Within the FGC itself, Mortal Kombat (and Injustice) aren’t particularly popular. It’s definitely the least popular of all the major fighting game franchises. Casual players seem to really like it though, what do they see in it?
The graphics are brutal and flashy, and it’s easier to pull off combos than in something like Street Fighter.
And the biggest one… MK games usually have a full and dedicated single player story mode.
Mortal Kombat’s popularity among casual players may come from its characters, brutal and gore combos, fatalities,graphics and fun. Storytelling and character designs can be better for casual players than for the competitive side. Its very satisfaying to me as a casual player.
I may just be an old fart, but hasn’t MK always been kinda shit? I mean, the first four had literally nothing to distinguish the characters from each other except the special moves. No matter who you chose, they had the same hitbox, and the exact same basic moves.
Then they decided to move away from that model with the fifth one, Deadly Alliance(?), and the new engine was so clunky, laggy, rigid and wooden that I gave up on the series altogether. It just wasn’t fun to play.
Has it actually improved since then? Are the newer iterations actually playable?