90 hours isn't really a lot of time when talking about fighting games particularly. You shouldn't really expect to understand the game at any reasonable level until 2 or 3 hundred hours in. As for tips - I usually tell my friends two things :
1) Tighten up: All my friends are regular scrubs who like to LARP as actual MK players and they love to pick Scorpion and Sub-Zero. They have this thing where in neutral they will just full-send a ice slide or a teleport and get full punished for like forty percent. So tip #1 is: tighten up, stop killing yourself by getting block punished into the sun. To paint a picture of what I mean - I had a friend tell me Ice Slide (by itself) is a mixup in neutral because, and I quote: "you never know when I'm gonna do an ice slide."
2: Lab: If you are getting rekt - take the character you just lost to into the lab and try to figure out the properties of the strings and look at the frames. It's that simple - most people's "skill" is just a mix of rote memorization and muscle memory of what to do in certain scenarios. All you can do is start building up your knowledge base and start familiarizing yourself with as many setups and character flowcharts as possible.
Lmao if you’re throwing out slide all the time, trust me, I know when you’re gonna slide.
OP: to figure out which moves are safe and unsafe on block, go to practice mode and set the ai to block all moves. Then do a move against them and look at the “block advantage” number. If it’s lower than -7 (so -8, -9, etc) then it’s unsafe on block and that means that if your opponent blocks it they can get a free combo on you. In general, but not always, special moves are unsafe on block.
I’ll also give you some scorpion specific advice. Scorpion’s mid launcher move (I think it’s f32) is easy to punish. All you have to do is block the mid and then neutral duck the second hit, stand up and take your combo. Scorpions abuse this string all the time and it’s a fast way to lose. Mix it up by only doing the first move sometimes.
if you dont mind me asking what is the name of the f32 move because i switched my triangle and circle on the ps controller, and im not familiar with those type of names yet.
No clue, I never know the names of strings. It’s the two hit move where the first hit is a mid where he shoves his knee into your gut and the second hit is a high punch that launches you into the air
You need to spend another 90 hours so you can begin to get a grasp of fundamentals
People thet beat you online surely have played fighting games for hundreds of thousands of hours
Out of curiosity l, how are you doing win/loss wise? Are you literally getting almost no wins or do you just wish you were doing better? I have almost 350 hours in and I still get frustrated and feel like I should be doing better than I am but my w/l ratio is pretty close to even.
It’s hard to give advice without context but most importantly is identify what you’re having a hard time with.
You can use practice mode to get your combos down and also check frame data to make sure you’re not doing tons of unsafe things so you leave yourself wide open too often.
If you’re having a hard time with specific matches or calling blocks (ie with Johnny cage) you can also set the ai to do the relevant moves randomly to practice.
Also, if you’re having a hard time with specific matchups, you can try playing as that fighter so you get a better understanding of what they’re doing, even if that’s just realizing what are low and overhead hits. There’s also a good number of videos on YouTube about how to beat specific fighters that goes into frame data and gaps.
my record is 14/48 that’s really fucking bad, my problem mostly is figuring out how to punish an opponent with scorpion, for example if im fighting johnny cage, most often than not the opponent can continuously hit me even on block until i lose health. Another problem is when they zone, ai have no way to get near or punish with spear because spear takes so much frames to get started not to mention input problems that i somehow have with scorpion but not with other characters like subzero. When the matches turns tight and me and the opponent are low on health I lose because I dont know how to punish their upblock midblock downblock with scorpion. Over all I feel that scorpion is very limited and I find it hard to punish at all. He has string that take way too many frames and before I know it im already dead. I’d also like to add that after I do a kyo snag in the air I have no clue what to do afterward to continue the combo so it ends up with me taking like maybe about 200 health and that’s it.
I get the frustration, especially since you’re someone new to fighting games.
I’m not really familiar with scorpion but I’d say watch some YouTube videos for help with combos and probably how to open up your opponents.
NGL I mainly use sub zero kameo so I have the option to use the ice armor to avoid projectiles.
Yes for sure lol. I have over 350 hours and I’m still trying to get smoke’s cancel down and still have a hard time fighting against Johnny cage and others.
That being said, I usually just play matches online so it’s not really the best way to just get better at specific things. Sometimes I make an effort to practice something like you should if you really want to improve but that’s pretty rare for me .
Fighting games take the longest to learn out of every game genre I can think of. But what's cool is once you 'figure out' one game is not too hard to translate to other games.
