Mortal Kombat: DA - what's the deal

For the last three days, my buddy Stefan and I were playing MKA on Xbox. The Euro release is sat on Feb 02 (?), prolly with lots of cuts, so we got the US version.

After reading all the insane move lists, specials and fatalities, we started the game and found it to be much more "open-minded" as earlier MK games. In fact, we didn't feel like playing a true MK at all, more like a mixture of DoA3 and VF4 with added violence...

- Jumping is heavily broken. Why is it that in most 3D fighters characters fly through the air in slo mo? What kind of "jump" is that? One accidental jump and your opponent juggles you to death.

- Move lists are bloated. I'm quite good in memorizing moves, but most of the stuff is too repetitive/similar. I mean, 3 techniques with more than 10 moves each, that's too much IMO.

- Blocking is cool. The blocking stances look nice and create a very dynamic atmosphere, specially if you do short blocks and counters.

- The fatalities... well, some of them look okay, but most of the stuff reminded us of Thrill Kill on PSX. Some are really disgusting in a funny way...

- In 1P, MKA is an average challenge once you go with the flow of the engine.

- The weapon mode is quite nice, specially if you chain into one of the weapon moves from a weapon-less technique.

So, perhaps until Soul Blade 2 comes out, DoA3 remains the best 3D fighter on Xbox, MKA is not a bad game, but sadly it's no real MK.

Opinions? Discuss!

When i first played Mortal Kombat: Da i found it quite frustrating, being a fan of the series of games it no longer played quite like a Mk game anymore (no down + high punch = uppercut, back + low kick = leg sweep etc etc etc) so it took a while to get into it

there is one major problem - lack of special moves, it seems every character has an abundance of moves but since each character has 2 fighting styles and a weapon there should have been more

most characters only have 2-3 supers and 1 fatality - personally feel there should have been more, the fatalities are pretty good from the sublime Kenshi using telekinesis (engrish) to the absolute crap quan chi's neck stretch - but to make things easier you can now press the stance button and fatality will appear - this freezes you character so it makes pulling off that fatality a little easier

over the years with the mk series if you were struggling on a more difficult character you could do a series of jump kick attacks across the screen, but this attack in this game is prtty bad and some characters (kitana) its now non existant

i agree the blocking now looks the part, as you throw the punches the character actually blocks each individual attack - much like watching a kung fu movie and the graphics are very impressive

the 2 fightin stances and weapon stance are also very good and they have linkable combo's which run thru all 3

the cast of characters is quite varied and no 2 fighters have the same fighing stance (apart from Blazen + Scorpion) and now Scorpion now looks more meaner than he ever did and some of the newer characters are very good - my favourite is Kenshi, but as i said earlier some characters have been watered down and well ruined, Reptile is rubbish as with Kitana and the boss of the game is far to Strong (quan shi) - as the computer opponent he is fairly easy but if a human uses him and just sticks to weapon he can be a pain

the sub boss Moloch looks and is very good but again until you find a specific way to beat him he is challenging - after that he is very easy, Kintaro has always been the best mk series sub boss and to be honest its a shame they never brought back the endurance factor with mk1

but the biggest draw to the game is definately Konquest, in this mode you have to do 10 challenges which can be pretty easy and then they can be finger dextrious (sektors 3 stance combo) and you earn loads of Kredits with can unlock tons and tons of secrets (over 650+) and there are some gems in there from secret characters to Cooking with Scorpion

This game is a welcome addition to the series but personally apart from the Graphics it hasnt progressed much from the last n64 version

I really tried to like this game, but I just can't.

-Most of the combos in the game are just dial a combos similar to MK3, where all you have to do is memorize the sequence of buttons to do a combo. Not very challenging, and after awhile, not very fun either.

-The game is kinda unbalanced. I mean if you're gonna have something as devastating as the impale, (when it connects) I think every character should have it. Plus some characters only have 2 special moves, while others have as many as 5 (if I remember correctly)

-Only one fatality per character is total bullshit for a new MK game. The main focus of the games shouldn't be the fatalities, but you should still have a couple options for killing your opponent. And where's the pit fatalities?

