Who is the 'Ryu' of MKX Gameplay Wise?

[Enexemander]

Liu Kang and Scorpion are fighting for that spot.. But Sub-Zero is definitely Ken!

Nah, if Liu is Ryu, then that makes Lao Ken.

 

[TamedLizard]

Popularity wise, it's Scorpion.

But the initial intention was for Liu Kang. He was programmed to be easy to play so anyone could pick him up quickly (very important in the arcade days) and was the "hero" of the franchise.

Just so happened that yellow and blue garbed ninjas that throw spears and ice from their hands ended up as the poster boys.

Who would've guessed?

 

[Name v.5.0]

Who is the Scorpion of Tekken?

 

[Mikemetroid]

In terms of story, it's Liu Kang.

In terms of image, it's Scorpion.

 

[Robotic]

Who is the Scorpion of Tekken?

Who's the Tekken of Football?

 

[Diego de Souza Costa]

MK doesn't really have that bruh.... cuz, in SF you have some characters that share the same "fighting style", in MK, everyone is different from each other... take Lao and Liu as an example, they are completely different.....

P.S. in SF you also have variations of that same fighting style, Gouken, and Ken, both shotos, but, completely different play styles....

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

absolutely nobody, everyone has their unique gameplay styles, there is no base fighter like ryu, i have seen this thread so many times and the answer is always simply you cannot compare street fighter to MK. they are too different, they evolved in different ways, maybe the original 4 had shoto-esque characters or base-esque (shaddup i couldnt think of anything better to call it) characters but since MK had a long period of time where there they were 3d fighters that influenced MK in a major way, and since street fighter had one 3d game and then never looked back and went back to 2d street fighter their mechanics stayed pretty similar, emphasis on footsies, base of all fighters, etc. the 2 series are way too different to compare now.

This thread isn't about comparing SF and MK, it is about finding the "core" of MKX's gameplay style.

Street Fighter has the concept of Shotos, which comes from traditional fighting styles, basing a bunch of variations around a master 'style'. This doesn't really apply to MKX, where there are a bunch of different archetypes all based around their own principles and tools.
By now all the characters are so different that they really have their own 'voice'.
Every once in a while, there's a character who seems to have a very complete and perfectly-rounded set of tools (like Kung Lao in MK9), but it's very rare that other MK characters are actually based around that character.

So are you saying that there is not basis for the "style" of MK's gameplay? In my mind that means that MK is just a bunch of noise gameplay wise. There is no direction, or standard, just haphazard 'design' (the term 'design' being used in the most liberal way).

I always thought it was Liu Kang.

LK was the "easy" or "all-around" character in the OG MK games, but I'm not so sure now here in MKX.

What this guy said. IF I had to personally select a character, I would say s00b-zero

Actually, GM subzero is the reason I asked this question. Sub's clone is a footsie breaker, and in many cases just a game breaker. There is no doubt that the clone is a powerful tool in this game, and as such there are so many character who legitimately cannot get around it. Sub, at least GM Sub, cannot be the 'Ryu' this game on that fact alone, which is why I asked the question who is...

Popularity wise, it's Scorpion.

But the initial intention was for Liu Kang. He was programmed to be easy to play so anyone could pick him up quickly (very important in the arcade days) and was the "hero" of the franchise.

Just so happened that yellow and blue garbed ninjas that throw spears and ice from their hands ended up as the poster boys.

Who would've guessed?

Popularity wise, no question that Scorpion is the right answer.

I thought for MKX gameplay wise that Scorpion could be the base character as well, but IDK.

 

[TackyHaddock]

Either Meat or Liu Kang, I'm having a hard time deciding.

 

[Name v.5.0]

Who's the Tekken of Football?

Who is the football of sandwiches?

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

Meanwhile Cybernetic Kano has knives(Hadouken), upball(Shoryuken), D4(low forward), no overhead combo starter, wins through footsies, and doesn't do alot of damage outside of the corner.

He's MKX's Shoto.

I remember Paulo saying that "a character like Kano is hard to balance because of his tools". No doubt Kano is the shoto of MK, and that fact alone may make him the literal "Ryu" of MKX, but I'm not sure if the "shoto style" is at the core of MKX's GP design. Then again, it may be.

 

[Stevie Steelz]

In terms of being an iconic character that you would associate with Mortal Kombat forever? That would be Scorpion. In terms of "If you learn how to play this character, you will know how to play MK and have no problems picking up any other character"? There really isn't one.

 

[Sage Leviathan]

By story, it's Liu Kang.
By playstyle, there's hardly an argument against Kano being the closest thing to a Shoto in MKX.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

By story, it's Liu Kang.
By playstyle, there's hardly an argument against Kano being the closest thing to a Shoto in MKX.

I guess in a 2D fighter, the "shoto" design may be the perfect design. In that case then, yeah, Kano is the literal "Ryu" of MKX.

