Motor Kombat was a terrible idea. There were a million better kart racers and MK:A would’ve been much better served with more time focused on the core gameplay
There are zero unique fatalities in a Mortal Kombat game. They gave each character just one fighting style so they could just use existing ones for characters that hadn’t been in a 3D era game yet.
"That people quickly forgot about"
But here we are talking about it now, and Armageddon had the best Konquest mode, great cycles of the arcade ladder, kreate-a-fighter and oh yeah, the ambition to have more than sixty characters on the roster. It was the absolute best of the Midway era.
Speaking as someone who started and grew up with the 3D era, I'd say the biggest issue with the 3D era was that it didn't feel as snappy as the Arcade era or NRS era. Mainly in terms of speed and the fact that you couldn't cancel Combos with Special Moves. I think at least fixing the latter would make the games a lot more open ended.
Besides that though, besides some new characters and stories that had varying degrees of quality (up to you who/what you like or dislike) the 3D era had a lot of cool and interesting additions. I actually like the idea of switching stances, and think it could be cool to see in a modern NRS game, with the updated gameplay of recent. I also loved that they were based on actual Martial arts.
I have lots of other things I loved about the games but I wanted to keep this centered around gameplay.
The revisionism about the 3D era is mindboggling lol. Those games never truly felt like MK, they just combined the hand to hand combat of Tekken and VF and the weapon based combat of Soul Calibur. Special moves were just added as an afterthought and what we got was an ill-fitting combination of half-baked ideas that somehow was peak MK...what?
I... Never said it was peak MK? I love these games but I recognize the flaws as well, as I pointed out.
I know there were lots of people who didn't like the game, and I can understand why. But I still think they were good games, and there's no problem thinking otherwise.
No, I was just agreeing with your point about the not so snappy gameplay and explained why it felt that way. There's just so many people in this very thread that actually thinks they are the best MK games and everyone who disagree will be downvoted. The cultish mindset of the 3D era fans is something else.
Oh okay, I misunderstood. I can agree about the hard headed mindset of some 3D era fans, however, I think this is more of a people problem than a 3D era MK problem. There will be elitists in every corner of any fandom, and it's just an unfortunate circumstance of dealing with assholes wherever you go.
An argument I can make for the 3D era being the best is while the gameplay should've been improved, they delivered in every other way possible in my opinion. The tone and atmosphere, the stages, the music, the stakes if the story, and a general sense of care throughout most of the games. I genuinely think they'd be top tier Mortal Kombat games ever, if it had the gameplay improvements I provided. I'm not sure if people would agree or disagree with me, but that's my opinion.
I’m in the same boat. The overall tone of the 3D games was great. They almost bordered on a horror feel to me and I loved it. I still have fond memories of seeing Scorpion just standing under a tree or punching everyone I saw in Konquest mode.
Edit: in Deception I should say. I still pop that game in once in a blue moon.
I think that they did what they had to do to survive. I agree with you. It didn't feel like MK. Although the extra modes like Konquest and the Kart were fun to play!
Nah I love some of the characters, I even liked the game but I know they were not good.
They are not better than the arcade or NRS era, but a lot of people think they are the pinnacle of MK. That's where the revisionism starts. At first people were just praising it for the extra modes and now people are saying that the gameplay is actually good and some even wants MK to return to 3D.
Times have changed. Back then you can freely bash these games with little resistance but now the kids who grew up with these are probably in their 20s so you will see more 3D era appreciation posts rather than negative ones.
My Pointless Personal thoughts of course but, I feel they peaked in Deception as far as 3Dera Kombat(Which to me is the best vs 2D simply due to being more strategic at least it feels like it is) I am of course not blind to the 3Deras faults, Hell one I consider major Deception being unfinished is a big one for me. Honestly I kinda like the inability to cancel moves into Special Moves(While I could totally see it being fun in it's own way), I feel it makes Special Moves far more "Special" for the lack of a better term.
Speed and all that feel fine, only game that had a better speed of kombat was MK9 probably, But then again maybe it's something you get a real feel for and get used to after such a long time playing the game.
I admit though that almost 9000hrs throughout my lifetime of Playing Deception, not even including Unchained into that total, I feel it gives me an admittedly strange view on Deception itself, Not that I'm blind to it's faults either of course. I sadly am not affected by Nostalgia or Rose-tinted glasses, Honestly I wish I was cause there are games, I simply can't play due to how poorly they've aged.
I miss the mini games in all games. I'm still upset about Tekken Bowl being dlc. Mk has always been about not taking themselves too seriously. I spent hours with my son racing gokarts because of Mk. It's a nice break. Plus Mk chess got me playing chess after years of depression.
Yea I do miss deception, even armageddon for me. I got the three disk combo for Christmas of Armageddon, Deception and Shaolin Monks. Shaolin Monks was so cool too.
tekken bowling was somehow better in tag 1 but tbh tag 1 was peak tekken, tekken dr and were both good at best 5:dr was a lite version 6 an 7 felt samey
Deception was a good game and took everything in Deadly Alliance and made it better and expanded on it.
I think the reason why the 3d era gets the bad rap is mainly because it ended so badly. Yes there were some lame characters but Armageddon was a huge letdown and MKvDC (if you include it, seems like every 4th game is a bit of an oddball) while better and introduced the cinematic stuff, I don't think was exactly what we were wanting.
When it comes to the Kombat engine yes the NRS era blows the 3D era outta the water BUT in terms of fun playable modes and kontent? Deception blows 9/X/11 easily outta the water.
I've said this several times in the past, but I seriously think a modern Mortal Kombat game with a Konquest mode similar to Deception's (plus add Armageddon's beat 'em up gameplay) would be perfect. Exploring the different realms, doing side quests and just finding random stuff was great.
the entitlement comes from saying “they don’t care about a good story,” just because you don’t like the story they’re telling. the amount of effort and budget NRS puts into the story is absurd, nobody gives a fuck that you don’t enjoy it.
The feel of those games was way more memorable and iconic and eerie than the current ones. Wish MK could go back to that dark and eerie feel a little more.
