Mortal
Kombat 3
STORY: Fed
up with continuous losses in tournament battle, Shao Kahn, who had lost to Liu
Kang in the Outworld tournament, enacts a 10,000 year-old plan. He would have
his Shadow Priests, led by Shang Tsung, revive his former Queen Sindel, who
unexpectedly died at a young age. However, she wouldn't be revived in the
Outworld. She would be resurrected in the Earthrealm.
This would allow Shao Kahn to cross the boundary lines and reclaim his queen.
When Sindel is reincarnated in Earthrealm, Shao Kahn reaches across the
dimensions to reclaim her. As a consequence of his action, the Earthrealm
becomes a part of the Outworld, killing billions instantly. Only a few are
spared, as Raiden protects their souls. He tells them that Shao Kahn must be
stopped, but he cannot interfere; due to his status, he has no power in Outworld,
and Earthrealm is partially merged with Outworld. Shao Kahn has unleashed
extermination squads to roam throughout the Earthrealm and kill any survivors.
Also, Raiden's protection only extends to the soul, not to the body, so his
chosen warriors have to fight the extermination squads and repel Shao Kahn.
Eventually somehow every human on Earthrealm comes back.
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Mortal
Kombat 3 vanilla character select screen.
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REVIEW: After
the tremendous success of Mortal Kombat 2, MK3 certainly had
high expectations from fans. With the absence of several MK staples like
Raiden, Johnny Cage and Scorpion,
many fans were immediately put off by MK3's character roster. MK3
also lacked the trademark "palette swap" ninjas of the series...
replacing them with a new trio of palette swap "ninja-robots"
instead, those being Cyrax, Sector, and Smoke.
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Heeeey, my fireball has a
face too! ^o^
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Midway made radical gameplay changes to MK3
as well, adding new combo mechanics that many players just didn't take to. The
combo system was also a bit too complex to enjoy for casual players, requiring
the memorization of not only special moves, and Fatalities, but several 5 to
6-hit "dial-a-combos" per character. If players didn't memorize these,
they would become easily beaten against a player who did (since these combos
took off huge chunks of life). Most of the new combos looked pretty cool at
least, but ultimately made for simpler and more linear gameplay.
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Heat seeking
missiles versus ice hadouken.
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Graphically, MK3 didn't innovate as
much as
MK2... but the game looked cool. Some of the animations were
definitely laughable
(especially those running animations), but others were done fairly well. The
mixture of computer-generated and hand-drawn elements stood out strangely in
some areas, notably during the new Animality Finishing Moves (possibly the worst
idea ever in the franchise). Animalities morphs a character into a single
bright-colored animal that proceeded to maim their opponent. This new finisher
was shunned in arcades by even the most devoted MK fans... it just looked
retarded, and didn't make any sense considering the game's generally more
serious reputation and storyline.
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| