My list: 1. MK9 - A solid distillation of the first three games into something resembling a story. Also contains the funniest moment in an MK story mode (the Tarkatans trying to figure out how guns work). 2. Deception - I kind of doubt that it's even feasible for NRS to do a Konquest mode like this again, which is a shame, since I prefer it to the chapter format. Unfortunately, the new characters introduced here are mostly duds, which keeps it from the top spot. Also, I didn't play it when it came out, so unlike a lot of late Millennials/early Zoomers I don't have a tremendous amount of nostalgic attachment to this game, which in all other respects is pretty busted and janky. (Shujinko being held awaiting trial for a curfew violation until he becomes a decrepit old man will never not be hilarious, though). 3. MKX - I have a hard time believing this turns up third on my list, but considering the competition it's up against I suppose it's not surprising. Having Shinnok lose to Johnny Cage, of all people, in the very first chapter completely wrecks him as a villain. Still, it introduces compelling new characters, most of whom even have solid throughlines - it bothers to actually think through questions like "How would these two characters ACTUALLY have kids, and what would that family dynamic be like?" Granted, this probably isn't the sort of thing a game about rainbow ninjas should be focusing on, but it is at least a coherent story idea, which is more than can be said about the subsequent NRS entries. 4. Armageddon - Taven and Daegon are not good characters. Still, some fun, goofy stuff to be found here. Like the best Mortal Kombat stories, it's the fun kind of dumb. 5. Being forced to stare at old family photos with my least loved aunt. (I consider all stories beneath this line to be actively buttcheeks). 6. MK1 - Everyone understands why the ending is dumb. But I have no idea why people say the opening chapters of this one are good. They rebooted the timeline without having any clear vision in mind, and the result is a kind of samey mush. The changes all either make the story more boring or are completely pointless and cosmetic at best. There are a lots of dumb little details in the story here, but I'd like to single out two: first, Reptile's reaction to Shang Tsung announcing (for no reason) that he'd already murdered his family. It basically amounts to that one "Oh no! Anyway" clip from Top Gear - they are never mentioned again. And second, General Shao talking up what a badass Reiko is only for him to immediately get his ass kicked by a farmboy. Completely cuts the legs out from under him as a character and makes it impossible to take him seriously (and it was already an uphill task, considering he looks like a jobbing ham-and-egger wrestler who gets his ass kicked by Jon Moxley in 30 seconds on an episode of Rampage). No new characters in this supposedly New Era, and with the exception MAYBE of Li Mei they don't really make me care any more than I already did about the 3D era characters. 7. MK vs. DC - The only reason this isn't in last place is that at least Midway had a financial excuse for the decision they made. In desperation, they thought adding DC characters would broaden the game's appeal and make it the huge hit the company needed to save itself. They thought stupidly. 8. MK11 - By contrast, there is absolutely no excuse for the decisions NRS made here. They had a ready-made story hook at the end of MKX: Dark Raiden. A story that could provide a fresh new angle on the battle between Earthrealm and Outworld. Kotal Kahn's ladder ending in MKX gave us a taste of what that might be like: Outworld as the underdog, defending itself against a power-mad Raiden. It could have served as a great ending for a hypothetical "Raiden trilogy:" a god whose mistakes cost him the lives of his dearest disciples, and eventually, his own goodness. There could have been real meat there. Instead, they went with fucking Kronika, perhaps the least compelling villain in the history of fighting games, and initiated the least necessary reboot in history. Also, nothing that happens in this story actually gets to matter except the timeline reset. 9. Having a fatality performed on me in real life 10. MK 11: Aftermath - All the same problems that MK11 had, with additional stupidity stapled on. Kronika somehow comes off as even more of a dumbass than she did in the main game. I was never even that big a fan of Sindel, but holy shit, what they did with her here is inexcusable. Note: None of them are good stories in anything like a conventional sense, and I would only consider the first two on my list to be "good" even by fighting game standards.
9 is the only fighter I still play with the occasional Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. I have the disc and it's compatible in the Series X, plays great with lightning fast load times.
You know. I was worried that you’d dismiss Deception. I’m so glad you’re giving it the props it deserves. It’s always made me disappointed that Neatherrealm did their best to delete everything from Deadly Alliance on with the reboot. It always frustrated me as those stories are great!
Cool ranking! My list: 1) MK Deception (best format for a MK story mode, love the lore surrounding the Dragon King) 2) MK11 Aftermath (love the characters this expansion focuses on, Shao Kahn beating Liu Kang was something I did not expect to see, Tagawa as Shang was fantastic, amazing comeback of Fujin, and Sindel, though retconned, was entertaining to watch) 3) MK9 (pretty good, banks on nostalgia, but I do hate some retcons even more than MK1 Sindel's, like Mileena being created during the MK2 tournament, rather than growing up alongside Kitana as sisters) 4) MK11 (really solid from a technical standpoint, the characters felt like themselves way more than they did in MK9 and X - especially Liu Kang and Kitana - but the time-travelling theme is not my favourite) 5) MK Armageddon (the Shaolin Monks-style story mode was fun to play, and even though the story of Armageddon feels messy and rushed, there is still a lot of interesting lore to it) 6) MK1 (while it keeps the technical standard established by MK11, and has some amazing character moments, there are some creative choices that are too jarring for me to get behind, like Kuai Liang being Scorpion now, Havik being Dairou, Tanya being completely selfless and Jade-like in her role, etc. It feels the most removed from the MK lore I grew up with, which is of course by design) 7) MKX (while I do appreciate a lot of the new characters introduced in this game, I wasn't a fan of the Kombat Kids and they were the main characters of this story) 8) MK Vs DC (not a fan of the idea of the MK universe fighting the DC universe)
I like your list. I've only really played MK11's story mode so far, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to playing through the stories in the other MK games. I don't think MK is the best fighting game in terms of its mechanics, but MK definitely has the best lore and characters!
Another banger man, great job! I’m honestly really happy that you’ve ventured into specific aspects of certain franchises. The older you get the more you just want a single player experience that is going to feel satisfying, so I hope you look into more Story Mode rankings. Fighting games are often focused on multiplayer but many of them have kickass stories, either pure fighting or more arena based, even Wrestling. Call of Duty is one I suggested a few months ago and would love to hear your take, and many FPS franchises that may focus on multiplayer would benefit from that as well, like Battlefield, Halo and Gears of War.
hey thanks for the nice comment! I actually did rank all the Cod and Gears of War games though! Wasnt campaign specific but I dont know if my ranking would change all that much if I just focused on the campaigns. Appreciate the support!
As a kid MK vs DC was the 1st MK game I played since MK4 (PS1). I enjoyed it even though it wasnt as gore filled. I guess I was just excited about the crossover. I think they could do it a lot better now.
MK11 has to have my least favorite story mode. By this point the “bad guy can never have a victory over the heroes” aspect of NRS games is at its peak, to the point where they couldn’t make the TITAN OF TIME ITSELF, Kronika, win in the end because they had to make her completely incompetent. On top of that they didn’t make either one of the DLC endings canon so they said “both are!” when we get to MK1, which annoys me personally because it’s so indecisive. Kronika is one of the worst villains in recent memory for any video game. Her concept is great. Her execution in the game is terrible. Nothing against people who enjoy it, more power to you. I just personally cannot stand the story of 11
Well, tbf, shao khan won everything in the original timeline which is the culmination of like 8 games or whatever. They had to bend time to make him the loser
I just finished MK1's story last week, Deception is still my favourite story mode. MK1 was okay, but I much preferred the open world aspect and without a krypt or..anything for that matter in the new addition I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. You missed the perfect opportunity to say "I don't give a shinnok about him" btw 8:53
Mkx is a misleading premise tbh it painted it in the way that our remaining heroes will be battling a struggling war against the netherealm but it kinda starts drops off then picks up late with a lot of outworld civil war taking the focus
To any interested parties, MK9 actually is available on the Xbox. If you get it on Series X it is boosted to 60 FPS and was patched to contain all DLC characters (except Kratos since he is Sony property).
most of these games dont have story mode gameplay, they just have standard fights between cut scenes. At least deception and armegeddon have actual single player gameplay and progression. The new fight mechanics with progress on the old konquest would be amazing.
