I wrote to why I think Mortal Kombat 11 is better than the rather disappointing Tekken 7. Now, I'd like to do the reverse and do a #ThrowbackThursdays with two games that came out in 2011 namely Mortal Kombat (2011) or termed as MK9 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (TTT2) which for me is my current top favorite Tekken game. So how where would I start with this rant?
Some single-player content
Okay, I'd be crazy to use MK9's Story Mode as a plus at this point. This was a time when the Story Mode doesn't matter much and maybe I do still consider the lore of Tekken 6 to be deeper than MK9. But how do I want to talk about single-player content in Tekken Tag Tournament 2? A story mode isn't necessary for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (due to it being a fanservice game) - there are many other modes that MK9 could've had but never had.
I would consider these modes from TTT2 to be better than MK9. Do you remember MK9's tutorial mode? I would say TTT2's Combot Training actually deepens the training mode mechanics while you pursue to customize Combot. The series of challenges for Combot too are less frustrating than some of MK9's rather ridiculous tower challenges such as the Army of Goros and Army of Shao Kahns.
Another one that I do still like is the Ghost Mode which was introduced in Tekken 5. The Ghost Mode allows players to mash opponents for all they want until they feel tired. MK9 doesn't have that and I think the Endless Tower in MKX and MK11 isn't really living up to its name. Tekken's Ghost Mode allows players to continue after they are defeated. MKX and MK11 well... doesn't... so you end up starting all over again when you finally get defeated.
Nostalgic value for old-school players
Both MK9 and TTT2 are what I'd call nostalgic value for old-school players. Now, I'd explain how the nostalgic value works in both games.
Okay, did anybody here ever play the MK series in the 90s as a CHILD? Though in my case MK9 has made me forget EVERY. SINGLE. PREVIOUS. MK. GAME. fighting-wise ever since I laid my hands on it. So it pretty much erases the nostalgia value to a great degree. The game itself has most of the characters in the rather imbalanced Mortal Kombat Trilogy (MK Trilogy) while Rain was added as a downloadable content (DLC) which I don't think too many cared about him. The game has nostalgic value while pursuing innovation. Though I did have some beef towards MK9 which only came after MKX and MK11 came along -- I wish we had depowered (and more balanced) versions of the boss characters to play as in competitive gameplay. But that's just a very small sidetrack since the game may have wanted to make people feel the joy of defeating more balanced SNK Boss Syndrome characters. But I guess this isn't much of an issue though I still wish I was able to perform fatalities on Goro and Kintaro at the Arcade Ladder. Then I wished that Arcade Ladder Shang Tsung just didn't morph like he did in the way older installments -- something that made him a very imbalanced character.
TTT2 did give free DLC (yes, FREE DLC before Tekken 7 bought Corporate Commander's advice too) and before that -- there was already a good roster with most characters coming from the first Tekken Tag Tournament game. Some legacy characters from Tekken 2 do make a return as better versions of themselves just like they did in the first Tekken Tag. Also, having everyone playable adds a little better experience. I kinda like having a depowered Jinpachi playable is also a cool thing. I think the amount of nostalgia with having almost every character (except Gun Jack and Gon which didn't matter) is really more explosive than what MK9 offered with these characters.
Tag team mode compared for both games
This is a touchy topic. MK9 has the Marvel vs. Capcom type tagging system where you must defeat BOTH characters to win. Tekken Tag Tournament series has an unusual tagging system that didn't click with me at first. Like WTF I lose if I lose JUST ONE CHARACTER or I win if I defeat JUST ONE CHARACTER from my opponent? But I thought about how MK9's tag system may be fun but it can also considerably slow down the rounds too.
So why would I still prefer Tekken Tag's tagging over MK9's tagging? For one, MK9's tagging can be that cheesy or cheap in some ways. I still thought about how stringing a lot of hits might frustrate other players and you end up wasting your hard-to-fill meter with TWO LEVELS. TTT2's Tag Team Combo and Tag Throw mechanics are much less cheap. Also, MK9's tag matches in the Story Mode made me wish that it had Tekken Tag's mechanics because those matches were really THAT frustrating. Do you remember when Cyber Sub-Zero had to fight a tag fight between the sub-bosses Goro and Kintaro? You probably wished the tagging system was like Tekken Tag's tagging system!
I think having Tekken Tag's tagging system for MK9 could've added more strategic depth. Losing your character to a fatality is a real loss for your team, right? I was thinking that if they were having souped-up boss fights then having Tekken Tag's tagging system adds depth. You'll have to be strategic about tagging your characters when it comes to these bosses. Just imagine it if you had to fight either Arcade Shang Tsung, Goro, Kintaro, or Shao Kahn and you LOSE your match because you lost one character. It would add to the challenge and make players think more carefully to balance the difficulty. Easier controls and reasonably hard unplayable bosses can be a good thing just like Tekken 5's Jinpachi matches.
The character endings
Okay, this is just superficial. I still find it frustrating that Netherrealm doesn't give animated endings anymore. The endings of MK9 up to MK11 are what I'd call animated paintings. Although they are done better than Killer Instinct's reboot endings but come on -- they went all the way to make a lot of CGI cutscenes for the story mode but why don't we get the Tekken-style endings for MK9? The animated endings of TTT2 give you more of a motivation to finish the Arcade Mode than MK9 ever would. MK9's endings are just there to be there with some animations but TTT2's endings have way more personality in them.
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What do you think?
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