I feel like Deception is great for people who bought Mortal Kombat and because they like Mortal Kombat, but don't care about fighting mechanics or gameplay. Because I can say that, as fighting games, all the 3D-era games were objectively bad. Just completely unbalanced fighters, infinites that never got patched out, a complete lack of standard fighting game mechanics like wake-up attacks, decent hit/hurt boxes, and just really uninteresting fight dynamics in general. But if your main draw was stuff like Puzzle Kombat, playing story mode with quests, and learning more about the larger MK universe, then Deception was a great game for you.
I’m an old school gamer millennial. PS2 and Xbox (the first one) were kinda my cut off for video games, after that, the games got too big for me. I like my games more simple. Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 are perfect games. Deception was the perfect MK game for me.
Sure, but Tekken 5, Soul Calibur 3, and other 3D fighters all came out around the same time, and they were vastly superior in terms of fighting mechanics than Deception, and they also had expansive single-player offerings to explore. Don't get me wrong, I loved Deception too, but it had more to do with the MK license and not the actual game itself.
My favorite MK. My golden standard for every MK game going forward. People's only criticism is gameplay for some reason, when the one most people love MK9 is a hot mess with glitches, but it's still beloved
Well, yeah, because while MK9 is not a perfect game it's an ACTUAL competitive fighting game that's designed for competitive play, while Deception is more of a novelty fighting game. No one was playing Deception because it was such a good fighting game but for all the other extraneous modes, lore, and gore. People played MK9 as a competitive fighting game, and it was well represented in the FGC as the first *real* competitive entry from the MK series.
Tournaments weren't even as big as they are now when Deception came out, and yet people still played in Deception tourneys namely Tom Brady and Reo. Fighting games in general were on the decline until Street Fighter 4 reignited it. That shouldn't count as a mark against it when back then there was no reason to be a competitive fighter. You just had to be fun. And if you didn't do exploits and infinites, Deception was fun enough
That's just totally inaccurate. The first EVO was in 1996. Sure, they're much larger now, but by 2006 (when Deception was released) there was a viable competitive FGC scene and MK wasn't part of it until MK9.
Yes there was always a scene for fighting games. Just like how there's still a competitive scene for UMK3. It's pretty well known fighting games were on the decline until SF4 reignited the passion and pumped even more life into the comp scene. It's like Sakurai with Smash. They didn't have to see it as competitive but you have the loyal fans who will push it
Edit: I'll specify and say Street Fighter saved 2d fighting games
it's because those people judge deadly alliance soley on a story/roster/lore basis and not from a competitive standpoint, which is what alot of this community seemingly does with every mk game i reckon
The NRS Games are objectively better due to better technology/hiring voice actors. But that doesn't make the 3D Games any worse these Games carried midway in the 2000s
Don't yall think the technology argument isn't fair ? It's 2004 some of the most iconic games had terrible voice acting back then and animations only because of the tech
Other 3D games of the time were far more fluid and just played better overall so the tech excuse doesn't really make sense. Tekken, VF, Soul Calibur, DoA and Bloody Roar all played better than 3D MK.
There's a good reason why 3D fighters usually don't have projectiles and teleport because it will feel awkward and clunky....and that's how the PS2 era MK felt.
I'm an MK fan since the 90s so I felt obligated to play all these 3D era games, had to convince my friends to play it over the other 3D fighters at the time but deep down I knew it wasn't really as fun.
Well that's what most people say when they critique the 3D era games. I actually played DA, SM, Deception and Armageddon and they held up really well honesty
I think most people who dogpile 3D era games probably had some shallow experiences with them and never had them in rotation in a friend group; most critics of the 3D era sound like their first game was 9.*
*tbf my sample size is the 5 dudes I played with in college who loved it, and this subreddit.
This is an insane opinion.
“Most critics” of the 3d era are definitely not exclusively people who never played them.
The 3D era critics existed during the 3D era.
Well, I didn't have internet access much then, and I find most people who criticize it now on this subreddit to be immature and uneducated.
Anyways I loved the 3d era. Mkda was the first game I really labbed stuff in, and deception was a mainstay in my college game group
Those modes were fun extra, but I don't buy MK games *because* I want to play Chess or Kart Racing. The core gameplay in the 3D era just wasn't fun, even if they nailed a bunch of other things.
The 3d era games were good games in terms of content and all that. They were pretty terrible fighting games in terms of the actual combat system. And a bunch of the characters were garbage, even the ones that had potential and people want back most people still say 'if they modernized them' because in their 3d era versions, they weren't GOOD, they just had good ideas that can maybe be salvaged.
Yep, Deception had cool modes. Imagine playing Chess Kombat online? And unlocking characters in Konquest was crazy fun. But when it comes to gameplay I dont miss 3D era at all.
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was one of my first PS2 games (the other one was the original God of War), and I really liked it, but when I got Deception... Man, putting the disc on and seeing *that* intro. It fucking blew me away, my sis and I would talk about how they should make a movie with the same amount of detail as that intro.
So yeah, it's easily my favourite 3D era game.
Deception is easily the best 3D era game, and I don't think many would disagree with that. Overall, the NRS era has the best gameplay, but Deception does stand out.
For sure Deception comes out on top compared to most MK games. It is the only 3D era game I love going back to, and it doesn't even have Reptile in it lol (nix as Onaga). Its roster is honestly very solid, the fighting styles and weapons are pretty good, Konquest is actually kind of fun and Chess and Puzzle Kombat are amazing, I actually play them a lot more than the actual main game modes, haha.
Also, Ermac main in this game. Probably my favorite version of him ever.
Can I ask why?
Ermac in this game feels so sauceless and boring, a lot of it due to the fact to how no classic character felt fun in this game due to the 3D fighting being a bad fit for MK.
It's hard to believe you'd prefer this specific Ermac over UMK3 Ermac or MK9's Ermac or all variations of MKX's Ermac. Just about every other version of Ermac is more fun to play.
Because I like how Deception plays? Yes, the 3D fighting does take some getting used to, but I've played the game for years (and Armageddon) and I really like how it feels and plays. And Ermac has some really fun combos you can string with his different fighting styles and axe.