Meat, I hate to mess up this 69, MK9 has a special place in my heart because it was when I got back into the franchise as an adult. Played the earlier stuff as a kid, so didn't really experience it. Everything from 9 forward I liked, except MK1. MK1 had moments, that were completely dependent on previous games to be interesting. Then again comparing it to previous stories is always what makes it not so great for me. The reason for the tournament, not strong. The villain? Loved Shang, just not like this. Liu Kang, terrible Fire Lord. It went too fast in a lot of places, and too slow in others. All these past selves and the only person you show their old self is Sindel? Liu was more incompetent than Raiden. I too liked Cassie but not the other Kombat Kids so much. She was just the perfect combination of her parents, she wasn't overbearing. Her taking the win was funny, but overall loved it for her character. Story was good for those characters.
I gotta disagree completely with placements of XL and 11. 11 would be 6 right after MK vs DC, while XL would be on the third place after MK 1 and 9. XL is the first game that actually tried to do something different with its setting and story in many years, lots of new characters are introduced, other characters went through considerable changes, and I really appreciate it. I felt like Jacqui and Kung were just there coz someone thought "there has to be more Kombat Kids", but Takeda and Cassie fit just fine and their stories are interesting (Takeda has really interesting premise, being an abandoned kid of Kenshi with a revenge motto shadowing his entire life, and Cassie is just natural in being there, coz well, Johnny and Sonya were bound to have a kid at some point and of course that would be and amalgam of the two). But the rest of the characters really make the cake, with my favorite being Kotal and D'vorah, others are really interesting and original too, I think it's the first Mortal Kombat game (And so far, the last) in which they were really succesful in introducing a very new rooster with almost every new character being a spot-on new addition. And Shinnok... I agree that in this story he's kind of "just there", but with the exception of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, all the big baddies in this universe are mostly just there to be big baddies (Shao got a better development than say, Onaga, simply because he was present in almost every game that ever came out), and Shinnok was always my favorite in that regard along with Shao Kahn and Quan. And it seems like your disregard for that game is exactly that, you don't care for Shinnok and many of new characters, so the game didn't hit with you. I'm not saying this game is perfect, and I agree that they went the route nobody wanted, that is "Give space to the Kombat Kids", but everything around that is quite awesome, and even this " new gen" plotline is executed better than in say, new Star Wars trilogy (Mostly because of Cassie coz again, Cassie's arc feels natural here, plus they didn't do the biggest mistake ev er in such plotlines with killing off the old school so that the "new school" usurp their place, and already for that it gets the high score). Personally, if I would just have to improve this specific storyline, I would simply completely erase Kung and Jacqui, split their screentime between some klassic characters, give personal chapters to Ferra/Torr and Erron Black instead, and give Shinnok a couple more moment than just him being the tutorial and final fight, and for me that would make it wholesome. Then MK 11.... Honestly, if it wasn't for the sheer spectacle and rollercoaster of visuals like in some big budget blockbuster this game has, it'd be lower than MK vs DC or even "plot cards" from MKI-III games. In terms of story this game is an equivalent of Mortal Kombat Anihilation if someone spent 250 mils on it. Story is very basic, character dialogues and actions often make a cartoonish sense at best, and the main villain... I don't like when people "Go Marvel" in general, but even in that case, as an old saying says "You never go full Marvel". That's all I'm gonna say about her.
MK 1 had a fun story that really shook things up…until the last third where it just rushes to Armageddon and brings back the multiverse that I didn’t care to see back after it was branded as a “reboot”. It left a bad taste in my mouth at the end
Every MK story is somewhat crazy and I love it for that but MK1 went too far for my taste. I think until the middle of the game it was alright but then it went too crazy. Of course, that's only my opinion. But yeah, MK9 is great!
From 9 to uh... 1: 1. Mkx: solid voice acting, a mature story and some of the new characters are staples in the series, although half the combat kids were annoying, dvorrah is hated. Shinnok has some pretty cool voice lines but doesn't have character development till mk11. Mk9: classic storytelling, but some of the one of voice acting was a bit cartoonish. Mk1: nostalgiac and fresh. A lot of fan service here and some good and well thought out character changes (except tanya, like wtf). But lots of obvious plot holes. The plot was basically like: aight we gotta fix the damage that mk11 did. And barely succeeded. Mk11: baby face kronica. Scorpions va was swapped over and sucks. Feels like injustice in terms of aesthetics.
