Mortal Kombat 9

[Niji Superfan]

...Well, I called it, as much as I REALLY didn't want this to be the case. Honestly, I do think they made these outfits look as good as they possibly could, but like... That's a pretty low ceiling. The costume design itself is just unimpressive, always has been. I can kind of appreciate the MK1 ninjas ironically, even if I don't use any of those alts, but I just can't get into these. On the upside, you're still going to have ample opportunities to play Rain because everyone wants to play Rain. Judging by the uproar from the fanbase, you'll probably see as many people picking up Rain as Skarlet and Kenshi combined, so don't sweat it just yet. Here's the silver lining for you, though: Aren't you glad it isn't Strkyer? This is still one hell of a letdown, but let me tell you, the idea of a retro Stryker makes this look like a fucking godsend to me.

 

Fujin was already more or less deconfirmed by Boon, by the way. Like, he didn't explicitly state that, but he gave a pretty deadpan answer to some smug asshole who tried to call his bluff about it. I already called Shinnok being ruled out, so I'm not really surprised to hear it; there's just no way that he could be ready in time for August if Boon is still undecided on him. The fourth character was ostensibly decided on by the time of the Skarlet trailer, because I just can't see them going "Hey, let's announce a fourth mystery character in a huge press release, we'll figure out who it's going to be later". I'm sure a ton of smartassed virgins would feed me some quip about how I'm overestimating NRS, but there's a big difference between sloppy and stupid.

 

And now, this brings me to my next point:

 

http://www.kamidogu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=416566

 

Some idiot on LL linked me to this, and told me Cyber Smoke is deconfirmed. I immediately thought "God fucking dammit, that's disappointing", because I assumed he was linking to a reliable source.

 

...What I didn't realize is that this idiot was linking to another idiot linking to an unreliable source. Like, really? Some guy requests Cyber Smoke on Paulo Garcia's twitter, and when he responds with a tongue-in-cheek joke to plug his own game, we somehow extrapolate that Cyber Smoke is deconfirmed? Jesus fuck, man. I want to say these people don't know how the hell to read between the lines, but they can't even read the lines to begin with. Like, I realize I'm way too irritable for my own good sometimes, but I just have no tolerance for stupidity. I'm utterly amazed at some people's inability to put two and two together, but it's not just that: If you aren't capable of deductive reasoning, at least come to terms with it. Don't go on the internet and make far-reaching assumptions, like "MAN I'M SO SURE THE RETROS WILL BE JAX AND SONYA EVEN THOUGH THAT IN NO WAY FITS WITH THE TREND OF USING MIRRORED SKINS" or "CYBER SMOKE IS DECONFIRMED BECAUSE I'M TAKING A JOKE TO HEART" or "FROST WILL BE IN THE GAME JUST BECAUSE".

 

On that note, I had some pretentious douchebag in the GFAQs party tell me, in a very smug manner, that he hoped I'd be around when retro Sonya was confirmed for the upcoming compatibility pack. This was around a week ago. He said I was going to look really stupid.

 

I can't wait to talk to that guy again.

 

As for the DLC character, it looks fake to me. I can't quite place it yet, but I swear his frame looks familiar, like it's just an edit. I'm 99% sure it's not real, but I'm going to try matching it up with some of the other portraits just to see who it's edited from. I really hope to fuck this isn't the last character they've been hyping for the past two months, because it pretty much looks like a bland version of Kabal.

 

The part that worries me: He has a Black Dragon tattoo, no ears, and obscured features. He could be some kind of fucked up reimagining of No Face from Special Forces, who know one has even HEARD of. He didn't look anything like this, but uh... The boot fits.

[Vincent210]

I've heard of No-Face.

 

As a matter of fact. The copy of Special Forces I have for PS still works. I don't remember when/how I got it, just how sad it was.

[Niji Superfan]

The fact that it's so terrible is why I'm almost certain No Face wouldn't be added. Tremor, from the same game, is constantly denied when he actually has a strong cult following. No Face is somebody that no one has ever given two shits about.

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

theyll probably add no face to piss off the tremor cult

 

well, i would anyways

[Niji Superfan]

theyll probably add no face to piss off the tremor cult

 

well, i would anyways

 

Not if you'd make a shitload of money otherwise.