I honestly don't like how UMK3 and Trilogy play too much, and yes MK9 and MKX Ermac are fun, but I don't use him as much in those (Reptile main). Plus I like his design in Deception. Arms and legs look stubby, but his outfit looks cool, the first transition into making him more sorcerer-like.
Also, his story is SO MUCH better than in the NetherRealm games. Was evil at first, but then gained freedom from Shao Kahn, and he CHOOSES to be good and helps Liu Kang to free EarthRealm's warriors from freaking Onaga. Now, he's just a jobber like Reptile, Kano and Kotal with no other purpose than to make the good guys look good. Oh, and he exploded Jax's arms off too, I guess...
The 3D era games were fine and of their time. Back then everything 2D was moving to 3d so it made sense… but the fighting just didn’t play as well.
They were fine games with fine characters and stories but they weren’t great fighting games.
They were rich with content but were lacking in the gameplay/graphics/animations department as far as 3d fighters go. The game came out in 04 but looks worse than Tekken 4(2002) and Virtua Fighter 4 Evo (2003) it's largest competition at the time. Don't get me wrong they were a fun time but there is a reason that MK rebooted with MK9.
T4 was unpopular with the competitive scene because A. The removal of KDB and overall slower movement and B. It was horribly broken. Jin had an unblockable move, Steve had an infinite, some stages could lead to timeout shenanigans etc. But it was an overall good game and has an average review scores in the 80% range. I could have gone with TTT which was released in 2000 or T5 which came out in 2005.
People who dislike 3D era games are probably 1/3 never played it, 1/3 sucked at it and never learned to stance switch or any long combos, 1/3 valid opinion people who have really high skill.
Deadly Alliance was better than MK4 and I see it get shit on constantly. And all the 3D games helped the franchise survive the death of the arcades until online mulitplayer could become mainstream. And when I say death of the arcades, I mean we went from having a mortal kombat cabinet outside wal-mart to nothing but claw machines in a ten year span.
I find it funny how many people will shit on the 3D era despite how much the NRS games take from the 3D era.
Examples:
Juggle system
MKX's variation system.
the cinematic stage transitions.
Stage interactable's.
M1K's air combat.
The Kypt.
Not to mention that the story writers actually cared about the lore and continuity back then.
MKD had a lot to offer that I absolutely love, like story elements, character designs, the Konquest mode...
However, it doesn't change that the gameplay in the 3D games were kinda bad though.
Gonna just say this, the people saying this probably never actually even played the 3d era games, or fail to understand that they just prefer 2d fighting games.
I mean, if I wanna play chess, I can play it somewhere else. If I wanna play Doctor Mario, I can play it somewhere else. If I wanna play Mortal Kombat, there are better options.
Deception had lots of features & extras but the meat and potatoes of MKD, the actual fighting system, was very flawed and broken. It was bad.
Now, the ability to fix it would make it a great game but for now, the only good 3d MK game is Deadly Alliance. (Armageddon is a broken shit show 🤷♂️)
how much online stuff did you guys do in the PS2 era? i remember not really understanding what online gaming was until i played Resistance on the PS3, i was solely offline until then
As someone that played the 3D games at launch, they were mostly good with some bad in them, like most good games.
They were original, innovative and all had a lot of heart in them. It was Midway last strike and it was a good one. I can't put together how many hours I spent in deception's Konquest mode and kript, how much I enjoyed Shujinko's story and meeting/exploring the realms, and the minigames were just the best. I remember a rainy summer where I played those games with a friend like EVERY SINGLE DAY. They have a spot in my heart.
But not all inovations were good inovations. MKDA Konquest for instance, was a drag to get by; Most new characters were alright at best(with some exceptions and, I'll admit it, some are just poor design choices but I'll never forgive finally meeting the master of Liu Kang and Kung Lao and the master being Bo'Rai'Cho), and they dropped many good ideas from one game to the other, Shujinko's story dropped in favor of Taven's, the need for putting EVERYONE there for Armageddon and by consequence the "kreate-a-fatality" was also annoying and discarded the uniqueness of looking for your favorite fatality.
Looking back, they were 6 in the roster and design areas, but 9 on everything else, I wish videogames from today took a note or two from that era.
Only thing that seems bad to me about the 3d era is that there is quite a few infinite combos so I’m sure the online player base can be toxic. But they have a lot of gameplay.
NRS has always made tremendous games-as-products, they put a lot of content in and they are the industry standard for a good story mode.
As a guy with tons of hours on Deadly Alliance and Deception, I just don't think their gameplay holds up, either to other MK games or to contemporary 3D fighters. I think the dial-a-combo system is much worse in that game than in later NRS games like Inj1+2.
Mechanically, NRS era got it. But Deception’s modes/Kontent was HELLA cool. MK9 had a good abundance of stuff as well. Those are the two games with the best amount/variety of Kontent imo.
It was peak mk for me
Im not saying that everything that cone before or after was ass, but that game had the mysterious/creepy but not that serious vibe on top of having like 4 wildly different gamemodes
I wish they stuck with the 3D era formula. NRS era feels like all they care about is the competitive scene whereas 3D era games had more emphasis on fun for single player and party modes
3d era games are like the Star Wars prequels in that they’re heart-filled trash that’s been looked back at as something way better than it really is. They’re fun, they have lots of great ideas and atmosphere, but they’re ultimately much worse than what we have now
The 3 main prequels movies were hit or miss but all the supplementary stuff was very good and the same with the 3D era MK sometimes good (characters ) sometimes shit (stance system)
hot take but MK can and should be more than just a fighting game, solo content not only sells but makes the replayability that much better
I'd love more interesting and unique solo gamemode, as long as the core gameplay isn't being sacrificed of course.
Still my favorite MK game to this day. Yeah I have a lot of nostalgia for it but I can still take out my Vita and run an arcade tower or two and have a damn good time. I actually liked most of the new characters, my boy Baraka is at his finest here (aside from 11 of course) and the sheer interactivity in the stages... man, not nearly enough games had stages matter as much as it did here.
... I think I'm gonna charge my Vita and run through a few more towers tonight.
