The Best Characters for Beginners for Mortal Kombat 1 on Nintendo Switch

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Raiden

The former Thunder god is one of the best characters for first-time players. Taking over from Liu Kang as “the chosen one,” Raiden retains his usual lightning powers and the beloved “Superman Fly” move, but he’s become much easier to play with.

He is faster than usual, and his special moves and strings are easier to execute. He has access to various solid strings, including his overhead chop. Raiden is a fantastic jack-of-all-trades type character, meaning he’s perfect for new-time players and has a ton of fun moves.

Liu Kang

While Liu Kang might be the Fire god now, he is still a solid fighter and a good pick for players, no matter how new they are at the game. He’s got some of the best projectile attacks in the game, and his basic strings have a launcher that can be used to extend kombos multiple times. 

Liu Kang can deal a lot of easy combo damage, good zoning, a solid neutral game, and his Dragon Tail move is fast and acts as the perfect combo ender. Getting used to his moves doesn’t take long, making him perfect for first-time players.

Baraka

Given his status as a fan-favorite character, the developers decided to give him more love and flesh out Tarkatan. While he no longer has the easy projectile moves of his predecessor, he’s significantly more brutal, making him way more fun.

He can deal incredible damage, and his combo timings are easy to figure out. The Baraka Barrage is his most important move, allowing him to deal 30% - 35% damage through kombos. And that’s without Kameos. 

Li Mei

After many requests, Li Mei is back with a ton of kombos and tools that will have your friends sweating once you figure out how to use them. Her strings are solid, low, and pop up opponents for kombos. She has decent projectile attacks, and her special moves are a lot of fun to execute and watch play out.

Her minimal overhead moves make her a bit basic, but this is easily compensated for through Kameos. Her lantern is a brilliant mechanic as it increases the damage dealt in kombos and acts as an anti-air tool, which is helpful given the jump-focus nature of the game.

She’s simple, making her the best choice for first-time players, but she still has access to a few fun moves, including aerial projectile attacks and epic-looking flips and kicks.

Johnny Cage

Johnny Cage has always been fun to play, given his numerous brutalities, amusing lines of dialogue, and various skins. The game developers poured even more love into his character this time around.

His basic moves aren’t difficult to master, making him perfect for a first-time player, though it does take a bit of effort to master the rest of his moves. His strings are as impressive and fun as ever, so learning his complex moves and various brutalities is worth the effort. 

He’s the perfect long-term character for those who stick with the game.