So I picked up Mortal Kombat Komplete for the 360 over black friday, and I'm having trouble doing a very basic input. I can't even get out of the tutorial. I've never played MK before so I thought I might be missing something basic. It's either that or there is something wrong with my controller.

The move the tutorial is requesting is X, X, -> + X

Which I take to mean press X twice and then press right on the d-pad and X simultaneously. Is this right? I tried various timings with no luck.

I went into the training mode to see what my inputs were. What I'm getting every time is:

X

X

->

X

Does the training screen register simultaneous inputs on the same line? So I should be seeing:

X

X

X + ->

If so I'm definitely missing it.

I'm using a Street fighter 4 fightpad, which is generally regarded as good, so I'm not sure where my problem is. Seems like I'm not going to get very far in MK if I can't pull off such a basic move.

The on-screen button inputs in training mode do not show simultaneous inputs, so if you did X, X, forward X correctly, the on-screen inputs would just look like X, X, forward, X, with the forward arrow and X above and below each other rather than next to each other.

If you're using a fight stick make sure the buttons are properly configured, X on the 360 is front punch, so if you should just double check to make sure the buttons are what you think they are. X (1) is front punch, Y (2) is back punch, A (3) is front kick, and B (4) is back kick. The numbers are important to know if you wanted to go to a website like testyourmight.com (the best place to go to learn about how to play Netherrealm games) to learn combos because they're all in the format :1, 1, 2, DF2, J, D3" (X, X, Y, down forward Y, jump, down A on 360)

Now, timing in MK (and Injustice, too) is a little different than other fighting games. When I try to teach friends how to play they always have this exact timing problem. Don't wait for the character on screen to preform the first action to input the second or third or so on. What I mean is, if the input is 1, 1, F1 like you said, then don't press 1, 1 and then wait for the second hit to land before doing forward 1. Input it all at once, kind of quickly. The game looks slower than it really is, so just try doing the input faster and without pause and you should get it. If you still have trouble try pressing forward a little earlier in the combo and holding it there until you finish the combo. What character are you playing as?

Based on the thread title I thought you were trying to play Mortal Kombat with the Move Controller. That would be a bad idea.

The inputs are showing correctly in the training mode, so I guess it's a timing issue.

I'm using Johnny Cage, this is like the 3rd or 4th thing they have you do in the tutorial. I know other characters are going to have different move sets, but I'm guessing if I can't input a direction + button move I'm going to have a bad time with anyone.

Thanks for your help, I was able to make it through. Jesus that tutorial was hard. The show you "tag assist" once, then later ask you to do it along with other stuff during a real fight, but "tag assist" doesn't show in the move list.

Some of the combos required jamming on the buttons as fast as I possibly could, but that didn't work for every one. Sometimes I had to delay the timing.

My meager Street Fight skills aren't translating at all. I think I'm going to have a rought time. Can anyone recommend a really easy or cheesy character, or maybe one that might feel more familar to a SF player?

It's definitely different than Street Fighter, but it just takes some time to get used to.

I remember the tutorial being kind of all over the place, and I don't think anyone really uses tag assists in this game anyway.

I have played a very small amount of Street Fighter in my life, so I'm not sure which characters might be easier for you, but I have played an absurd amount of Mortal Kombat 9, and I can say the easiest character to pick up is Liu Kang in my opinion. He has easy combo strings and good specials. He has a normal fireball, a low fireball, an air fireball, a fast flying kick, the slower bicycle kick, and a counter, a lot of useful stuff for someone still learning the ropes of the game. A combo as simple as B3, 1, 2, dash, B3, 1, 2, dash, B3, 1, 2, dash B3, 1, 2 does somewhere between 33% and 38% damage, I can't quite remember. My rule of thumb is a good bread and butter combo in MK is 33% or more, and a great on is 38% or more. Anyway the combo has to be pretty fast still, especially the dashing. Hopefully that isn't too difficult for you, but with a little practice it can be done.

