Just want to leave some longer-term impressions as I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing it since this post. I want to retract my statement that it's the best one since MK2. In fact, it's the best MK ever, period.

I was a little irked that they had changed a lot of the special moves on my first play through, but once I got into the swing of things I realized why they did. The entire combo system is a "make-your-own" type of thing (like MK2), and the new controls play into that beautifully. By that I mean that rather then inputting a 16 button combination like in the past couple of 3d games, you do logical combos using your specials ala SF, or older MK games. (like, punch, punch, fireball, etc..) The changed control scheme just plays into how this works, and its the better for it.

I've unlocked most of the hidden content at this point, and typically that would be the end cycle for a fighter for me, but it's not hampering my love for this title in the least. There is just SO much damn stuff to see/do in here. I'm spending most of my time in straight up 1 player ladder matches and the challenge tower now, and I'm still having an absolute blast.

Got to spend a couple of hours playing it with a buddy over the holiday weekend, and that too was just a great, great experience. He harkens back to competively playing MK2 with me in arcades, and a lot of the fun of those old glory days came back playing this. We both agreed that the X-ray moves are off, and slow down the gameplay too much, but otherwise, it was agreed by both of us that this is simply the best MK ever.

We played quite a bit of the test your luck mode, and that was just so ridiculous and fun... I must admit though, most of our time was spent in just straight-up one vs one. The tag-matches are great and all, but almost a little too much. The action is so fast and furious in that mode, and it takes so long to play through a battle (particularly if you go 3 rounds), that you kinda feel like you've given birth by the time a match is over.

Lastly, I just cannot overstate how much I love that they placed the fataities in the menu. I wish they were at the top of the first page so you didn't have to scroll down to them every damn time, but it brings so much to the title to let anyone do fataities no matter what character they have chosen, and without having to hold a FAQ or guide in your hands.

Dude,  I completely agree, this is by far the BEST fighting game I have played.  I love the do it yourself combo system, I feel I can actually do cool stuff and with all the fighters too, not just one or two.  This is a great great great game!

It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.

But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale.

It's amazing, I love Mortal Kombat, and to be frank, I think its the best Mortal Kombat so far.  Just my opinion of course.

Goddammit, I guess I have to buy this now.

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.

And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.

"

I would have to say UMK3 is still the best.

But this game is great, and some of the development approaches that NRS took seems like the right ways to approach the careful issue of making a fighting game have casual appeal but still deep and tournament worthy.

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

I love this game, played the originals as a kid but liked Street Fighter a whole lot more, got really into Soul Calibur 2, so much so that I even entered a tournament (lost to the host who had the exact same lineup as me Q_Q) and played lots of MK back in the PS2 days. This is by far the best fighter I have played. The story is a little frustrating, I cant stand playing Liu Kang but I'm forced to fight Shao Kahn with him and one of the first fights with a different character was a bit bullshit when you are pitted against two people and know none of the moves (supposedly).

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

Singleplayer means shit to the tournament scene, and the only reason I even touched it was due to PSN being down.  The online is not as good as SSFIV, no matter how much you try to debate that.  EVO and other events are still looking into MK9 and not everyone has been sold.  The game is really janky compared to MvC3 and SSFIVAE, so it'll be hard to sell it to the hardcore fighting fans.  That's not opinion, but a simple fact.  MK9 is too young to decide it's fate at the moment. "

Your title was my first thought after one-day with the new Mortal Kombat. Several days later, I changed my story to this: "The new Mortal Kombat is the best Mortal Kombat EVER MADE!" I am in love.

MK always brings back my favorite video game memories I wish this one would come to PC sucks that I'll probably never played it :( unless it comes to PC anyways I'm so glad they went back 2-D fighting.

I enjoyed Mortal Kombat when I was 10, but eventually went on to other fighting games. I'm compelled to play MK9 after reading this.

