earlier game like Street Fighter II Champion Edition and then work
    you’re way up, instead of demanding modern games climb a few steps down
    on the evolutionary ladder. That, or only stick to people on your skill
    level and do your 3 hit combos like it’s Street Fighter II HD, and
    don’t torment yourself by playing more knowledgeable players (on top of
    being able to do big combos with their hands, really good players KNOW
    things about hit confirming, hitboxes, good/bad match ups, mix ups,
    frame advantage, etc..) There’s also the option of investing time in
    the game to be a better player. That can’t be any worse of a waste of
    time than grinding in some JRPG.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-McDade/100002310709188 Daniel McDade

      You summed it up really well, Josh. A thing I noticed in watching the review is that Spoony thinks just because he’s beaten the story mode that he’s automatically good and deserves to win matches or that its bullshit he’s losing, barring lag, which is a legit complaint. Playing competitively/online is a completely different beast and playing against the AI a lot is really going to make you worse fighting other people.

      He admits to not being good at fighting games but 95% of his complaints that he labels as “REAL ISSUES” with the game stem from this. I’m not even going to comment on “THESE MOVES REQUIRE TOO MUCH MEMORIZATION!”. Spoony just sounds very entitled and thinks a game is shit if he can’t hop online and win. Sorry to tell you this, but fighting games probably have the steepest learning curve and need for practice if you want to do well at all vs people who know what they’re doing. That’s just the nature of the beast and part of what makes them so fun for me and others.

      Color me surprised he doesn’t like Brawl more, it seems like the perfect game for his tastes.

      To other people who are actually on the fence about buying this now: If you enjoy Mortal Kombat at all there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy this, other posters have pointed out that the older games were just as hard/if not harder. If you like fighting games, 8 out of 10 chance you’ll enjoy this a lot. My only technical complaint regarding the game is that some combos require really precise timing to pull off, which is nearly impossible for me on my ps3 pad so I’ve ordered a stick. That’s another thing Spoony, you really need to get another pad to enjoy the game more. ANYTHING is an upgrade over the shitty 360 one.

      Anyways, I’ve written way too much. I’m done here :(

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-McDade/100002310709188 Daniel McDade

      You summed it up really well, Josh. A thing I noticed in watching the review is that Spoony thinks just because he’s beaten the story mode that he’s automatically good and deserves to win matches or that its bullshit he’s losing, barring lag, which is a legit complaint. Playing competitively/online is a completely different beast and playing against the AI a lot is really going to make you worse fighting other people.

      He admits to not being good at fighting games but 95% of his complaints that he labels as “REAL ISSUES” with the game stem from this. I’m not even going to comment on “THESE MOVES REQUIRE TOO MUCH MEMORIZATION!”. Spoony just sounds very entitled and thinks a game is shit if he can’t hop online and win. Sorry to tell you this, but fighting games probably have the steepest learning curve and need for practice if you want to do well at all vs people who know what they’re doing. That’s just the nature of the beast and part of what makes them so fun for me and others.

      Color me surprised he doesn’t like Brawl more, it seems like the perfect game for his tastes.

      To other people who are actually on the fence about buying this now: If you enjoy Mortal Kombat at all there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy this, other posters have pointed out that the older games were just as hard/if not harder. If you like fighting games, 8 out of 10 chance you’ll enjoy this a lot. My only technical complaint regarding the game is that some combos require really precise timing to pull off, which is nearly impossible for me on my ps3 pad so I’ve ordered a stick. That’s another thing Spoony, you really need to get another pad to enjoy the game more. ANYTHING is an upgrade over the shitty 360 one.

      Anyways, I’ve written way too much. I’m done here :(

    • http://www.facebook.com/imaeatchurface Anthone Jason Licari Lamb

      Because everyone that plays this game online is Mike Tyson, right? Idiot. And I’m sure he didn’t even try practicing for even a moment before saying anything, right? IDIOT. Just because someone else can do it (after how many years?) doesn’t mean his points are completely invalid. “I’m better than you” isn’t an argument. Looking at your “argument,” it looks like you haven’t even played this game.

      I’ve mastered Dead or Alive 4, and I’m at least decent at several others. The controls of this game are unresponsive and sluggish. No matter how many times you practice the Bicycle Kick, you’ll never be able to pull it off 100% of the time. Not to mention the 360 controller is shit. The control sticks don’t work right, and the D-pad is garbage. I’ve yet to find a 360 controller that worked right.

      Memorization isn’t a skill. I know this for a fact because of how many times I’ve gotten my ass kicked by the same fucking combo on Tekken, yet I could annihilate that same person at Dead or Alive 4 (and that’s nowhere near the only example). Memorizing XABBAYYXY^AABV>XXYV<AYY and watching your enemy die isn't skill. It's memorization. Skill is reaction time, precision, and reflexes. Of course, that was an exaggeration (except with Kung Lao), but to do any decent amount of damage, that's basically the concept. Memorizing a 25-hit (preferably unblockable) combo is the FPS equivelant of memorizing the Infinite Ammo code, or the RPG equivelant of memorizing how to get the Knights of the Round materia, or the Zodiac Spear. It requires minimal skill and little effort. Sure, you need to know your combos in any fighting game, but this bullshit is just cruise control.

      • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

        Not everyone’s Mike Tyson and not everyone has to be. You can’t expect to be a master at every game you touch but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them in the right conditions (like not playing someone ten times better than you as you’re just starting to learn.)

        I’m sure he messed around in Story and Training mode for a while but that doesn’t mean he should hang with people who’ve been playing MK and fighting games longer than he has. Is this a competitive fighting game or an egalitarianism simulation? He unintentionally confessed in this video to not knowing even BASIC frame data (the rant about teleports, which are easy to deal with if you expect them) so it’s not just the lack of effort in memorizing combos that caused him to lose, even though he claims that’s the thing holding him back and he’d be a tactician otherwise.

        Same thing with what you said about Tekken. If a button masher is beating you it’s because you don’t know about priority, hitboxes, hit confirmation, frame advantage, safe pokes, block stun, BLOCKING, etc. You want fighting games to be more about strategy and you don’t know about the strategy they already have. You’d be better off MEMORIZING this stuff before a flashy combo. Also, it’s Tekken we’re talking about. Play Virtua Fighter instead.

        If you really hate combos that much you should try out this game called Karate Champ. MAYBE Mortal Kombat 1. Mortal Kombat II is probably too -oriented for you (youtube[dot]com/watch?v=yZatOrVR7C0).

        Seriously though I’m not a big fan of combo porn games either like Capcom’s Versus games (which Spoony says he likes even though they are worse offenders than MK,) Hokuto no Ken, Killer Instinct, etc. MK9′s combos are pretty moderate compared to these, though there is some craziness which will probably get patched since NetherRealm has promised to be receptive to pro players’ demands with this game. I would like to see 2D fighting games go to the next level where instead of evolving by making the combo counter bigger, the maneuvering and space controlling is more advanced, the input is more technical, and there are stage designs (instead of wallpaper backgrounds) and some item usage (in a good, non-Smash way.) This game will never come about if the majority is constantly pulling devs back to the 90s.

        About memorization as a skill, where to start? I guess concert pianist isn’t skilled just because he memorized what keys to press at the right time. Bobby Fischer wasn’t skilled, he just memorized all the possibilities based on the layout of pieces. Sure memorizing a long string of buttons could be easy if the timing wasn’t stringent but to me that makes a good argument for making the controls more stringent not less, so someone who has played a game for years isn’t level with their grandma. Because ACTION games, lol.

        • http://www.facebook.com/imaeatchurface Anthone Jason Licari Lamb

          Arighty. First off, all that technical bullshit with hitboxes and fucking FRAME COUNT (you’ve got to be kidding) is just more MEMORIZATION. The person is beating you because they have MEMORIZED more than you. That is not skill. The pianist has to memorize it, sure, but he has to be able to DO it, too. Anyone can sit at a piano and create music if they have the skill. As such, Marvel vs Capcom has a lot of combos, sure, but you don’t HAVE to play that way. I am good at MvC, and I don’t do combo porn. With Mortal Kombat, if you try to play that way, you lose. Period. You HAVE to be combo-memory king.