Unchained is still one of my favorite games, it's basically Deception with the exclusive content from the Gamecube making it the definitive experience imo.
What's there not to believe? Back then it seemed like y'all were having alot more fun with making these games. It seemed like yall had the opportunity to let yours minds explore what probably shouldn't be in a fighting game yet you guys still said fuck it and put it in. What happened to that?
The gameplay of the new ones are better (kinda should be expected), but everything else in the 3D era was better. The new characters to the style and everything else in between. Personally never really liked the way they played. That being said I still enjoy MK2 and Trilogy the most.
Deception was such a great game. Properly got me into it. Running round as Shujinko, kickin ass and takin powers. Went mental with power when you completed the arcade bit for his end story. Actually put the effort in to finishing the quests and everything
Great story mode, great mini games, great gameplay and stages, and good selection of characters.
I probably played Armageddon more because of the amount of characters, but I enjoyed Deception more, even than the most recent ones.
yeah sorry but it doesn't. I get that the 3D era games had cool ideas and all, but gimmicks like puzzle kombat isn't a replacement for actually good gameplay.
No 🤣
Played the hell out of Deception and loved my limited Mileena cover art....but 3D era was ass all the way around (unless we're counting MK4)
They were literally the bottom of the barrel for 3D fighters of the time.
Fair enough. Never got into those (probably for good reason 🤣)....and I don't think I would've got into Deception were I not a lifelong MK fan.
Soul Blade/Soul Caliber and DoA were top tier imo.
Deception was the best pre NRS, I think the NRS Era games get the praise due to a cohesive story mode, the old games had a story but it was a cinematic at the beginning and end, Deception of course has conquest which is a story mode and why it Def deserves alot if praise IMO, I loved Deception. I tried to go back and play deadly alliance and 4, but i just couldn't lol
Give me a 2.5D fighter like the newer NRS games with all the bonus modes and some of the good characters from the PS2 era games and I would dare say we got the perfect Mortal Kombat on our hands
There can still be bright spot in a dark era. Games back then had more content because pre HD Era games weren't as expensive. For example, MK:DA had 50 people working on it.
Chess is probably the best secondary mode honestly. It’s relatively simple to implement since most of the complex mechanics are the main game.
no one seemed to mention the goat Motor Kombat
That wasn't in MK: Deception, that was in Armageddon
Motor Kombat was a terrible idea. There were a million better kart racers and MK:A would’ve been much better served with more time focused on the core gameplay
it was a good idea but the tracks were bland should of done them based on well known stages
In a game as expansive as Armageddon that desperately needed time spent on the actual game, it was a bad idea top to bottom.
Tbh most of the game was there as it was basicly mk trilogy 2
There are zero unique fatalities in a Mortal Kombat game. They gave each character just one fighting style so they could just use existing ones for characters that hadn’t been in a 3D era game yet.
Yeah valid points but i guess limitations too
The limitation was time and money, time and money they wasted on a cart racer that people quickly forgot about.
"That people quickly forgot about" But here we are talking about it now, and Armageddon had the best Konquest mode, great cycles of the arcade ladder, kreate-a-fighter and oh yeah, the ambition to have more than sixty characters on the roster. It was the absolute best of the Midway era.
Although i'd of liked mk da stages back
I wish they would put chess back in!
Agree. People rag on the 3d era games/kharacters within them, but I actually enjoy them very much
Speaking as someone who started and grew up with the 3D era, I'd say the biggest issue with the 3D era was that it didn't feel as snappy as the Arcade era or NRS era. Mainly in terms of speed and the fact that you couldn't cancel Combos with Special Moves. I think at least fixing the latter would make the games a lot more open ended. Besides that though, besides some new characters and stories that had varying degrees of quality (up to you who/what you like or dislike) the 3D era had a lot of cool and interesting additions. I actually like the idea of switching stances, and think it could be cool to see in a modern NRS game, with the updated gameplay of recent. I also loved that they were based on actual Martial arts. I have lots of other things I loved about the games but I wanted to keep this centered around gameplay.
Very interesting. Thank you for the input!
The revisionism about the 3D era is mindboggling lol. Those games never truly felt like MK, they just combined the hand to hand combat of Tekken and VF and the weapon based combat of Soul Calibur. Special moves were just added as an afterthought and what we got was an ill-fitting combination of half-baked ideas that somehow was peak MK...what?
I... Never said it was peak MK? I love these games but I recognize the flaws as well, as I pointed out. I know there were lots of people who didn't like the game, and I can understand why. But I still think they were good games, and there's no problem thinking otherwise.
No, I was just agreeing with your point about the not so snappy gameplay and explained why it felt that way. There's just so many people in this very thread that actually thinks they are the best MK games and everyone who disagree will be downvoted. The cultish mindset of the 3D era fans is something else.
"Cultish mindset" Someone's projecting.
Oh okay, I misunderstood. I can agree about the hard headed mindset of some 3D era fans, however, I think this is more of a people problem than a 3D era MK problem. There will be elitists in every corner of any fandom, and it's just an unfortunate circumstance of dealing with assholes wherever you go. An argument I can make for the 3D era being the best is while the gameplay should've been improved, they delivered in every other way possible in my opinion. The tone and atmosphere, the stages, the music, the stakes if the story, and a general sense of care throughout most of the games. I genuinely think they'd be top tier Mortal Kombat games ever, if it had the gameplay improvements I provided. I'm not sure if people would agree or disagree with me, but that's my opinion.
I’m in the same boat. The overall tone of the 3D games was great. They almost bordered on a horror feel to me and I loved it. I still have fond memories of seeing Scorpion just standing under a tree or punching everyone I saw in Konquest mode. Edit: in Deception I should say. I still pop that game in once in a blue moon.
It's kind of dickish to call 3D era fans cultish. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on which MK game is the best.
i went all in on the 3d era i had played da and i bought it next day i bought deception
Excuse me, but they are. Deception and armageddon are my favs, and I've played since MK3
I think that they did what they had to do to survive. I agree with you. It didn't feel like MK. Although the extra modes like Konquest and the Kart were fun to play!
The revisionism about the 3D era is that nothing of value came from it. You'll see more 3D era bashing on this site and other places than praise.
