Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

"A Mortal Kombat that does felt a bit Ultimate"

It's good to look back and find a well worth playing title on an old retro console that nobody nowadays would play. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Sega Genesis is that game and is also that good too. Like the Super NES port of the same name, this game is a 16-Bit home port of the arcade upgrade of the original MK3. Like the Super NES version, it was released on the same day and within the same year which also follow by a Sega Saturn release. So let's see how spectacular this Genesis port of an arcade fighting title make the translation.

Graphics:

Not bad, though like the original MK3 game before it, the low-res washed out backgrounds also made it to this game but most of the little details of animations like flying litters, swirling torches, and flickering lights did make for some great effects. Also like the Super NES port, because of cartridge limitation, not very much of every visual remains faithful to the arcade, all the palette swap characters now share identical animations, sprite, moves, and even fatality as well. Unlike the Super NES port though, the Genesis version does kept a few of the returning MK3 stages alongside the five new ones so that's a plus and all the blood and gores from the arcade did turn out to be more intense here then what they were in the Super NES port such as the Brutality which when execute correctly would actually execute your opponent to explode into a pile of body parts which is faithful to the arcade game unlike the smoke explosion of its Super NES counterpart.

Music/Sounds:

Since this is a 16-Bit game after all, there aren't that many music tracks from the arcade game here so don't expect to hear a few in this port such as the blue portal theme or the street music. Also like the Super NES port, again despite cartridge limitation, Shao Kahn no longer announce character's names nor is Forden making a Crispy! or Frosty! shout though they do still tend to encourage the player during a match from time to time but in much minor tone. Also most of the characters in the game also share a few voice shouts and screams such as Sindel, Sonya, and Kitana and many of the palette swap ninjas as well. Even with all the missing musical tunes, the songs and mood that did get spotlight in are still very good to hear.

Gameplay:

Like Mortal Kombat 3, this is the same game but with more characters and better features. For one you could no longer corner trap your opponent with roundhouse kick like you would in the previous entry, most of the returning characters like Stryker and Kano were also given new moves and some were strict down to balanced the game a bit such as Stryker who now had delays in performing his grenades which prevent player in doing the cheap grenade trick in MK3. Like the arcade version, all the characters from the arcade games are here minus MK3's Sheeva so if you are not a fan of the four arm lady Shokan, you had nothing to be disappoint.

Also like the arcade game all the blood gushing finishers also made it here though a few minor ones such as Scorpion's Hell Riser and Kitana's Poison Kiss fatality had being altered due to memory limitation and the absence of Animality could be a bit of a push over but the level of violence in this game had risen even higher with the introduction of the Brutality finisher. Though with it comes the problem, the new finishing move is so very difficult to master, even by using a movelist wouldn't help as much so it all relies on how fast you could button mash it to work. It's also quite a bother that you had very little time to do a finishing move since the game play is faster which makes the finishing moment that much shorter so if you are planning to execute a finishing move in this game, you must had the input memorize before the end is near.

Also another minor issue is the controller function, there's an awkward setup for playing with a three buttons controller but players who want an arcade perfect control setup might want to used a six-buttons controller instead. Unlike the arcade game, the A.I. here is fair at best, they could be cheap when they want to be but rarely do I find that annoying and the two final bosses are also challenging to beat so the game is fairly balanced, not perfect but also not annoying.

Replayabilities:

Like all home ports of a fighting game, there are tons of extras and secrets to uncover with this title. There's the two new modes of play such as the new 2-on-2 Kombat Mode and the 8-Man Tournament Mode from the arcade game as well as the default single player mode not to mention three secret character and bosses to unlock, multiple ending stories to unravel, and a truck load of hidden kombat kodes to discover. With all these hidden features you'll have endless hours of nonstop fun and entertainment and like the Super NES version, this port also had a number of gameplay glitches both good and bad so there are a lot to mess with in this game.

Is it worth your money?

Maybe, that is if you are a die hard MK fan or if you just love playing a close to intense version of Ultimate MK3 on your home console or want a perfect on the go brawler for your portable Sega Genesis Nomad handheld. Anyways, the Sega Genesis version is almost a direct carbon copy of the Super NES game so it's entirely up to the player to decide. If better visuals and sounds are what you are looking for, then you're better off with the Super NES port but if you absolutely don't care much about pretty stuff or the close to arcade perfect tunes and only care about the intense sheer of violence content and still had your Genesis or Nomad, then this could be the right choice for you. Even if you are not satisfied with this port, know that superior versions of this same game also existed for other home consoles and portable such as the Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, X-Box 360, and Nintendo DS.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/09

Game Release: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (US, 1996)