Mortal Kombat II - Mame vs Arcade

[Wade]

I've been noticing some very frustrating things while playing MK2.  I'm hoping someone might be able to clarify what I'm experiencing.

At first it seemed like the CPU would "cheat"... I didn't know if it does (never played it much in the arcade) or if I was just a really bad player.  Well, after seemingly impossible things happened while playing the CPU, I finally played it 2 player, just to test what I was experiencing.

Well... I noticed that often, the game doesn't respond to my inputs.  For instance, I can be ducking and blocking, then let off the block button and hit high punch for an uppercut.  Well, if I do it too fast, the uppercut doesn't happen.  I also noticed this when doing something like a Forward-Forward-Punch move... but I just assumed I was hitting the joystick too quickly and the "center" wasn't registering.

Is this some kind of Mame lag (like the trackball lag that is VERY noticable in games like missile command and centipede)?  Or does the original game play this way too?

I'm starting to wonder if a lot of other games do it too, because I noticed I had a lot of problems with timing while playing old games at first.  Now I'm wondering if I just had to adjust to a timing change?

Also, for those who are good players:  It seems like there is NO way to block certain moves?  In particular, the throws, esp from the women characters.  Is there a way to block these moves?  Seems like I just have to avoid them or they throw me constantly, even though I'm blocking and ducking.

Wade

[IIOIOOIOO]

Throws being unblockable is pretty standard in just about every fighting game. Some offer countermoves, but they're supposed to be the offensive option to someone who curls up like a ball when you try to fight them.

However, I TOTALLY know what you're talking about with input latency in MAME. Try different game/boardset/platform specific emulators, which SHOULD have decreased latency in code, and report back on your results.

[Wade]

Related to gameplay...

How can I perform a throw?  Every once in awhile it happens by accident but I don't know what I did.

Wade

[IIOIOOIOO]

It's been a long time since I played any MK, but I'm pretty sure it's P+K. Go to www.gamefaqs.com for a more definitive answer, as well as move lists etc.

[madk]

My problem with MKII was that I always play it after a long bout of Street Fighter.  The Capcom games have a much looser control setup.  That explains why almost anyone can pull off a dragon punch.  MK requires a much more accurate movement.  So it may or may not be MAME..because I don't recall that same feeling in the arcade..but after a few minutes I get used to the feel of MK and usually have no problem pulling moves off.

[Aceldamor]

I  just played the hell out of it and it seems to play just like it did in the arcade for me....

to throw is towards your opponent and low punch

[Wade]

Thanks for the replies!  So it seems to be playing the same for you guys.  What about the example I gave where blocking and then doing an uppercut?

Thanks,
Wade

[Aceldamor]

I don't have the problem with the Block punch thing....sorry.

I can tell you that I have had a problem with the "forward, forward, hp" example you gave...that seems to be related more to joystick than rom though.  I found that my joysticks have a little more travel than I'm used to and I had to let the joystick pretty much come to center before belting forward again to get the "forward, forward" that your talking about.  I have happs comp. joysticks and I can hear the click when I let the joystick center.    Just a thought....

[BuZz880]

My cabinet is actually a MK2.  I played the original for a day or 2 then took out the boards and threw in my MAME PC.  I generally have the sense you need to be a little more precise on some of the combo moves but this was easy to get used to and all moves work.  I use a J-Pac as my keyboard encoder.

Also, I noticed later revisions of the ROM seem to play a fair bit differently than my original one.  For example I could *almost* footsweep my way through the first two levels without being hit but on the newer versions this is not possible.  It could be other things are different as well but like I say I only played the original a short while before the conversion.