Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

"Average fighter, fun Nomad game though"

Like many people, I was into the orginal MK and MK2 but lost interest after the third installment. Still I picked up this game for $6.99 at Blockbuster to play on my Nomad, and while it isn't the best fighter by far, it's still a decent romp once in awhile, especially on Nomad.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was the upgrade to the original MK3, adding new stages and characters from MK2 in the mix and a few new moves. You get to select from 23 characters, though many, like Rain, Noob Saibot, and Ermac are simply pallet swaps and are pretty worthless. Missing in this conversion is Sheeva and a few backgrounds, namely the Clock Tower and the Graveyard. All the finishers are present however, including fatalities, babalities, friendships, mercies, animalities, and brutalities.

Graphics: 7/10
Pretty good for Genesis, looks even better on the small Nomad screen. Most of the animation seems intact and although the characters aren't huge, they are well defined and the backgrounds match the arcade pretty well. The fatalities are also here in there bloody glory.

Sound: 7/10
Very good. Grunts and screams are present and accounted for and the music is very well done too. Still, nothing really stands out.

Gameplay: 5/10
The gameplay is arcade perfect, but doesn't mean much. Most gamers nowadays have moved on from the MK series' style of play of jump kicks and lame dial-a-combos that do heavy damage. Then again, if you love MK3's gameplay, give it a 10.

Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 6/10
Like all fighters this game has more replay value than most, but the one player game is hampered by the fact that the CPU is incredibly cheap when you get to about the fourth opponent. It will counter and block and combo your ass with uncanny precision, making beating the game nigh impossible. As a two player game, it's fun, at least until you see all the fatalities. If you can find a cheap copy for your Nomad, pick it up.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99