"A fighting game for anyone and everyone."

Intro:

Mortal Kombat is a great fighting game series. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a great way to enjoy it. Yeah, there is a Mortal Kombat 3, but Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a better, improved version. Skip the third one and play this one. It's a great fighting game you must try.

Game-play: 9/10

After inserting you coins and stuff, you will be greeted with an enormous character selection screen. Look at all those people. Most of them may be new to the series and most will be from previous ones. After selecting your character, you get to choose your destiny. No, you really choose it. It comes up to a screen where there are columns of people to fight. The shorter ones are easy, but if you think you can make it, go to the big ones and show them what it is all about.

Now you have entered the arena. Round 1. FIGHT! This plays like most fighting games. High/low punches and kicks. Use them against your enemy. There are also some special combos and projectile attacks, but you must really study to game to learn how to do those. Sometimes, they happen on accident. If you really like the “High Punch” button, you'll love doing uppercuts. Everyone new to this series will just use uppercut attacks over and over because it looks cool and it hurts. You have to hold a button to block, but what's up with this “run” button? It makes you move faster, but holding that button to go faster made me die faster. Who really needs it when walking seems to be the best way to do it? Well, the fighting is very entertaining. Even though it's 2D, it can still contain some nasty things.

For those who study the history of video games more than playing them, Mortal Kombat used to be one of the most violent games around. That makes it GOOD! Bloody, bloody content is the juicy stuff you'll get from here. Once someone gets whooped to death on the second round, the screen will say “FINISH HIM/HER!”. Time to do something gross. Something scary/gory/bloody/funny will happen to the loser. Heads can get sliced off, toxic acid can get rid of flesh, people can fall into lava, or you can be a wimp and just do a simple attack. Each character has a fatality or two. They look gorgeous. The many things that can happen are great. People can get punched through ceilings. Or they get go through one and fall back through it. This is a great fighting game. Enjoy it!

Control: 7/10

Move the joystick, press the buttons, and be confused. The only problem is that the buttons are in a bad order. The block button is in between all of the attack buttons and the RUN button is almost under the joystick. Otherwise, the controls work well.

Sound: 10/10

Funny, annoying, creepy, and strange at the same time. It also makes you glad that you know how to insert coins into the arcade machine. After the coin goes in, you hear a very funny sound. Sounds like some guy is saying “Whoohie!”. It really sounds like the “H” sound. Then throughout the fight, you hear some other guy do evil laughs and saying “Excellent!”. Whoever says all these stuff, THANK YOU! But there are funnier things to come. Play as Liu Kang and start going crazy. He is really annoying and funny! Don't forget the screams and hits.

Music: 10/10

When it's busy asking you to press start, there is some creepy music, but it's not that bad and it fits the game. The character select screen has pretty good music too. When in combat, I'm not really sure, but it's a lot better than any of the music you hear on PBS.

Graphics: 10/10

Bloody, bloody, bloody, gory, gory, gory, and more. It's too good for a 2D game. Look at all the blood flying around! Red blood, green blood, black… computer chip thingys? Depending on who is suffering, you will see something else fly out of them. Fatalities make everything look much better. Check them out.

Overall: 10/10

A nice arcade game makes everybody happy. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 makes your time at the arcade worth it. Sure, it's pretty old, but it's something fun and old.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/05