" @KaosAngel said:

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

Singleplayer means shit to the tournament scene, and the only reason I even touched it was due to PSN being down.  The online is not as good as SSFIV, no matter how much you try to debate that.  EVO and other events are still looking into MK9 and not everyone has been sold.  The game is really janky compared to MvC3 and SSFIVAE, so it'll be hard to sell it to the hardcore fighting fans.  That's not opinion, but a simple fact.  MK9 is too young to decide it's fate at the moment. "

Don't forget the tournament scene also means shit to many, many, many more people than people actually interested in the tournament scene.  The hardcore fighting audience hardly dictates what is considered a good game in general because they are already invested in the genre and have a bias towards it.  Most players in that area really only play fighting games so cannot look at other games being better than what they play with any form of objectivity.  That doesn't make them bad people, as I love to watch competitive matches from time to time as they are amazing, but they are never an ideal sample group to derive these kinds of answers from.That isn't to say there isn't a fair argument to say that SF4 will last longer as a competitive fighter (I would place my bets on that personally), but as an actual 'game' MK9 is more likely to receive awards than MvC3 or SF4AE during the GOTY season, that I can bet on. "

" @KaosAngel said:

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

Singleplayer means shit to the tournament scene, and the only reason I even touched it was due to PSN being down.  The online is not as good as SSFIV, no matter how much you try to debate that.  EVO and other events are still looking into MK9 and not everyone has been sold.  The game is really janky compared to MvC3 and SSFIVAE, so it'll be hard to sell it to the hardcore fighting fans.  That's not opinion, but a simple fact.  MK9 is too young to decide it's fate at the moment. "

Don't forget the tournament scene also means shit to many, many, many more people than people actually interested in the tournament scene.  The hardcore fighting audience hardly dictates what is considered a good game in general because they are already invested in the genre and have a bias towards it.  Most players in that area really only play fighting games so cannot look at other games being better than what they play with any form of objectivity.  That doesn't make them bad people, as I love to watch competitive matches from time to time as they are amazing, but they are never an ideal sample group to derive these kinds of answers from.That isn't to say there isn't a fair argument to say that SF4 will last longer as a competitive fighter (I would place my bets on that personally), but as an actual 'game' MK9 is more likely to receive awards than MvC3 or SF4AE during the GOTY season, that I can bet on. "

It's not surprising since MK2 was the most popular in the series, by far. Tekken and Virtual Fighter for console are what killed MK and Street Fighter back at the arcades, they just dated very quickly once 3D graphics become the trend in the mid-nineties. It took a while but it's back!

I think it should be called: "MK Trilogy Returns with a Shit-ton of Kontent".

"

                    It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale.

                   

                "

Well what about the terrible netcode? Doesn't that fit in somewhere? Surely online is a huge part of fighting games.

" It's not surprising since MK2 was the most popular in the series, by far. Tekken and Virtual Fighter for console are what killed MK and Street Fighter back at the arcades, they just dated very quickly once 3D graphics become the trend in the mid-nineties. It took a while but it's back! "

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

Singleplayer means shit to the tournament scene, and the only reason I even touched it was due to PSN being down.  The online is not as good as SSFIV, no matter how much you try to debate that.  EVO and other events are still looking into MK9 and not everyone has been sold.  The game is really janky compared to MvC3 and SSFIVAE, so it'll be hard to sell it to the hardcore fighting fans.  That's not opinion, but a simple fact.  MK9 is too young to decide it's fate at the moment. "

" @awe_stuck:  I haven't had the luxury of playing it yet to be honest as I live in Aus. but from what I've seen it's got progressive juggles/combos and that sort of thing so you do it on the fly, is that what you mean? The originals didn't really have much of a fighting system as it was more about the gore and mythology IMO.

Here's an awesome Retrospective over at GameTrailers which goes over the history of the franchise. It did remind me of why I stopped playing MK at 2. "

It's the best fighting game there is.

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.
And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.
"

I wouldn't mind of the tournament guys from SRK don't play it for long.  That would actually make it more fun for more people.

@RaikohBlade said: And in the end, it's the hardcore players that make up the community after the scrubs get too salty to keep playing.

The scrubs get too salty to keep playing specifically because of the hardcore players.  A lack of guys with customized $200 arcade sticks who count frames and spend six hours a day watching match vids and tutorials will give the game a longer life online, not a shorter one.

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.
And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.
"

Singleplayer?  You're judging if a fighting game is good or not based on the SINGLEPLAYER? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Any hardcore fighting game fan will tell you that the multiplayer is all that counts. And in the end, it's the hardcore players that make up the community after the scrubs get too salty to keep playing.  And by the way, since you don't know your fighting game history, Street Fighter 2 has the greatest legacy of all fighting games. A version of it is still featured at Evo, which is proof of my statement. The tournament scene decides the life of a game, not the casual audience. "

Haven't read all the responses in this thread, but I already see that some of y'all can't differentiate between different and worse. 

