MK 11's grind was a killer for me too. Liked the story mode, loved some of the gameplay, but it felt like such a step back from X when it turned into Injustice 2's gear-earning grindfest.
Still can't believe they left the game with 1/10 of it being impossible to unlock. Sunken weeks on the ps2-era MK to unlock the whole krypt, but now thanks to some mismanagement of their updates, a lot of kontent has been locked away for good... Not to say about what happens when they shut down the servers. Years of gameplay down the hole.
Yea the grind, story, roster, locked content and the fact its permanently online, fatal blows not having xray, and especially kronika and the story fcked that game, gameplay was hype tho only game I actually used meter in because xrays granted more score in towers and that's all I played cause online community is toxic af
@@rafaluizl You'd think they'd just send out a patch that rotates stuff on a schedule rather than lock out content forever. This is one of the many issues with the live service model... It kind of necessitates that you sink money onthe newest games instead of enjoying the objectively better older ones because they deliberately kill old content.
@@Endocrom by size do you mean the actual rom sizes? Because combined the 3D era games are *barely* 5 gigabytes. Games are pushing over 100 gigabytes nowadays.
@@EshyyyyyI can't help but think that he's referring to the amount of Kontent those games had by comparison to today. To do an HD version and convert it to 3d is probably a tonne of work that sadly we'll never see😢
Decent List. MK9/2011 is Khampion for me. Out of all the games, its the only one that delivers on Story mode, Roster, Mechanics and Kontent. And its the only one that allows you to play Tag Ladder. Had too many hours of Couch Co-Op fun with it. Its also has the greatest Test Your Might Minigames we likely will ever get.
What I appreciate about Matt's list is that it actually looks like a proper bell curve. Most fall in the middle with only a few in the excellent and terrible slots.
MKII was the first game I actually wanted so badly that I did extra chores to ensure I could buy it day one. And yes, my brothers and I would stay up until 2am playing this
I can't believe you rated Trilogy so low! Legit my favorite 2D MK game, I played it soooo much with my cousins! (I was born in 1995 so Trilogy was my first 2D MK game and that's probably making a big difference)
MKT was not just our first MK, but our first fighting game and our first playstation game. We got a PS2 for christmas and got Agent Under Fire, Driver 1, and MKT. That character select screen is burned into my 6yo brain. I can remember never being able to beat CPUs but my brother and I would just jump at each other and mash buttons. Never saw a tower ending. Never saw a fatality (which is probably how I got away with playing it at all). It was just little me and Noob teleporting through childhood. It is unfortunate that it's also how child me learned CD's can easily become unreadable. I SOBBED over that one. To this day it's the only disk I've ever ruined.
Yeah. I've recently picked up on watching LOSTyGirl so I'm getting my story mode fix from her. But I'm certain he's done or currently playing and a vid drops in a few days because I love Matt's commentary.
I'd be down to see more tier list videos like this one in the future. Maybe with Spooky Season right around the corner, you could do a tier list for Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Friday the 13th, or any other horror-related franchise that takes your fancy!
When you got to MK X, I was shocked. Felt like I was the only one in this camp, but i think its one of the only games that I got 300+ hours in. It got me into MK as I was always a casual player.
Mk 9 to me felt classic but a little bit more enhanced with combat but in all honesty it was mix of the classic Mk with more elements added that made the combat and combos feel rewarding making it a solid mk game. X-Rays were cool, Characters had multiple fatalities, Stage fatalities: the god of war stage had 3 stage fatalities plus, forest of death, deadpool, street stage, subway, pit stage, nether realm and Babalities were back, Dan Forden wearing a shirt with the Toast on it when he says toasty in the corner and the pit stage had the witch, Santa Claus; the krypt had that stupid jump scare etc. (the silly stuff which might be cheesy but I love it anyway). Combos were ridiculous and looked flashy , then you had tag team combat (me and my cousin would play tag team arcade ladder and it was fun), test your might, test your sight, mk ladder, story mode, the mission tower especially the last one where you fight Goro, Kintaro, Mileena and Shao Khan on one health bar. Plus the presentation was great I mean just pressing the start button seeing an animation of Sub-Zero getting uppercutted by Scorpion in Shao Khans arena; you haven’t even started the game yet and it just sets the tone perfectly.
That start menu was crazy first time I saw it. Crowd cheering and the two characters in a stand off and the first time you see that upper cut your caught off guard. Real great way to set the tone.
Gotta be honest, even though i love the main games series...sometimes i believe i Shaolin Monks is my favorite Mk game, it just such an amazing spin off, i remember i played it with my cousin all the time, the only things i didn't liked about it was the fact that some secrets could only be unlocked with the need of another player and also the fact that sub zero and scorpion felt a little bit to simple gameplay wise in comparasion to liu kang and kung lao who had lots of moves, upgrades and fatalities.