Deception was the best for me. The presentation and the novelty as well as the somewhat predictable twist rendering all your work moot made it. Everything else is kinda mid to me
the canon arcade endings make the writing go back to being like the first half so one can cringe less on that latter half than say 11's or even X's as the arcade endings aren't there to support their shortcomings in any way
MK1 the ending was good? 😮the ending is the definition of lazy writing. Same story alternate universe, it’s like didn’t we just have this last game. Hopefully expansion will be better. I would have loved if Shang was posing as Liu Kang and actually won last game but the writing was so lazy at the end, like they didn’t know how to end it.
@@SpiralSkylines pretty much this in comparison to 9-11 those arcade endings kind of just carry the end point of the full picture of mk1's story acting as an epilogue which can literally ignore the multiverse as most of the concepts introduced barely have anything connected with them
I hate both mk11 and mk11 aftermath story modes were terrible not just time travel characters our like juss not themselves and kronika is cool just like boring kinda
My opinion being an old school gamer since the nes came out in the 80s and I been playing fighting games since the original sf so I would say mk1 is the best mk all time gameplay wise
@@Particle_Ghost MKX didn’t start getting praise until here recently outside of from the Evo-Wannabes. People HATED MKX on release, and I’m honestly surprised people are starting to defend it now.
@@SpiralSkylines Interesting, I always thought it was highly regarded and I know there was some pretty big tournaments around it. I always liked MK9 the most but it's been delisted, so I put the disk into the Series X and it's an excellent experience with lightning fast load times. I couldn't get into XL and I also disliked MK11, but I would say XL is better than 11. The series started having a large disconnect like they were trying to be more appealing to the masses, they even started drastically changing the female character models and outfits. I didn't play the reboot because it doesn't look like it would be for me. I still boot up MK9 a few times a week, I could be over hyping it but it just strikes the perfect balance. Perfect story mode, lots of unlockables, perfect character selection, very busty and sexy female characters, great levels, dark atmosphere, and it has just the right amount of complexity without being overwhelmed.
Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe is one of the biggest fumbles in gaming history.
MK vs DC was a sample too test them waters on what they would eventually do in future games.. a prototype you should say
Yea it was so trash lol
Quan Chi wasn't in MK11 Aftermath. I'm assuming you meant Shang Tsung.
Yeah he fumbled badly I had to rewind it
Quan Chi isn’t even in the base game lol
Love your videos man! You deserve all the views 💯
Quan chi didn’t appear in MK11 story, that Shang Tsung LOL
whoops! Mistake on my part for sure you are totally correct.
@@TotallyTubularJonathan We all make mistakes
@@TotallyTubularJonathani got a good laugh on it😂, be prepared for some weirder critics hopefully not many
both deception and armagedon weren't storytelling masterpieces but absolutely hilarious and fun to play
I have the exact same opinion with mk vs dc universe
MKX had a LOT of potential with it's story, it's really sad that what we ended up getting was a below average mess
My list:
1. MK9 - A solid distillation of the first three games into something resembling a story. Also contains the funniest moment in an MK story mode (the Tarkatans trying to figure out how guns work).
2. Deception - I kind of doubt that it's even feasible for NRS to do a Konquest mode like this again, which is a shame, since I prefer it to the chapter format. Unfortunately, the new characters introduced here are mostly duds, which keeps it from the top spot. Also, I didn't play it when it came out, so unlike a lot of late Millennials/early Zoomers I don't have a tremendous amount of nostalgic attachment to this game, which in all other respects is pretty busted and janky. (Shujinko being held awaiting trial for a curfew violation until he becomes a decrepit old man will never not be hilarious, though).
3. MKX - I have a hard time believing this turns up third on my list, but considering the competition it's up against I suppose it's not surprising. Having Shinnok lose to Johnny Cage, of all people, in the very first chapter completely wrecks him as a villain. Still, it introduces compelling new characters, most of whom even have solid throughlines - it bothers to actually think through questions like "How would these two characters ACTUALLY have kids, and what would that family dynamic be like?" Granted, this probably isn't the sort of thing a game about rainbow ninjas should be focusing on, but it is at least a coherent story idea, which is more than can be said about the subsequent NRS entries.