          With Dead or Alive, I was really good, because I am skilled. I don’t have to memorize technicalities, focus on hitboxes, blah blah blah. That’s not a fighting game. That’s a fucking PUZZLE game. I was good at it because I had better reflexes, better reaction time, better timing, better control, better strategy, better BLOCKING (moron), and better improvisation. Not because I memorized every possible technical aspect of my character, probably by looking ONLINE for someone else to TELL you. The game let me move where I wanted, do what I wanted, when I told it to, and I became good at it because I was GOOD at it. I didn’t to go GameFAQs and look for “Jin Fighting Guide *COMPLETE*”.

          Your grandma should be able to beat you if she’s better than you. Simplicity, depth, and freedom breed skill. Needless complexity, memorization, and technical bullshit basically equal quick-time events and puzzle games with people in them. They’re just GIMMICKS. If I can’t control my character as freely as I control my own body, I’m not demonstrating my full skill, and the game becomes BORING.

          There are several games, even entire genres that I have quit playing because they no longer gave me a challenge. All of them were games that I could use my brain in. I purposely find difficult games, I always play on the highest difficulty, and most games still bore me, because of the gimmicks and the predictability. I have yet to finish Dead Space 2 because it became so tedious and boring. I’m not bragging, I’m just explaining my position. I know what I’m talking about, I don’t say these things because I can’t do them, I HAVE done them. FAR TOO EASILY.

          • Anonymous

            Anthone, Josh, I have to say, I think you’re both missing the point, or rather, only getting it halfway. Anthone, you’re right in that memorization is, in and of itself, not a skill. People can be better or worse at memorizing and retaining facts, but with enough brute effort, a person can memorize just about anything. Josh, you’re correct in your assessment that getting good at most fighting games is a SKILL, but incorrect in your assessment that the skill in question is memorization.

            The simple fact is that, while rote memorization of frame data and dial-a-combos are one way to approach winning a fighting game, it’s not the only way. I’ve fought plenty of skilled players who couldn’t quote frame data to save their life, but they know exactly when to teleport behind you and combo you when you throw your Hadoken. Practice is the most important thing to any skill, and the same is true of fighting games. Now, some people’s practice consists of frame data memorization, etc., but they get good by practicing and practicing and practicing (sort of like your piano analogy, Josh). The raw data memorization is just a tool to help with building the muscle memory, which only comes from practice and honing skill. Going to the piano analogy, it’s possible to learn to play a piece by ear without ever reading the sheet music. Not everybody can do it, but then, not everybody can easily learn from the sheet music itself. It’s just a question of preference, and despite what a lot of people think, there is no one right approach. Some people like to memorize specific strategies and gameplans, and some like to learn exclusively hands-on with lots of practice and be less rigid, improvising on the fly (I’m of the latter school of thought, but there’s nothing wrong with the former). Both are equally valid and both require lots of practice and skill.

            Having purchased and played the game now, I can agree with Spoony’s assessment that MK vs. other fighters is a Pepsi/Coke kind of situation. It’s similar to other fighters in that it is a fighter, but a lot of the special move inputs are different than in other fighters, there’s the addition of a block button (really weird for a 2D fighter), and assignment of moves and balance priorities are very different (I’ve never seen another fighting game where literally 1/3 of the characters have teleportation moves, and all have projectiles). But as I commented earlier, most of his complaints about not being “pick up and play” are just things that are part of the fighting game genre, and you can only do so much to make them more accessible before you completely gut the game and make it something else. Fighting games are a genre that, as a whole, you either like or you don’t, and it sounds like they definitely aren’t Spoony’s favorite. Nothing wrong with that, but it would be like me writing a review of Bulletstorm where most of my complaints were an indictment of the FPS genre as a whole (a game genre I’m not fond of). Saying “If you don’t like fighting games, this won’t change your mind” isn’t much of a review, and that’s basically what this was, aside from a few specific complaints.

            Oh, and for the record, any serious fighting gamer is gonna use an arcade stick, not a d-pad. Just sayin’. ;-)

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Ottoson/100000693361189 Joe Ottoson

            Thing is, knowing combos and execution heavy move lists basically just boils down to rote practice until you can do the stuff in your sleep. At that point, you’re not thinking about it anymore, you’re just doing it automatically and concentrating on strategy.

            The player that puts the time in has an edge all other things being equal simply because they can deal more damage.

            So it’s a skill of sort, but it’s a minor one since anyone can train their hands if they put the time in. The real meat of any fighter does come from the strategic side and not the execution of the moves themselves.

          • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

            Anthone is hurting his case as the connoisseur of fighting games (or any genre) when he calls basic rules of the game like the area, range, speed, and recovery time of an attack “technical bullshit.” He says he plays games on the hardest difficulty but this sounds like a Mario Party or Nintendogs fan to me. If we believe that reflexes (which require memorization to know when to react) and rules are both memorization (they are in part) and memorization is not a skill (not,) really, what else is there to do except play Animal Crossing all day?

            Is knowing Mario’s movement characteristics in Super Mario Bros. like inertia technical bullshit or is it basic knowledge you need in order to master the game? The only difference I see is that in SMB1′s case it’d just be called “slipperyness” instead of something potentially obtuse like “frame data.”

            Hyphenator, if your friend knows when to punish fireballs, he knows frame data, even if he doesn’t know the term. In the SF2 days, no one called it frame data but they knew if you jumped over a hadouken early you’d be at an advantage, and if you jumped late you’d get hit with a shoryuken or something, and Ryu’s best poke was his crouching medium kick. Reading from a FAQ/looking at a youtube video and practicing in the game are just two different forms of memory. Something I don’t like about fighting games now is that a lot of people won’t touch a game before they’ve already looked at combos on Youtube or a tier list. For the most part the person who practices more will still be better though.

            The memory/skill debate is over. I won it because the dictionary is on my side. You could however make an argument that a game with big combos has the wrong type of skill that you prefer to be emphasized. Before we get into that look at this video of an MK9 tournament featuring long-time fighting game experts like Alex Valle: youtube[dot]com/watch?v=m57nvfTCtec

            I transcribed the combo counter of the 2 Smoke Vs. Kitana matches near the beginning. I’ve also included damage percentage for the biggest combos.

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 1:9,2,2,8,2,2,2,2,2,13(35%),2

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 2:2,10(31%),2,6(grab),2,2,6(grab),5,8

            Is this the combo porn we’re complaining about? A bunch of 2 hitters with the occasional big combo? 2 hits is the least amount of hits you can have while still calling it a combo. Turns out when you learn how to block and combo-break it’s not that bad. Anthone’s choice DOA4 has MUUUUUCH bigger combos than this. Spoony’s choice MVC3 has combos that max out the counter (99) and 100% damage combos. If you take out the 13 and 10 you’d think I transcribed the combo counter of Virtua Fighter 5, a fighting game with some of the least emphasis on combos (unless you go back to Karate Champ, or the first Clayfighter maybe) BUT Virtua Fighter 5 has 1 hit moves that do MORE damage than the 13-hit, 35% one in MK9. Here’s where you can have a debate on combos. Do you think it’s better to have damaging small combos based on timing but you can get lucky, or bigger combos and juggles that require timing AND rythym but take a while to finish. I’m not sure if there’s a right answer, it just depends on the type of flow to a match you prefer. Saying one or the other sucks is silly.

          • http://www.facebook.com/imaeatchurface Anthone Jason Licari Lamb

            Heh. Oh, I’m not going to drag this on any longer. All I’ll say is I used Jann Lee and Kokoro in Dead or Alive. I used Siegfried in Soul Calibur. And I used Hayato, Captain Commando, and Felicia in MvC2. If you don’t know what that means, whatever. I never use massive combos. 5 hits is pushing it for me.

          • http://www.facebook.com/imaeatchurface Anthone Jason Licari Lamb

            Heh. Oh, I’m not going to drag this on any longer. All I’ll say is I used Jann Lee and Kokoro in Dead or Alive. I used Siegfried in Soul Calibur. And I used Hayato, Captain Commando, and Felicia in MvC2. If you don’t know what that means, whatever. I never use massive combos. 5 hits is pushing it for me.

          • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

            Anthone is hurting his case as the connoisseur of fighting games (or any genre) when he calls basic rules of the game like the area, range, speed, and recovery time of an attack “technical bullshit.” He says he plays games on the hardest difficulty but this sounds like a Mario Party or Nintendogs fan to me. If we believe that reflexes (which require memorization to know when to react) and rules are both memorization (they are in part) and memorization is not a skill (not,) really, what else is there to do except play Animal Crossing all day?