MK3 and UMK3 both are the highest tier of MK for me. MK3 kame out right as I was introduced to Predator, so Smoke, Cyrax, and Sektor were instant favorites. Even tracked down the PS1 long box of MK3! Deadly Alliance, Deception, and 9 are all interchangeable for me in that second spot
MK3 holds a special place in my heart. I remember being a kid on a long car ride to up north with my family to go on a camping track. I was reading how to combos and special moves from a gaming magazine on the ride up there. When we get up north, settled in, etc, we went to a putt putt course to play some mini golf. The putt putt place had a small arcade to the side and it had a brand new MK3 cabinet. I played the shit out of that arcade machine. The memories of pulling off combos for the first time in a MK game and beating some random dude with Kabal who tried playing against me are always going to be part of my favorite moments growing up. IMO, I think MK3 is a step up from MK2 with the combos but I understand why someone would like one over the other. Awesome video Matt! You did nothing wrong, you did everything correct! *wink*
I used to pronounce MK Trilogy as Tri-logy (like Trine). And my PS1 disc was scratched so sometimes it wouldn't work, or the music wouldn't play, and it would freeze constantly. But I still played the hell out of it.
I was not expecting an appearance from the YEAH! Movement in LA Knight watching a random mortal kombat tier list, you just earned yourself another viewer 😂
Holy shit, I had that exact same experience with MK Trilogy being my first exposure to that word and mispronouncing it the same way. I remember these two kids at summer camp laughing at me a bunch because of it lol
I agree 99.5%. I think Sub-Zero mythology should be down one spot. Not much just my little change having been a Kombatant since the first games arcade debut. Ive necer figured out how they pulled it off, but my tiny town bowling alley had MK1 arcade cabinet right on release. And man did we shovel quarters into that sucker.
IMHO, MKT aged ridiculously good. MK3 was a big downgrade from 2, MKT is what 3 should’ve been. MK1 to MK2 was a massive jump. MKT was as big of a jump from as MK was to MK2
Its not really that good. It's super buggy. The game just freezes after beating it, and shang tsungs morphs causing the whole match to freeze is unacceptable. Also, the move reading AI is the worst of the era. It had some fun ideas, like playable bosses and bringing back old versions of characters, but the novelty wears off pretty fast tbh.
We didn't see a lot of movies in theatres growing up, most of the time we waited for home video. And the times we did go see movies we did so "as a family" my mom and sister got to pick. This is why instead of going to see Mortal Kombat my brother and I were dragged to go see "To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything. Julie Numar" despite MK having the same start time and rating.
MK2 was the first i ever played. My older brother had it for his snes, and i learned the ropes by getting my ass handed to me when we'd play. It's the first game i loved. The gore was crazy, but the aesthetics were clutch. The colors/stages were somehow both drab AND vibrant, the music and sound effects memorable, and it was truly satisfying finally beating shao kahn. From there i was hooked
I still like the very first Mortal Kombat most. The older games had more of those disturbing screams and stuff. New games only have better graphics. Also the announcer sounded better in the first one. Fun fact: Raiden's cut Fatality from the first game is even better than theoriginal uncut Fatality lol
My closest friend back in elementary introduced me to Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the NES. We would do sleepovers that were an excuse to rent all Friday13th movies, or Sleepaway Camp, Slumber Party Massacre, Nightmare on Elm - we'd grab a few 2player co-op games, some of those vague brawlers that flooded the snes or we'd try and rock Castlevania, Mega Man or Double Dragon in sequence... All while consuming the most unhealthy, likely-toxic snacks and drinks then allowed on the market (does ANYONE remember that Orbitz drink, O'Ryans chips or the popcorn that came with a slab of fudge you had to place inside a half-nuked bag of hot corn ?). Throw in some Vuarnet, Dr Zogs and British Knights and I'm hoping a lot of that is familiar to some people out there because we were all enjoying something awesome and did it all totally undisturbed, uninterrupted and were the last to enjoy lives that didn't turn reality into a subscription-based affair. Truly, the best of times.
When you got to Trilogy and you mentioned that you used to pronounce it wrong, you had my full attention and was anticipating what you called it and I was thinking "please tell me that I wasn't the only that said it the same way..." and when you said it, I started laughing because I used to call it the EXACT SAME THING! I'm so glad I wasn't the only one and my best friend still cracks jokes every once in a while lol great memories
I couldn't agree more. The first time I saw a MK cabinet was amazing... But technically my first MK experience was I think... MK2 on Super NES... And curiosly right now I wanted to play some MK (I have no MK1 yet...) and decided to install XL because I think that I like it more than MK11... so it deserves to be the khampion. Thanks for the video bro.
It’s so nice hearing some reverence for MK3, I also have similar levels of nostalgia for it, but a lot of people dunk on it for how much it switched up the roster
The fact that you specifically use the character select music from the SNES version of Mortal Kombat as intro music is a very particular cut only us old AF fans would recognize.
MK9 is my favorite and it's purely because of it being such a nostalgia trip through the original trilogy just with better production value and the story mode. Behind that I can take either MK Trilogy PS1 or UMK3 After that... damn it's hard for me to actually rank favorites. I love most of this franchise and even the ones that are lower tier would still be games I could boot up and have an enjoyable time playing. This is my favorite fighting game franchise and overall just one of my favorite game franchises. I love that for something like an arcade fighter there is actually such an expansive and extensive lore behind it all
Literally all of my favourites besides Johnny Cage died in the story mode so I can't love MK9 (and the MK9 style female outfits only looked not laughable in the 2D era), all the new MK games are simultaneously amazing and disappointing, like some lore fuckups or gimmick seriously holding it back.
