Mortal Kombat vs Tekken
December 14th, 2008On the off chance that some video game developer is browsing the web for clues as to how to make the next great game series, I’ve got a helpful idea.
Back in the 90s, fighting games were big in the arcade. Street Fighter II made the first big splash, followed by the Mortal Kombat series, and then eventually moving into 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter and Tekken. Personally, I greatly enjoyed Street Fighter II, and fell in love with Mortal Kombat - but for some reason I found myself frustrated and uninterested in the 3D fighters. Sure, graphically they were a step forward - 3D models, lots of realistic-looking fighting styles, numerous characters. But they were missing something.
I think most importantly what they were missing was crisp play control. I like the word “crisp” in describing games with excellent play control - what you want is a game that is immediately responsive to your button presses, logical and intuitive. Think about satisfying user interfaces on your PC. When you push a button, it should go “click” and look like it’s being pressed. When you’re waiting for something to happen, you want a little hourglass or watch to show up and indicate that the computer is “thinking” so you don’t sit around wondering what’s going on.
Tekken felt like the opposite of crisp. Pushing buttons either executed a move or didn’t. A move either actually struck your opponent or it didn’t, and there was not an immediately accessible logic about it. If an opponent was reeling or falling down from your last attack, then your fists might just sail through the opponent’s body without doing anything. You successfully execute a combo but your opponent moves, so you’re left flailing into an empty corner while you wait for the move to complete. It was not terribly satisfying.
Mortal Kombat on the other hand, had a complete logic to it. If you hit an opponent, even if that opponent was falling, you scored a blow. You never missed for no reason, or found yourself frustrated in your inability to make your character do what you want. Crouching always went under projectiles, jumping always took you over them. Basic punches and kicks were more rapid fire.
This is maybe why Star Wars: Force Unleashed for the Wii was ultimately not satisfying for me. You spent a lot of time flailing your lightsaber and throwing people around, but often too many things were happening at once, and it was sometimes unclear that your powers actually did anything, and getting your character to do what you want was not always easy or intuitive.
So something to think about while making RiftMaker I guess.