            Is knowing Mario’s movement characteristics in Super Mario Bros. like inertia technical bullshit or is it basic knowledge you need in order to master the game? The only difference I see is that in SMB1′s case it’d just be called “slipperyness” instead of something potentially obtuse like “frame data.”

            Hyphenator, if your friend knows when to punish fireballs, he knows frame data, even if he doesn’t know the term. In the SF2 days, no one called it frame data but they knew if you jumped over a hadouken early you’d be at an advantage, and if you jumped late you’d get hit with a shoryuken or something, and Ryu’s best poke was his crouching medium kick. Reading from a FAQ/looking at a youtube video and practicing in the game are just two different forms of memory. Something I don’t like about fighting games now is that a lot of people won’t touch a game before they’ve already looked at combos on Youtube or a tier list. For the most part the person who practices more will still be better though.

            The memory/skill debate is over. I won it because the dictionary is on my side. You could however make an argument that a game with big combos has the wrong type of skill that you prefer to be emphasized. Before we get into that look at this video of an MK9 tournament featuring long-time fighting game experts like Alex Valle: youtube[dot]com/watch?v=m57nvfTCtec

            I transcribed the combo counter of the 2 Smoke Vs. Kitana matches near the beginning. I’ve also included damage percentage for the biggest combos.

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 1:9,2,2,8,2,2,2,2,2,13(35%),2

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 2:2,10(31%),2,6(grab),2,2,6(grab),5,8

            Is this the combo porn we’re complaining about? A bunch of 2 hitters with the occasional big combo? 2 hits is the least amount of hits you can have while still calling it a combo. Turns out when you learn how to block and combo-break it’s not that bad. Anthone’s choice DOA4 has MUUUUUCH bigger combos than this. Spoony’s choice MVC3 has combos that max out the counter (99) and 100% damage combos. If you take out the 13 and 10 you’d think I transcribed the combo counter of Virtua Fighter 5, a fighting game with some of the least emphasis on combos (unless you go back to Karate Champ, or the first Clayfighter maybe) BUT Virtua Fighter 5 has 1 hit moves that do MORE damage than the 13-hit, 35% one in MK9. Here’s where you can have a debate on combos. Do you think it’s better to have damaging small combos based on timing but you can get lucky, or bigger combos and juggles that require timing AND rythym but take a while to finish. I’m not sure if there’s a right answer, it just depends on the type of flow to a match you prefer. Saying one or the other sucks is silly.

          • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

            Anthone is hurting his case as the connoisseur of fighting games (or any genre) when he calls basic rules of the game like the area, range, speed, and recovery time of an attack “technical bullshit.” He says he plays games on the hardest difficulty but this sounds like a Mario Party or Nintendogs fan to me. If we believe that reflexes (which require memorization to know when to react) and rules are both memorization (they are in part) and memorization is not a skill (not,) really, what else is there to do except play Animal Crossing all day?

            Is knowing Mario’s movement characteristics in Super Mario Bros. like inertia technical bullshit or is it basic knowledge you need in order to master the game? The only difference I see is that in SMB1′s case it’d just be called “slipperyness” instead of something potentially obtuse like “frame data.”

            Hyphenator, if your friend knows when to punish fireballs, he knows frame data, even if he doesn’t know the term. In the SF2 days, no one called it frame data but they knew if you jumped over a hadouken early you’d be at an advantage, and if you jumped late you’d get hit with a shoryuken or something, and Ryu’s best poke was his crouching medium kick. Reading from a FAQ/looking at a youtube video and practicing in the game are just two different forms of memory. Something I don’t like about fighting games now is that a lot of people won’t touch a game before they’ve already looked at combos on Youtube or a tier list. For the most part the person who practices more will still be better though.

            The memory/skill debate is over. I won it because the dictionary is on my side. You could however make an argument that a game with big combos has the wrong type of skill that you prefer to be emphasized. Before we get into that look at this video of an MK9 tournament featuring long-time fighting game experts like Alex Valle: youtube[dot]com/watch?v=m57nvfTCtec

            I transcribed the combo counter of the 2 Smoke Vs. Kitana matches near the beginning. I’ve also included damage percentage for the biggest combos.

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 1:9,2,2,8,2,2,2,2,2,13(35%),2

            Smoke Vs. Kitana 2:2,10(31%),2,6(grab),2,2,6(grab),5,8

            Is this the combo porn we’re complaining about? A bunch of 2 hitters with the occasional big combo? 2 hits is the least amount of hits you can have while still calling it a combo. Turns out when you learn how to block and combo-break it’s not that bad. Anthone’s choice DOA4 has MUUUUUCH bigger combos than this. Spoony’s choice MVC3 has combos that max out the counter (99) and 100% damage combos. If you take out the 13 and 10 you’d think I transcribed the combo counter of Virtua Fighter 5, a fighting game with some of the least emphasis on combos (unless you go back to Karate Champ, or the first Clayfighter maybe) BUT Virtua Fighter 5 has 1 hit moves that do MORE damage than the 13-hit, 35% one in MK9. Here’s where you can have a debate on combos. Do you think it’s better to have damaging small combos based on timing but you can get lucky, or bigger combos and juggles that require timing AND rythym but take a while to finish. I’m not sure if there’s a right answer, it just depends on the type of flow to a match you prefer. Saying one or the other sucks is silly.

          • Anonymous

            Anthone, Josh, I have to say, I think you’re both missing the point, or rather, only getting it halfway. Anthone, you’re right in that memorization is, in and of itself, not a skill. People can be better or worse at memorizing and retaining facts, but with enough brute effort, a person can memorize just about anything. Josh, you’re correct in your assessment that getting good at most fighting games is a SKILL, but incorrect in your assessment that the skill in question is memorization.

            The simple fact is that, while rote memorization of frame data and dial-a-combos are one way to approach winning a fighting game, it’s not the only way. I’ve fought plenty of skilled players who couldn’t quote frame data to save their life, but they know exactly when to teleport behind you and combo you when you throw your Hadoken. Practice is the most important thing to any skill, and the same is true of fighting games. Now, some people’s practice consists of frame data memorization, etc., but they get good by practicing and practicing and practicing (sort of like your piano analogy, Josh). The raw data memorization is just a tool to help with building the muscle memory, which only comes from practice and honing skill. Going to the piano analogy, it’s possible to learn to play a piece by ear without ever reading the sheet music. Not everybody can do it, but then, not everybody can easily learn from the sheet music itself. It’s just a question of preference, and despite what a lot of people think, there is no one right approach. Some people like to memorize specific strategies and gameplans, and some like to learn exclusively hands-on with lots of practice and be less rigid, improvising on the fly (I’m of the latter school of thought, but there’s nothing wrong with the former). Both are equally valid and both require lots of practice and skill.

            Having purchased and played the game now, I can agree with Spoony’s assessment that MK vs. other fighters is a Pepsi/Coke kind of situation. It’s similar to other fighters in that it is a fighter, but a lot of the special move inputs are different than in other fighters, there’s the addition of a block button (really weird for a 2D fighter), and assignment of moves and balance priorities are very different (I’ve never seen another fighting game where literally 1/3 of the characters have teleportation moves, and all have projectiles). But as I commented earlier, most of his complaints about not being “pick up and play” are just things that are part of the fighting game genre, and you can only do so much to make them more accessible before you completely gut the game and make it something else. Fighting games are a genre that, as a whole, you either like or you don’t, and it sounds like they definitely aren’t Spoony’s favorite. Nothing wrong with that, but it would be like me writing a review of Bulletstorm where most of my complaints were an indictment of the FPS genre as a whole (a game genre I’m not fond of). Saying “If you don’t like fighting games, this won’t change your mind” isn’t much of a review, and that’s basically what this was, aside from a few specific complaints.

            Oh, and for the record, any serious fighting gamer is gonna use an arcade stick, not a d-pad. Just sayin’. ;-)

  • Anonymous

    People play Smash Bros competitively?

    I don´t get “competitive” gaming anyway, so yeah…

    As you pointed out, great party game. Get well, man.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7IPNIRPLMGVEZX5TOFKCISMVUU jack

    Smash Brothers is great because you can play it as a party game or a competitive game. But it isn’t a “No skill button masher” like some people describe it.