4. Armageddon - Taven and Daegon are not good characters. Still, some fun, goofy stuff to be found here. Like the best Mortal Kombat stories, it's the fun kind of dumb.
5. Being forced to stare at old family photos with my least loved aunt. (I consider all stories beneath this line to be actively buttcheeks).
6. MK1 - Everyone understands why the ending is dumb. But I have no idea why people say the opening chapters of this one are good. They rebooted the timeline without having any clear vision in mind, and the result is a kind of samey mush. The changes all either make the story more boring or are completely pointless and cosmetic at best. There are a lots of dumb little details in the story here, but I'd like to single out two: first, Reptile's reaction to Shang Tsung announcing (for no reason) that he'd already murdered his family. It basically amounts to that one "Oh no! Anyway" clip from Top Gear - they are never mentioned again. And second, General Shao talking up what a badass Reiko is only for him to immediately get his ass kicked by a farmboy. Completely cuts the legs out from under him as a character and makes it impossible to take him seriously (and it was already an uphill task, considering he looks like a jobbing ham-and-egger wrestler who gets his ass kicked by Jon Moxley in 30 seconds on an episode of Rampage). No new characters in this supposedly New Era, and with the exception MAYBE of Li Mei they don't really make me care any more than I already did about the 3D era characters.
7. MK vs. DC - The only reason this isn't in last place is that at least Midway had a financial excuse for the decision they made. In desperation, they thought adding DC characters would broaden the game's appeal and make it the huge hit the company needed to save itself. They thought stupidly.
8. MK11 - By contrast, there is absolutely no excuse for the decisions NRS made here. They had a ready-made story hook at the end of MKX: Dark Raiden. A story that could provide a fresh new angle on the battle between Earthrealm and Outworld. Kotal Kahn's ladder ending in MKX gave us a taste of what that might be like: Outworld as the underdog, defending itself against a power-mad Raiden. It could have served as a great ending for a hypothetical "Raiden trilogy:" a god whose mistakes cost him the lives of his dearest disciples, and eventually, his own goodness. There could have been real meat there. Instead, they went with fucking Kronika, perhaps the least compelling villain in the history of fighting games, and initiated the least necessary reboot in history. Also, nothing that happens in this story actually gets to matter except the timeline reset.
9. Having a fatality performed on me in real life
10. MK 11: Aftermath - All the same problems that MK11 had, with additional stupidity stapled on. Kronika somehow comes off as even more of a dumbass than she did in the main game. I was never even that big a fan of Sindel, but holy shit, what they did with her here is inexcusable.
Note: None of them are good stories in anything like a conventional sense, and I would only consider the first two on my list to be "good" even by fighting game standards.
9 is the only fighter I still play with the occasional Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. I have the disc and it's compatible in the Series X, plays great with lightning fast load times.
You know. I was worried that you’d dismiss Deception.
I’m so glad you’re giving it the props it deserves.
It’s always made me disappointed that Neatherrealm did their best to delete everything from Deadly Alliance on with the reboot.
It always frustrated me as those stories are great!
Aftermath is the only reason I go back to MK11s story honestly, kronika has always felt like a DC storyline to me
Cool ranking!
My list:
1) MK Deception (best format for a MK story mode, love the lore surrounding the Dragon King)
2) MK11 Aftermath (love the characters this expansion focuses on, Shao Kahn beating Liu Kang was something I did not expect to see, Tagawa as Shang was fantastic, amazing comeback of Fujin, and Sindel, though retconned, was entertaining to watch)
3) MK9 (pretty good, banks on nostalgia, but I do hate some retcons even more than MK1 Sindel's, like Mileena being created during the MK2 tournament, rather than growing up alongside Kitana as sisters)
4) MK11 (really solid from a technical standpoint, the characters felt like themselves way more than they did in MK9 and X - especially Liu Kang and Kitana - but the time-travelling theme is not my favourite)
5) MK Armageddon (the Shaolin Monks-style story mode was fun to play, and even though the story of Armageddon feels messy and rushed, there is still a lot of interesting lore to it)
6) MK1 (while it keeps the technical standard established by MK11, and has some amazing character moments, there are some creative choices that are too jarring for me to get behind, like Kuai Liang being Scorpion now, Havik being Dairou, Tanya being completely selfless and Jade-like in her role, etc. It feels the most removed from the MK lore I grew up with, which is of course by design)
7) MKX (while I do appreciate a lot of the new characters introduced in this game, I wasn't a fan of the Kombat Kids and they were the main characters of this story)
8) MK Vs DC (not a fan of the idea of the MK universe fighting the DC universe)
I like your list. I've only really played MK11's story mode so far, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to playing through the stories in the other MK games.
