Jade always had the green nitro kick ever since MK2 I believe but yes they have made it more like Johnny Cages shadow kick. In MK3 Jade would turn completely green, almost like a green statue as she kicked forward. I think it is more suitable to Jade though since green is her signature color. Johnny Cage and shadow kick, they should never have modified it to what it was in MK:DA, it is supposed to be 'shadow', not green. You know what I mean?
Kira, I agree she shouldnt have had a mixture of Sonya and Kano attacks but I think they suit Kira so I won't complain.
But the worst case, is Shujinko and how he has a lot of classic moves from the classic characters that is just stupid.

I somewhat agree with you, somnambulist.
With Jade though, maybe she could have a different type of moving kick that's not so reminiscent of Cage's shadow kick.....like a sliding knee butt to the groin or something. I always thought a cool move for Jade would be for her to turn green and do sort of a "long-distance footsweep" like her leg gets really long or something.
Kira? I suppose her moves are fitting, but they're still Sonya's and Kano's. I think the best thing the MK team could've done in this case was to just have Sonya and Kano in Deception.
Shujinko to me is just another Shang Tsung or Shinnok. That's fine with me--I think every fighting game has SOME person who has everyone else's moves. And it fits his character because he's absorbed everyone's techniques from meeting them in his Konquest adventures.
I think the MK team needs some suggestions and one of these days, I think I'm just going to "snail mail" them personally and write down a whole bunch of move ideas and see if any of them actually apear in MK7--think they'll listen?
Space3999/ZYCHROY

tons of special move ideas have been posted in these boards. I don't see too many of them getting used though.
Moves like Kenshi's TK combo.
I posted that idea a few months ago here but for an old shaolin fighter.
He could do moves like when you blow out candles by punching towards them in the movies.
I don't know if they saw the idea and used it or came up with it them selves though.
Who knows...

No.

i don't mind them swapping moves around, so long as it makes sense why the character has that move. eg. kira/jarek were part of the black dragon.
But what i don't like is when they give characters moves that make no sense, like why the hell does tanya have invisibility and why does Kobra have a teleport move??? (i don't have the game yet so i might be wrong, but i think you get the idea)

i don't think any character should have the moves of another, regardless of their background or how fitting it might be. its a waste of potential and just a quick, cheap and lazy thing to do and shows a lack of imagination.
those who have one fight style from MKDA, ok, i guess thats fine, but those who have both from it? rip off. at least those who are like that have a their own moves for the most part.
as for kira, what a waste. the only thing original on her is her body/appearance. they should have left her out and made noob and smoke seperate players

Think in game-depth, what should be logical enough to explain a few things:
Kira may know, that Sonya is one of the Black Dragons and her deadliest enemies, so she studied one of Sopnyas moves. Blowing a blinding dust into an oppponents eye. How hard is to learn that one.
Shujinko, doesnt he have the power of copying anything that is used against him? Then, what is the main problem: they should at least give him one proper unique move, the copy the style and move can stay.
Shang Tsung: he can MORPH into anyone he sees. this means using his specials against him. A slightly more powerfull version of Shujinkos ability.
Both of them are great characters, they should stay and return.
I wont consider Shinnok, since his appearance was only temporary, and Midway wanted to get rid of MK4-s ghost. That is why so little is said of the events that occured in MK4. Shinnoks gone, and never to be senn again.
Jade-Cage: yeah, Johnny should have his black shade kick back from MK1. But the powerfuller red version could stay, and pop-in eventually du-ring a fight. Jades kick is not Johnny's, so that should cover it.
You would accuse Frost for having Sub-Zeros slide? She was his appren-tice in MKDA.
Whatever the point is, the only illogical copy is that, which does not comply with the possibilities listed above.
-What would a Shang vs. Shujinko match look like? I would love to see...

It is basically because they spend too much time on the Dial-a Combos.
So no creative output on the Special moves.
"Oh we don;t have time to do that, so lets use Such-and-Suches since they are not in the game."