    Play someone good and try to “button mash”. You’ll probably lose

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000577862146 Dan Savage

    oh, ya that would suck playing mk on the 360, ( im not a ps3 fanboy i have a 360) the d pad on the ps3 works pretty well for combos and fatalities.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nate-Conarroe/100000062876218 Nate Conarroe

    lol complaining about the online… I wonder how its like playing this online thanks sony.
    and most of those teleport moves are blockable.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nate-Conarroe/100000062876218 Nate Conarroe

    lol complaining about the online… I wonder how its like playing this online thanks sony.
    and most of those teleport moves are blockable.

  • Anonymous

    The VLOGs are my favourite videos Spoony puts up, would be nice to see them more often especially as they dont take as long to produce once hes done reviewing something.

  • Anonymous

    You gonna review the other games you previewed at PAX/E3? Would love to hear what you actually thought of Portal 2. I all ready own and beat it, but I just love to hear you talk :P

  • Anonymous

    You gonna review the other games you previewed at PAX/E3? Would love to hear what you actually thought of Portal 2. I all ready own and beat it, but I just love to hear you talk :P

  • Anonymous

    You gonna review the other games you previewed at PAX/E3? Would love to hear what you actually thought of Portal 2. I all ready own and beat it, but I just love to hear you talk :P

  • http://www.facebook.com/malcolm.felix Malcolm Felix

    I think most of your arguments are solid, and I love this game to death. Only thing I want to point out is that the PS3 controller works relatively well compared to what you said about the 360 controller, which makes me think that it’s only a cosmetic problem on Xbox’s part rather than a fault of the game itself.

  • Anonymous

    This is a very violent game, it reminds me of my upbringing, the good old days when you got beat by not only your teacher but also your family and friends. news? what news? all the violence comes from video games. duh obviously… I’m spade and “Games, where prison meets elementary school and agoraphobia meets homeless shelters.”

  • Anonymous

    Smash brothers IS a very deep game that has IMO the biggest emphasis on timing your attacks and movements over any other fighting game. Also the thousand and one items and pokemon and stage effects add danger at every second of a match.
    The craziness of the game just appeals to the hardcore competitive gamer in me; a spirit you obviously don’t possess Noah. That’s cool though, I can respect a noob for not wanting to learn every single game system just to be better then people. :D
    I enjoy watching you partly because I disagree with you so much.

  • http://twitter.com/Chase357_gamer Chase357

    Eventhough I’m an MK fan, I’ll admit having to memorize combos is bullshit. That’s probably why I love MKII while UMK3 rubs me the wrong way. However, you people who complain about the Xbox 360′s D-pad are certifiably fucking insane. What happened to the hundreds of thousands of kids like me who grew up playing MKII or Street Fighter II Turbo on the Super NES? Seriously, where’s my gamers at? Everyone I know has played some form of Street Fighter II on the Super NES or the Sega Genesis. The Super NES had a D-pad for its controller’s movement and I never saw anyone complain. Practicing for years with Super NES fighters have allowed me to use the the D-pad and ONLY the D-pad on the Xbox 360 for fighting games. For Super Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat or even Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, the D-pad is perfect. Therefore, I see no problems in pulling off special moves or fatalities. Combos are tough because of timing, but special moves and fatalities should seem natural. You have a serious problem if you cannot get on board with a character’s special move set and an even bigger problem if you think there’s something wrong with the D-pad on the 360.

    • Anonymous

      The problem isn’t the d-pad it’s that we’ve gotten so used to using the stick that it’s jarring to have move to the d-pad.

      • http://twitter.com/Chase357_gamer Chase357

        I like the Xbox 360′s D-pad. I was shocked to learn that others do not feel that way.
        There’s always the new 360 controller with the rotating sinking/pop-out D-pad to help with comfort.

      • http://twitter.com/Chase357_gamer Chase357

        I like the Xbox 360′s D-pad. I was shocked to learn that others do not feel that way.
        There’s always the new 360 controller with the rotating sinking/pop-out D-pad to help with comfort.

    • Anonymous

      The problem isn’t the fact that it’s a d-pad. I fucking love d-pads.

      The problem is that the Xbox controller in particular has a shitty d-pad.

      You don’t see PS3 owners complaining about their d-pads,do you?

    • Anonymous

      The problem isn’t the fact that it’s a d-pad. I fucking love d-pads.

      The problem is that the Xbox controller in particular has a shitty d-pad.

      You don’t see PS3 owners complaining about their d-pads,do you?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000678976561 Katherine Wolf

    There was a church I used to go to that had a video game room where a couple people and I would play SSBB for quite some time; not eight hours albeit. None of the characters seemed broken to me (except maybe Pikachu or Wolf), but then again I’m not that hard-core of a fighter, so what do I know. I just liked to play it for kicks and I rarely won. I will admit that world championships for something like SSB seems a little over the top, but eh. To each his own.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Raymond-Hyra/100002226808239 Raymond Hyra

    haha, what a noob you are Spoony….sorry!

    But I had to say it..=P

  • Anonymous

    So VIRTUALLY ALL OF THESE MOVES?

    You mean, there is a finite number of moves without this property?

    I noticed VIRTUALLY is one of your favourite words, but it is rarely
    applicable, as
    applicable virtually never is:)

  • Anonymous

    I think you pretty much nailed the reason why I only had a brief flirtation with fighting games as a kid.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marotta/100000436493792 Chris Marotta

    Get a fight pad, Spoony!

    Or I could send you one of the ones I have around since I made the switch to stick.

    Seriously, playing fighting games on the 360 controller…ouch.

    And all that is a big hint that I love fighters, but hey, not here to hate.

    And yup, it just comes down to being different gamers into different things. I’m just one of those types that likes picking apart fighters, learning nuances and memorizing. Though, for me, I stick to one or two characters and just learn the matchups against the rest of the cast. Definitely don’t have the time or the desire to work on memorizing everyone’s moves. Just my favorites to play.

    I having a lot of fun with MK9. Though completely agree with you on Smash.

    So, I could say Scrubbiest. Fighter Review. Ever.

    But it’s all in the opinion.

    Seriously though: Fight pad.

    • Anonymous

      Seriously though, if you have to buy a special controller to play a game and it’s not a flight sim then somethings wrong.

    • Anonymous

      Seriously though, if you have to buy a special controller to play a game and it’s not a flight sim then somethings wrong.

    • Anonymous

      Seriously though, if you have to buy a special controller to play a game and it’s not a flight sim then somethings wrong.

  • http://openid-provider.appspot.com/tipazollik KilloZapit

    About Super Smash Bros:

    I think the “random victory condition” that spoony talks about is not items or other random stage effects, but simply that rather then just beat on an opponent till they are dead, you actually have to knock them out of the stage, which can be a bit unpredictable, but I am not sure if and how true randomness comes in to play.

    The thing that makes Super Smash Bros. really different from most fighting games is it’s chaotic nature. As opposed to the more ordered waltz most fighting games try to be, even without the random factor of things like items, there is a lot of things going on at once which make matches involve some degree of luck. But by and large this is the challenge of the game, managing it’s unpredictable nature. It’s more like poker then chess, at least if your playing it right. Thing is people in tournaments and things often play a entirely different game by attempting to alter the rules to make it more like chess.

    As for character balance, I think that’s more because nintendo isn’t very attentive to it more then a flaw in the system as a whole. But really, I think it’s kind of a flaw in the whole nature of fighting game as much as anything else. If you’re going to have a set of fixed characters with their own moves and characteristics and want them to be suitably distinct in how they play, if you want any kind of balance you’re always going to need to tweak everything absolutely perfectly to accommodate every possible implication. And that’s simply not possible if you don’t have enough experience or playtesting to know the game and it’s players inside and out, and there will almost always be something the programers just didn’t think of. Personally, I rather just have a simple system of rules which all players can use to create their own characters but it is difficult to do that without having one optimal “right” way to do it.

    Really, I liked the platforming bits better then the fighting bits in Super Smash Bros. anyway.

  • http://twitter.com/1000MEGASHOCK Josh Farrelly

    Watched the video again and thought of something else. The “glitchy” blocking is actually due to invincibility frames that have been a part of fighting games since before SFII: World Warrior. For instance in pretty much any fighting game I can think of you can’t throw someone while they’re in their “rising from the ground” or “block stun” animations because it would be cheap. Same thing with throwiing someone in MK9′s when they’re in their “turning around” animation.

  • Anonymous

    I’m laughing at the guys that are calling Spoony a casual gamer because he dislike MK.