@@Spaced92 Yeah Sindel destroys the MK universe 😂 That's definitely the last one where the women were looking a little ridiculous, but I can't help but still pick that one just because of the roster basically. Also I liked that tag team mode
I have tons of nostalgia for Ultimate MK3! Didn't get any of the 3D era games and, by the time MK9 came out, I was busy with work and wasn't gaming in general until the pandemic shut everything down. Still, it was SF6 that got me back into fighting games as MKX and MK11 just have too big a file size for how infrequently I would play it vs an Elden Ring, Hades or Doom.
I can't agree with the fact that you rated MK Mythologies higher than MK(1992). I don't care what you tell me, it's still an awful game. It was a good idea on paper but not in execution. I still enjoy playing the og MK, even if it is so simple. I appreciate it's humble beginnings. But I think MK "9"/2011 is my favorite. Good way to reboot the franchise.
Thank you Matt! When I saw you put MK2 on Supreme Master, I knew I could probably trust the rest of the video. You rationally explained your decisions and I never felt compelled enough to argue with your logic. Well done!
38:39 I want to say this was my first mk game I saw my dad play 9 but I played this and you know what it was fun it was not good but for a comic loving kid it was fun
When i was a kid i kept playing mythologies sub zero over and over trying to see how fast i could beat. I had never heard of speedrunning before but it was what i was doing.
I LOVE tier lists, this was a treat! My first MK was Deadly Alliance and I've played all the ones after that one but I never really touched the first four. The digitised graphics always looked kinda whack to me 😅 I have a special relationship with the PS2 trilogy because it was my starting point, but I always felt these games looked v janky compared to the Tekkens or the Virtua Fighters that were out at the time, but I still liked them a lot. Deception's Konquest mode was a moment in history to be remembered, hope NRS maybe decides to revisit it again, especially after Street Fighter 6's triumph with World Tour. I like to pretend I don't know what MK vs. DC is, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I had a little fun with it as well. The Rebooted trilogy was also a fun era. I never really bought the hype for the story mode completely, particularly why every single other fighting game decided to have its own NRS story mode, but it is what it is. MK2011 as a whole is great in terms of cast (they look excruciatingly ugly though) gameplay is possibly the best it's ever been and I love all the iconic stages! The story premise is also interesting and fun to watch, but my main issue with this type of story mode is that you play it once and then you have no inclination to go back and play it ever again. MKX is where I started to have issues with the NRS way of doing things. The game's visuals look extremely outdated to me, the character models look like PS2 models, the sweat on the models looks like blisters, the janky animations are in full effect here and the story, one of the main selling points of the game, is the weakest out of the three. It was also really popular at the time for story-focused games to release random side crap like movies, comics, anime and whatnot containing canon parts of the story and NRS unfortunately decided they should also do that which is bullshit. MK11 is where FINALLY, for the first time ever in the series, character models actually look great! The stages are also pretty good and even the music, for the first time, is kinda memorable. Unfortunately, the grindy bullshit way of unlocking kosmetics and shit and gameplay eventually drove me away from the series. However... MK1 seems to be doing a lot of things right so I might just eventually return. I will wait for the extra ultimate komplete edition to come out for sure, but the story looks to be mostly doing things right, the characters, although most of the designs are a downgrade from MK11, look great and the stages are the best they've ever looked. Gameplay looks better than 11 but I do think the Kameo system is a bit goofy and the Kameo Kharacters themselves look like PS3 NPCs. Ultimately, I have a weird relationship with the series as it has a ton of stuff I love but also a ton of stuff I hate, compared to other fighting game franchisees especially, so it's always hard for me to not be critical of stuff I might otherwise excuse 😂
MK11 grind was definitely its downfall, but one thing you didn't call out about it, that I feel bumps it to supreme master, is the gameplay complexity was a huuuuuge series jump. The timings, the windows, not only was it deeper, but the tutorials explain them all so well. Basically every MK prior to 11, the gameplay was really pretty simple. MK11 was the concerted effort to say "Hey, we're not Street Fighter, but we've got tech!". I think that deserves a promotion over 3, 4 and Deception. Plus the fatalities in MK11 were honestly cinematic. The choice of framing, the speed, it was no longer just two people standing opposite one another and pulling off limbs, it was often brash, bold, camera cutting sequences that would end in a screenshottable moment of horror! Gotta give that credit, also.
I can't even remember any of the fatalities or brutalities, I mainly played as Shang Tsung and Sindel and Liu Kang for the few months I played it. The "tech" is so little I barely noticed it. Game sucked, worse than X and the story was of lower quality than Biden as a president.
12:08 I DID THE SAME THING, the Sam Raimi Spider Man Trilogy was the only trilogy i had, instead of "i want to to watch the Spider Mqn Trilogy" it was "i wanna watch the Spider Man Triology"
Ultimate mk was special as hell to me, i played it on n64 with my dad. I also really love the ones with konquest, the full roster one is great creating a character was done well. Mini games were cool i didnt love the konquest. I absolutely love the shujinko conquest sooooo much though. I genuinely want to play through it again soon. Both really
With Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance they went the Pokemon route for the GBA, splitting the roster into two games: Deadly Alliance (GBA) and Tournament Edition (GBA), with TE getting the bigger half. I think, they still lacked Blaze and Mokap, but instead TE had Sareena, Noob and Sector.