I don't believe the intent on reusing certain specials from previous characters was done because the devs lacked creativity for moves. MK has a large following and just by looking at other threads you can see how loyal people are to their favorite characters. For me seeing Mileena finally hit a new generation console was awesome. Just to be able to use her increases the replayability for me.
So, for devs, you have limited space, knowing that people follow certain characters, and a need for something new how do you appease the masses and continue to make things new?
You set a fixed number of fighters, create your new characters, but in order to remove a character you have to give fans something of that character in return. For some its kinda like salt in a wound, some will like the new character more, and others or course will get irritated believing in a lack of creativity. Its to be expected to have these types of reactions.
IMO I think the devs have done well with this generations machines. Actually I think in total there are like 60 or so MK fighters
MK at least takes a step in trying something new with character design. Personally I think its a good idea. It leave opening for different story arcs based just on the mass number of characters. As for the specials I don't mind who has them, well unless the original character is in the title, as long as I'm not looking at 3 or 4 characters sharing the same moves in the same game I'm kool.

they spent time on the Dial-a Combos?

I completely agree!!!!
There are so many characters that clone original special moves making them look cheap and very unoriginal, and it all started in Mk2!!!
Kitana: She stole Sonya’s Wave Punch. It sucked to see that.
Smoke: A gray Scorpion.
Kintaro: Not entirely similar, but the teleport squish was originally from Goro.
I have to say that I hate to see Jade with Johnny Cage’s Shadow kick. And no, she did not have it in Mk2. It could had been like it was in MKT, but they made it exactly like Johnny cages.
I REALLY hate Kira stealing the kiss and cannon ball. She was looking so original. Even her alternate look is way too similar to Sonya’s MKDA look.
I also hate Darrius with Cyraxs kicks and the rest of the cast that stole special moves.
They really need to stop.

I think the most blasphemous 'move swap' is Scorpion taking the spine rip. Though, when I play as Scorpion and do it to Noob, I feel that its the perfect act of ironic retribution...

I AGREE!!! God, that has to be THE WORST fatality in the history of Mk....or one of the worst at least.
First, its a rip off, no doubt.
Second, it looks terrible. The spine animation is awful.
They really need to stop.

you may not like this but copy pasting shit is mk's trademark and i don't see it changing
look at the ninjas allt the way upt to mkt
mk4 simple reskinning
mkda moves, styles,
mkd seems like a very upgraded mkda

i think that they do a good enough job changing things up. Street fighter has ken and Ryu that have the same moves they've had since street fighter 2. except for maybe an evade move. Tekken gameplay is been the same since tekken 1. If you look at mk they always add new stuff.
Run button, dial a combos, weapons, 3 fighting styles, ring outs and breakers.
I think that having someone elses move is fine as long as its not in the same game.

I agree, as much as they need to stop copying and pasting, it's just not probably going to happen. You have to remember the MK team are quite lazy, so they'll just recycle moves of characters from a previous game. Look at how every single new character in MKD turned out. They all have at least one fighting style that a previous character who was in MKDA had. These is also the case for a few of the returning classics. I do, however, like Kobra having kali sticks and karate which has been renamed to shinto ryu and Hotaru with pi gua because these fighting styles seem to fit them perfectly. The rest should of gotten all new styles.