    Wanting intuitive games doesn’t mean you’re not hardcore, I’d like to see fighting gamers play through an eighty hour JRPG with hour long boss fights that have no saves. Different strokes for different folks.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ODIUWJZFILYIBEIW7ER2B4B46M Mike L

      yes i played final fantasy

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5NDC6BRH4RDEY2YH4OGTOVBW2I Charles

    Much of the problems you may have performing techniques may be the the controller, I’m fairly intermediate with most genres when I’m not online, so I can’t say I experienced lagging. And yes, Noob is annoying as hell. And a single X-ray for everyone was probably an experiment, and yes they should have been finishers.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5NDC6BRH4RDEY2YH4OGTOVBW2I Charles

    Much of the problems you may have performing techniques may be the the controller, I’m fairly intermediate with most genres when I’m not online, so I can’t say I experienced lagging. And yes, Noob is annoying as hell. And a single X-ray for everyone was probably an experiment, and yes they should have been finishers.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/JSlayez JSlayes

    i find it very ironic that the man who claimed to be the lord of tekken is insulting another fighting game for too much memorization. So how did you kill everyone in tekken spoony you memorized the combos of your favorite fighters and you air juggled their asses. How is that any different to Mortal Kombat? Do i like Mortal Kombat? yes Do i think anyone else should? No

    To me it seems like in order to be good at any fighting game you need to at least be able to remember a few combos and special moves. In any case i really think you need a break from all these fanboys it might do you some good to just go away for a while and breath some fresh air man it seems like you feel the need to say you hate almost everything that other people enjoy cause it causes people to come here and argue over stuff that is all a matter of personal opinion. I understand the formula you created for yourself years ago when you got “big” with FF8 now it seems like you are trying to recreate that and its not working. Its sad to me because i used to like to watch your Vlogs and see what you thought about this game or that movie or whatever, but before i even clicked play on this video i looked at my friend and said to him, “Now watch spoony i bet he is gonna hate this game too.” I really cant remember the last time i heard you give prasie to the game,movie,tv show, ect that is in the title of any of your vlogs. I watched most of your movie reviews too why even bother going to the movies when you seem to hate all of them isnt it a waste of money? I think though that in reality you actually do like everything you claim to hate on your website cause it generates more traffic to your videos and website.

    Anyway i’m sure i’ll just get tons of negative responses to this and you probably wont ever read this anyway so i guess this is just another waste of time. I hope you do take what i said to heart cause there is a lot of very funny things you have created over the years and i hope will continue to create in the future.

  • Anonymous

    So let me get this straight. Since a group of Ghostbusters from Chicago liked you, you assumed the other group would as well? That a lot of ego right there. Oh, and this final video was crap even without the B plot. I still have no idea what happens in this game. When did Tidus figure out that he`s a ghost? When did he find out that his father was the big bad? Why don`t you ever show the end of these games that take months/years go finish?  

    • http://profiles.google.com/nooberpea Noob Pea

       I don’t know, all I wanted to hear was “tidus is a whiny nutless bitch” and that’s what I heard. I’m very well pleased… After having to sit though hours of that insufferable crap thanks to a room mate, I never wanted to know how the game ended. Just that it DOES end so I don’t have to hear it anymore =D

  • http://twitter.com/catboyjeremie Jeremie

    MK’s a flawed game but its nowhere as bad as Spoony said it was. Seriously Noah, there’s a blocking button, just use it. Most teleport moves doesn’t even work if you block them except for a few like Sheeva’s stomp. Its not that hard to predict. As you play with someone, you get to learn their attacks and it simply allows you to anticipate it. Whether people likes it or not, SF4 is a lazy game except for a few things like its animations. Too many characters keeps the same moves completely without anything new. MK does have old moves but there’s a few new ones and some old ones got modified. MvC3 still has severe balance issues and unless it changed, the online mode is a abomination.

    I agree about MK having a excellent story mode and that some fights almost forces you to be cheap but its still a neat experience but I personally think that ultimately, Blazblue has the best storyline and story setup although MK’s presentation is superior.

  • http://twitter.com/catboyjeremie Jeremie

    MK’s a flawed game but its nowhere as bad as Spoony said it was. Seriously Noah, there’s a blocking button, just use it. Most teleport moves doesn’t even work if you block them except for a few like Sheeva’s stomp. Its not that hard to predict. As you play with someone, you get to learn their attacks and it simply allows you to anticipate it. Whether people likes it or not, SF4 is a lazy game except for a few things like its animations. Too many characters keeps the same moves completely without anything new. MK does have old moves but there’s a few new ones and some old ones got modified. MvC3 still has severe balance issues and unless it changed, the online mode is a abomination.

    I agree about MK having a excellent story mode and that some fights almost forces you to be cheap but its still a neat experience but I personally think that ultimately, Blazblue has the best storyline and story setup although MK’s presentation is superior.

  • http://twitter.com/MaroBot Marek Wodziński

    I agree bout the regular controller not being the best choice to play Fighting game, but to be perfectly honest, that’s not really Mortal Kombat’s fault, every fighting game ive ever played had the problem with more complex moves being pain in the ass on the regular controller…that’s why ive bought arcade-stick, it wasnt really all that expensive, and it made Mortal Kombat SO enjoyable, that since the game came-out, ive not even once took it out of my console (and because of that i still didnt played Portal 2, that i bought at the same day as MK).

    And as for your “special movies rant” i dont know why you had that big of a problem with it, its true that every character has his/hers own set of specials, but they are always a variation of “down,back,Button” or “forward,backward,Button” so i don’t see HOW someone who mastered Tekken combos, has a hard time remembering 3 button combinations.

    When the game came out, i wasnt expecting much, i hated the fact how new Mortal Kombat looks pretty much exactly like the previous 3D ones, and they didnt add that seriousness and grittiness that we’ve  seen on some early concept arts (just type  “scorpion concept art” in google pictures and you’ll  know which one im talking about) but to my suprise…ive really, really liked this game, it has its flaws (every female dressed like a stripper) but overall…its a damn good game, both single player and multiplayer and i like it 100x better than shitty Street Fighter IV and almost as good as Tekken 6.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

       I agree with you. I wouldn’t say street fighter 4 was a crappy game though. Not dissing you though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/arribazacatecassss César Bowie

     so you’re complaining that people who have played the game berfore are likely to beat people who haven’t?

  • http://www.facebook.com/Zombie.Gadget Brandon Gadget

    I’ve got to say, I enjoyed Smash Bros. then the N64 and the Gamecube versions came out, but I was also a kid/early teen around then too. When Brawl came out, I didn’t really have that much interest for it. But when I see it at parties, I have an urge to play it, and I figured the winning was completely random. Because when I was playing it at college a few weeks ago with a group of friends, I’ve hardly touched the game since release. I beat all of my friends, someone who hardly plays it, and who was I playing as? Fucking R.O.B.
    xD

  • Anonymous

    Totaly agree.

    You reminded me of  Battle Arena Toshinden.  They let you map moves to buttons.

    The entire idea of putting in silly combinations of buttons assumed your character doesn’t know these moves, it makes no sense.  Allowing specials to be pulled off with buttons does lead to more skill.  Memory is for combo chains, not moves.  There is no skill in move memorization.

    • Anonymous

       Wow, someone else played Battle Arena Toshiden.  I thought it was just me and my siblings.

      • Anonymous

         I loved BAT.  BAT3 was like, the first fighting game I could truly say I mastered.  it got to the point where the hardest mode ‘ultra hard’ or something was easy for me.

        The kid with the chainsaw was probably the most OP fighting character I ever played with.  David or something. light slash, then tap hard slash something like 3 times.. ‘dammit!’ and he took off like, 2/3 of the enemies life bar. Course.. BAT characters have multiple life bars IIRC.. hehe.

      • Anonymous

         I loved BAT.  BAT3 was like, the first fighting game I could truly say I mastered.  it got to the point where the hardest mode ‘ultra hard’ or something was easy for me.

        The kid with the chainsaw was probably the most OP fighting character I ever played with.  David or something. light slash, then tap hard slash something like 3 times.. ‘dammit!’ and he took off like, 2/3 of the enemies life bar. Course.. BAT characters have multiple life bars IIRC.. hehe.

  • Anonymous

    Totaly agree.

    You reminded me of  Battle Arena Toshinden.  They let you map moves to buttons.