I don't think MK is the best fighting game in terms of its mechanics, but MK definitely has the best lore and characters!
Another banger man, great job! I’m honestly really happy that you’ve ventured into specific aspects of certain franchises. The older you get the more you just want a single player experience that is going to feel satisfying, so I hope you look into more Story Mode rankings.
Fighting games are often focused on multiplayer but many of them have kickass stories, either pure fighting or more arena based, even Wrestling. Call of Duty is one I suggested a few months ago and would love to hear your take, and many FPS franchises that may focus on multiplayer would benefit from that as well, like Battlefield, Halo and Gears of War.
hey thanks for the nice comment! I actually did rank all the Cod and Gears of War games though! Wasnt campaign specific but I dont know if my ranking would change all that much if I just focused on the campaigns. Appreciate the support!
Shaolin Monks was My favorite
Armageddon & MK9 story modes are my favourites
I used to be picking five with things but not anymore I'm just there to enjoy all the MK games because I'm a big MK fan so I like all the games of MK❤
I love this video! Keep up the great work your channel is awesome!!!!
No shalion monks?
Not including shaolin monks in this has upset me greatly
As a kid MK vs DC was the 1st MK game I played since MK4 (PS1). I enjoyed it even though it wasnt as gore filled. I guess I was just excited about the crossover. I think they could do it a lot better now.
Where is Shaolin Monks
Scorpion be like
>Gets features in the boxart
>Appears in the story for like 10 minutes
>Refuses to elaborate
>Leaves
MK11 has to have my least favorite story mode. By this point the “bad guy can never have a victory over the heroes” aspect of NRS games is at its peak, to the point where they couldn’t make the TITAN OF TIME ITSELF, Kronika, win in the end because they had to make her completely incompetent. On top of that they didn’t make either one of the DLC endings canon so they said “both are!” when we get to MK1, which annoys me personally because it’s so indecisive. Kronika is one of the worst villains in recent memory for any video game. Her concept is great. Her execution in the game is terrible.
Nothing against people who enjoy it, more power to you. I just personally cannot stand the story of 11
Well, tbf, shao khan won everything in the original timeline which is the culmination of like 8 games or whatever. They had to bend time to make him the loser
I just finished MK1's story last week, Deception is still my favourite story mode. MK1 was okay, but I much preferred the open world aspect and without a krypt or..anything for that matter in the new addition I was left with a sour taste in my mouth.
You missed the perfect opportunity to say "I don't give a shinnok about him" btw 8:53
What about shoalin monks?
Mk1 and mk11 are the only story modes that give me hope , but mk9 and mkx remind you shit gets rough.
Next MK needs a Konquest mode again. MK RPG in today's age would be incredible!
Mkx is a misleading premise tbh it painted it in the way that our remaining heroes will be battling a struggling war against the netherealm but it kinda starts drops off then picks up late with a lot of outworld civil war taking the focus
To any interested parties, MK9 actually is available on the Xbox. If you get it on Series X it is boosted to 60 FPS and was patched to contain all DLC characters (except Kratos since he is Sony property).
I recently played through MKVSDC and outside of the test your might parts of fights I thought it was a pretty solid game.
7. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
6. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
5. Mortal Kombat: Deception
4. Mortal Kombat X
3. Mortal Kombat (2011)
2. Mortal Kombat 11
1. Mortal Kombat 1
This would be mine too
@@Carl2197so safe to say you prefer modern games compared to well made games
@@dillonkramer1575 just for the story modes, not the games itself. Mortal Kombat X had the best gameplay imo
@@Carl2197 I think the gameplay was fluid in X but if we just go gameplay I like the sensitive jank of mk 9
most of these games dont have story mode gameplay, they just have standard fights between cut scenes. At least deception and armegeddon have actual single player gameplay and progression. The new fight mechanics with progress on the old konquest would be amazing.