Before I crown MK as my favorite fighting game of all time, I just have to see if I keep it in my PS3.  If I'm still playing it regularly in six months, a year, two years.. then it will undoubtedly be worthy of that title.  NetherRealm needs to improve their netcode, and PSN needs to get its shit together, for MK to have that kind of longevity.

Regardless, I haven't enjoyed a fighting game as much as I currently enjoy MK9 in over a decade.  The story mode by itself justifies its asking price.

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.
And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.
"

Singleplayer?  You're judging if a fighting game is good or not based on the SINGLEPLAYER? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Any hardcore fighting game fan will tell you that the multiplayer is all that counts. And in the end, it's the hardcore players that make up the community after the scrubs get too salty to keep playing.  And by the way, since you don't know your fighting game history, Street Fighter 2 has the greatest legacy of all fighting games. A version of it is still featured at Evo, which is proof of my statement. The tournament scene decides the life of a game, not the casual audience. "

You come off as a really unlikeable, biased douchebag, which makes me not want to listen to you at all. "

" @Rolyatkcinmai said:

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.
And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.
"

Singleplayer?  You're judging if a fighting game is good or not based on the SINGLEPLAYER? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Any hardcore fighting game fan will tell you that the multiplayer is all that counts. And in the end, it's the hardcore players that make up the community after the scrubs get too salty to keep playing.  And by the way, since you don't know your fighting game history, Street Fighter 2 has the greatest legacy of all fighting games. A version of it is still featured at Evo, which is proof of my statement. The tournament scene decides the life of a game, not the casual audience. "

I like this game, its a great pickup and play fighter

Some of you guys need to lay off the personal attacks. You make the fighting,...no, the gaming community look unappealing and inept.

I have the most fun playing MK9 by myself than any other fighter released since and including Soul Calibur 4. I haven't played MK9 multiplayer yet.

Fun does not always equate to best. If MK9 happens to be shunned by tourney players, it won't change how fun I think it is.

As much as I enjoy the tournament scene, I have to agree with most here.

I haven't enjoyed MK or fighting games for the better part of a decade (or longer) and even SF4 with how it updated and modernized a popular format I still wasn't really interested to get back in. Then when MK9 was announced I was intrigued but still skeptical. Then I saw the improvements and the extra content (such as the superb story mode) and I bought it.

Despite what the tournament scene thinks of the game, this game is the best fighter to come out in a long time if only because its so accessible.

It has content that everyone can enjoy. The casuals (or "scrubs" as the elite may want to call it) will enjoy the extra content, and it's accessible nature to do the moves. The tournament scene, if they really wanted to, could master the combos and their practical uses and get more out of it that way. Ya a casual could spam teleports and other specials to cheese a round but if you actually mastered a character in all its abilities there's really nothing that can beat you.

MK has always been different then SF so that's really a bad example. MK is really the opposite in a lot of ways to how SF even plays. Both are good, but both for different reasons and both require different skill/mind sets.

Both are capable of being enjoyed by the hardcore and casual as far as I can tell.
The elitism is unnecessary; you can share your fighting games with "scrubs", its ok. It shouldn't reflect on a game because it's accessible to anyone playing it or because it plays differently then your used to.

For me it's a great nostalgic trip with so many improvements. MK9 is the best Mortal Kombat ever made- saying its the best fighter ever made maybe pushing it a little though. I don't know about that, the current generation of fighters have a few popular games and they're all popular for their own various reasons. MK9 most certainly pushes the boundaries, though, as to what is accessible to the broadest audience of most any fighting game. It's genuinely a lot of fun.

Ever since MK 2, into which I invested myriad hours, I have tried my hand at every other fighting game series (Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, MVC), and, with the exception of SF2, none of them held my attention for more than a couple of fights. Since we're all throwing out silly opinions, I thought I'd chirp up as well. Fighting games are fucking boring. Mortal Kombat is the only series in the genre that justifies said genre's existence. The pretentious assholes in the tournament scene can lick my left nut.

I also think this MK is the best since MK2, simply because I had fun playing it and actually played it in back to back nights to finish off the story. I think that's where the fun comes from. It's almost like portal, where it's equal fun story and gameplay (at least for me), plus seeing all the gore for the first time. The gore/fatalities/xray moves do eventually get old after the first few times you've seen them. If it just came down to the fighting system though, I still prefer SFIV/MVC just because I believe those games are more fluid and have deeper, metagames involved. Honestly, if it was just based on the fighting system, MK vs. DC, which by all accounts is the game that has the most similar fighting system, should've gotten all the love that this MK is getting.