    The entire idea of putting in silly combinations of buttons assumed your character doesn’t know these moves, it makes no sense.  Allowing specials to be pulled off with buttons does lead to more skill.  Memory is for combo chains, not moves.  There is no skill in move memorization.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=508203087 Yannick Caron

    I am not a fighter type of gamer either. I enjoyed things like Metal Gear Solid (not the NES version that one sucks) because of the strategy it involves. I also prefer puzzle games like the old school games (some) used to be. Super Smash Bros. Melee is fun to play, it is so stupid it is funny to play just for fun. Some people are nuts enough to play that seriously? For 8 hours? I have fun with it but not to play 8 hours with that. Never played Brawl (which is the Wii version I think), but if I have to play it it will be for pure fun at the random things that can happen (seriously, anything with Mario can’t be taken seriously). Anyway, I hate those kind of games where you need an insane memory and basically need a class to learn the moves. If it is 7 joystick movement (meaning semi-circle or things like that) only, than it is o.k. These fighter games are so complex to pull combos, they remove the basic fun of the old games. I understand they want to raise the bar of complexity of plots (even if some are ridiculously weak, I am looking Super Mario Galaxy right now), better graphics, longer games and a more involving universe but do they really have to alienate us with combo combination as complex as DNA coding?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=508203087 Yannick Caron

    I am not a fighter type of gamer either. I enjoyed things like Metal Gear Solid (not the NES version that one sucks) because of the strategy it involves. I also prefer puzzle games like the old school games (some) used to be. Super Smash Bros. Melee is fun to play, it is so stupid it is funny to play just for fun. Some people are nuts enough to play that seriously? For 8 hours? I have fun with it but not to play 8 hours with that. Never played Brawl (which is the Wii version I think), but if I have to play it it will be for pure fun at the random things that can happen (seriously, anything with Mario can’t be taken seriously). Anyway, I hate those kind of games where you need an insane memory and basically need a class to learn the moves. If it is 7 joystick movement (meaning semi-circle or things like that) only, than it is o.k. These fighter games are so complex to pull combos, they remove the basic fun of the old games. I understand they want to raise the bar of complexity of plots (even if some are ridiculously weak, I am looking Super Mario Galaxy right now), better graphics, longer games and a more involving universe but do they really have to alienate us with combo combination as complex as DNA coding?

  • Anonymous

    You probably could’ve gotten away with the Smash Brothers stuff without much hatemail before saying it was a bunch of old assholes playing a children’s game :P.  I perceived a mindset of “Fuck it, I already opened my mouth, let’s just get it all out there about this fucking game.”

    Now they’re gonna challenge you to a Pokemon battle.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Filipe-Isabelinho/100000173498272 Filipe Isabelinho

     I dunno, Mortal Kombat as ALWAYS been like that. but I think that you could block any of those teleporting moves just by holding block, dunno if it’s true for the new one, haven’t played it, but Mortal Kombat as NEVER been new user friendly, it sucked if didn’t know any of the moves before-hand. Also I don’t understand your complaining on the X-ray moves, it’s the same thing as the super moves on Street Fighter 4, every character has 1 super move, yeah they added one more on the new one, but this is the first one anyways.

    Also, I love BlazBlue, just ask me for my Gamertag and I’ll play with you Spoony =D but I kindah suck at it XD, but that’s because I have no one to play it like, hot seat style, just play it every night like I used to play Capcom VS. SNK 2 with a friend of mine, we got pretty good at it =P not champ good xD but good ^^

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

      You have to be fast to block them, most RPG players don’t have lightning fast reflexes.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

        I’m an rpg gamer and I had no trouble with blocking the teleport moves. Although using smoke against  people who cant block em its a joy for me lol!

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

        I’m an rpg gamer and I had no trouble with blocking the teleport moves. Although using smoke against  people who cant block em its a joy for me lol!

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

        wow… i play fighters and do just swell i play RPG games and im great at them. saying most RPG players dont have great reflexes is bulldung most of the RPG´s are active time games nowdays so you will need to be fast in them aswell…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000144687841 Max Daniel

     I love Super Smash Bros, but I’m not going to give Spoony any crap because everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LROJXG3R4COAAHJ5P4U2AJMKG4 Daniel

     Okay, you could potentially win a Mortal Kombat match with just, Block, Uppercut, Drop Kick.  I’m sorry if you can’t learn to string moves together, you don’t need to memorize.  Be creative jeeze.  Obviously you can learn how to pull off a 3 hit combo, and then do a special move.  Also most moves in MK9 are either, <-, (button), d, <- (button), or other variations.  Have you thought about SF4?   (button), semi-circle in some direction (button), down, up, (button), i mean really it’s the same thing.  It’s fun that they don’t just tell you that this is the combo in the menu so you have to be creative and figure something out yourself.  I saw a combo online, and I was like, yeah mine is better than that for me.  Learn how to block, learn how to grab escape, learn how to duck, learn how to jump, learn how to combo break.  If you did the tutorial, these were explained.  Spoony’s first achievement was: What does this button do? (didn’t block in Ladder).  Offense wins games, but defense whens championships, always true.

    I loved SC2 on gamecube (Link fan-boy), but I learned seven characters, and knew what ever character was capable of.  That is to say, I memorized their moves, and not just memorized them, but learned how and when to use them against certain opponents.  In MK9 it’s the same thing, if I’m against someone who is better at close range, I keep my distance, if I’m against someone who wants to keep their distance, I get up in their face.  If they’re throwing me a lot, I escape.  That doesn’t just go for the character, it goes for the player too.  If you’re actually paying attention in line at King of the Hill mode, you can observe their strategies, find out what kind of player they are: are they the type to spam special attacks, DO THEY NOT BLOCK OFTEN, do they try to go in for combos?

    I loved Super Smash Bros. Melee.  I did play it competitively and the only thing I remember was you could be in tournaments with items, and tournaments without items.  All levels were accessible.  SSB is a great game (haven’t played brawl really that much), because it can be picked up on, and then you can develop ideas on how to use characters.  Gannondorf was a heavyweight, and if you put him somewhere on the map, it’s harder to knock him off.  I played Link, learned how to bomb-tech, learned how to wave dash, became an expert at hookshot saves, and learned the usefulness of all his attacks.  At parties, people often challenge me just because they want to see themselves get torn apart while I casually carry on conversations not really paying attention, or they’ll do a 3 on 1 match and have fun either losing, or working together to beat me.  After a while we play Mario Kart.  Mario Kart 64, jeeze play that with my family and see how much fun it is when we’ve discovered every shortcut.  It’s not fun when people are too good at any game and other players aren’t.  FPS aren’t fun when people know the spawn points of every item, and of every place you might spawn so they camp.  ”NO CAMPING” how much more of a house rule can you get than that?  Halo tournaments be damned!

    Some games are harder to learn and some aren’t.  Playing tennis against a pro is not fun at all: “OMG I ACTUALLY SERVED THE BALL RIGHT” pro hits it back hard “Holy crap where did the ball go”.  Skill level balancing is important, don’t go to major league baseball if you can’t hit a 95 mph fast ball.  Memorization is a skill of course, that’s why there’s competitions in it too, but ya there’s more to it than that to be good at MK9.

    I completely agree though that online play sucks ass, it’s laggy as hell, and it ruins the experience.  That’s one of my two complaints, and they better fix it.   Why can I play BattleField Bad Company 2, with 24 players and the game doesn’t lag at all, but I play a 2D game, and my guy is blinking across the screen.

     The fatalities are actually ridiculously easy to pull off, as long as you’re at the correct distance, and can remember a four button input.  It gives you up to three chances to pull it off before the person falls over, and even if you don’t, your character gets to do an “I’m better than you” pose.

    My major complaint is:  Why do game producers have to hate resale of video games?  I’m kind of pissed off (PS3 owner) that I had to input a redeemable code to prove that I bought the game.  And if I didn’t I would have to pay $10 to play online which is supposed to be a free feature for PS3 owners.  I bought my game, I expect to be able to sell it if I get tired of it, or let a friend borrow it. If I sell my radio to someone or my ipod, they don’t have to put in a code.  STOP BEING GREEDY GAMING COMPANIES!  

  • Hinataslittlekyuubi

     For the record, although I’m not sure if anyone’s said it yet, in regards to the edit put on this video, the shortcuts mapped to the right thumbstick were completely removed with Blazblue:Continuum Shift. It’s still a beginner’s game, it’s just not quite as effortless.

