"we might be onto something here, our combos are REALLY groundbreaking!"
NKI Volume I, Act VII - Mortal Kombat Trilogy
NKI: Feel free to ask anything. Some of those videos are over 20 years old, but I'll try my best to remember the details.
NinjaGrinder: Well, one of my first questions is precisely when they were done. I
know they were recovered or re-released like in
2001-2002. They were posted on Gamecombos and that's where I knew them from.
Some people used to say "I thought these had been lost in time" and
stuff like that.
So, when did you
record them originally? Especially the ones dedicated to MK (volume 1)
NKI: Volume I was originally released in January of 2000, only on VHS tape, because I didn't know how to create digital videos at that time. The footage was mostly recorded in 1999, and perhaps a little bit in 1998 also. Between 2000 and 2001, I released Volumes II through VI on Gamecombos.com, then ran out of material for a while. So, in 2002 I digitized the VHS footage from Volume I and also uploaded that to Gamecombos.
NinjaGrinder: Cool, thanks. I really wanted to know that.
Now, speaking of the
VHS tapes. When you say they were released only in that format, you
mean you made several copies and distributed them to people who asked for
them, and then you promoted some sort of "tape-trading" or how did it
actually work?
NKI: Yeah, that's accurate. I mailed free copies of the VHS tape to a few different people around the United States, mostly just to my online friends who were into combo videos. I was also part of a small group of people on alt.games.sf2 who traded or sold VHS tapes of tournament footage and combo videos, so I added Volume I to the list of tapes I had for sale/trade. As you might expect, there wasn't much demand for this kind of stuff. In total, I think I only sent out maybe 10 copies of the VHS tape for Volume I, which is actually a good thing. Volume I had some decent stuff (the parts that I later digitized and released on Gamecombos.com), but overall, it was bad, especially the fighting game stuff, and especially compared to other combo video tapes circulating at that time, notably TZW and Skill Smith.
NinjaGrinder: Getting to mail 10 copies of your work is huge in my book. I can only
wish I'd been a part of something like that. Just the trading side sounds
awesome to me.
NKI: The VHS tape trading scene was fun, though some of the sellers were unreliable. I remember sometimes it took over a month to receive a tape. Sometimes the footage would be incomplete. Sometimes the video quality was so bad that you just had to guess the combo based on the sound effects. So, I am super grateful that we don't have to deal with that anymore.
NinjaGrinder: Oh, I hear you. It had to come with its challenges. How old were you in 2000? if you don’t mind me asking.
I was 19 and by 2001 I
begun recording some stuff for SNES MKII, just for fun and to show to some
friends who used to come to my house to play. I'd been playing MK since 93 and
reading Gamepro was what made me think I had to pull off the hardest or coolest
combos, so I was always trying out stuff whether at home or in the streets
(arcades).
I know you are
primarily a SF player, so what was your first brush with MK? How was it?
NKI: Nice. That sounds similar to my situation, too. I was 17 at the time. I don't specifically recall when I first played MK, but I think it would've been MK1 on the SNES. I remember being disappointed that it didn't have the blood and gore of the arcade and Genesis versions, but even so, I still loved the game. What really got me hooked was finding combos and glitches. It was like a never-ending treasure hunt, and it kept me coming back for more. It's kind of funny that MK is a competitive fighting game, yet I never played it competitively. Even from the start, I always preferred to play solo, just finding combos and glitches. MK1 was cool and all, but MK2 blew me away. The graphics, the sound effects, the voice acting, the announcer, the secrets, and just the overall aesthetics of the game were so good. That was also the first MK that I played in the arcades, and obviously the arcade version is much better than the SNES quality that I was used to.
NKI Volume I, Act IV - Mortal Kombat
NinjaGrinder: Oh yes, we were all blown away by MKII. It was insane. That's when I found out about Gamepro (they released an official, translated version for Latin America in ‘94).
I know some of us see
MK as a competitive game, but it wasn't as deep as SF, most people I knew saw MK
as a gimmicky game with no substance.
So, going back to the
videos, now that I know how you got into MK... What I'd like to know is, when
you started recording your combos and glitches, did you own the consoles/games?
Or did you borrow them from someone? I ask because we're talking about SNES
MK1, MKII, UMK3 (SNES and Saturn) and MKT (btw, are your videos based on N64 or
PSX version?)
NKI: I saved up one dollar at a time and eventually bought copies of MK1 and MK2 on SNES. My mom hated those games so much that she offered to pay me to get rid of them. Of course, I declined that offer. UMK3 on Saturn was a pirated copy that a friend gave to me. Shame on me for not purchasing a copy. MKT was the N64 version, which I had borrowed from a friend. If I remember correctly, he wasn't really into the game, and he said I could borrow it for as long as I wanted. A week turned into a month, which turned into a year, which turned into several years, and then after we moved to separate cities, I realized that I never gave it back to him. Whoops!
NinjaGrinder: That's really interesting. It shows you really liked MK.
Combos were there
since forever I think, but when it came to bugs and glitches, I remember trying
out stuff because of a magazine that used to run in Latin America, called Club
Nintendo.
