I hate how Midway executives keep stating that they couldn't do much more with the MK franchise unless they made some radical change like adding DC characters. Yes, the series did need a lot of mixing up but adding another franchise to the mix isn't the best decision they could have made. Yes, I am excited for MK vs DC Universe but I think much more could have been made of this installment. If I was in charge of the Mortal Kombat franchise heres how I would have fixed it:
1) New fighting engine: Omg, MK vs DC still appears to be using the dial-in-combos. Really? That was one of the most reviled aspects of the PS2 era MK games. Honestly, the fighting system is a joke. They should have taken more time into revamping the core mechanics of the game indtead of adding gimmicks like air combat and close combat. It seems that no one at Midway wants to really fix anything; they just thinking that adding new bulletpoints will change everything. IMO, the game should have taken a more serious direction with the mechanics. Somewhere between DoA and Virtua Fighter. A little more competitive and deep. With actual combos and the option to have really intricate attacks.
2) Distinguish your characters: MK Armageddon had like 60 characters but too many clones. A bunch of characters had no personality. Lets talk about Tonya. What was her power? She just shot fireballs, like dozens of other characters (except hers were yellow! ooooh). Give each fighter a dsitinct skill and personality. Make Tonya have power over light. She could use a quick flash of blinding light to stun her opponents. She could shoot of a supercharge beam of light to burn people. For her fatality have her focus light on the victim to melt of their skin. Oh, and what about Kyra. She was just Sonya and Kano mashed into one. They should take advantage of her assassin like personality. Make her moves focus on quick evasions, teleporting and things more in line with her persona like knife throws.
3) New art direction: The MK characters all look like action figures. They are unusually blocky. Make the women actually sexy and svelte and the men muscular yet natural looking. Again, something between DoA and Virtua Fighter visual styles
4) A more serious tone: Just looking at MK gives off a comedic tone. The game doesnt take itself seriously AT ALL. Make the game a serious fighting game and darken it up a bit. Honestly, this is a game where you rip peoples spines out but there is a character like Mokap? Ridiculous. I dont feel like you can respect te game if it has no self respect. hs is a fine line to balance because the game cant be too serious given the subject matter (the story shouldn't play out like it is something Shakespeare wrote or anything). But the tone should match the subject matter
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