OG Mortal Kombat might have aged poorly mechanically but the aesthetic of it is the best of the whole damn series IMO because it's SO tied into the feel of it being an arranged tournament. There's even an audience who applauds.
13:44 I mean, promoting a competitor while in character is a pretty big bridge burning maneuver that it's not surprising they didn't want any sort of relation with him.
The only problem i have with 10 being up top is that 10 and 11 both feel like mobile games when they're popping up microtransactions and selling you fatalities. 2 takes it for me.
Holy fuck, that's probably a reason why I don't play X. Everytime I start the game I get earraped by an announcement begging me to buy MK12. I don't even have a PS5 and don't plan on getting one.
We stayed up all night playing MK2 and I was Shang Tsung, morphed into Raiden and performed Raiden’s Friendship. When Kidd Thunder came out, Raiden morphed back into Shang Tsung and it glitched out Kidd Thunder making him look like a pillar of salt and making it look like Shang Tsung stole his soul.
Loved the video Matt! Just a reminder for future their list videos from left to right within the teirs are theirs on their own as in who is the best in the champion Tier should help with placing
jets and guns gold 2 has a mortal kombat tetris mini game that is pretty great and you tap out fatalities and special moves while the blocks are falling
Solid tier list, but I'm surprised to hear you praise the variation system, especially over the Kameo system. I always saw the variation system as pretty obnoxious padding that left me feeling like I was playing an incomplete kharacter.
MK 11's grind was a killer for me too. Liked the story mode, loved some of the gameplay, but it felt like such a step back from X when it turned into Injustice 2's gear-earning grindfest.
Still can't believe they left the game with 1/10 of it being impossible to unlock.
Sunken weeks on the ps2-era MK to unlock the whole krypt, but now thanks to some mismanagement of their updates, a lot of kontent has been locked away for good... Not to say about what happens when they shut down the servers. Years of gameplay down the hole.
Yea the grind, story, roster, locked content and the fact its permanently online, fatal blows not having xray, and especially kronika and the story fcked that game, gameplay was hype tho only game I actually used meter in because xrays granted more score in towers and that's all I played cause online community is toxic af
The fighting too slow I think
MK9 and MKX was nice and simple. Do challenges to earn skins. I don't want to grind for hours to get pieces of gear and palettes.
@@rafaluizl You'd think they'd just send out a patch that rotates stuff on a schedule rather than lock out content forever. This is one of the many issues with the live service model... It kind of necessitates that you sink money onthe newest games instead of enjoying the objectively better older ones because they deliberately kill old content.
This is one of the best edited and entertaining tier list videos I've ever seen
Obviously 😂, it's phatty matty mcmuscles!
Thanks dude!!!
2 goats in chat
the resi one is great too!
I’m glad you gave Mortal Kombat Shaolin monks the respect it deserves we need more games in the Shaolin monk series
We need a Scorpion/Sub-Zero game in that style!
Jason, Leatherface, Alien and Predator being in MKX was so freaking cool! Horror character fit in the game so well.
Tier lists need to be deployed sparingly, but this is an ideal moment.
I wish they released modern compilations of the 3D games, those are almost going to become lost to time at this point.
A size thing I'm sure. All we can do is wait for technology to march on.
Not even the first 3 are available
@@Endocrom by size do you mean the actual rom sizes? Because combined the 3D era games are *barely* 5 gigabytes. Games are pushing over 100 gigabytes nowadays.
@@EshyyyyyI can't help but think that he's referring to the amount of Kontent those games had by comparison to today. To do an HD version and convert it to 3d is probably a tonne of work that sadly we'll never see😢
It's sad that many companies do not care about preserving their old games
I've learned more about Mortal Kombat from this video than any previous source
Real Recognizes real.
Decent List. MK9/2011 is Khampion for me. Out of all the games, its the only one that delivers on Story mode, Roster, Mechanics and Kontent. And its the only one that allows you to play Tag Ladder. Had too many hours of Couch Co-Op fun with it. Its also has the greatest Test Your Might Minigames we likely will ever get.
Really wish tag ladder was in all the games after. Me and my brother as sub zero and scorpion playing till 4 am was so damn fun.
Definitely need to do an MK clones Tier List.
For once, I'd love to see just a row across the bottom of crap. 😂
Is that not what "The Worst Fighting Games Ever" series is going to end up becoming down the line?
What I appreciate about Matt's list is that it actually looks like a proper bell curve. Most fall in the middle with only a few in the excellent and terrible slots.
It also has a positive slant.
MKII was the first game I actually wanted so badly that I did extra chores to ensure I could buy it day one.
And yes, my brothers and I would stay up until 2am playing this
I first played it seriously by beating shoulin monks, ai was a cheating little chump, but the games ascetic was pure mk, goated!
Missed opportunity to name the ranks based on shao kahns phrases: "Excellent, outstanding, superb" etc
Props for giving Ultimate Mortal Kombat on DS its flowers. Hands down one of my favorite ways to play UMK3
Considering putting MK Sub Zero at the same level of Trilogy is crazy.
The LA Knight cut was absolutely not something I expected to see in an MK video. I greatly appreciate it.
same. i was doing dishwashing while listening to this and i side-eyed when i heard "YEAH". had a bit of a pop lol
YEAH
Yeah!