Glad to see someone who loves 9 as much as I do. I feel like it saved the franchise
Meat, I hate to mess up this 69, MK9 has a special place in my heart because it was when I got back into the franchise as an adult. Played the earlier stuff as a kid, so didn't really experience it. Everything from 9 forward I liked, except MK1. MK1 had moments, that were completely dependent on previous games to be interesting. Then again comparing it to previous stories is always what makes it not so great for me. The reason for the tournament, not strong. The villain? Loved Shang, just not like this. Liu Kang, terrible Fire Lord. It went too fast in a lot of places, and too slow in others. All these past selves and the only person you show their old self is Sindel? Liu was more incompetent than Raiden.
I too liked Cassie but not the other Kombat Kids so much. She was just the perfect combination of her parents, she wasn't overbearing. Her taking the win was funny, but overall loved it for her character. Story was good for those characters.
what about ranking every KOF mainline games including KOF 98, 2002, XII, 98 UM & 2002 UM.
eventually! I have played many of the KOF games but there is just so so many. I will probably rank Guilty Gear and SoulCalibur before KOF
Holup, Quan Chi was not in MK11
I love your videos man keep up the great content! (Mk10 over Armageddon is def a hot take lol I hate MK10s story)
I gotta disagree completely with placements of XL and 11. 11 would be 6 right after MK vs DC, while XL would be on the third place after MK 1 and 9. XL is the first game that actually tried to do something different with its setting and story in many years, lots of new characters are introduced, other characters went through considerable changes, and I really appreciate it. I felt like Jacqui and Kung were just there coz someone thought "there has to be more Kombat Kids", but Takeda and Cassie fit just fine and their stories are interesting (Takeda has really interesting premise, being an abandoned kid of Kenshi with a revenge motto shadowing his entire life, and Cassie is just natural in being there, coz well, Johnny and Sonya were bound to have a kid at some point and of course that would be and amalgam of the two). But the rest of the characters really make the cake, with my favorite being Kotal and D'vorah, others are really interesting and original too, I think it's the first Mortal Kombat game (And so far, the last) in which they were really succesful in introducing a very new rooster with almost every new character being a spot-on new addition. And Shinnok... I agree that in this story he's kind of "just there", but with the exception of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, all the big baddies in this universe are mostly just there to be big baddies (Shao got a better development than say, Onaga, simply because he was present in almost every game that ever came out), and Shinnok was always my favorite in that regard along with Shao Kahn and Quan. And it seems like your disregard for that game is exactly that, you don't care for Shinnok and many of new characters, so the game didn't hit with you. I'm not saying this game is perfect, and I agree that they went the route nobody wanted, that is "Give space to the Kombat Kids", but everything around that is quite awesome, and even this " new gen" plotline is executed better than in say, new Star Wars trilogy (Mostly because of Cassie coz again, Cassie's arc feels natural here, plus they didn't do the biggest mistake ev er in such plotlines with killing off the old school so that the "new school" usurp their place, and already for that it gets the high score). Personally, if I would just have to improve this specific storyline, I would simply completely erase Kung and Jacqui, split their screentime between some klassic characters, give personal chapters to Ferra/Torr and Erron Black instead, and give Shinnok a couple more moment than just him being the tutorial and final fight, and for me that would make it wholesome.
Then MK 11.... Honestly, if it wasn't for the sheer spectacle and rollercoaster of visuals like in some big budget blockbuster this game has, it'd be lower than MK vs DC or even "plot cards" from MKI-III games. In terms of story this game is an equivalent of Mortal Kombat Anihilation if someone spent 250 mils on it. Story is very basic, character dialogues and actions often make a cartoonish sense at best, and the main villain... I don't like when people "Go Marvel" in general, but even in that case, as an old saying says "You never go full Marvel". That's all I'm gonna say about her.
Technically mythologies Sub Zero back on the PS1 is the first Story mode MK
MK 1 had a fun story that really shook things up…until the last third where it just rushes to Armageddon and brings back the multiverse that I didn’t care to see back after it was branded as a “reboot”. It left a bad taste in my mouth at the end
My boy lowkey hates Armageddon
Every MK story is somewhat crazy and I love it for that but MK1 went too far for my taste. I think until the middle of the game it was alright but then it went too crazy. Of course, that's only my opinion. But yeah, MK9 is great!
