Sorry for the long post. I felt inspired…
MK2, UMK3, MKD (one of 3D games), and MK9 are the games that IMO were the best (no specific order).
Off top, MK was NEVER a series meant to be tournament focused, so while SF was creating balance changes and iterating on the same titles with Championship Ed., Super SF, Hyper fighting, etc., MK just kept going creating new number titles.
Anyway…
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MK2 was 2D, and was probably the first tournament worthy game. Since then, there have been fan balance patches for that game, which are pretty fun, and run very well from what I’ve seen. With no over heads or combo breakers, the game was all about spacing/footsies, pressure, frame traps, and matchup knowledge.
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UMK3 is seen as the premier MK tournament title. Very fast. All about pressure. Killer juggles. It took what was good about MK2 game play wise to the next level.
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MKD was probably the best of the 3D titles (though it still had infinites and other broken tech), but that is just my opinion. Still though, it was hella footsie oriented as it was a bit slower than the previous 2D games, and frame traps were king there, as was finding optimal unbreakable damage.
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MK9 was NRS’s first attempt at making a tourney game. It also had it’s issues (like every game mind you), but what was really interesting about that game was that it took much of the OG MK feel (the 2D games) and layered a lot of the 3D MK stuff in there. If you know who Aris is, he liked MK9 to Tekken more so than SF, and IMO he was right.
Post 3D era MK games, really even the pre-3d era MK game but for different reasons, are WAY different than any other 2d fighter out there. They have their own feel, and were designed to be that way seeing that Ed Boon’s stated goal with the series is to make it as different from SF as possible. Today’s MK with combo strings, 3d hit/hurt boxes, and all the other bells and wistles that MK has that most other 2d fighter don’t have, just all add up to MK being a wholly different experience that other games…for better and for worse.
I say all this to say, if you are looking for MKX today to be ANYTHING like SF or KI, you are going to be disappointed. MK (and subsequently MKX) plays (literally) with a different set of rules. That doesn’t make it bad, just different. Not everyone likes MK games just for this specific reason, which is why there is a distinctly different crowd of players around MK who play just specifically that.
At it’s core though, MK is all about getting in and applying pressure by way of frame traps. Footsies and spacing is key to any FG, but the “real” fight in MK starts when you get in. If you are not hard core in to MK, you WILL get blown up by 50/50’s as that is why matchup knowledge is so important, and also where meter management comes in to play. Using your meter for armor is a HUGE part of MK9/X, which is how you blow through you opponent’s usually oppressive offense.