But ultimately it depends on what kind of character you like in a fighting game. Kung Lao is another easy character to pick up but he's crazy fast and his bread n butter combos don't do a whole lot of damage anymore. Kung Lao is actually who I first learned with back when the game came out, and now two and a half years later it's still 90% of what I play. Anyway try 1, 1, 2, spin (DF1), jump, jump kick (either one), divekick (D4), (*land*), F3, spin. Again, do it fast. If you can the combo up to the divekick then don't stress yourself on the last part. Also note the difference in your attacks if your jumping in a direction as apposed to jumping straight up, which is called neutral jumping. Neutral jump punches (NJP) and neutral jump kicks (NJK) are different than just jump punches and kicks. Another thing to note, you can start any combo in the game with a jump in punch (JIP) for a little extra damage. Jump in on them and press either punch button while close to them in the air and immediately start your combo. It usually adds around 3-5% or more to any combo.

If neither of those characters do it for you I guess try out Sub-Zero. He's a lot slower so maybe that'll be an easier transition from SF. He doesn't do that much damage but that doesn't matter very much since you're just learning. His ice slide is an amazing wake-up attack and ice clone is a good tool for controlling the movement of your opponent and hey, he can freeze people. Try 2, 2, ice ball (DF3), JIP (while they're frozen), 2, 1, 4, slide (BF4).

Whew got a little carried away there, haha. Just trying to help. Again, it really depends on what kind of characters you like in fighting games, but I think these three are fairly easy to pick up. What kind of characters do you like in SF? Scorpion is another popular choice for new players, partially because he's the poster boy, but he's also just really easy to dick around with. I've never seriously played him though so I can't give you any pointers or combos off the top of my head. Anyway like I said before testyourmight is a good place to go to learn MK9. Go to a character's forum and you'll find that the stickied topics are all pretty helpful. Combo threads, match-up discussions, general character guides, even frame data. It's Mortal Kombat's and Injustice's (and I guess now Killer Instinct's as well) own shoryken.com; a website for people that spend way, way to much time playing fighting games.

But I'm here to help as best as I can, too :) We need more MK players in the world!

Thanks for the info, I'll try out the characters you suggested. I picked Scorpion as he is the first on the select screen and felt ok with him. I got to the second to last guy on arcade mode at the lowest difficulty. It was a little frustrating playing with him since I knew he has a signature "Get over here!" move, but I could figure it out from the move list.

Block being on a button is a huge change, I don't know if I'll be able to get over that. And if I continue using the SF fight pad I think I'll have to reconfigure it, since it has some of the triggers as buttons and it makes some of the moves really awkward.

This is a great tip for people starting with Mortal Kombat and Injustice. Just a great tip. Often overlooked.

@jaycrockett: Also, want to second picking up Sub-Zero. That was the character I mained while playing MK9. Many of his standard combos don't require those movement+input commands, so you can get by and learn the timing of the system without that extra pressure.

It certainly seems like the game was built with controllers in mind and not fight sticks, since there's only four attack buttons as opposed to SF's six, the fact that block is a button, and to do an xray you need to hit block and stance switch (essentially a useless button) at the same time, etc. I play MK with a dualshock 3 and I find it to be easier than a fight stick, but that's mostly personal preference. It's hard to recommend using a 360 controller though, the dpad is...well we all know what the 360 dpad is. If you're really really not digging MK on a fight stick, I guess try the 360 controller. If that doesn't work out either and you're reeeally looking for another alternative, a lot of people at the fighting game club on my campus use these usb converter things to play with dualshocks on 360s. In my opinion it is a great controller for fighting games but that option is a bit expensive especially if you don't already own a dualshock 3. Otherwise you'll just have to try adapting.

I'd only use fight sticks for six-button fighters like SF or Killer Instinct and use controllers for four-button games like MK Injustice and MvC, but some people just find them more comfortable for all fighting games. It's really a preference thing. Anyway, good luck with the game! Oh and Scorpion's spear move is back back 1. I don't remember what the name on the move list is