I can't believe you rated Trilogy so low! Legit my favorite 2D MK game, I played it soooo much with my cousins! (I was born in 1995 so Trilogy was my first 2D MK game and that's probably making a big difference)
MKT was not just our first MK, but our first fighting game and our first playstation game. We got a PS2 for christmas and got Agent Under Fire, Driver 1, and MKT. That character select screen is burned into my 6yo brain. I can remember never being able to beat CPUs but my brother and I would just jump at each other and mash buttons. Never saw a tower ending. Never saw a fatality (which is probably how I got away with playing it at all). It was just little me and Noob teleporting through childhood.
It is unfortunate that it's also how child me learned CD's can easily become unreadable. I SOBBED over that one. To this day it's the only disk I've ever ruined.
I know 2 people who got ps1 and trilogy on Christmas 96
Matt has to play more mk1 story mode. I want to hear his reaction of a certain part of the story.
Yeah. I've recently picked up on watching LOSTyGirl so I'm getting my story mode fix from her. But I'm certain he's done or currently playing and a vid drops in a few days because I love Matt's commentary.
LOSTygirl....😍😍😍
What certain part are you talking about?
I'd be down to see more tier list videos like this one in the future. Maybe with Spooky Season right around the corner, you could do a tier list for Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Friday the 13th, or any other horror-related franchise that takes your fancy!
I go back to Deception just for Chess Kombat.. so good.
When you got to MK X, I was shocked. Felt like I was the only one in this camp, but i think its one of the only games that I got 300+ hours in. It got me into MK as I was always a casual player.
Agreed!!
It’s FAR superior to MK11 and MK1. Its dark atmosphere is perfect.
Dude the tri-OLOGY part hit me in the feels. I did the exact same god damn thing in 5th grade 😂
I'm still chasing the feeling of MK2 fever to this day. What a monster that was when it came out.
Mk 9 to me felt classic but a little bit more enhanced with combat but in all honesty it was mix of the classic Mk with more elements added that made the combat and combos feel rewarding making it a solid mk game. X-Rays were cool, Characters had multiple fatalities, Stage fatalities: the god of war stage had 3 stage fatalities plus, forest of death, deadpool, street stage, subway, pit stage, nether realm and Babalities were back, Dan Forden wearing a shirt with the Toast on it when he says toasty in the corner and the pit stage had the witch, Santa Claus; the krypt had that stupid jump scare etc. (the silly stuff which might be cheesy but I love it anyway). Combos were ridiculous and looked flashy , then you had tag team combat (me and my cousin would play tag team arcade ladder and it was fun), test your might, test your sight, mk ladder, story mode, the mission tower especially the last one where you fight Goro, Kintaro, Mileena and Shao Khan on one health bar. Plus the presentation was great I mean just pressing the start button seeing an animation of Sub-Zero getting uppercutted by Scorpion in Shao Khans arena; you haven’t even started the game yet and it just sets the tone perfectly.
That start menu was crazy first time I saw it. Crowd cheering and the two characters in a stand off and the first time you see that upper cut your caught off guard. Real great way to set the tone.
Gotta be honest, even though i love the main games series...sometimes i believe i Shaolin Monks is my favorite Mk game, it just such an amazing spin off, i remember i played it with my cousin all the time, the only things i didn't liked about it was the fact that some secrets could only be unlocked with the need of another player and also the fact that sub zero and scorpion felt a little bit to simple gameplay wise in comparasion to liu kang and kung lao who had lots of moves, upgrades and fatalities.
MK3 and UMK3 both are the highest tier of MK for me. MK3 kame out right as I was introduced to Predator, so Smoke, Cyrax, and Sektor were instant favorites. Even tracked down the PS1 long box of MK3! Deadly Alliance, Deception, and 9 are all interchangeable for me in that second spot
MK3 holds a special place in my heart. I remember being a kid on a long car ride to up north with my family to go on a camping track. I was reading how to combos and special moves from a gaming magazine on the ride up there. When we get up north, settled in, etc, we went to a putt putt course to play some mini golf. The putt putt place had a small arcade to the side and it had a brand new MK3 cabinet. I played the shit out of that arcade machine. The memories of pulling off combos for the first time in a MK game and beating some random dude with Kabal who tried playing against me are always going to be part of my favorite moments growing up. IMO, I think MK3 is a step up from MK2 with the combos but I understand why someone would like one over the other. Awesome video Matt! You did nothing wrong, you did everything correct! *wink*
Cooking with Scorpion was locked away in the taverns of my memory. Thank you for that.
I used to pronounce MK Trilogy as Tri-logy (like Trine). And my PS1 disc was scratched so sometimes it wouldn't work, or the music wouldn't play, and it would freeze constantly. But I still played the hell out of it.
New Era was too powerful for this tier list. A tier beyond.
I was not expecting an appearance from the YEAH! Movement in LA Knight watching a random mortal kombat tier list, you just earned yourself another viewer 😂
Holy shit, I had that exact same experience with MK Trilogy being my first exposure to that word and mispronouncing it the same way. I remember these two kids at summer camp laughing at me a bunch because of it lol
I love MK Trilogy on Playstation. Even though it was unbalanced it was just a LOT of fun to play.