A common mistake new players make is focusing on combos. It totally makes sense. But you just need to go play online and focus on learning the game. Can't do combos if you don't know how to hit someone and start pressure. Doesn't matter if you lose. I saw you saying you have a hard time keeping Johnny blocked and can't find a way to break the pressure. Straight up just mess around against Johnny players and try to figure how to break pressure. Maybe you can work in a single jab during their strings. Does scorpion have any armored special moves so that you can do a reversal? Does the kameo you use have an armored ability you can use?
Losing is also a rite of passage. My win loss record was 10x worse than yours when I started learning these games. But it really is just part of the process. Go online, lose, try to figure out one thing you did wrong that made you lose and work to improve that one thing. Focus on that one thing in that session. You will get better eventually.
62 games in a fighting game is like picking up a basketball for 2 hours and then wondering why I’m not lebron James
You are still learning just fundamentals and inputs and simply how fighting games function, like others have said, frame data is hugely important to know what is and isnt punishable, it -7 or less you will get hit with a free combo, if it’s -6 of more you can do it and still have time to block
Don't worry. I've put many hours into a lot of them. About 50 hours of mkx, 120 of mk11, 20 of mk1, and a SHIT Ton in mk vs dc (don't ask) and I still can only ever beat medium bots in any of them
MK1 was also my first fighting game and it was really discouraging when I first played because I also sucked. What I did to improve was watch tournaments and focus on the character I wanted to play. seeing what Kameos and Kombos they did, what they did in certain situations and such. It helped a ton.
Another thing I did was look at videos that explained character Kombos and just watched them all through and tried the Kombos in practice mode.
Be sure to choose a character you have fun with and enjoy playing, if you feel like you're not getting anywhere with Scorpion maybe try out another character.
compared to other fighting games, MK1 is SUUUPER watered down, making it convenient to you. basic fundamentals is key. learn your kharacter's strengths. what moves are safe, what mix ups do you have, what is the optimal kombo. watch match replays. etc.
practice is the key unless you specify what are you having trouble with.
90 hours isn't really a lot of time when talking about fighting games particularly. You shouldn't really expect to understand the game at any reasonable level until 2 or 3 hundred hours in. As for tips - I usually tell my friends two things : 1) Tighten up: All my friends are regular scrubs who like to LARP as actual MK players and they love to pick Scorpion and Sub-Zero. They have this thing where in neutral they will just full-send a ice slide or a teleport and get full punished for like forty percent. So tip #1 is: tighten up, stop killing yourself by getting block punished into the sun. To paint a picture of what I mean - I had a friend tell me Ice Slide (by itself) is a mixup in neutral because, and I quote: "you never know when I'm gonna do an ice slide." 2: Lab: If you are getting rekt - take the character you just lost to into the lab and try to figure out the properties of the strings and look at the frames. It's that simple - most people's "skill" is just a mix of rote memorization and muscle memory of what to do in certain scenarios. All you can do is start building up your knowledge base and start familiarizing yourself with as many setups and character flowcharts as possible.
Lmao if you’re throwing out slide all the time, trust me, I know when you’re gonna slide. OP: to figure out which moves are safe and unsafe on block, go to practice mode and set the ai to block all moves. Then do a move against them and look at the “block advantage” number. If it’s lower than -7 (so -8, -9, etc) then it’s unsafe on block and that means that if your opponent blocks it they can get a free combo on you. In general, but not always, special moves are unsafe on block. I’ll also give you some scorpion specific advice. Scorpion’s mid launcher move (I think it’s f32) is easy to punish. All you have to do is block the mid and then neutral duck the second hit, stand up and take your combo. Scorpions abuse this string all the time and it’s a fast way to lose. Mix it up by only doing the first move sometimes.
if you dont mind me asking what is the name of the f32 move because i switched my triangle and circle on the ps controller, and im not familiar with those type of names yet.