Did you discover glitches
and weird stuff by accident at first, or did you learn about them in mags too?
NKI: The gaming magazines here in the US didn't contain much info on bugs (not that I recall, anyway), so in the beginning I mostly learned through friends. I vividly remember the first time someone showed me a bug in a video game. It was the minus world bug in Super Mario Bros for the NES. It was such a startling revelation, being able to "break the rules" of a video game, and I was so thrilled by it that I actively started looking for bugs in every game I played. So of course, the MK series was loads of fun, because there were so many bugs to be discovered.
NinjaGrinder: What a great answer, it sounds like you were really into it. Now that
I remember, maybe the first time I saw something weird in a game, was the
double decapitation with Cage in MKI.
So, now that you had
the games at your house, you knew the arcade and also knew about the existence
of bugs, let's go to the videos once again.
Did you discover the
SNES bugs early on and decided to tape them with the intention of showing them
up to friends, or did you start playing and as you record some sessions the bugs started to come up?
NKI: A lot of the SNES bugs were discovered early on, but for a long time I simply kept a mental catalog of all the bugs, with no intention of recording anything. It wasn't until years later, probably around 1997 or 1998, when I saw my first combo & glitch video (TZW's Video Volume 7), and that inspired me to create one of my own. Shortly after that, I started recording stuff with the intention of making a full-length video like TZW. Crazy to think about it now, but back then, combo and glitch videos were often more than an hour long. That was largely due to bad editing, with lots of dead time between combos, where characters are just standing still, doing nothing. I was certainly guilty of that too.
NinjaGrinder: So, in a way, you started out the same way I did. I hadn't thought
about recording anything, until I saw your videos and of course Sicdic’s. The
impact those videos made on me was different, since until that point, I had
always neglected Trilogy, even calling it "not a real Mortal Kombat game"
😆
What did you know
about MK's competitive scene back in 98-99? Did you hear about tournaments, or
players? I remember you were the first person I saw talking about Chicago
players. Of course, I was new to forums, the thought of overseas players and other FG scenes hadn't crossed my mind until then (2001)
NKI: Hah! I totally understand why you would consider Mortal Kombat Trilogy "not a real Mortal Kombat game". It feels like a half-baked mess that was slopped together and rushed to the shelves just to make money. But that's actually part of the reason why I loved the game. There are so many bugs, and they're so easy to find. I never really got into the competitive scene for MK, but did play UMK3 against some of the Chicago players at Midwest Championships 2000, and probably again the next few years after that too. They were rumored to be the best players at the time, and several of them were the actual game testers. I didn't have much to compare them to, but they were certainly a lot better than me. I don't think I won a single game. As you probably know, Midway Games was based in Chicago, and I remember hearing that Chicago arcades got all the new MK games way before anywhere else, since apparently the new MK games were publicly play tested there. That also probably helped strengthen the Chicago scene.
NKI competing in UMK3 at ECCXI in 2006!
NinjaGrinder: You're right, it was just a cash grab project, they tried to implement
stuff they couldn't in UMK3. But in the end, it's a glitch paradise. Not to
mention those insane combos only possible in that version.
I knew Midway's HQs
were in Chicago and I read they used to test their games in local arcades
first. But I didn't put 2 and 2 together until I actually began reading about
it in the forums. It makes sense that it had an impact on their scene and level.
Do you remember any names from the Chicago players you faced at MWC the first time? Did it make you want to go deeper into the game, or did you just stick with Capcom games?
NKI: I'm not sure if I ever knew the names of those Chicago players, other than one guy named Lex. I'm not even sure if that was his real name or his screen name. After playing against the Chicago guys and playing against some local people in my hometown, I realized that playing MK competitively didn't really interest me, so I stuck to Capcom games for competition. From my perspective, the MK series essentially became a 1-player puzzle game where the goal is just to find bugs and combos.
NinjaGrinder: That's a really interesting perspective. As for Lex, we still talk and
play from time to time on Fightcade.
What was your approach
or thought process when trying out or discovering combos? Did you learn them
from other people or was it you, just freestyling?
NKI: Ah, good to hear Lex is still around. It always makes me happy to hear about old-school players who never lost their passion for the game, even if that means just playing casually online once in a while. My approach for discovering combos in MK started with first just learning the basics from gaming magazines or from friends at the arcade. Once I could do the basic combos consistently, I spent many hours in training mode testing out everything I could think of, in a somewhat systematic way, going through each move one by one, and testing out the different properties or potential follow-ups. I tried to find big damage combos of course, but also short and interesting combos, or ones that just looked cool or had some element of surprise.
NinjaGrinder: And when you were recording combos or glitches, did you get any help
from a friend or someone, using the second controller for the opponent's
movement? For example, if they had to jump in order for the combo to start
(like in Cyrax air throw)
NKI: My brother helped with a few things here and there, but he didn't play fighting games, so I ended up recording most of that stuff by myself, controlling both characters at the same time. It took some practice, but it's doable. Funny timing on your question too, because just a few minutes ago I finished doing something similar, recording myself controlling both players in MvC2 for an upcoming video.