I agree 99.5%. I think Sub-Zero mythology should be down one spot. Not much just my little change having been a Kombatant since the first games arcade debut. Ive necer figured out how they pulled it off, but my tiny town bowling alley had MK1 arcade cabinet right on release. And man did we shovel quarters into that sucker.
My personal S-Tier games are:
UMK3 and MKX.
I haven't played enough of MK1 to decide where it stands yet.
The disrespect to MK Trilogy lmao. Didn't even play the PS1 version which is top tier, and it's supremely better than Mk4
IMHO, MKT aged ridiculously good. MK3 was a big downgrade from 2, MKT is what 3 should’ve been. MK1 to MK2 was a massive jump. MKT was as big of a jump from as MK was to MK2
Its not really that good. It's super buggy. The game just freezes after beating it, and shang tsungs morphs causing the whole match to freeze is unacceptable. Also, the move reading AI is the worst of the era.
It had some fun ideas, like playable bosses and bringing back old versions of characters, but the novelty wears off pretty fast tbh.
We didn't see a lot of movies in theatres growing up, most of the time we waited for home video. And the times we did go see movies we did so "as a family" my mom and sister got to pick. This is why instead of going to see Mortal Kombat my brother and I were dragged to go see "To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything. Julie Numar" despite MK having the same start time and rating.
*To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
Sincerely, someone else who has the same experience. My mum also chose it over MK.
Thanks, glad to hear that someone else knows the pain. (typo corrected TY)@@medes5597
MK2 was the first i ever played. My older brother had it for his snes, and i learned the ropes by getting my ass handed to me when we'd play. It's the first game i loved. The gore was crazy, but the aesthetics were clutch. The colors/stages were somehow both drab AND vibrant, the music and sound effects memorable, and it was truly satisfying finally beating shao kahn. From there i was hooked
I still like the very first Mortal Kombat most. The older games had more of those disturbing screams and stuff. New games only have better graphics.
Also the announcer sounded better in the first one. Fun fact: Raiden's cut Fatality from the first game is even better than theoriginal uncut Fatality lol
My closest friend back in elementary introduced me to Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the NES. We would do sleepovers that were an excuse to rent all Friday13th movies, or Sleepaway Camp, Slumber Party Massacre, Nightmare on Elm - we'd grab a few 2player co-op games, some of those vague brawlers that flooded the snes or we'd try and rock Castlevania, Mega Man or Double Dragon in sequence...
All while consuming the most unhealthy, likely-toxic snacks and drinks then allowed on the market (does ANYONE remember that Orbitz drink, O'Ryans chips or the popcorn that came with a slab of fudge you had to place inside a half-nuked bag of hot corn ?).
Throw in some Vuarnet, Dr Zogs and British Knights and I'm hoping a lot of that is familiar to some people out there because we were all enjoying something awesome and did it all totally undisturbed, uninterrupted and were the last to enjoy lives that didn't turn reality into a subscription-based affair.
Truly, the best of times.
When you got to Trilogy and you mentioned that you used to pronounce it wrong, you had my full attention and was anticipating what you called it and I was thinking "please tell me that I wasn't the only that said it the same way..." and when you said it, I started laughing because I used to call it the EXACT SAME THING! I'm so glad I wasn't the only one and my best friend still cracks jokes every once in a while lol great memories
I couldn't agree more. The first time I saw a MK cabinet was amazing... But technically my first MK experience was I think... MK2 on Super NES... And curiosly right now I wanted to play some MK (I have no MK1 yet...) and decided to install XL because I think that I like it more than MK11... so it deserves to be the khampion. Thanks for the video bro.
In my opinion this is how I’d rank them
1. MK9 (10/10)
2. MK1 (9.5/10)
3. MKX (9.5/10)
4. Shaolin Monks (9.5/10)
5. Deception (9/10)
6. UMK3 (9/10)
7. MK11 (8.5/10)
8. Deadly Alliance (8.5/10)
9. Trilogy (8.5/10)
10. Armageddon (8/10)
11. MK3 (8/10)
12. MK2 (8/10)
13. MK Gold (7/10)
14. MK vs DC (6.5/10)
15. MK OG (6.5/10)
16. Mythologies (5/10)
17. Special Forces (4/10)
Idea for more kontent: the non-videogame MK material. Doesn't have to be a tier list, maybe just general overview and trivia
That OG MK music is so nostalgic and just great. Wish it was still in the game
the callout to Gstar321 sent a wave of nostalgia through my soul
It’s so nice hearing some reverence for MK3, I also have similar levels of nostalgia for it, but a lot of people dunk on it for how much it switched up the roster
The fact that you specifically use the character select music from the SNES version of Mortal Kombat as intro music is a very particular cut only us old AF fans would recognize.
MK Shaolin Monks is so good and I cant believe its never been remastered.
MK9 is my favorite and it's purely because of it being such a nostalgia trip through the original trilogy just with better production value and the story mode.
Behind that I can take either MK Trilogy PS1 or UMK3
After that... damn it's hard for me to actually rank favorites. I love most of this franchise and even the ones that are lower tier would still be games I could boot up and have an enjoyable time playing.