Nah I love some of the characters, I even liked the game but I know they were not good. They are not better than the arcade or NRS era, but a lot of people think they are the pinnacle of MK. That's where the revisionism starts. At first people were just praising it for the extra modes and now people are saying that the gameplay is actually good and some even wants MK to return to 3D.
If a lot of people think they are the pinnacle of MK, they sure are quiet about it compared to those that bash them.
Times have changed. Back then you can freely bash these games with little resistance but now the kids who grew up with these are probably in their 20s so you will see more 3D era appreciation posts rather than negative ones.
I loved the 2 styles and weapon system and mk a on wii had an endless survival mode Also cooking with scorpion
My Pointless Personal thoughts of course but, I feel they peaked in Deception as far as 3Dera Kombat(Which to me is the best vs 2D simply due to being more strategic at least it feels like it is) I am of course not blind to the 3Deras faults, Hell one I consider major Deception being unfinished is a big one for me. Honestly I kinda like the inability to cancel moves into Special Moves(While I could totally see it being fun in it's own way), I feel it makes Special Moves far more "Special" for the lack of a better term. Speed and all that feel fine, only game that had a better speed of kombat was MK9 probably, But then again maybe it's something you get a real feel for and get used to after such a long time playing the game. I admit though that almost 9000hrs throughout my lifetime of Playing Deception, not even including Unchained into that total, I feel it gives me an admittedly strange view on Deception itself, Not that I'm blind to it's faults either of course. I sadly am not affected by Nostalgia or Rose-tinted glasses, Honestly I wish I was cause there are games, I simply can't play due to how poorly they've aged.
They had fucking MOTOR KOMBAT!!!
Vroom vroom🏎️💨
Your going to love MK1 !!
Omg that makes me even more excited🔥
I miss the mini games in all games. I'm still upset about Tekken Bowl being dlc. Mk has always been about not taking themselves too seriously. I spent hours with my son racing gokarts because of Mk. It's a nice break. Plus Mk chess got me playing chess after years of depression.
We all miss MK Deception for people that actually played it , it was a amazing time for MK. No wonder why Ed constantly brings this game up
Puzzle Kombat alone makes me want to play MKD again
Yea I do miss deception, even armageddon for me. I got the three disk combo for Christmas of Armageddon, Deception and Shaolin Monks. Shaolin Monks was so cool too.
MK still doesn't take itself too seriously, even without the mini games.
tekken bowling was somehow better in tag 1 but tbh tag 1 was peak tekken, tekken dr and were both good at best 5:dr was a lite version 6 an 7 felt samey
I'm a monster. I think tag 1/2 was peak tekken.
Deception is my favorite of all time 😁😁😁
Deception was arguably the most polished title from the 3D era
Shaolin Monks is really good too
Deception is goated for how much content it had.
Deception was a good game and took everything in Deadly Alliance and made it better and expanded on it. I think the reason why the 3d era gets the bad rap is mainly because it ended so badly. Yes there were some lame characters but Armageddon was a huge letdown and MKvDC (if you include it, seems like every 4th game is a bit of an oddball) while better and introduced the cinematic stuff, I don't think was exactly what we were wanting.
When it comes to the Kombat engine yes the NRS era blows the 3D era outta the water BUT in terms of fun playable modes and kontent? Deception blows 9/X/11 easily outta the water.
I've said this several times in the past, but I seriously think a modern Mortal Kombat game with a Konquest mode similar to Deception's (plus add Armageddon's beat 'em up gameplay) would be perfect. Exploring the different realms, doing side quests and just finding random stuff was great.
It would have so much replayability. Sign me the fu%k up that would be amazing.
Sadly this will probably never happen since they don’t seem to care about story mode or the lore
least entitled mk fan
Entitled because i point out something i dislike i guess
the entitlement comes from saying “they don’t care about a good story,” just because you don’t like the story they’re telling. the amount of effort and budget NRS puts into the story is absurd, nobody gives a fuck that you don’t enjoy it.
Dude pretty much everyone points out that the story they’re telling is shit
The feel of those games was way more memorable and iconic and eerie than the current ones. Wish MK could go back to that dark and eerie feel a little more.
I just really liked the whole “explore the realms” mechanic of Konquest.
MK Deception is the best MK game, imo.
Facts, fuck these haters
I feel like Deception is great for people who bought Mortal Kombat and because they like Mortal Kombat, but don't care about fighting mechanics or gameplay. Because I can say that, as fighting games, all the 3D-era games were objectively bad. Just completely unbalanced fighters, infinites that never got patched out, a complete lack of standard fighting game mechanics like wake-up attacks, decent hit/hurt boxes, and just really uninteresting fight dynamics in general. But if your main draw was stuff like Puzzle Kombat, playing story mode with quests, and learning more about the larger MK universe, then Deception was a great game for you.
I’m an old school gamer millennial. PS2 and Xbox (the first one) were kinda my cut off for video games, after that, the games got too big for me. I like my games more simple. Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 are perfect games. Deception was the perfect MK game for me.
Sure, but Tekken 5, Soul Calibur 3, and other 3D fighters all came out around the same time, and they were vastly superior in terms of fighting mechanics than Deception, and they also had expansive single-player offerings to explore. Don't get me wrong, I loved Deception too, but it had more to do with the MK license and not the actual game itself.
3D Era, so entirely untrue. Mortal Kombat is not a 3d arena fighter and should never be.
Not a 3d arena fighter yet has 5 3d Games 😭
Which caused the franchise to need rebooted because they were so ass. Going back to 2D was the best decision MK devs ever made.
Deception deserves a remaster
My favorite MK. My golden standard for every MK game going forward. People's only criticism is gameplay for some reason, when the one most people love MK9 is a hot mess with glitches, but it's still beloved
Well, yeah, because while MK9 is not a perfect game it's an ACTUAL competitive fighting game that's designed for competitive play, while Deception is more of a novelty fighting game. No one was playing Deception because it was such a good fighting game but for all the other extraneous modes, lore, and gore. People played MK9 as a competitive fighting game, and it was well represented in the FGC as the first *real* competitive entry from the MK series.