 

NRS has been making a killing on DLC sales so far, which is why I couldn't understand the last character being... Whoever the fag in that video is. They wouldn't be making bank like they are now.

[Vincent210]

I think I see dynamite on his belt. The No-Face suggestion feels more grounded.

[Lenin]

Since it's exceptionally obvious to me that Frost won't be in the game, because I seem to be the only person that gives a shit, and Shinnok was ruled out... I'm just rooting for a new character because no returning character they could put in will make me hype.

 

I guess Cyber-Smoke would be the one on the list of likely characters that I'd be the most okay with (but "just okay" is all they'll get from me if it's not Frost, that Riddick looking dude or another new character), but I'm just not feeling that it's him. No good explanation, I just doubt it for some reason.

 

As for my Sonya/Stryker prediction, at least I only made that out of incredulity that Kitana and Jade would get more goddamn costumes.

 

And I can't explain it, and it is retarded, but I really fucking want that Riddick looking guy in the game, whoever he may be. I guess maybe I like the "Basic Badass" artistic direction with it. But considering the shadow on his face which is non-existent in the other portraits, probably a hoax. I wish it could be different, though. Haha

 

HERP DERP: http://testyourmight.com/forum/showthread....ll=1#post103287

 

Anyway, if the fourth character is Tanya, I'm not even going to download her or the compatibility because Tanya sucks and so does everyone who wants her. I'll make an exception if Tanya is somehow made awesome, which won't happen because like I said: Tanya fucking sucks.

 

So I might as well just start gearing myself up for Robo-Smoke. Either he's in and I'm okay with it or he's not and barring Tanya's inclusion, they don't do any worse. Reiko would be pretty cool... He was the first character in MK that I ever selected. Probably won't be him either, though.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Lenin

[Niji Superfan]

I think you can admit that regardless of what you think of Cyber Smoke, you'd like him if they made him a cool enough character. I mean, he definitely ha the potential. I personally want Cyber Smoke to be in the game just because he's Cyber Smoke and I fucking love him, and I really like the other three cyborgs. Still, I think he'll be a likable character if they make him interesting.

 

Thank FUCK they deconfirmed Riddick guy. Like, no offense, but he just seems too plain to me. If I saw something more convincing, like some gameplay footage, I might be open to the idea. It's really interesting that he was in the game at one time or another, though. I really thought we'd seen everything there is to see on disk, though WE STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THE GORO AND KINTARO ENDINGS THAT WERE LEAKED. The movie files are bound to be in there somewhere, so why haven't we dug them up?

 

Also, I did have one interesting thought about Cyber Smoke: It'd be really cool if he kept the oldschool trident spear as an anti-air. I just picture him doing this dramatic SWING YOUR ELBOWS OUT AND TILT BACK A BIT TO SHOOT A HARPOON OUT OF YOUR CHEST, kind of like Sektor's up missile. If it was just a quick snatch/retract and just went up at an angle, he'd still be able to have his oldschool spear without making him a lame Scorpion ripoff, so that'd be really cool. I'm about 99% sure he'll have Sektor's telepunch if he is added, but whatevs.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Altaire

[Lenin]

They would have to make Robo-Smoke infinite balls to the wall awesome for me to REALLY give a shit. Like, I would've been super hyped about him if he had taken Skarlet/Kenshi/Rain's place in the DLC. But if he's this mystery character and it's not apparent that they poured every last drop of the epic they have in reserve directly into his coding, I'm going to feel very ripped off.

 

But if they turn his spear into Hazama from BlazBlue's 4D/6D, thereby allowing me to anti-air a bitch for a full combo, I am beyond fucking sold.

 

Given their alternatives, if it's not a new character... I don't see who else it could be. He definitely seems like the safest choice, because seriously, I can't stress this enough: Tanya sucks.

[Niji Superfan]

It's not like this is the LAST character, though. He's the last character of the season, but so far, NRS has made fucking bank on the DLC so far, and they're going to make a lot more on Rain. Paulo Garcia did say that they're basically going to steadily roll out DLC as long as it's selling, and if you think about it, it'd be stupid not to. They get a lot more bang for their buck on these characters than they do on a new game. It's kind of a win-win, because NRS gets to sell each character for five bucks (if they got that kind of return rate for the on-disk content, the game would be $155 for the roster alone), and anyone over the age of eight can afford to spend five bucks every couple weeks. All things considered, they have no reason to stop making DLC characters. In fact, they're better off putting them out while the game is still young, because that's when they'll sell the most.

