Just got back to beloved MK Trilogy, since years when I was a kid. :D

Now something about the AI makes me wonder. Does the computer cheat, like recover faster than the player character and having "the right" to get his attack through when both of us do the same attack at the same time? The computer seems to "mimic" what I do, and it almost always gets to make his attack when I run up to him and try a combo or a throw. I try to throw, he throws me. I wait, duck and try to uppercut, he ducks and immediately uppercuts me. It makes the combat feel weird that the AI gets the privilege of his attacks overwriting mine.

Is this just how it was made, or is there something about controlling the character that I don't know, something about recovering from hits, throws, uppercuts etc? The game system is fairly simple so I wouldn't expect there to be stuff like that, but the computer seems to even visually get its bearings faster than me after getting hit, and its timing of jump punches countering my own is just ridiculous sometimes.

In other words - any strategy tips for fighting the computer? :D

Thanks. Any discussion would be superb.