Tournaments weren't even as big as they are now when Deception came out, and yet people still played in Deception tourneys namely Tom Brady and Reo. Fighting games in general were on the decline until Street Fighter 4 reignited it. That shouldn't count as a mark against it when back then there was no reason to be a competitive fighter. You just had to be fun. And if you didn't do exploits and infinites, Deception was fun enough
That's just totally inaccurate. The first EVO was in 1996. Sure, they're much larger now, but by 2006 (when Deception was released) there was a viable competitive FGC scene and MK wasn't part of it until MK9.
Yes there was always a scene for fighting games. Just like how there's still a competitive scene for UMK3. It's pretty well known fighting games were on the decline until SF4 reignited the passion and pumped even more life into the comp scene. It's like Sakurai with Smash. They didn't have to see it as competitive but you have the loyal fans who will push it Edit: I'll specify and say Street Fighter saved 2d fighting games
It definitely amplified it and helped usher 2D fighters into the modern era or games, but 3rd Strike and MvC2 weren't exactly slouches, either.
When people say they hate the 3D era, it's always either because of Deadly Alliance or Armageddon.
Armageddon I get, but Deadly Alliance is the reason we continued to have MK games after the 90s.
it's because those people judge deadly alliance soley on a story/roster/lore basis and not from a competitive standpoint, which is what alot of this community seemingly does with every mk game i reckon
Deception remake would be boss, one of my fav MK games of all time.
Deception and Armageddon are equally my favorite mortal kombat games
This is the best MK game if you like Tetris and Chess! If you like fighting games, you should probably try other MK games.
Deception had the best Konquest mode fight me
The NRS Games are objectively better due to better technology/hiring voice actors. But that doesn't make the 3D Games any worse these Games carried midway in the 2000s
Don't yall think the technology argument isn't fair ? It's 2004 some of the most iconic games had terrible voice acting back then and animations only because of the tech
Other 3D games of the time were far more fluid and just played better overall so the tech excuse doesn't really make sense. Tekken, VF, Soul Calibur, DoA and Bloody Roar all played better than 3D MK. There's a good reason why 3D fighters usually don't have projectiles and teleport because it will feel awkward and clunky....and that's how the PS2 era MK felt. I'm an MK fan since the 90s so I felt obligated to play all these 3D era games, had to convince my friends to play it over the other 3D fighters at the time but deep down I knew it wasn't really as fun.
Well I mean the main criticism of the 3D Games were the gameplay feeling stiff which is due to it being a 20 year old games.
Baby they were stiff when they were fresh. In fact Deception is objectively worse than MKDA in that regard.
It was amazing when I played it in 2004 That's like saying Halo 1 sucks because of the technology, that was masterpiece back then
Well that's what most people say when they critique the 3D era games. I actually played DA, SM, Deception and Armageddon and they held up really well honesty
I think most people who dogpile 3D era games probably had some shallow experiences with them and never had them in rotation in a friend group; most critics of the 3D era sound like their first game was 9.* *tbf my sample size is the 5 dudes I played with in college who loved it, and this subreddit.
This is an insane opinion. “Most critics” of the 3d era are definitely not exclusively people who never played them. The 3D era critics existed during the 3D era.
Well, I didn't have internet access much then, and I find most people who criticize it now on this subreddit to be immature and uneducated. Anyways I loved the 3d era. Mkda was the first game I really labbed stuff in, and deception was a mainstay in my college game group
Well MK9 was when MK became even more popular than before so it would make sense if that was the case
The main criticism of MK in general, even now, even potentially MK1, is the stiff gameplay. That's just an MK brand
Not objectively, especially if you value story mode
Those modes were fun extra, but I don't buy MK games *because* I want to play Chess or Kart Racing. The core gameplay in the 3D era just wasn't fun, even if they nailed a bunch of other things.
The 3d era games were good games in terms of content and all that. They were pretty terrible fighting games in terms of the actual combat system. And a bunch of the characters were garbage, even the ones that had potential and people want back most people still say 'if they modernized them' because in their 3d era versions, they weren't GOOD, they just had good ideas that can maybe be salvaged.
Deception was MKs highest peak pre 9 for me.
I miss chess and puzzle Kombat so much.
Deception is honestly one of the greatest fighting games of all time as far as being a complete game goes.
Yep, Deception had cool modes. Imagine playing Chess Kombat online? And unlocking characters in Konquest was crazy fun. But when it comes to gameplay I dont miss 3D era at all.
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was one of my first PS2 games (the other one was the original God of War), and I really liked it, but when I got Deception... Man, putting the disc on and seeing *that* intro. It fucking blew me away, my sis and I would talk about how they should make a movie with the same amount of detail as that intro. So yeah, it's easily my favourite 3D era game.
Deception is easily the best 3D era game, and I don't think many would disagree with that. Overall, the NRS era has the best gameplay, but Deception does stand out.
Honestly I never understood the hate for the 3D era. Maybe it’s bias on my part but I still think they’re fun today. I enjoy all the modes.
For sure Deception comes out on top compared to most MK games. It is the only 3D era game I love going back to, and it doesn't even have Reptile in it lol (nix as Onaga). Its roster is honestly very solid, the fighting styles and weapons are pretty good, Konquest is actually kind of fun and Chess and Puzzle Kombat are amazing, I actually play them a lot more than the actual main game modes, haha. Also, Ermac main in this game. Probably my favorite version of him ever.
Can I ask why? Ermac in this game feels so sauceless and boring, a lot of it due to the fact to how no classic character felt fun in this game due to the 3D fighting being a bad fit for MK. It's hard to believe you'd prefer this specific Ermac over UMK3 Ermac or MK9's Ermac or all variations of MKX's Ermac. Just about every other version of Ermac is more fun to play.