 

Either way, I don't think it'll be a new character. IIRC, Boon (or one of the NRS guys, I forget who) deconfirmed it. I could be wrong about that, but I remember reading about it on TYM. It could be interesting if it was, but as it stands, I think they just want to get all the big names out of the way for returning characters. That does seem like the most sensible approach to me, because if all the most requested characters are spoken for, they're far less likely to disappoint people with the results. Think of it this way: If you're a Rain fanboy, you had Rain and they put out some new character who might be kind of cool, you'd probably give him an honest effort. If you were expecting Rain and DIDN'T get him, you'd look at that character and think "Man, what a fucking jip, I can't believe this is all we're getting".

 

Truth be told, it's kind of how I look at Tanya, because I could see them actually making her pretty cool if they really revamped her movelist, but like... If she gets in before Cyber Smoke, I will immediately reject her.

 

UPDATE: HO SHIT SON, look at this.

 

http://shoryuken.com/2011/07/18/mk9s-final...ring-comic-con/

 

Three more days, goddamn. I can't wait.

[Lenin]

Yeah, I'm set for that, at least I don't have to wait a damn week for a reveal trailer. This is gonna be cool shit.

 

I'm at this weird place between hype and non-hype though. They really gotta go all out here.

[Niji Superfan]

I'm mostly just anxious. Like, if it ISN'T Cyber Smoke, I'm probably going to think it's a huge disappointment and I may not even give a shit. It's not even that I'm not open tihe idea of anyone else, it's just that I can't think of "anyone else" being someone I'd want more. It'd probably have to be a new character to even come close to him for cool factor.

[Lenin]

6:25 AM my time, downloaded Rain. He's got a damage boosting move, it kills his ability to block though. But it's pretty fast. Lightning hilarious. It tracks and has an untechable time of approximately forever, but can be blocked... it does basically no damage, though. 3%.

 

That's all I care to figure out right now. I'm lazy and tired and since the mystery character's reveal date was announced as the day after tomorrow, I don't care about Rain anymore, really.

 

I'll post more later today, though.

 

EDIT:

 

1,2,f4 - dash - 4,3~df3, 4,3~db2, 1,2~bf1 is a pretty good combo...

 

1,2,f4 - dash - 1,2,f4 - dash - 4,3~db3 is the easiest 32% you'll ever do.

 

I'm thoroughly unimpressed with NRS's work here. This guy just seems boring as shit.

Edited July 19, 2011 by Lenin

[Niji Superfan]

I seriously stayed up to download Rain. I wasn't going to miss this for anything.

 

Sure enough, he came out at 3:30, just like Kenshi did. Good stuff, at least he's on time now.

 

...I try downloading him, and it takes fucking forever because my internet connection is having one of those days where it's randomly fucking useless. I waited HALF AN HOUR on a 70 meg download, and near the end, I lost connection. I said fuck it and went to bed.

 

I'm getting a new modem with my next paycheck. I'm also taking a fucking hammer to my old one, because this has happened one too many goddamn times now.

[Vincent210]

Isn't this the part where we are told all about the newly released Rain through the jaded eyes of Alt? Edited July 19, 2011 by Vincent210

[Lenin]

Honestly Altaire, you're not missing too much. He's inferior to CSZ. They're probably the two most aggro characters in the game but CSZ has the benefit of gdlk divekick and gdlk 50/50 where as Rain has dashdashdashdashcancelroundhousedashdashbraindeadcombos.

 

Seriously, it's just like b2,1+2 - dash - 4,3~lightning, 4,3~bubble, 4,3~water stream all day. The big advantage Rain has his is ability to prevent wake-up bullshit from your opponent, but other than that there's fuck all that's really that interesting about him. But he's got meterless BnB 40%'ers, so there's that... though they don't leave your opponent standing as far as I know so they seem worthless to me in comparison.

 

EDIT: And your go-to punisher should be 4,3~lightning, 4,3~roundhouse, 4,3~bubble, 4~bursting penis kick/water stream.

