Is/Was Mortal Kombat played competitively ever?

[BBCampbell]

Just curious.

SIDENOTE: I remember back in the day when GamePro tiered the MK2 cast. I don't remember specifics, but it was like:

TOP TIER: Kitana, Jax, Mileena, Baraka
SHIT TIER: Reptile

[Juddfro]

I think UMK 3 is played competively. I'm not sure though.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Here in Venezuela they were played competitively, sadly no tourney scene was seen until UMK3 arrived.

Right now they get good comp. Check:

www.ultimatemk.com or www.mkkompetitive.com.ve for your "mk competitive edge" LOL

[Josh-TheFunkDOC]

Chicago had "national" tournaments for the arcade MK series as I recall. That's where Midway was located, and Chicago actually had a real scene back in the day.

That Gamepro tier list is wack aside from Mileena & Jax. Those two destroy the game, no question. Reptile is probably the best male ninja, actually, since his specials aren't as worthless as Scorp & Sub's.

-Josh

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Off topic: Josh you were the one that played on Dark Geese WH2 tourney at EVO?

On topic: You are right, GP even mentions Martin Vega and Mike Guzman, ranked #1 & #4 respectively on the CMKA (California mk asociation).

[Cla]

I don't know that MK1 ever got big for competitive play, but MK2 definitely did. MK3 was too broken. UMK3 is still very heavily-played competitively. (especially thanks to the Xbox Live Arcade re-release rejuvenating the comp) I think MK Trilogy is somewhat played competitively. The 3D MKs are too-little-too-late for comp play, especially with superior games like Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Dead Or Alive around. If it wasn't for the jaded tiers and overall brokeness, Armageddon would be surprisingly good at top-top-level play.

I'm curious if Shaolin Monks gets comp play..

[Choujuu]

Out of all the games UMK3 is the one that gets the most play on a competitive basis. Definitely check out the sites Hanzo listed in his post.

[coN]

Chicago had "national" tournaments for the arcade MK series as I recall. That's where Midway was located, and Chicago actually had a real scene back in the day.

That Gamepro tier list is wack aside from Mileena & Jax. Those two destroy the game, no question. Reptile is probably the best male ninja, actually, since his specials aren't as worthless as Scorp & Sub's.

-Josh
The list was pretty much accurate IIRC. It had Mileena, Jax, Kang, Lao, Kitana in order, then the rest. It was done by Shirts, and some other peeps.

And Reptile is NOT the best male ninja. All he has is a pretty good anti-air. Thats it. Worthless normals, shitty specials, and easily (like the other male ninjas) can be AA'd. Sub/Scorp are MUCH better. Reptile is not bottom for no reason.

Here in SA, MKII had an okay scene. It wasnt until MK3/UMK hit when the community exploded. I used to go to Pocket Change along with like 20 - 30 people every weekend. People would trip out on me since i was the only kid (13, 14 at the time IIRC) and i was beating down people with Robo/Human Smoke and the tournaments were fucking great. I loved that time. I miss it cause there was such a variety of chars used. I had a big problem against Jax's (corner issues), Nightwolfs (rushdown) and Kanos. Those were the days. I HOPE it comes back. Doubtful.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

The gamepro exact tier list:

Mileena
Jax
Kung Lao
Liu Kang
Johnny Cage
Sub Zero
Kitana
Scorpion
Shang tsung
Baraka
Raiden
Reptile

I have the isue in my hands right now lol.

[coN]

The gamepro exact tier list:

Mileena
Jax
Kung Lao
Liu Kang
Johnny Cage
Sub Zero
Kitana
Scorpion
Shang tsung
Baraka
Raiden
Reptile

I have the isue in my hands right now lol.
lol Still pretty accurate. I havent seen the list since i was 11 so i was going off memory. Replace Kitana with Cage, Sub with Scorp, and Raiden with Baraka. Then its good.