Jade had her shadow kick move originally in UMK3, when Johnny Cage had been out of the MK series for the past 2 video games, and they didn't see him coming back in the near future; plus the move was completely different she slowly turned green as she kicked.. If you watch the trading card on Kira, they SPECIFICALLY state that they wanted to make her a cross between Sonya and Kano; so you cannot be that angry at that. Frost's moves were a MAJOR move ripoff of Sub-Zero's; I think her plot is weak as well as her speicial moves. Smoke should be able to turn invisible, not Noob (because Smoke used to be able to in MK3, UMK3, and MKT); Onaga too, because he's in Reptile's body (so he should have some of his special moves). Tanya turning invisible was an interesting twist, and I wasn't too angry at it, because there are a few MK characters that could turn invisible and she needed a boost. I was VERY angry at Noob turning invisible and not Smoke, though; and what the hell happened to Noob's teleport slam? I can understand the deletion of his disabling orb, because it was SO cheap...but his teleport slam was CLASSIC! Ashrah didn't steal any moves: her heavenly light and Kai's downward fireball are a tad different: so no complaint there; and her hat is NOTHING like Kung Lao's so don't even comment on that! Shujinko - they just got lazy. Shinnok sucked! They at least tried to differ between Kenshi and Ermac's telekinetic movies: which was thoughtful. I was pissed that Kobra and Darrius have almost exactly the same moves in one of their fighting styles. Darrius stealing Cyrax's spinning kick was a tad annoying, but I ignored it, because I did NOT like Cyrax's movies in MK:DA, because they did not include his classics (NET, TELEPORT...they just came up with new ones)

Overall, the game aint so bad afterall. if you variate specials you soon realize, that each of them belongs to a certain category:
Charging attack (nightwolfs shoulder attack, Cages shadow kick, Sub-Zero cold shoulder and Frosts slide)
Damaging projectiles (Cages shadow bolt, Rayden lightningbolt, Li Meis projectile and Mileenas phantom sai throw)
Special projectiles (Scorpions spear, Sub-Zeros and frosts freezing abili-ties, Noob-Saibots weakening bolt in MKT alongside with rains waterball)
Mines and leftovers (frozen statue of Sub-Zero, Cyrax mines)
Teleports and teleport attacks (Rayden, Kobra, Ermac and Sektor in MK3/ MKT, and Scorpion decoy punch)
Specials cast on self (Kung laos spinning shield, Reptiles invisibility...)
the problem is, that the moves are tooo similar and look-alikes. Maybe it would have turned out better if -for example- Kira would jump out horizon-tally and bash her opponent with her head-Kano legacy, no? Shujinko and Tsung are both the opposite on how they do their copies, but the what they do is always the same. No problem with that.
Jades problem is that her kick is too similar to Johnnys. But then, i is not the same move, so basicly there is no point arguing over it.
The categories are fine, what Midway needs is a better show that the special puts on the screen. The cannonball should be left to rot with kano, and Kira could do that vertical spin and headbutt anyone. If this aint that original, than what is? And also if i remember right, jade were supposed to be invincible against projectiles or other stuff during his slide kick when she glows green.
The character designs in MKDA and MKD were better than any other MK except for the first two. It is a little sad, that they havent got the time to overthink their specials. plus, I think Frost was the best idea ever for the new enerational warriors. And to those that arent satisfied with her, what moves would you give her then? She is Sub-Zeros kori adept student, and except for the slide/cold shoulder, her new ground freeze was pretty original. pity, that she didnt get more moves...

I thought frosts moves were good, they didn't bother me at all.
They were similar but not exactly the same. Still there are many different moves that could be done with Ice powers.

Maybe it's me but Mileena and Frost weapon style look similar.
BTW Shujinko must die. What a lame idea. I really thought that Sub Zero was going to be the next Mortal Kombat champion.

Of course they look similar, since it is almost the same style Yuan Yang and Yin Yeung are both based on dual kicking attacks. The main difference is that yuan Yang bases more on those kicking tehcniques, while Yin Yeung is a sub-form of Choy Lee Fut.
Come to the Various martial arts used in MK thread, it would explain so-me of the similarities.
Oh by the way, yes, probably she could get more different moves with kori powers (Frost), but remember, if we ever see her again she will have dif-ferent specials. Boon is no fool, and he had a very good idea about that fighters special moves evolve (Sub-Zero ice clone was upgraded into the ice shield) (the ice clone was given back to him in MKD-probably becouse of the fans, and perhaps it has more possibilities for practical use, than the simple shielding)
what I said above still counts....