  • Hinataslittlekyuubi

     For the record, although I’m not sure if anyone’s said it yet, in regards to the edit put on this video, the shortcuts mapped to the right thumbstick were completely removed with Blazblue:Continuum Shift. It’s still a beginner’s game, it’s just not quite as effortless.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1168451323 Neon Juujika

    Spoony you are a fking noob and you do suck at the game. Every teleport move can be blocked and punished. To think that Noob saibot is a cheap bastard only means you really haven’t played MK on any other mode than easy or normal and you most definitely didn’t beat the challenge mode and you probably only played a handful of matches online.
    You like Blazeblu because you don’t have to remember your characters moves? You can just press 1 button to do your super moves… You know mostly online you can’t even do that… You like SF4? Why? It plays same as every fighting game out there. You pick a character, learn their moves, and apply them to battle. MK is the same way. That is if you don’t want to be total shit at the game.
    The X-rays got boring after awhile right? Well thats kind of silly considering its pretty the same as doing a super move in SF or in blazeblu…. You have to sit through it anyways if you get hit.
    Basically all you could of said was you hate the game because your current controller sucks. Thats it. Thats the only real valid problem you had with the game.
    Just nit pick the fk out of a game you completely suck at. Awesome review…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

      Was he reviewing the game? What was the score?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

      Was he reviewing the game? What was the score?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bryan-Yeah/1718856640 Bryan Yeah

      Butthurt much?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bryan-Yeah/1718856640 Bryan Yeah

      Butthurt much?

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/S3RAGVS5R7XJWG4QEGCKPQZEXQ Fluttershy

      Look out, rabid MK fanboy off the starboard bow! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1168451323 Neon Juujika

    Spoony you are a fking noob and you do suck at the game. Every teleport move can be blocked and punished. To think that Noob saibot is a cheap bastard only means you really haven’t played MK on any other mode than easy or normal and you most definitely didn’t beat the challenge mode and you probably only played a handful of matches online.
    You like Blazeblu because you don’t have to remember your characters moves? You can just press 1 button to do your super moves… You know mostly online you can’t even do that… You like SF4? Why? It plays same as every fighting game out there. You pick a character, learn their moves, and apply them to battle. MK is the same way. That is if you don’t want to be total shit at the game.
    The X-rays got boring after awhile right? Well thats kind of silly considering its pretty the same as doing a super move in SF or in blazeblu…. You have to sit through it anyways if you get hit.
    Basically all you could of said was you hate the game because your current controller sucks. Thats it. Thats the only real valid problem you had with the game.
    Just nit pick the fk out of a game you completely suck at. Awesome review…

  • Steven Hawkings

     Spoony for a RPG at the very end. Do you think you would consider the Wizardry series? 

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

      Wizardry would kick Spoony’s arse, maybe he could try the JRPG versions ;)

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

        You got something against sports lol?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Hennessey/44604216 Kyle Hennessey

     Dude, seriously? First of all, it’s common knowledge that XBOX’s controller is dogshit for fighting games (and pretty much anything else besides first person shooters) so microsoft’s shitty design doesn’t make Mortal Kombat a bad game. All the other “problems” you listed have been in the series since MK3 or further back. At least they simplified the game this time so you don’t have to learn three fighting styles for every character like in deception or armageddon and they did write out the moves on the pause menu so you dont have to google them like all 2D MKs. If you spend any time with the game you can quickly get good with several characters. The learning curve is tough but mortal kombat was always that game where you were the badass when you knew how to play it and thats the way it still is. It gives the game a level of depth that party games like MVC or Smash Bros will never have.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Hennessey/44604216 Kyle Hennessey

     Dude, seriously? First of all, it’s common knowledge that XBOX’s controller is dogshit for fighting games (and pretty much anything else besides first person shooters) so microsoft’s shitty design doesn’t make Mortal Kombat a bad game. All the other “problems” you listed have been in the series since MK3 or further back. At least they simplified the game this time so you don’t have to learn three fighting styles for every character like in deception or armageddon and they did write out the moves on the pause menu so you dont have to google them like all 2D MKs. If you spend any time with the game you can quickly get good with several characters. The learning curve is tough but mortal kombat was always that game where you were the badass when you knew how to play it and thats the way it still is. It gives the game a level of depth that party games like MVC or Smash Bros will never have.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ernest-Everette-Trafford-III/1242170685 Ernest Everette Trafford III

    It’s like people ignored everything and just heard “I have no soul and games that require memory are mean”.

    You aren’t 1337 for studying the shit out of a game. Your adeptness at a game doesn’t enlarge your e-cock. Games are meant to be fun, not studied. Some people, like myself, prefer games that aren’t simple and need to be worked around and allow you to exploit your opponent’s lack of understanding for the game’s system, but you don’t have to enjoy that sort of thing to be a good gamer, or even a hardcore gamer. Jesus, if you guys have your collective panties in such a bunch, you need to get your priorities straight.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

      If everyone would think like you we wouldnt have FIFA, NHL or any major sport “GAME” events.

      I regard fighting games with all the same respect as you could regard any sport. some people make a sport out of it and theres nothing wrong about it. these people get more kicks for fighting against some one that actually knows the game than just exploiting someones lack of understanding. you have major problems with the way you see competitive gaming.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

        Oh yeah, sports… a lot of great minds like sports. 

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

          most of the people in the world like some kind of sport. i for one like video games as a sport. saying alot of great minds like sports is actually true in more ways than your subtle hint at sarcasm. you can make a sport about pretty much anything, is it chess, vgames, kicking a ball at a field, debating, hell even pig calling, fact is that nearly any kind of sport finds its audience. i might have said physical sports as a example but id sure didnt mean they are the only things around.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

    spoony you are awesome but i gotta say i disagree with you on this one!

  • http://twitter.com/TheHakku Nick P

    Oh come on. I loved Ed Boon’s fatality stick figure sketches.

  • http://www.facebook.com/DynamoFury Rich Kidd

    err….have you played Blazblue online? Higher tier players are unforgiving with their memorized combos. lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

    First the thing i agree with you
    The story mode is indeed one of the most well made in the fighting game franchise

    The things i dont agree with you
    Teleports = Cheap and imbalanced block it and you will be set up for kombo of 30-40% depending on your character /the factor here is that this game has OKI just like tekken, you have different options from an grounded position, theres the backroll, theres rising right up, staying in the ground, attempting a cross up jump and theres the wake up attack. if a character has a teleport it most likely is an wakeup attack. why im saying this is because wakeup attacks make the corner stone of this fighters so called guessing game 

    small example
    Your choises: Wake up attack / Stay on the ground / Rise into a kombo string / cross up jump
    foes choises: Block / Preassure / anti cross up / dash preasure / dash block
    most of the sitsuations in MK are 30/30/30, three choises. guess right and you win

    example, you get a kombo off and your foe hits the ground, if you try to preasure him with a new kombo and he wakeups you will get punished but if you anticipate the wake up you will block instead off pressuring and get a new free kombo

    As for jumping, in this game jumps are not safe kapish? you cant block in the air if you could the game would be broken. the point is, do not jump if you arent doing it for a reason aka crossup/avoiding projectile

    also regarding noob saibot, hes actually one of the lowest tier character in the game. the only thing he has going for him is his keepaway game and corner kombos. theres only few match ups where he is actually concidered the better character.

    there is 1 great way to punish 80% of the teleport moves in the game if you dont like blocking crouch and let them wiff their hit and uppercut them relatively easy to do aswell. works even on scorpions “safe” powered teleport

    As for kombos yes they are a big part of the game. but if you actually look at skillful play there are next to none kombos in the matches because when rarely a skillful player gets set up for a kombo he has super bar enough to break from it. the game is more about guessing your opponents reaction and playing it safe most of the kombos come from unsafe moves which are realy not used that much because they can insta fuck up your game if your foe blocks them.