[Bill Wood]

I still have the Infotainment MKII Guide (the one co-authored by Graham Wolfe), here's the tier listing from that book:

Mileena
Jax
Liu Kang
Kung Lao
Kitana
Scorpion
Sub-Zero
Baraka
Johnny Cage
Shang Tsung
Reptile
Rayden

Pretty close to the Gamepro tier previously listed, although the Infotainment list seems to deal mainly with the SNES/Genesis versions. I also own the super-crappy Brady guide, but alas, no tier listings in that guide, only generic "don't try this at home!" comments.

And back to the topic, MKII was played hella competitively, at least here in L.A. I still remember when the shiny new Super SF II and MKII cabs were both placed at the front of the local arcade, crowds upon crowds around the MKII cabinet while the Super SF II machine got treated like a red-headed stepchild. Funny how Mortal Kombat seemed like the future of fighting games back then.

Then MK3 hit and everyone I knew pretty much laughed at it. All the "kodes" and bullshit, no one could take it seriously. Let's steal the Run button from NBA Jam, yeah, that was a good idea. Dark fighting? Hell, I can do dark fighting anytime I want by simply closing my eyes while facing the monitor. I guess UMK3 redeemed itself a bit, but by then, MK had already lost a lot of its fanbase.

[Ephidel]

Why the hell is shang tsung so damn low? He'd rape the entire mk2 roster alone.

ninja edit - around umk3 or trilogy perhaps(thread question)

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Why the hell is shang tsung so damn low? He'd rape the entire mk2 roster alone.

I thought the same. Shang can beat the crap out of Jax anytime.

[Perfect Legend]

I'm curious if Shaolin Monks gets comp play..

MKSM is a very good game too bad it doesnt have a scene.

Cole helped create the engine btw.

[Ephidel]

I thought the same. Shang can beat the crap out of Jax anytime.

Exactly, and the ability to morph in MK2 actually tops him. He can do the same in any other version, it's just that in 2 it's valued more. (probably because of less combo strings or the like)

[EWAShock]

Glad to see UMK3 represented in this thread. Lately there have been some silly people on srk who jump into the MK threads and say MKII for no reason, but the truth shall be told.

[js2756]

lol Still pretty accurate. I havent seen the list since i was 11 so i was going off memory. Replace Kitana with Cage, Sub with Scorp, and Raiden with Baraka. Then its good.

I may not remember correctly, but I think the GP ranking had Cage, Sub and Kitana all tied for 5th spot.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

I may not remember correctly, but I think the GP ranking had Cage, Sub and Kitana all tied for 5th spot.

The one I posted IS the true GP list.

EDIT: It would be GOOD to have some info on the old MK US scene. I will ask Shock, Lex, Bill or Konqrr to see what they remember.

[ZEBES]

pretty accurate list, but there's no way raiden being bottom tier, I think at ultimatemk.com they have a better list, but it's quite similar to this, IIRC.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Im not saying that its the curent tier list, just saying that is the tier list seen in GAME PRO magazine in June 1994.

[spudlyff8fan]

I thought the same. Shang can beat the crap out of Jax anytime.

Racist.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

LOL no! my main is Jax!!!

[coN]

Raiden is pretty low in MK2. Easily punished and he has to work for his damage. (Yes, he does have damage options. Ask Slips.) Online though he much better due to the lag on PSN. Supermans become neigh unpunishable and abusable.

Also, online does annoy me because stuff i know i could block easily and punish (Rep/Sub slide, superman, after blocked sweep, blocked jk, etc) cant be punished properly. Online you have to anticipate whereas offline you can react accordingly. Like i could be playing Slips and hell throw Scorpions rope. Easy block, yes? You would think. I hold block, lo and behold, im hit. Sub can sweep then ground freeze cause it works so much better online. This is a rant yes, but its legitimate.

Yeesh, it makes me think how UMK3 on 360 is. Ive played in GW on Kaillera and it wasnt the best experience as i was promised.