This is my favorite fighting game franchise and overall just one of my favorite game franchises. I love that for something like an arcade fighter there is actually such an expansive and extensive lore behind it all
Literally all of my favourites besides Johnny Cage died in the story mode so I can't love MK9 (and the MK9 style female outfits only looked not laughable in the 2D era), all the new MK games are simultaneously amazing and disappointing, like some lore fuckups or gimmick seriously holding it back.
@@Spaced92 Yeah Sindel destroys the MK universe 😂
That's definitely the last one where the women were looking a little ridiculous, but I can't help but still pick that one just because of the roster basically. Also I liked that tag team mode
I have tons of nostalgia for Ultimate MK3! Didn't get any of the 3D era games and, by the time MK9 came out, I was busy with work and wasn't gaming in general until the pandemic shut everything down. Still, it was SF6 that got me back into fighting games as MKX and MK11 just have too big a file size for how infrequently I would play it vs an Elden Ring, Hades or Doom.
I can't agree with the fact that you rated MK Mythologies higher than MK(1992). I don't care what you tell me, it's still an awful game. It was a good idea on paper but not in execution. I still enjoy playing the og MK, even if it is so simple. I appreciate it's humble beginnings.
But I think MK "9"/2011 is my favorite. Good way to reboot the franchise.
"KHAMPION" I'm dying over here
I know im getting older (27) when i reconzie the toney hawk sound bits hes useing in the video🤧
Thank you Matt! When I saw you put MK2 on Supreme Master, I knew I could probably trust the rest of the video. You rationally explained your decisions and I never felt compelled enough to argue with your logic. Well done!
What a great list! Fair, detailed and fun.
38:39 I want to say this was my first mk game I saw my dad play 9 but I played this and you know what it was fun it was not good but for a comic loving kid it was fun
When i was a kid i kept playing mythologies sub zero over and over trying to see how fast i could beat. I had never heard of speedrunning before but it was what i was doing.
I played MK Unchained so much on my PSP, such good memories and amazing roster, MK Deception just has a special place in my heart
I LOVE tier lists, this was a treat!
My first MK was Deadly Alliance and I've played all the ones after that one but I never really touched the first four. The digitised graphics always looked kinda whack to me 😅
I have a special relationship with the PS2 trilogy because it was my starting point, but I always felt these games looked v janky compared to the Tekkens or the Virtua Fighters that were out at the time, but I still liked them a lot.
Deception's Konquest mode was a moment in history to be remembered, hope NRS maybe decides to revisit it again, especially after Street Fighter 6's triumph with World Tour.
I like to pretend I don't know what MK vs. DC is, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I had a little fun with it as well.
The Rebooted trilogy was also a fun era. I never really bought the hype for the story mode completely, particularly why every single other fighting game decided to have its own NRS story mode, but it is what it is.
MK2011 as a whole is great in terms of cast (they look excruciatingly ugly though) gameplay is possibly the best it's ever been and I love all the iconic stages! The story premise is also interesting and fun to watch, but my main issue with this type of story mode is that you play it once and then you have no inclination to go back and play it ever again.
MKX is where I started to have issues with the NRS way of doing things. The game's visuals look extremely outdated to me, the character models look like PS2 models, the sweat on the models looks like blisters, the janky animations are in full effect here and the story, one of the main selling points of the game, is the weakest out of the three. It was also really popular at the time for story-focused games to release random side crap like movies, comics, anime and whatnot containing canon parts of the story and NRS unfortunately decided they should also do that which is bullshit.
MK11 is where FINALLY, for the first time ever in the series, character models actually look great! The stages are also pretty good and even the music, for the first time, is kinda memorable. Unfortunately, the grindy bullshit way of unlocking kosmetics and shit and gameplay eventually drove me away from the series.
However... MK1 seems to be doing a lot of things right so I might just eventually return. I will wait for the extra ultimate komplete edition to come out for sure, but the story looks to be mostly doing things right, the characters, although most of the designs are a downgrade from MK11, look great and the stages are the best they've ever looked. Gameplay looks better than 11 but I do think the Kameo system is a bit goofy and the Kameo Kharacters themselves look like PS3 NPCs.
Ultimately, I have a weird relationship with the series as it has a ton of stuff I love but also a ton of stuff I hate, compared to other fighting game franchisees especially, so it's always hard for me to not be critical of stuff I might otherwise excuse 😂
2:27 Even Matt is sayin L! A! KNIGHT, YEAH!
As much as I have my little differences with this list I can’t help notice how well made this video is
17:26 That terrified me.
I avoided arcades BECAUSE of that kontinue screen.
UMK3 was my very first MK ever! I had it on the Sega Saturn and even had the strategy guide too! Been a fan of the series ever since.
MK11 grind was definitely its downfall, but one thing you didn't call out about it, that I feel bumps it to supreme master, is the gameplay complexity was a huuuuuge series jump. The timings, the windows, not only was it deeper, but the tutorials explain them all so well. Basically every MK prior to 11, the gameplay was really pretty simple. MK11 was the concerted effort to say "Hey, we're not Street Fighter, but we've got tech!". I think that deserves a promotion over 3, 4 and Deception. Plus the fatalities in MK11 were honestly cinematic. The choice of framing, the speed, it was no longer just two people standing opposite one another and pulling off limbs, it was often brash, bold, camera cutting sequences that would end in a screenshottable moment of horror! Gotta give that credit, also.