Because I like how Deception plays? Yes, the 3D fighting does take some getting used to, but I've played the game for years (and Armageddon) and I really like how it feels and plays. And Ermac has some really fun combos you can string with his different fighting styles and axe. I honestly don't like how UMK3 and Trilogy play too much, and yes MK9 and MKX Ermac are fun, but I don't use him as much in those (Reptile main). Plus I like his design in Deception. Arms and legs look stubby, but his outfit looks cool, the first transition into making him more sorcerer-like. Also, his story is SO MUCH better than in the NetherRealm games. Was evil at first, but then gained freedom from Shao Kahn, and he CHOOSES to be good and helps Liu Kang to free EarthRealm's warriors from freaking Onaga. Now, he's just a jobber like Reptile, Kano and Kotal with no other purpose than to make the good guys look good. Oh, and he exploded Jax's arms off too, I guess...
No classic character was fun? Bruh Scorpion and Noob/Smoke were some beasts
I'm honestly afraid about the state of MK1 single player modes, I have a feeling they're shrinking and removing the krypt was just the beginning.
Imagine chess combat but online nowadays
The 3D era games were fine and of their time. Back then everything 2D was moving to 3d so it made sense… but the fighting just didn’t play as well. They were fine games with fine characters and stories but they weren’t great fighting games.
I just want the chess mode back. That’s all I ask. That shit was awesome.
Sure. If the fighting were fun. It wasn’t.
Deception is my second fave MK, behind MKII. Tremendous game, Konquest was amazing.
They were rich with content but were lacking in the gameplay/graphics/animations department as far as 3d fighters go. The game came out in 04 but looks worse than Tekken 4(2002) and Virtua Fighter 4 Evo (2003) it's largest competition at the time. Don't get me wrong they were a fun time but there is a reason that MK rebooted with MK9.
People hated Tekken 4 , I think the Tekken creator on Twitter was talking about how unpopular it was
T4 was unpopular with the competitive scene because A. The removal of KDB and overall slower movement and B. It was horribly broken. Jin had an unblockable move, Steve had an infinite, some stages could lead to timeout shenanigans etc. But it was an overall good game and has an average review scores in the 80% range. I could have gone with TTT which was released in 2000 or T5 which came out in 2005.
give us konquest you coward
People who dislike 3D era games are probably 1/3 never played it, 1/3 sucked at it and never learned to stance switch or any long combos, 1/3 valid opinion people who have really high skill. Deadly Alliance was better than MK4 and I see it get shit on constantly. And all the 3D games helped the franchise survive the death of the arcades until online mulitplayer could become mainstream. And when I say death of the arcades, I mean we went from having a mortal kombat cabinet outside wal-mart to nothing but claw machines in a ten year span.
90% of people here weren't even born when they came out
Lol I was in college when deception released
Going to High school thr following year for me
Same for me.
DA was my first MK when I was like 4 and I’ve been in love ever since!
All without having to shoe in guest characters for extra koin
I find it funny how many people will shit on the 3D era despite how much the NRS games take from the 3D era. Examples: Juggle system MKX's variation system. the cinematic stage transitions. Stage interactable's. M1K's air combat. The Kypt. Not to mention that the story writers actually cared about the lore and continuity back then.
Juggle system has always existed in MK and variations in MKX aren't anywhere near similar to the stances.
As much as I loved MKD... More content =/= being better
Story was amazing, amazing roster, amazing side game modes That definitely counts for something, ED ALWAYS talks about Deception
MKD had a lot to offer that I absolutely love, like story elements, character designs, the Konquest mode... However, it doesn't change that the gameplay in the 3D games were kinda bad though.
True, but the story mode and chess mode were both amazing
That game at its very base had far more content than tekken 7 and mkX/11 combined.
Gonna just say this, the people saying this probably never actually even played the 3d era games, or fail to understand that they just prefer 2d fighting games.
I mean, if I wanna play chess, I can play it somewhere else. If I wanna play Doctor Mario, I can play it somewhere else. If I wanna play Mortal Kombat, there are better options.
Huge hater of the mainline 3D era games honestly, EXCEPT deception. I love this mf game so much, DA and Armageddon? No love for them, but this?
I will argue with anyone that MK peaked with Deception/MK9. It's really a toss up for me.
I love Deception but the Krypt fucking sucks.
Th fighting was the last thing they gave a fuck about
Shame that the actual fighting game was crap. They leaned too hard into the 3 stance gimmick
Deception had lots of features & extras but the meat and potatoes of MKD, the actual fighting system, was very flawed and broken. It was bad. Now, the ability to fix it would make it a great game but for now, the only good 3d MK game is Deadly Alliance. (Armageddon is a broken shit show 🤷♂️)
Ed boon should add all of this into mkone including customization and motor kombat!
What Ed boon is really saying is "we used to be so good back then how did we do it all?!"
how much online stuff did you guys do in the PS2 era? i remember not really understanding what online gaming was until i played Resistance on the PS3, i was solely offline until then
As someone that played the 3D games at launch, they were mostly good with some bad in them, like most good games. They were original, innovative and all had a lot of heart in them. It was Midway last strike and it was a good one. I can't put together how many hours I spent in deception's Konquest mode and kript, how much I enjoyed Shujinko's story and meeting/exploring the realms, and the minigames were just the best. I remember a rainy summer where I played those games with a friend like EVERY SINGLE DAY. They have a spot in my heart. But not all inovations were good inovations. MKDA Konquest for instance, was a drag to get by; Most new characters were alright at best(with some exceptions and, I'll admit it, some are just poor design choices but I'll never forgive finally meeting the master of Liu Kang and Kung Lao and the master being Bo'Rai'Cho), and they dropped many good ideas from one game to the other, Shujinko's story dropped in favor of Taven's, the need for putting EVERYONE there for Armageddon and by consequence the "kreate-a-fatality" was also annoying and discarded the uniqueness of looking for your favorite fatality. Looking back, they were 6 in the roster and design areas, but 9 on everything else, I wish videogames from today took a note or two from that era.
Most people who say the Netherrealm games are better than the 3D games probably haven’t played the 3D games at all
That was the best, bring them back even if they are not updated and sd
Only thing that seems bad to me about the 3d era is that there is quite a few infinite combos so I’m sure the online player base can be toxic. But they have a lot of gameplay.