But fuck all that... As i stated previously, my scene didnt explode until UMK3 came around. There are certain players i remember.
- Rachel who had a badass Jade.
- Christina who used "corner Jax". (We had knick names for their style of play, and yes, they were corny as fuck)
- Oscar "dont crossup Kabal"
- Lydia "standstill Nightwolf" (Her rushdown would make you freeze. Mistake? Eat shoulder rush. It seemed like she was psychic)

These were the most memorable ones i remember cause they were badass and the best. I didnt get included in that list until about a year into UMK3s release with H/R Smoke. I remember i had to work in ALOT of stuff into my game when it shifted to UMK3. Run-jabbing, jump-ins to strings, using REGULAR moves to punish. (I stress this cause it was the hardest thing to adjust to when i added it in my game. In the end, HK made a huge difference.)

There were over 30+ people who played every weekend at Pocket Change. Alot of diverse chars used too. Back then, i would only hear about Chicago because it was considered the MK capital in the US. I had always wanted to go there back then but i never had the funds, not to mention that i was a kid at the time. Sucks.

Then around 97, maybe 98, Pocket Change was being shut down and the UMK3 cab went for sale. Lydia plunked down $1100 (IIRC) for that cab and she took that shit home. She would have gatherings and mostly everyone from PC would all be there. Every week the results were different, but it always contained one of the 5 of us as the winner, with Rodney (a Robo Smoke) occassionally winning. I would remember going home and throwing on the Genesis UMK3 and being pissed. Holding a pad instead of a stick, shitty sound, gritty graphics. AND NO NAME ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Saturn version of UMK3 held me down but something about it didnt feel... right. Then MKT was released. It was the closest thing to UMK3 cause it felt right, had all the speech, music, (with some missing pieces of music) but it still wasnt UMK3 lol.

Overall, i for one am suprised its still going and i hope it does keep going cause i want in. Current high level UMK3 compared to back then high level play, here are the differences... Nothing really major, but there were differences...

- Finishers. If someone jumped in on Lydia, she would Axe, Axe, Shoulder Ram. If i hit lk,~lp with H. Smoke, i would jk, teleport, spear, lk~lp, jk, air throw. These are examples from back then and are WEAK finishers now.
- Run-jabbing. We would throw multiple jabs and opposed to the single jab used now. At first i didnt get it, but i understood when i noticed it canceled much faster for more pressure.
- Strings. Now sometimes they dont finish them to stay closer to the opponent to pressure. Back then, i guess the mentality was even though its chip damage, its still damage so finish the whole string lol.
- Reptile. This was one char i thought that really fucking sucked. It wasnt until i saw Shocks Reptile i was like "What the flying fuck is this?!?!? NO FUCKING WAY!!!" I had no idea what he was capable of and have a newfound respect for the char.

Theres some other stuff but thats off the top of my head. I do have one question for Shock and Hanzo... Are the jump-in relaunches (against NW, robots, Sheeva, etc) truly an infinite? Cause back in the day when someone tried to jump-in infinite against those chars, we would just hold D+Block and it would block it. Standing block does nothing and people have sworn to me its a real infinite. Ive tried different timings and still D+Block saved my ass. Can one of yall clear this up?

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Are the jump-in relaunches (against NW, robots, Sheeva, etc) truly an infinite?

Yes they are completely UNBLOCKABLE. Sure, its more of a pseudo inf because when you reach the corner all ends. Try with a friend for example one of the easiest ones: Kabal relaunching Kung Lao. The robots most ppl think that in vs mode they are as easily relaunchable as the CPU but probably they were doing it wrong against the CPU in those days, then when they played on vs, the timing they tried was the same against the CPU. Also ALL characters can be relaunched but NOT ALL characters that have launchers can relaunch everybody.

But fuck all that... As i stated previously, my scene didnt explode until UMK3 came around. There are certain players i remember.
- Rachel who had a badass Jade.
- Christina who used "corner Jax". (We had knick names for their style of play, and yes, they were corny as fuck)
- Oscar "dont crossup Kabal"
- Lydia "standstill Nightwolf" (Her rushdown would make you freeze. Mistake? Eat shoulder rush. It seemed like she was psychic)

LOL just for curiosity. You listed 3 female names. They played UMK over there?

[coN]

Yep. They were usually with their dudes. There were 6 chicks who played. One stopped because Sub was god in MK3, and she wasnt winning with him in UMK. I still talk to Rachel occassionally and she was shocked at all the combo vids. But shes 29 now and married with 2 kids. Shes still hot though.