I can't even remember any of the fatalities or brutalities, I mainly played as Shang Tsung and Sindel and Liu Kang for the few months I played it. The "tech" is so little I barely noticed it. Game sucked, worse than X and the story was of lower quality than Biden as a president.
12:08 I DID THE SAME THING, the Sam Raimi Spider Man Trilogy was the only trilogy i had, instead of "i want to to watch the Spider Mqn Trilogy" it was "i wanna watch the Spider Man Triology"
Deception is easily as good as MK2
I got ultimate mk3 for ds as a teenager and still have it, played that so much, even got all the characters for puzzle kombat.
Things that seem insane to me:
Putting MK1 below Sub-Zero
Putting MK4 above Trilogy
Otherwise, flawless.
I went from mk II to mk trilogy so trilogy is GOATED for me.
Ultimate mk was special as hell to me, i played it on n64 with my dad.
I also really love the ones with konquest, the full roster one is great creating a character was done well.
Mini games were cool i didnt love the konquest. I absolutely love the shujinko conquest sooooo much though. I genuinely want to play through it again soon. Both really
With Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance they went the Pokemon route for the GBA, splitting the roster into two games: Deadly Alliance (GBA) and Tournament Edition (GBA), with TE getting the bigger half. I think, they still lacked Blaze and Mokap, but instead TE had Sareena, Noob and Sector.
OG Mortal Kombat might have aged poorly mechanically but the aesthetic of it is the best of the whole damn series IMO because it's SO tied into the feel of it being an arranged tournament. There's even an audience who applauds.
UMK3 & MK9 will likely always be my top favorites.
Off topic, but I wish Link was back in the updated version of SC2.
I'm glad to see i ain't the only one who was reading "trilogy" like "triology" :D
With each of these Kombat Time videos, I keep imagining the announcer from Mario Party 1 & 2 saying "Kombat Time!"
13:44 I mean, promoting a competitor while in character is a pretty big bridge burning maneuver that it's not surprising they didn't want any sort of relation with him.
The krypt in MK11 was such a joy at the beginning, but I agree that the grind was killer
I spent so many hours playing MK2. Lots of fun and my favorite fighting game ever
I feel like one of the only people who loved Ferra/Torr. They were so fun to play for me
You're not alone I actually like Ferra/Torr. Kinda wish for both of them to come back in MK1 but we'll have to do with just Ferra alone as a cameo.
The only problem i have with 10 being up top is that 10 and 11 both feel like mobile games when they're popping up microtransactions and selling you fatalities. 2 takes it for me.
Holy fuck, that's probably a reason why I don't play X. Everytime I start the game I get earraped by an announcement begging me to buy MK12. I don't even have a PS5 and don't plan on getting one.
@@Euro.Patriot Yes! It's like having a salesman on your lap while you're trying to play.
@@octavia458 It even begged me to get MK11 which I already had, I bought the version with all the dlc too.
Mortal Kombat Deception deserves to be S automatically because of Konquest mode. This game is the reason I love MK lore so much.
Oh my god I’m so glad I’m not the only one that thought it was ‘tri-o-logy’ as a kid
I rather enjoy the rambling about these, because we have a semi-similar experience growing up with these games. Though I was less into fighting games.
Mk2, Trilogy and Deception are my favorites. When I think Mortal Kombat that’s what immediately comes to mind.
Mace The Dark Age soundtrack in the back was fantastic
You did deadly alliance dirty 😂
We stayed up all night playing MK2 and I was Shang Tsung, morphed into Raiden and performed Raiden’s Friendship.
When Kidd Thunder came out, Raiden morphed back into Shang Tsung and it glitched out Kidd Thunder making him look like a pillar of salt and making it look like Shang Tsung stole his soul.
MKX was the first game in a while that I’d rush home from work to unlock a new skin and play online.
Loved the video Matt! Just a reminder for future their list videos from left to right within the teirs are theirs on their own as in who is the best in the champion Tier should help with placing
We need a shaolin monks part 2
He's counting MK Mythologies isn't he, I know he is!
I expect that Live Action Quan Chi existence to be nothing short of top tier.
Holy fuck, I also pronounce Trilogy as try-o-lo-gee back in the 90s.
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 defines my teen years, MK2 is my pre-teen MK9 is my Jam in my 30s.
8:43 When I played MK Trilogy as a kid I spammed square as Motaro.
To this Day i can't decide if hate or love Mythologies Sub Zero
jets and guns gold 2 has a mortal kombat tetris mini game that is pretty great and you tap out fatalities and special moves while the blocks are falling
S: MK1 (skins for Scorpion, Sub Zero, Reptile, Smoke movie 95- It's amazing! Also realistic, beautiful movements and punches. UMK3, MK11, MK2
A: MKX, MK9, MK(92)
B: Deception, Shaolin Monks, Armageddon
C: Deadly Alliance, MK4
D: Sub Zero Mythologies, Special Forces
Solid tier list, but I'm surprised to hear you praise the variation system, especially over the Kameo system. I always saw the variation system as pretty obnoxious padding that left me feeling like I was playing an incomplete kharacter.
We need rereleases so bad
Literally picked up the ds kombat the other week, so happy to see it included here! ❤❤
It’s absolutely fantastic!