I have a long history playing fighting games and I am quite good at them in a general sense, but I have very little exposure to the Mortal Kombat series. I played the first one in the arcade a little, and 2 and 3 on my Genesis in the 90s, but that's it. It just was never my thing.

Well, my son got MK1 and I really want to play with him, but I feel like I struggle with, specifically the B, F (or U, D) motion. I do great with all the quarter (and the rare half) circles since that is what I am used to, and I am getting comfortable with the unusual way combos are entered (all at once ahead of time rather than in time with the animations), but Back Forward still really messes me up. Feels silly, but I just can't.

I tend to prefer rushdown mix-up style play; I played through story mode and thought Li Mei felt the best, but so much of her greater combo game is built around the fireball and Chain Reaction. I can do great stuff with the lantern, air flip kick, and her dragon punch equivalent lion kick, but I am like 50/50 at best on these stupid Back, Forwards.

So, I know the answer is "get good" to a degree, but are there any characters I should consider instead who maybe don't have a back, forward or who aren't so reliant on them for their bigger combos?