    Neutral comments
    The netcode is bad at the moment, but ed boon has stated on his twitter account that the problem is adressed and the net gaming will see improvement on the 1.02 patch coming in about 2 or so weeks.

    it is widely know fact that XBOX controller is inferior to Stick/playstation pad when it comes to fighting games. period

    Do you have somekind of a problem with your short term memmory? the moves arent that hard to remember nor are the fatalities

    MVC3 actualy is about memorizing insane unblockable setups. period

    Blazblues “ezmode inputs” actually break the game. sometimes for example it is impossible to do irontaggers command throws in buffer time of a certaint move. but with ezmode its possible this is why that stuff is actually not accepted in any self respecting tournament.

    some moves have TC properties which is why your grab fails you. working as intended.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=794310182 Angelo Buono

      As a casual fighting game fan, I’d say your post answers every question. Basically, you need to be hardcore and dedicate a lot of time to the game. You sound like you’re speaking a different language. He stated that his review is for people like him. That he isn’t a hardcore Mortal Kombat player. You are. Get over it.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

        I don’t see whats so hard about the new mk. I had no trouble getting good in about a day or 2. The mk series has always been easier than the majority of other fighters out there.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

        Fighting games arent made with casuals in mind…. the game cant be both “casual friendly” and a tournament worthy game…

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Sukanen/100000048128540 Jon Sukanen

        Fighting games arent made with casuals in mind…. the game cant be both “casual friendly” and a tournament worthy game…

  • http://twitter.com/Belle_Kel Kelly

    Well, what most people like about Super Smash is that it is really easy to learn, but hard to master. If you are good, people will have to literally knock you out of the screen, because really good players can come back on the platformm. I do agree that some people take it way too serious, but hey, there are people that take WOW too serious.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

      I agree its a fun game and people can jump into really fast but hard to master. It is intended to be that. I wouldn’t say its just a kids fighting game but more of a fighting game for everyone.

  • Josh Bogle

    Spoony try playing the game with an Onza 360 controller. I got one and I’ll never touch an Xbox controller again

  • Josh Bogle

    Spoony try playing the game with an Onza 360 controller. I got one and I’ll never touch an Xbox controller again

  • Anonymous

    It probably means something when you have to preempt so much of your viewer’s complaints, Spoony.

  • Anonymous

    Frankly I like the new MORTAL KOMBAT. It’s probably gonna be my game of the year for 2011 even though it’s to early to tell. Frankly I like the online play as well as offline play and I find the game overall enjoyable despite some issue personally like the game being over aggresive with the story mode (at times) and the Challenge Tower (Shang Tsung VS Baraka+Sindel+Shao Khan?). Also I do agree the XBox360 Controller isn’t thy best thing to use because I find it ubber clunky for a game like this. A freind of mine says the PS3 version is great controller wise since it’s more relaxed. I do agree there is the teleport tedium (which i use alot myself ^_^) but it takes alot of practice on how to use/avoid such attacks. I did like the review. Bummer I havent been around here in quite some time due to several things but Im glad you reviwed MK at least.

    My only question now is will you review L.A. NOIRE because to me it seems like it’s a game up your alley since your a big PC Adventure game gamer.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

    http://www.pdp.com/mkstick/index.html that should solve your problem if you 360 users cant stand the controller :).

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Ian-Stacy/1473751695 Matthew Ian Stacy

    http://www.pdp.com/mkstick/index.html that should solve your problem if you 360 users cant stand the controller :).

  • William George Sayers

    I liked the old mortal kombat games.

  • http://twitter.com/Darkelf98 Samanthia J Robinson

    My brother said in MK ARM you do like FW FW Triangle that would be a falittioy and also like BK FW Square etc. would do a faality. so it’s like 2 directals and a button to do it, hope that helps.

  • http://profiles.google.com/danvgeg Daniel vigil

    What’s worse about Scorpion is if you decided not to jump he will hit you with an unblockable fire move. So it’s like pick your poison.

    Oh, and to the guy who said in the deadliest warrior game review, “who plays a fighter game for the story mode”, fuck you. This game had an awesome story mode.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001449946784 Maxime Lech

    I agree with a lot of points with Spoony, concerning the Xbox controller.. well it wasn’t too hard to expect it to be Krap because since the dawn of Xbox the controllers always been Krappy as hell I remember being a Kid and I just couldn’t get all the Kucking buttons to work so I wonder: why don’t you guys get the PS3 version ? I know that, if you guys just don’t own a PS3 well you won’t buy one just to play that game but I guess it was worth mentioning because the combos are really less hard to pull off than on the Xbox version. Now concerning Super Smash… I’m a big fan myself of that game for nostalgic memories of Xmas nights and I guess you are just wrong about the “victory is random” part because the game is not that much about skills (since all the controls are the same) it’s about timing but you ARE RIGHT when you said it can’t be taken too seriously tough you should maybe pay a visit to the online tournaments just to see the total Khaos some guys can pull off in that game it’s unbelievable! but again timing; great review Spoony and I’m really looking forward to your next reviews

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ugo-Strange/692486116 Ugo Strange

    To be fair Spoons, Raiden kinda had to say “He must win.” because if he said an actual name Khan would have been privy to what Raiden was doing.

  • Anonymous

    the fuck do you mean “Super Smash Brother’s victory condition is random”?
    how is there ANY randomness to it? it’s all hard numbers. 
    how far you knock an opponent only depends on how high the opponents damage meter is, how heavy the opponent is and how strong your attack is
    how is this any different from any other fighting game? in tekken, the damage depends on the strength of the move, the size of the opponent (hit box) and the position of the opponent (standing, air or ground). it’s the exact some idea

    “some moves have a better chance of knocking out than others”
    yeah, and some moves in Tekken/SF/MK deal more damage than others

  • niko.lahteenmaki

    I have to disagree with you. You had some good points also, but mostly, you we’re just too nit-picky. Here are few of the aspects:

    1. The controller. Don’t blame the game, blame microsoft and their controller solution or buy that new controller with a better d-pad. Or try the game on PS3. No controller problems at all. (For example, fatalities rarely fail)

    2. Teleport moves. They just happen to be a part of the game. Play the game more than half an hour and you will learn to dodge the moves, it really isn’t that hard. Patience!

    3. Online playing is better nowadays, because of the updates, at least with ps3. Give it another shot!

    4. What’s the point of too easy fighting games? I haven’t played BlazBlue but gee, if that includes special moves that are that easy, what’s the point? Again, this is MY opinion.

    5. You’re rant about “Mortal Kombat is NOT a party game.”  Well, Beer + couple of friends + Mortal Kombat = great way to spend a saturday evening. Nuff’ said.

    6. Glitchy?

    7. Smash Bros. victory condition isn’t RANDOM!

    Then the good points: story mode really is awesome, x-ray moves does get repetitive fast, in the krypt there are too much unlockable useless shit like those sketch arts that you mentioned.

    I think that was all. I just had to write (first time btw) because there we’re so many aspects that I disagree you with. Anyway, I really like you’re reviews. You are one of the best internet critics on the web! Keep up the good work!

    Greetings from Finland, so sorry for the possible translation issues. :D

  • http://twitter.com/nnecron Necro

    Beating a story mode in a fighting game is a newbie stuff.  AI’s aren’t smart enough to change tactics and adapt against your moves. That includes the hardest difficulty, because most of advanced players can beat the mode like finishing a daily jogging.

  • Anonymous

    The Mortal Kombat series is for PS3 HardCore gamers.

    Have you try it on PS3? The D-Pad is a lot better

  • Anonymous

    The Mortal Kombat series is for PS3 HardCore gamers.

    Have you try it on PS3? The D-Pad is a lot better

  • Aiddon

    MK seems to lack one important element of fighting games: fundamentals. Practically any other fighter I’ve played just through sheer trial and error I understood how characters flowed. MK….does not have this and it feels sloppy because of it. It’s pretty much bottom in the tier of 2D fighters. Blazblue, King of Fighters, SSFIV, UMvC3, and Guilty Gear have a far better ease of use. And considering how I can pull of combos in BB easy on the 360 MK’s controls must be wonky.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Patrick-Dunn/147900507 Patrick Dunn

    As a fellow gamer I know where you are coming from.  Mortal Kombat is ok, I don’t hate it but I realized that I am not as hard core as I thought.  Actually when it comes to fighters there are not many that stand out to me, lol.  Some of my favorites are Soul Calibur 3 (I know everyone loves Soul Calibur 2 but SC3 had a better story mode, the best create a character, and better extras), Guilty Gear (most of the series), and Blazblue.  Arksys has some of the best 2D fighters I have ever played.  Good stories (although Guilty Gear can irque me sometimes), good gameplay, and beautiful designs.  Actually Arksys is making a Persona 4 fighter for anyone who wants to know.  I want to go on but it would take too much space…maybe if I ever get around to reviewing them.  Thanks for the Vlog and have a good one.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bovakleen-Dragon-Born/100002077196790 Bovakleen Dragon Born

    I had precisely the same problem with the controls on the ps3. I think the timing requires WAY to finicky you need to be precise to the millisecond which is hard enough to do in a training room more or less when your in the middle of a fight.

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