[Hanzo_Hasashi]

Shes still hot though.



LOL post pics!











Joking!

[EWAShock]

I alternate multi-single jabs if and when I ever do get to rush down. :hp:

[seasofcheese929]

I don't know that MK1 ever got big for competitive play, but MK2 definitely did. MK3 was too broken. UMK3 is still very heavily-played competitively.

What made MK3 broken?

[GosBroDansFan]

What made MK3 broken?

Sub Zero's ice clone (http://youtube.com/watch?v=y5KDPI_XuM8) and Jax's unlimited projectiles to name a couple of reasons.

[Difoj]

Man I loved that Ice Clone, people would always try to uppercut when you jumped with Sub Zero, ice clone that shit :lol: then complain that it was cheap :sweat:

[Ghaleon]

Man, Cleveland always had tons of players but everyone sucked. People were more excited about me getting the ULTIMATE FATALITY DEMONSTRAAATION instead of actually improving in UMK3. 30 people would start around slackjawed and watch that shit.

[Preppy]

I was so happy when UMK3 came out. MK3 was fun, but yeah - too much annoying brokenness. It'll probably be another three years before I've played as much MvC2 as I played MK3/UMK3. Until XvSF, nobody even touched the Street Fighter games at the arcades I went to. There'd be a 6 person line at pretty much any time for MK.

As I've pointed out many times, if competition left, you could just beat the game, choose Ending 3, do a Mercy on Ermac, hit him again and then let him fall, and it'll reset to the beginning of the tower again (I haven't done this in a long time, but it's about that sequence). Mark and I would play for a single quarter allll day long. :lol:

[Hayama Akito]

Here in Chile there are still UMK3 tourneys every year.

[rsigley]

Here in Chile there are still UMK3 tourneys every year.

THERE IN CHILI YOU GUYS STILL DON'T LET WOMEN HAVE ANY RIGHTS

THEY WON'T EVEN LET YOU GUYS PRESCRIBE THE MORNING AFTER PILL FOR WOMEN BECAUSE RELIGIOUS NUTS RUN YOUR COUNTRY

THEY DONT MIND MOLESTING CHILDREN BUT KILLING THEM IS A BIG DEAL APPARENTLY

IF I KNEW SUCH A FUCKED UP COUNTRY AS CHILE WAS ALL ABOUT UMK3 I WOULD NEVER OF PLAYED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE

[Hayama Akito]

THERE IN CHILI YOU GUYS STILL DON'T LET WOMEN HAVE ANY RIGHTS

THEY WON'T EVEN LET YOU GUYS PRESCRIBE THE MORNING AFTER PILL FOR WOMEN BECAUSE RELIGIOUS NUTS RUN YOUR COUNTRY

THEY DONT MIND MOLESTING CHILDREN BUT KILLING THEM IS A BIG DEAL APPARENTLY

IF I KNEW SUCH A FUCKED UP COUNTRY AS CHILE WAS ALL ABOUT UMK3 I WOULD NEVER OF PLAYED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE

Great, racism in SRK!

By the way, im not christian, we have a woman as president and there is a highly legal discussion about all you say about children these days!

But emm.. what? oh yeah, UMK3! yeah, still tourneys here :)

[ThePunisherXBL]

Where I live, there is no scene for it. Thank God for Xbox Live.

[EWAShock]

I wanna live in "chili" too Rob lol. Can't wait to see you Saturday at the UMK3 TOURNAMENT. It'll be the 16th UMK3 tournament I've participated in or hosted since 2001.

[ThePunisherXBL]

I wanna live in "chili" too Rob lol. Can't wait to see you Saturday at the UMK3 TOURNAMENT. It'll be the 16th UMK3 tournament I've participated in or hosted since 2001.

I wanna live in NJ were there is a UMK3 scene. People around here just don't know.

[ParryAll]

I love readin old school stories.

Our Pocket Change closed around 99/2000. *tear*

[toxic025]

My friend in Seattle told me they should to have a UMK3 scene but not tourney anymore