NinjaGrinder: Did volume I get released (digitally) before Sicdic's first MKT video?
NKI: My MKT stuff was digitally released around April of 2002. I can't
recall exactly when Sicdic's MKT videos came out, but I think his were some of
the first videos released on Gamecombos.com, so they were probably before mine.
NinjaGrinder: It's awesome to know you have an upcoming video, man. It's truly remarkable to see new stuff is found. Just last week ded from Bulgaria released some interesting UMK3 combos that were new to me at least.
And I hear you about
having to control both players at the same time, it was the only way to pull it
off back then. Kudos!
As for Sicdic videos,
they were released in 2001, so you definitely answered my question, thanks.
Do you remember seeing
them and noticing a difference in combo concepts back then?
Don't get me wrong,
your stuff was awesome and inspiring to me. It kind of led the way, so to
speak. But his combo ideas were just too ahead of its time. I remember asking
about a specific Sub-Zero combo and you were honest and told me you had no idea
how he'd done it.
NKI: Yeah, ded's latest UMK3 video surprised me, too. Excellent stuff, as always. Sicdic was ahead of his time for sure. When his videos were released, they opened my eyes to new possibilities, and also left me wondering how the hell he did some of that stuff. At that time, I was pretty much just focusing on Capcom games, but his videos renewed my appreciation for MK combos.
NKI Volume I, Act VI - Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
NinjaGrinder: That's nice. Did you ever talk or IM to him? What did you know about
him? I know he was primarily a Capcom player as well and used to hang out with
OGs like Watson, Valle. And I remember Mr. Wizard was involved to some extent
with the production of his videos.
I've always wondered
where he got his combo concepts from. He was linking moves nobody had thought of
before and even showings stuff what was properly explained only a few years
later.
NKI: Yeah, he was an OG that hung with the LA guys. I don't know much about him. Just that he was good at obscure games like MK and KI. I did meet him one time at Evo. The only thing that I clearly remember is that he was insanely good at air hockey. Like he played it professionally or something. He asked if I wanted to play an air hockey money match, and I said no thanks because I don't really know how to play. He then said something like "OK, let's play for my car. If you lose, you don't have to give me anything. If I lose, I'll give you my car." I thought he was joking, but he was totally serious. So, we played, and he smoked me in the most embarrassing ways possible. I didn't even come close to scoring a point. So, he kept his car.
NinjaGrinder: Damn that's a funny and cool story, thanks!
So, back to your stuff. Maybe it's a stupid question but I got to ask: are there any MK leftovers sitting around in a tape or digital file?
NKI: I don't have anything laying around. All the stuff that I recorded was all published back in the day.
NinjaGrinder: I had a feeling there wasn't anything left but like I said, I had to ask. So, what happened after all the material you had recorded was released? Did you still feel like going back and trying to find something new?
NKI: After I released all my MK material, I pretty much just focused on Capcom games. It feels strange to say, but I never had much desire to go back and try anything new in the MK games. Perhaps I had simply run out of ideas, whereas the Capcom games still offered lots of unexplored potential. That being said, I still enjoy watching the new stuff that's been released by various people over the years. Just goes to show that there was indeed a lot more to explore.
NinjaGrinder: Makes sense. And did you realize back then that your material had inspired people like me or Shock to release our own stuff?
NKI: I don't think I realized it until much later. You might have been the first to mention anything like that to me, and it was such an honor because up until then I had never thought of my material as inspirational. I thought of it purely as entertainment, and I assumed that at best, people probably just watched it once and then went on with their lives.
NinjaGrinder: Well, there's always someone who does it first. You and Sicdic made a
lot of people aware of what was possible in UMK3/MKT. Most players had no idea
the game had so much to offer and for them, it was entertaining indeed. But for
a lot more people (like me) it sparked the desire to show what we could come up
with. Some ideas were already established; some combos had been discovered and
tested out in arcades and console. But you guys inspired me to keep digging. I
just wanted to put Colombia (and South America to an extent) on the map. Then,
the idea started to evolve into "let's make people play, instead of just
watching combos" and I decided to run my first tournament. That was in
2004. And the last one I've done was in 2024! Editor's note: Last tournament in Colombia took place in November 2025
Maybe you weren't that much into MK at the time, or you might have not realized it. But make no mistake, you guys are indirectly responsible for the birth and evolution of the MK Scene in not just the US, but in many more places. I want to thank you for your time, your candid responses and for putting up with me on this one.
NKI: Wow, I'm truly honored. Thanks for all the kind words. You definitely put Colombia and South America on the map, and that's awesome to hear that you ran tournaments for so many years.
So, there you have it. I know CMVs are a lost artform and a lot of people don't know or care about its humble beginnings, but I'd been meaning to do this for a while. At first, it was just something to satisfy my own curiosity but then it quickly turned into something I deemed really interesting and worth posting it for everyone to see.
And yes, this is just the beginning. Next interview will feature none other than Sicdic himself!
what a great interview! NKI is legend among combo artists. happy to hear the guy is still around!
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely legendary status! Thanks for commenting, brother. Sicdic's interview is up next
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