How to Play Mortal Kombat

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: October 25, 2024

This wikiHow teaches you how to play any version of Mortal Kombat. While each Mortal Kombat game varies slightly from the ones before it, the basic premise and game mechanics of each one are similar. Keep in mind that the arcade versions of Mortal Kombat are more limited than many console- and PC-specific releases.

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1
Understand the basic mechanics of any Mortal Kombat fight. There are virtually countless things to keep track of in a fight, so start by paying attention to the main three:
- Attack — The act of outputting damage toward an opponent. This includes anything from basic, one-button strikes to combos and finishing moves.
- Defense — The act of blocking or evading damage from an opponent. This can include blocking by pressing the Block button, jumping over attacks, and crouching under attacks.
- Punishing — The act of retaliating to a sloppy, poorly timed, or blocked attack with an attack of your own.
2
Familiarize yourself with frame data. Frame data determines how long attacks take to start, how long attacks take to become available again after being executed, and how long a fighter is vulnerable after having an attack blocked. This is important to know because it will dictate when the best time to attack your opponent is. ^{[1]
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- For example, if an opponent has a high-frame attack and you have a low-frame attack, you can execute your attack while theirs is still winding up.
- Conversely, if you know your attack takes some time to wind up, blocking an opponent's shorter-frame attack and then punishing them with a combo during their recovery period is a good strategy.
- The negative block value—which is the amount of time an opponent needs to recover after having an attack blocked—must be longer than your combo's startup frame time.
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3
Know the Mortal Kombat basic moves. While much of Mortal Kombat's fighting is contingent on stringing together multiple button combinations, you can use basic moves to inflict a small amount of damage. Each of the following moves can be executed with one button press:
- Front punch
- Back punch
- Front kick
- Back kick
- Block
4
Know how combos work. To execute a combination attack (combo), you will press two or three buttons in a row. These buttons might be all attack-based, or they might include one or more direction-based buttons.
- For example, pressing Left - Right - Y while using Kenshi (Balanced) on the Xbox version of Moral Kombat X will result in the "Spirit Push" combo, while pressing Down - Back - X will activate his "Telekinetic Slice" move.
- In more recent Mortal Kombat iterations such as Mortal Kombat X, you can view a fighter's combo list by opening the menu while you have that character selected.
5
Know how fatalities work. Fatalities, which are finishing moves unique to the Mortal Kombat franchise, can be executed by pressing a fighter-specific group of buttons while positioned next to (close), three character-lengths away from (mid), or a full screen length away from (full-screen) the opponent once the announcer says "Finish him/her".
- Each character has a different fatality for close, mid, and full-screen attacks.
- A fatality's availability can depend on any number of factors including how many times you hit your opponent, what attacks you used during the match, who won the first match, and so on.
6
Play the campaign mode if it's available. If you're playing a version of Mortal Kombat that includes a campaign mode, try playing through the campaign (specifically the early levels) before you try to compete. This will ensure that you have a guided, general understanding of the gameplay mechanics, and it will introduce you to a couple of Mortal Kombat fighters with whom you can get comfortable.
- The difficulty curve in Mortal Kombat can be brutal, so don't give up if you don't immediately pick up the basics.
7
Use any available tutorials before initiating a match. Some game modes or situations include tutorials; while you can usually skip these, you should go through them to learn the mechanics of the character and/or game mode you'll be playing.
- Many versions of Mortal Kombat include a Practice Mode or Training Mode that you can use to play around with each character without taking damage.
8
Select an easy-to-play fighter. The best beginning fighters will vary depending on your selected Mortal Kombat game, but you should always look for a character whom you had fun playing during the campaign or the Training Mode.
- Starting characters such as Sub-Zero and Scorpion are popular choices for new players. ^{[2]
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- You can check out a ranked list of people's favorite characters to play at https://www.eventhubs.com/tiers/mkx/ if you play Mortal Kombat X.
- Each character in Mortal Kombat X has three variations, so make sure you look at the different versions of the character before deciding on one.
9
Test each of the fighter's moves. The main categories of moves you'll want to learn include the following:
- Normal attacks — Press each of the one-press attack buttons to see how quickly your character executes basic attacks.
- Combos — Review your selected character's combos, then press the required buttons to execute the combos.
- Fatalities — When playing in Practice Mode, get your opponent down to the health needed for the announcer to say "Finish him/her", then position yourself near the opponent and press your character's fatality button combination.
It's significantly easier to master one fighter than it is to use several fighters, so try picking one fighter and learning all of their moves before you try playing competitively. ^{[3]
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11
Practice with your selected fighter(s). Once you've established a specific character (or set of characters) with whom to play, practice until you don't have to think about the combos before using them. While you'll most likely lose matches often when you're first starting out, practicing with your strongest character(s) and move-sets will eventually pay off.
- It's best to stick to playing against the computer in Practice Mode or Training Mode until you have a friend with whom you can play.
- If you're playing against a real person, try to play in split-screen mode rather than online. This will prevent factors such as lag from impacting your experience.