Overall this game just seemed rushed because Midway needed money now. I can't say it's a bad game, but I am definately dissapointed with it.

I'll stick with MK2... buttrock

Well I've had it for about 2 months on PS2, and it still dominates my gaming time by far.

The other Mortal Kombats could be mastered by anyone...they involved 0 skill in gameplay, but rather relied on the gimmick of 101 ways to die to suck in its fans. I found the series play to be too generic prior to DA...uppercut folks?

DA is more of a Tekken/VF fighter, not DOA. It has similar button mashing to DOA, but when you learn a character and begin to utilize sidestepping, it's not nearly as wide open as Dead or Alive can be in regards to competition...skill plays an actual role. The fact that only certain people can do reversals in DA really gives it an edge over DOA IMO.

The style branch combos are the ultimate in this game, especially the ones that begin in a persons default style, then end up in a weapons based stance. Quan Chi, Kitana and Raiden have some of the prettiest branches I've seen.

I do not like the invisible borders...they will often times take you out of the flow of pummeling your enemies via combos. The transition of open space to wall is not as smooth as Tekken 4, it basically forces you to reset your attacks in many cases.

All in all, I think it's a gem. From a gamers standpoint, easily the best in the series. The ring outs (stage fatalities) and lack of diversification of in the ring fatalites I feel will be remedied in the next installment.

One thing that bothers: Why do Scorpion and Kenshi have the same moves for their weapon styles? It seems the developers got a little lazy at one point in time.

Body rip:
The style branch combos are the ultimate in this game, especially the ones that begin in a persons default style, then end up in a weapons based stance. Quan Chi, Kitana and Raiden have some of the prettiest branches I've seen.

Click to expand...

i also think the branching system is quite impressive but - can you actually pull it of in the game when fighting the computer in a harder difficulty setting

to me its impossible - especially if you try to branch both styles and weapon during a fight

your fingers go into yoga mode

Especially Cyrax - i found it difficult enough (even to throwing the controller) during the konquest mode, so trying it thru the game would be nigh on impossible, especially the juggling part

i actually was expecting more to the fatalities and i was hoping for some 3-d friendships and maybe even babalities - running the opponent with the weapon is a great idea though and mei's breasts are the breast of champions make_fac make_fac

but this is the first Mortal Kombat out of the entire series which doesnt actually rely on fatalities to sell the game, more depth than other mk game by miles

but to add i also enjoyed mk2 much more than this - but only as a quick 20 minute game, whereas i could sit down with this for hours just to try and earn more credits

its just a shame they ruined certain 'old skool' characters, reptile is dreadful wrf is 'crab'

what happened to Rain, noob saibot and especially Jade + Mileena i preferred them over Kitana

does anybody know the fatalities for Blazen and Mocap??????

<small>[ January 28, 2003, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: buster_broon ]</small>

buster_broon:

Body rip:
The style branch combos are the ultimate in this game, especially the ones that begin in a persons default style, then end up in a weapons based stance. Quan Chi, Kitana and Raiden have some of the prettiest branches I've seen.

Click to expand...

i also think the branching system is quite impressive but - can you actually pull it of in the game when fighting the computer in a harder difficulty setting

to me its impossible - especially if you try to branch both styles and weapon during a fight

your fingers go into yoga mode

Especially Cyrax - i found it difficult enough (even to throwing the controller) during the konquest mode, so trying it thru the game would be nigh on impossible, especially the juggling part

i actually was expecting more to the fatalities and i was hoping for some 3-d friendships and maybe even babalities - running the opponent with the weapon is a great idea though and mei's breasts are the breast of champions make_fac make_fac

but this is the first Mortal Kombat out of the entire series which doesnt actually rely on fatalities to sell the game, more depth than other mk game by miles

but to add i also enjoyed mk2 much more than this - but only as a quick 20 minute game, whereas i could sit down with this for hours just to try and earn more credits

its just a shame they ruined certain 'old skool' characters, reptile is dreadful wrf is 'crab'

what happened to Rain, noob saibot and especially Jade + Mileena i preferred them over Kitana

does anybody know the fatalities for Blazen and Mocap??????