I didn't grow up with fighting games like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. I played a bit of Tekken 3 but never really had any idea how to be "good" at it (The first fighting game I played was probably this one, I can tell, looking back, that it was a HORRIBLE ABOMINATION!).

Much agreed

" @KaosAngel said:

" It's not as good and well made as SSFIV and MvC3.But it's really good when not compared to other fighting games in a similar league.  MK9 is just too young to judge if it's good or not, or if it will live up to the scale. "

You're joking, right? This is the best made fighting game in history. It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had. Those are both great games, but they don't even compare.

And it's not too young to judge if it's good. Listen to everyone else, it's fucking mind blowing.

"

"
                @Noct: You said it, chief.Regardless of how the super x-core tournament scene ends up viewing the game, it's awesome to finally have a Mortal Kombat game that FEELS like the Mortal Kombat I enjoyed as a teen. Ed Boon and Pals seriously deserve a Black Forest cake and a Companion Cube for their efforts. And that's no lie.
            "

Hahah, totally agree.

@TheGreatGuero

said:

"
                Your title was my first thought after one-day with the new Mortal Kombat. Several days later, I changed my story to this: "The new Mortal Kombat is the best Mortal Kombat EVER MADE!" I am in love.
            "

Hah, too funny, and I couldn't agree more. I think it just took a day for me to put MK2 behind me after so many years of loving it. This is better, there is no doubt.

@KaosAngel

said:

"
                @Rolyatkcinmai said:

"It has a more comprehensive list of features in both singleplayer and multiplayer than any other fighter has ever had."

Singleplayer means shit to the tournament scene, and the only reason I even touched it was due to PSN being down.  The online is not as good as SSFIV, no matter how much you try to debate that.  EVO and other events are still looking into MK9 and not everyone has been sold.  The game is really janky compared to MvC3 and SSFIVAE, so it'll be hard to sell it to the hardcore fighting fans.  That's not opinion, but a simple fact.  MK9 is too young to decide it's fate at the moment.
            "

Well, I personally couldn't give a rats ass about EVo, and neither could any of my friends (who I would wager have never even heard of it).

IMO, evo represents everything I HATE about fighitng games. I don't want to come off as a crying noob who looks for an excuse when he loses, but the majority of the champ matches I have seen there resorted to one person waiting for an opening and then unleashing some ridiculous 8-thousand hit combo that the victim could not break or recover from. That's not fun to me...

I agree that it's not ass fluid an engine as SF, but nothing ever is... I personally prefer the combo system here. 
@ricetopher

said:

"
               

I would have to say UMK3 is still the best.

But this game is great, and some of the development approaches that NRS took seems like the right ways to approach the careful issue of making a fighting game have casual appeal but still deep and tournament worthy.

            "

Best fighting game ever.

" Well what about the terrible netcode? Doesn't that fit in somewhere? Surely online is a huge part of fighting games.

I played it a bit today for the first time and while I thought the presentation of the game was awesome (the game looks and sounds very nice), I felt myself missing the feel of SF more. I just don't think I like the stiffness of MK. I played one match online and there was a somewhat noticeable lag, something that is definitely not apparent in SSF4. But this was only one match - it could have just been my luck or maybe the connection at my buddy's. But I have heard this complaint from others too.

"

" MK's "fate" will not be decided by the 0.01% of users who give a shit about EVO.

Those of us that just enjoy playing great games have already noticed that this is one of the most complete packages for a high quality fighting game that has ever come out. Are the game mechanics better than SSFIV for tournament play? Probably not, but no one really gives a fuck. The game is a blast. The story mode is awesome, the arcade mode is cool, the challenge tower is crazy long, there's tons of other weird content, and the multiplayer seems pretty solid.

Your creepy need for every game to appeal to you on an almost professional level (as in it's a job) is downright irritating. Saying that MK is "janky" or "can't compare" is frankly just as ludicrous as your vaguely fetishist love-boners for Gran Turismo 5 were. I think we can all agree, you're a little bit out of your bloody mind.

Great games are great. At the end of the day I don't really give a shit if people are still playing it competitively in three years. I buy new games every week. I appreciate when one is as high quality as this one. That is all.

"

Oh, and btw guys, guess what's listed in the 2011 EVO lineup...

Mortal Kombat (9) PS3.

Not that I really care mind you, but just to point out to the people saying it's not a competent enough fighter to be played there.

This is the Definitive Mortal Kombat experience.  It has all the stuff that makes Mortal Kombat great while removing all of the crap that bogged it down in the past.