 

[Slymind]

Lorewise i would say Liu Kang
Popularitywise, i'd say Scorpion, only because NRS pushed a lot, because i believe Sub-Zero was the most popular one.

 

[kabelfritz]

Fatalities

 

[n1kosh]

SUB|SCORP

 

[Stevie Steelz]

Not understanding how people are figuring Kano is the "Ryu" of MK.

 

[SneakyTortoise]

I actually think tremor, specifically crystalline.

He has a bit of everything: zoning, advancing strings, strong hit-confirmable pressure, strong oki, corner carry, easy damaging bnbs, good armour.

He'd be a good starting point for learning the game, the variety in the mechanics and deciding which playstyle suits you.

 

[Stevie Steelz]

I actually think tremor, specifically crystalline.

He has a bit of everything: zoning, advancing strings, strong hit-confirmable pressure, strong oki, corner carry, easy damaging bnbs, good armour.

He'd be a good starting point for learning the game, the variety in the mechanics and deciding which playstyle suits you.

I wouldn't recommend Tremor for a beginner though. The execution on some of his combos can be slightly difficult.

 

[Enexemander]

TLDR: Kano.

I think I get what you're going for in the original question, but I don't like how you've broached it. So I'm going to take it in the direction I think makes more sense.

MKX is based on base mechanics. In terms of development, characters are variations on themes in terms of how they interact with these mechanics.

Here are some of the basics (as I remember them)

Movement-Fast or Slow run speed, back speed. Range on forward and back dashes

Pokes-

• D1-Mid, hits fast, short range.
  
• D3-low, medium speed, medium range.
  
• D4-slowest, medium to slow speed, longest range.

Air Attacks

• NJP-Launches for combo, harder to hit (less active frames or range)
• NJK- Hard Knockdown (easier to hit. More active frames or range)
• Jump in 1- Longer range, good utility for combo starter.
• Jump in 2 - Shorter range, better for cross ups. combo starter.
• Jump in 3 - "Best" in terms of hitting a grounded opponent. Knocks down.
• Jump in 4 - "Best" in terms of anti-airing on reaction/slight height disadvantage. Knocks down.

Strings - Negative but safe on block (1 string= 1 turn)

• High- Faster, short range
• Mid - Slower, medium to long range
• 50/50

Low-Short range, more negative on block
Overhead - Short to mediumish range, more negative on block (on the punish side)
​

Special-Moves

• Anti-Air specials- Does damage, doesn't lead to full combo.
• Launchers (unsafe on block)
• Extenders (Can be a launcher, not always. There are block pressure and on-hit pressure variants.)
• Spacers (Get off me moves. Generally a knockback, knockdown, no combo.)
• Punishers (fast, 1 hit wonders, no combo)
• Melee Range EX moves generally have armor, while projectiles do not.
• Projectiles - hit high, some recovery for counter zoning. EX hits mid.

Those are, as I can think of them, the basic mechanics that characters have to choose from. Balance and character strength is derived from trading strengths (better than average in one area on the baseline) for a weakness (worse than average on the baseline). Common derivations lead to archetypes - ie Rushdown, Zoning, Grappler, Mid-Range Fighter. Block Pressure v. 50/50.

In these terms, I believe that Kano is most basic character in MKX. He generally follows the rules of the game at baseline, and his variations give him a distinct advantage in one area.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

Not understanding how people are figuring Kano is the "Ryu" of MK.

Because he's the closest thing to an SF shoto.

Kano has a fireball, and an uppercut, though he is missing a hurricane kick, so he has a long rang poke, and a grounded AA special. His pokes aren't that bad either, so overall he is a pretty good footsie oriented character; hence, Ryu.

Across all 2d fighting games, the SF "shoto" could be argued to be the perfect 2D fighting style, and for me that begs the question...is the "shoto style" the core GP style of MK, thus is the "perfect" style within MKX?

 

[SneakyTortoise]

I wouldn't recommend Tremor for a beginner though. The execution on some of his combos can be slightly difficult.

I disagree. He has very easy high damaging bnbs. The run cancelling pressure maybe, but there are plenty of beginner-friendly combos that do high damage.

 

[Robotic]

​

Who is the football of sandwiches?

Who's your bottom 5 Sandwich variations?

 

[CrimsonShadow]

So are you saying that there is not basis for the "style" of MK's gameplay? In my mind that means that MK is just a bunch of noise gameplay wise. There is no direction, or standard, just haphazard 'design' (the term 'design' being used in the most liberal way).

Character archetypes and the gameplay engine/design itself are two different considerations. There are standard tenets of design (combo system, uppercuts, poking, neutral jumps, the blocking and throw system, running etc).

But most of the characters each have their own 'style' archetype, rather than being based around some common theoretical fighting styles that groups of characters share. It's not noise, it's just a design decision.

 

[PainForge]

I don't know, but I know who Ken is.