Click to expand...

Hitting the branch combos or single stance combos against the CPU isn't a problem for me. You never want to start comboing out of the blue against the computer, it will eat you alive in this game. I always wait when the CPU misses me on the sidestep, then pummel away any which way possible. Leading against the comp with straight forward combos in this game is not recommended... If you're going to lead, keep the attacks simple and short.

The Konquest mode was a pain in the ass because you had a limited time to execute attacks... In the case of branch combos, this can be very frustrating at times...I concur. That's why the practice mode is superior IMO.

I'm glad they did away with the friendships and babalities. This game revisits the roots of the series dark nature. In fact, that was the main reason I started to become disenchanted with the series in MKII, and it's one of the reasons SS3 is my favorite game in its respectable series.

I've come to see Reptile as a top tier fighter in this game. The crab stance and style is somewhat confusing to figure out because of the awkward nature, but if you actually give it a shot, I think you'll like the pokes it offers.

In terms of balance, the game is near perfect. I've never seen a 3D fighting game where almost all of its chars could stand a chance against one another, and the new characters this game introduces are some of the best in the series already in terms of style (Lei Mei, Frost, Drahmin).

This game owns...

I find the game good, i love the konquest mode more then the arcade mode, i think the new styles are good. Branch combos are good although i found frost's really hard to do.

I did think that they were doing a brave thing by killing off the baddy guy and the main goody (cant remember names how frustrating!) I was a little shocked and mad when i saw this, they were cool!

I am also glad that on gamefaqs it gives you what is in the coffins because i would be well mad if i opened up the ones that are empty. Some of the things you can get in there are rubbish but the costumes and characters are good

Body rip:
Well I've had it for about 2 months on PS2, and it still dominates my gaming time by far.

The other Mortal Kombats could be mastered by anyone...they involved 0 skill in gameplay, but rather relied on the gimmick of 101 ways to die to suck in its fans. I found the series play to be too generic prior to DA...uppercut folks?

DA is more of a Tekken/VF fighter, not DOA. It has similar button mashing to DOA, but when you learn a character and begin to utilize sidestepping, it's not nearly as wide open as Dead or Alive can be in regards to competition...skill plays an actual role. The fact that only certain people can do reversals in DA really gives it an edge over DOA IMO.

The style branch combos are the ultimate in this game, especially the ones that begin in a persons default style, then end up in a weapons based stance. Quan Chi, Kitana and Raiden have some of the prettiest branches I've seen.

I do not like the invisible borders...they will often times take you out of the flow of pummeling your enemies via combos. The transition of open space to wall is not as smooth as Tekken 4, it basically forces you to reset your attacks in many cases.

All in all, I think it's a gem. From a gamers standpoint, easily the best in the series. The ring outs (stage fatalities) and lack of diversification of in the ring fatalites I feel will be remedied in the next installment.

One thing that bothers: Why do Scorpion and Kenshi have the same moves for their weapon styles? It seems the developers got a little lazy at one point in time.

Click to expand...

Some good points there.

I also don't like the invisible ring-out, it's kinda annoying to be squeezed against a fukn wall of energy, but you're right, combos involving all three techniques are great and do good amounts of damage.

The game is full of surprises for me. The graphics are nice as well, but MK-wise, I simply don't know what to say. I played lots of MK2 on 32x, and tho it would be wrong to compare the two, MK2 has this MK feeling which I like, contrary to MKA... dunno... guess I will have to invest more time in it.

I also agree with the reversals thing. 2P fights in DoA3 can turn into an endless series of reversals, followed by something like LP,LP,HP or stuff like that. Easy to counter with throws, but it's still too easy to do it IMO.

Heh, my fave chara at the mo is Bo Rai Cho, his "Puke Puddle" is just hilarious! I nearly feel like being part of a Kung Fu movie when I play with him, really good fun.