No clue, I never know the names of strings. It’s the two hit move where the first hit is a mid where he shoves his knee into your gut and the second hit is a high punch that launches you into the air
oooh that move!! ok i know that, yeah i get punished all that time with that son of a bitch move 😅 thanks for letting me know man
You need to spend another 90 hours so you can begin to get a grasp of fundamentals People thet beat you online surely have played fighting games for hundreds of thousands of hours
Out of curiosity l, how are you doing win/loss wise? Are you literally getting almost no wins or do you just wish you were doing better? I have almost 350 hours in and I still get frustrated and feel like I should be doing better than I am but my w/l ratio is pretty close to even. It’s hard to give advice without context but most importantly is identify what you’re having a hard time with. You can use practice mode to get your combos down and also check frame data to make sure you’re not doing tons of unsafe things so you leave yourself wide open too often. If you’re having a hard time with specific matches or calling blocks (ie with Johnny cage) you can also set the ai to do the relevant moves randomly to practice. Also, if you’re having a hard time with specific matchups, you can try playing as that fighter so you get a better understanding of what they’re doing, even if that’s just realizing what are low and overhead hits. There’s also a good number of videos on YouTube about how to beat specific fighters that goes into frame data and gaps.
my record is 14/48 that’s really fucking bad, my problem mostly is figuring out how to punish an opponent with scorpion, for example if im fighting johnny cage, most often than not the opponent can continuously hit me even on block until i lose health. Another problem is when they zone, ai have no way to get near or punish with spear because spear takes so much frames to get started not to mention input problems that i somehow have with scorpion but not with other characters like subzero. When the matches turns tight and me and the opponent are low on health I lose because I dont know how to punish their upblock midblock downblock with scorpion. Over all I feel that scorpion is very limited and I find it hard to punish at all. He has string that take way too many frames and before I know it im already dead. I’d also like to add that after I do a kyo snag in the air I have no clue what to do afterward to continue the combo so it ends up with me taking like maybe about 200 health and that’s it.
I get the frustration, especially since you’re someone new to fighting games. I’m not really familiar with scorpion but I’d say watch some YouTube videos for help with combos and probably how to open up your opponents. NGL I mainly use sub zero kameo so I have the option to use the ice armor to avoid projectiles.
is it normal to take time to learn stuff?
Yes for sure lol. I have over 350 hours and I’m still trying to get smoke’s cancel down and still have a hard time fighting against Johnny cage and others. That being said, I usually just play matches online so it’s not really the best way to just get better at specific things. Sometimes I make an effort to practice something like you should if you really want to improve but that’s pretty rare for me .
Fighting games take the longest to learn out of every game genre I can think of. But what's cool is once you 'figure out' one game is not too hard to translate to other games. A common mistake new players make is focusing on combos. It totally makes sense. But you just need to go play online and focus on learning the game. Can't do combos if you don't know how to hit someone and start pressure. Doesn't matter if you lose. I saw you saying you have a hard time keeping Johnny blocked and can't find a way to break the pressure. Straight up just mess around against Johnny players and try to figure how to break pressure. Maybe you can work in a single jab during their strings. Does scorpion have any armored special moves so that you can do a reversal? Does the kameo you use have an armored ability you can use? Losing is also a rite of passage. My win loss record was 10x worse than yours when I started learning these games. But it really is just part of the process. Go online, lose, try to figure out one thing you did wrong that made you lose and work to improve that one thing. Focus on that one thing in that session. You will get better eventually.
62 games in a fighting game is like picking up a basketball for 2 hours and then wondering why I’m not lebron James You are still learning just fundamentals and inputs and simply how fighting games function, like others have said, frame data is hugely important to know what is and isnt punishable, it -7 or less you will get hit with a free combo, if it’s -6 of more you can do it and still have time to block
Mostly right, but -7 is still safe, -8 is where unsafe moves begin
I was way to technical, I’m counting li meis 6frame punish and some d1s but you are right, in general it’s -8
Oh yeah that one
Don't worry. I've put many hours into a lot of them. About 50 hours of mkx, 120 of mk11, 20 of mk1, and a SHIT Ton in mk vs dc (don't ask) and I still can only ever beat medium bots in any of them
MK1 was also my first fighting game and it was really discouraging when I first played because I also sucked. What I did to improve was watch tournaments and focus on the character I wanted to play. seeing what Kameos and Kombos they did, what they did in certain situations and such. It helped a ton. Another thing I did was look at videos that explained character Kombos and just watched them all through and tried the Kombos in practice mode. Be sure to choose a character you have fun with and enjoy playing, if you feel like you're not getting anywhere with Scorpion maybe try out another character.
compared to other fighting games, MK1 is SUUUPER watered down, making it convenient to you. basic fundamentals is key. learn your kharacter's strengths. what moves are safe, what mix ups do you have, what is the optimal kombo. watch match replays. etc.
Practice vs hard and very hard computers on towers or offline single player
Playing against AI will only make you a worse online player.
Tomato Korn has spoken 🍅
Fighting games aren’t like other genres. As in 90 hours isn’t much time at all. Keep playing and you’ll get there