The one with shujinko is definitely the best one before i even get into this idec
i can play these on xbox mk9 and up, they r backwards compatible for the next gen
Meat?
Shujinko is my hero! I wanna play as him in a new game!
From 9 to uh... 1:
1. Mkx: solid voice acting, a mature story and some of the new characters are staples in the series, although half the combat kids were annoying, dvorrah is hated. Shinnok has some pretty cool voice lines but doesn't have character development till mk11.
Mk9: classic storytelling, but some of the one of voice acting was a bit cartoonish.
Mk1: nostalgiac and fresh. A lot of fan service here and some good and well thought out character changes (except tanya, like wtf). But lots of obvious plot holes. The plot was basically like: aight we gotta fix the damage that mk11 did. And barely succeeded.
Mk11: baby face kronica. Scorpions va was swapped over and sucks. Feels like injustice in terms of aesthetics.
Any MK story is above any other fighting game story out there minus maybe SF2 animated movie
Deception was the best for me. The presentation and the novelty as well as the somewhat predictable twist rendering all your work moot made it. Everything else is kinda mid to me
The first half of MK1’s story is the best story we’ve ever had
The latter half of MK1’s story is the worst story we’ve ever had
the canon arcade endings make the writing go back to being like the first half so one can cringe less on that latter half than say 11's or even X's as the arcade endings aren't there to support their shortcomings in any way
I'd put Shaolin Monks at around 2 or 3
MK1 the ending was good? 😮the ending is the definition of lazy writing. Same story alternate universe, it’s like didn’t we just have this last game. Hopefully expansion will be better. I would have loved if Shang was posing as Liu Kang and actually won last game but the writing was so lazy at the end, like they didn’t know how to end it.
Still miles better than every other story in this franchise.
@@SpiralSkylines pretty much this in comparison to 9-11 those arcade endings kind of just carry the end point of the full picture of mk1's story acting as an epilogue which can literally ignore the multiverse as most of the concepts introduced barely have anything connected with them
@@SpiralSkylinescap
@@MidnightApex-ml6jc Ahhh, the illustrious “cap” response from the Zoomer. No context, no extra insight, no anything. Just “cap”.
In my opinion, the best Mortal Kombat story mode is between MK9 and MK1.
Interesting... 🤔
Why do you keep calling Raiden Raiden? (I know you read that exactly as I intended it to sound)
I hate both mk11 and mk11 aftermath story modes were terrible not just time travel characters our like juss not themselves and kronika is cool just like boring kinda
My opinion being an old school gamer since the nes came out in the 80s and I been playing fighting games since the original sf so I would say mk1 is the best mk all time gameplay wise
meat!!!!
3:20 WHO?
L list but that's okay
meat
Meat
Mk1 story mode is so bad
Better than any other mortal Kombat story lol
MKX is terrible all around. Story, Gameplay, Aesthetic, Roster… I hate it.
Mkx gameplay is one of the best of any ive player imo
@@mcgroovy3123 I hate it, too janky and the run mechanic is one of the dumbest ways I’ve seen to extend combos. I’ve always hated it.
I thought I was the only one that hated it. I still play MK9 though.
@@Particle_Ghost MKX didn’t start getting praise until here recently outside of from the Evo-Wannabes. People HATED MKX on release, and I’m honestly surprised people are starting to defend it now.
@@SpiralSkylines Interesting, I always thought it was highly regarded and I know there was some pretty big tournaments around it. I always liked MK9 the most but it's been delisted, so I put the disk into the Series X and it's an excellent experience with lightning fast load times.
I couldn't get into XL and I also disliked MK11, but I would say XL is better than 11. The series started having a large disconnect like they were trying to be more appealing to the masses, they even started drastically changing the female character models and outfits. I didn't play the reboot because it doesn't look like it would be for me.
I still boot up MK9 a few times a week, I could be over hyping it but it just strikes the perfect balance. Perfect story mode, lots of unlockables, perfect character selection, very busty and sexy female characters, great levels, dark atmosphere, and it has just the right amount of complexity without being overwhelmed.
Meat