 

Rain's new name is Lightning Legs. It's almost as if NRS just said "This is Rain. Everyone will buy him; lets not work too hard here."

 

They gave him a Raiden like teleport though, which is pretty cool. You can do it in the air too.

Edited July 19, 2011 by Lenin

[Niji Superfan]

...I don't really know where you're getting this from. For one, Johnny Frametrap will always be the most aggro character in the game, by a wide margin; Kung Lao and Nightwolf are runners up. Two, Rain CAN be aggro, but he seems to capitalize more on punishes than anyone else. Like Sub Zero, he can trade projectiles for full combos. He can also counter-zone in a roundabout way, because lightning + control ball will let you reel them in from fullscreen distance. Personally, I think Rain is fucking awesome. What sets him apart from all the other rushdown characters is that he's a lot more about space control. Kung Lao can use low hat + divekick for space control, but that's really just used for pressure to draw your opponent in. Cyber Subs can control space with bomb setups in the same way, because forcing your opponent to jump leaves him open to crossunder slides and divekicks. Rain just controls space from fucking everywhere, and I love how free-form his combos are. Damn near all of his specials are launchers, and that makes it so easy to link everything together. I can tell you right now this character will be in my top five, if not top three. Realize that I've worshipped Rain since I was just a kid; I would've been all over this character even if he was total shit.

 

More than that, I don't see where you get the idea that Cyber Subs is better than Rain. For one, geyser kick is the ultimate anti-crossup with rape damage, and the fact that his EX roundhouse has armor is going to be a godsend against Johnny Frametrap. I couldn't really say if one is better than the other at this point, but Rain is definitely a good character. Cyber Subs can't punish zoning attempts from fullscreen for 20% or more. Cyber Subs can't X-ray you from anywhere if you so much as let go of blocking for a split second, and considering Rain can use an X-ray followup to rack up 39% (if not higher, I'm still working on this), that's a pretty big deal. Rain isn't really gamebreaking, but he's definitely a great character. He was pretty much what I was expecting from the trailer, and to that end, I'm satisfied.

[Vincent210]

Wait, the X-Ray can hit from anywhere? o.o

[Lenin]

Yeah, it tracks. I think you can actually follow up a naked X-Ray with a full combo too. The last hit puts you at the same trajectory as his standard super-roundhouse. If you can follow it up with 4,3~launcher then that translates into stupid damage for full meter as a punishment.

 

And Rain really isn't that great. He's 0-10 vs. blockbutton and has a really hard time waking up without meter, his moves have a fuckton of synergy in combos to the point that just in those terms, I'd say he's probably the best constructed character in the game. But he has no real way to open his opponent up if they're... pretty much just paying attention to what's going on. 1,2,f4 is his best string for starting combos because it will stuff a lot of shit, but beware it's horrible range. His footsies are his strong suit, which isn't going to win you a lot of fights in Bullshit Kombat 2011.

 

He's good, but not great. You're going to be subsisting on bait'n'punish tactics with him once everyone starts wising up.

 

However, bursting penis kick is really good in the corner.

 

EDIT:

 

 

I made this as a suggestion for TYM, they're fooling themselves if they don't accept it:

 

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/L514914/characterwindows1.png

 

He's my favorite horror character anyway. I'm actually pretty psyched to have him in a fighting game when I think about it rationally. The biggest fault here is that this is Jackie Earle Haley's Krueger and not Robert Englund's. And this certainly makes a convincing argument for the legitimacy of that Freddy AND Jason DLC rumor that surfaced when this game launched.

 

Honestly, I raged initially when I first saw this shit, but I warmed up to this REALLY fucking fast after I realized how truly angry the community is over this. Now I don't want to play anyone else, ever. I will become the best Freddy Krueger player motherfucking EVER.

 

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/L514914/krueger1.png

 

Also, this. At least that guarantees lots of compatibility pack downloads so I'll be able to troll consistently. Seems as though the Krueger hype has overloaded TYM's bandwidth for the moment too. Which kinda sucks because I'd like to keep trolling the anti-Krueger crowd.

 

I just wish NRS and their whole meaningless stance change bullshit didn't ruin this guy by giving him two claws. So much cooler with just the one... now he just looks like an extra crispy male hipster version of X-23.

