first off, this is a thread i started based on a (probably rhetorical) question i received in another thread, which was how did i beat it the game on max. so i got the idea to start this thread (which hopefully hasn't been done before) which will be a place where more experienced players can post basic strategies and fighting techniques that can be used by newbies to improve. newbies can also ask specific questions here. if this has been done before, i apologize.

the first thing you should do is get to know a character you like. i advise you to take advantage of the practice mode, as it is actually a valuable feature in the game. play around with the attacks that accompany each style. for convenience, i think it would be helpful to refer to the attack buttons as 1, 2, 3, and 4. the change style button i will call 'cs' and the special move button (r1 on a playstation 2) will be 'sm'. this way this will make sense to anyone regardless of which system they're using. start in their first style, and press 1. chances are, it will be some kind of punch. now try pressing 1 while holding each of the 4 directional buttons to find out how those can change the attack. for example, if you're playing as sub-zero, pressing 1 will punch them, whereas b-1 will do a strong elbow strike. do this for all the attacks in each style, including the weapons stance, until you've got a feel for where different attacks are. you don't have to learn all of them by heart. that will come with more experience.

next, you should learn some combos. for this you can either look at the moves list in the game or you can just try to figure them out. i recommend at first trying some of the shorter ones in the moves list and playing around with those for a little while. after a while you'll begin to see how combos are made up and you'll begin to figure out some of the other combos in the list without looking at it, as you'll begin to realize how different attacks are strung together the best. this is really key to being good at mkda, because you've got to have the right attack or mini combo at the tip of your fingers right when you need it. if you block an attack, you can't stop to think which attack to hit them with and what the button combination is, because by then they'll have either blocked your attack or hit you again. you should ideally get to the point where you know what's going to happen if you hit a certain button combination before you hit it.

now if you havn't made it into arcade mode yet, you should do that at this point. you can even do the previous steps in arcade mode, but sometimes it's nice to play around without having to worry about defending yourself at first. in arcade mode, you'll have the opportunity to practice two other really important skills: blocking and sidestepping. sidestepping is probably the less complicated of the two skills, since timing is really the major issue, and that comes with experience. blocking is a bit more involved. the thing you've got to be aware of is that whenever you attack, there is a certain period of time which varies in length, depending on which attack you used, before you can block. this gives your opponent time to retaliate, or if you were the one blocking the attack, time for you to counterattack. understanding this is very key, as i've learned from fighting my brother, who always complains that it seems like blocking doesn't do anything. you have to realize that you can't block immediately after an attack, which makes gameplay more realistic. you can't punch someone and block at the same time. you also have to realize that high and mid attacks require a high block, whereas low attacks require a low block. for instance, impales require a high block. if you block an impale low, you're going to get impaled. if you block a sweep high, you're going to get swept. this applies to all the attacks in a particular combo as well. if you wanted to block a combo that rayden performs where he hits twice high with his staff, then sweeps it at your feet and then hits overhead, you will have to hold block and remain standing through the first two attacks, but hold down momentarily while he sweeps low to block that attack, and then release the down directional button to return to a high block position to block the final attack.

if you can block most of the things that your opponent throws at you and can launch effective attacks, then you should be on your way to beating the computer. try to figure out what works and what doesn't. for instance, if you're playing as kenshi and the computer is walking towards you and you want to do the telekinetic slam, the computer probably isn't going to fall for it. you might get lucky, but a better way to do this kind of thing is to figure out a way that the computer will either not be as likely to be able to block or cannot block at all. so you might want to either wait until it has done a special move which will leave you that instant where they aren't blocking, or do a combo like 1, 1, 1, b-2, which will end in an uppercut which sends your opponent flying in the air. once you've become good at executing moves like the telekinetic slam, you can do it on them before they land after that uppercut, which means there is no way for them to block it. this is how longer combos are created and when you get to that point, you will be an advanced player.

hopefully this helps some of the players out there. as i said, this is mostly for people who are either just starting out or people who are having a hard time fighting the computer or friends that are a bit better than them. if you're experienced, please don't reply saying that everyone already knows this stuff, because i'm pretty sure that not everyone does, and you should look in the nice thread that's been up for a while about advanced gameplay, which i've also posted to.

that's all for now. good luck. :)