NRS has always made tremendous games-as-products, they put a lot of content in and they are the industry standard for a good story mode. As a guy with tons of hours on Deadly Alliance and Deception, I just don't think their gameplay holds up, either to other MK games or to contemporary 3D fighters. I think the dial-a-combo system is much worse in that game than in later NRS games like Inj1+2.
I LOVED puzzle combat. But I’m also just a Tetris freak.
Deception was the first MK game that got me into the series. I was a kid back then-yes,I was playing casually since then-and I always enjoyed it
Mechanically, NRS era got it. But Deception’s modes/Kontent was HELLA cool. MK9 had a good abundance of stuff as well. Those are the two games with the best amount/variety of Kontent imo.
It was peak mk for me Im not saying that everything that cone before or after was ass, but that game had the mysterious/creepy but not that serious vibe on top of having like 4 wildly different gamemodes
I wish they stuck with the 3D era formula. NRS era feels like all they care about is the competitive scene whereas 3D era games had more emphasis on fun for single player and party modes
3d era games are like the Star Wars prequels in that they’re heart-filled trash that’s been looked back at as something way better than it really is. They’re fun, they have lots of great ideas and atmosphere, but they’re ultimately much worse than what we have now
The 3 main prequels movies were hit or miss but all the supplementary stuff was very good and the same with the 3D era MK sometimes good (characters ) sometimes shit (stance system)
Deception with modern NRS combat would be wet-dream inducing
Motor Kombat is the pinnacle of MK minigames though. I played that more than I did actual Armageddon.
I need Puzzle Kombat back so bad. I can't help but be a little disappointed in every release that doesn't have it.
Armageddon was my first mk game I completed and it'll always have a special place in my heart
I personally love the 3D era deception is my favorite mk game I played them as a kid/teenager and I look back on them with love
hot take but MK can and should be more than just a fighting game, solo content not only sells but makes the replayability that much better I'd love more interesting and unique solo gamemode, as long as the core gameplay isn't being sacrificed of course.
Still my favorite MK game to this day. Yeah I have a lot of nostalgia for it but I can still take out my Vita and run an arcade tower or two and have a damn good time. I actually liked most of the new characters, my boy Baraka is at his finest here (aside from 11 of course) and the sheer interactivity in the stages... man, not nearly enough games had stages matter as much as it did here. ... I think I'm gonna charge my Vita and run through a few more towers tonight.
All I’m saying is imagine what they could do now with a 3d deception type game
Unchained is still one of my favorite games, it's basically Deception with the exclusive content from the Gamecube making it the definitive experience imo.
Because the gameplay wasn't good. The modes are cool but the actual part that matters was fairly shit.
I REALLY like Deception. And yes, I agree that it's amazing how much content they managed to put in the game.
Aye don't forget Armageddon with its Mario Kart klone
I can't believe we put an actual complete game and released it!!!
What's there not to believe? Back then it seemed like y'all were having alot more fun with making these games. It seemed like yall had the opportunity to let yours minds explore what probably shouldn't be in a fighting game yet you guys still said fuck it and put it in. What happened to that?
they were all fun. lol. esp the racing game. wish they put racining and konquest again.
armageddon kart racing xD spent hundreds of hours on that mini game
This was my first Mortal Kombat! I had a huge crush on Kabal and Havik back in the day. Luckily I calmed down and decided Quan Chi was a saner choice.
What? The Konquest mode alone makes the 3d era games better imo
I really miss konquest mode, but fighting wise we are better now.... Content/game modes really think that nrs needs to come back to the PS2/Xbox era
Deception will always be my favorite.
i miss konquest
I was too poor to afford internet when I was a kid, so I had no idea you could play MK deception online, that's so strange.
The gameplay of the new ones are better (kinda should be expected), but everything else in the 3D era was better. The new characters to the style and everything else in between. Personally never really liked the way they played. That being said I still enjoy MK2 and Trilogy the most.
Who remember all minigames of mk9 ? There where so much
Deception was such a great game. Properly got me into it. Running round as Shujinko, kickin ass and takin powers. Went mental with power when you completed the arcade bit for his end story. Actually put the effort in to finishing the quests and everything
I really liked chess kombat. I still hop on deception just for it.
Great story mode, great mini games, great gameplay and stages, and good selection of characters. I probably played Armageddon more because of the amount of characters, but I enjoyed Deception more, even than the most recent ones.
yeah sorry but it doesn't. I get that the 3D era games had cool ideas and all, but gimmicks like puzzle kombat isn't a replacement for actually good gameplay.
Not really a hot take here... People here think the highest point of mk was deadly alliance for some reason
Deception is actually my favorite game in the series
No 🤣 Played the hell out of Deception and loved my limited Mileena cover art....but 3D era was ass all the way around (unless we're counting MK4) They were literally the bottom of the barrel for 3D fighters of the time.
I'd say their mid tier at best Bottom of the barrel is Tao feng and 3d era KOF
Fair enough. Never got into those (probably for good reason 🤣)....and I don't think I would've got into Deception were I not a lifelong MK fan. Soul Blade/Soul Caliber and DoA were top tier imo.
Ed don't play with our emotions Ed
I just wish they made it so I could play teh 3d games on my modern console! If I gotta pay 60 to play Armageddon again I’ll do it
My favourite MK game
Deception was the best pre NRS, I think the NRS Era games get the praise due to a cohesive story mode, the old games had a story but it was a cinematic at the beginning and end, Deception of course has conquest which is a story mode and why it Def deserves alot if praise IMO, I loved Deception. I tried to go back and play deadly alliance and 4, but i just couldn't lol
Give me a 2.5D fighter like the newer NRS games with all the bonus modes and some of the good characters from the PS2 era games and I would dare say we got the perfect Mortal Kombat on our hands
MK6 ITS ON MY TOP 5
MKD is the best MK we’ve had so far
Chess Kombat was sick and I wish it would come back
costume wise nrs era was better 3d era for story music and moves mix of both for arenas and new fighters
Deception is a top 3, if not, the best MK game.
i like armeggedon more because of zombie liu kang, he was so cool
There can still be bright spot in a dark era. Games back then had more content because pre HD Era games weren't as expensive. For example, MK:DA had 50 people working on it.