 

So I guess in the fall, or whenever the next round of DLC starts (just since Ed Boon said this was only the end of summer DLC) we're probably looking at Tanya/Frost (or whoever because fuck me)/Cyber-Smoke/Jason. I'm down with it.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Lenin

[Niji Superfan]

Yup, I was definitely raging when I saw this shit. If I don't get Cyber Smoke in the next batch of DLC, I will fucking flip a bitch.

 

I'm pretty pissed about the unmasked Sub Zero, too. I like the idea, but like, this isn't even MK3 Sub Zero. It's UMK3 Sub Zero, without the mask. Seriously, what the fuck? How hard would it be to take that skin and edit it to look like his MK3 outfit? What bothers me most is that this means we probably won't get a genuine UMK3 Subs OR MK3 Subs, we'll just be stuck with this half-baked bastardization. If I still get UMK3 Subs with the hood, I'm down, but if not, I'll be pretty pissed.

 

...On the other hand, I am going to start trolling the scrubby Kung Laos with pre-patch Sub Zero, so at least there's that.

[Lenin]

Ed Boon is a troll, true, but what he said regarding a second batch of DLC was "if there is overwhelming fan demand, we might entertain the idea."

 

So, there is overwhelming demand, that's pretty obvious. But I still wouldn't recommend holding your breath. They're probably going to start working on UMK9 or whatever in the next few months and just focus on patching the game. I'm hoping Boon's Twitter feed gets blown up about it, though.

 

I just thought it was funny watching the NERDRAGE over this. I don't really see what the big deal about this is. I didn't really want Skarlet... or Kenshi... or Rain, but I didn't flip the Monopoly board over it.

 

Then they go on about how this WILL KILL THE GAMES COMPETITIVE SCENE BAAAAAW. Which is... exceptionally retarded. It actually made me wish that NRS could take away the copies of this game belonging to those people because they're obviously too stupid to make it to the bathroom on time, let alone play Mortal Kombat.

 

It's not the worst thing ever. Fuck, he might actually turn out to be a pretty good character. I'm still crossing my fingers that he ends up being the one DLC character that I enjoy playing.

 

And I'm PISSED about Unmasked Sub-Zero too. Because it fucking should have been an alt for CSZ. What the fuck.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Lenin

[Niji Superfan]

I don't think it's going to kill the competitive scene, but I do think a lot of people will stop taking MK9 seriously, especially outsiders. At this rate, inconsistency stands a great chance of killing the competitive scene than some dumb guest character.

 

...That said, I am going to fucking cringe whenever I see someone pick Freddy at a tournament.

 

So get this: Two of the best players I know (and uh, one who's not so great) are going to Evo. Guess who they're all in the same pool with?

 

Tom Brady.

 

...Yup. I told them: "Everybody loses, brotha."

 

In the same pool is Aris, who is apparently playing this game because on top of being a piece of shit, he's a hypocritical piece of shit. I don't even know who to cheer for anymore, but it sure as shit won't be this guy.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Niji Superfan

[Lenin]

This game will go the way of SoulCalibur IV. It will fail because the balance issues cause the game to simply not be competitive, but everyone within the scene will blame the retarded guest characters. Two different engines, but Kung Lao really does remind me a lot of Hilde.

 

I'll only cringe over Freddy being picked at a tournament if the Freddy player sucks.

 

What's wrong with Aris? I like that dude. He's a really good Smoke player and his tournament commentaries are top notch.

[Niji Superfan]

Welp, knew I was forgetting something.

 

Aris kind of rubbed me the wrong way the first time I heard him on stream, but I have to admit he earned some respect at Evo. He does play a pretty good Smoke, and I was pretty impressed with the reset he did in the semifinals.

 

Also, I just want to say that Evo was fucking awesome, and that of the four guys I know who went, three got eliminated by Brady and the fourth made top 40, IIRC. It could be higher, he was three games into the quarterfinals when he was taken out. JOP sent him into losers in his pool, and Prelude to Agony eliminated him.

 

He DID, however, beat Trophy Club's Cyrax and Banana Ken's Cyber Sub Zero in the quarters. I was pretty fucking impressed when I heard that. Apparently, the majority of his matches were Kung Laos, Cyraxes and uh... One or two Raidens. I feel for him.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Altaire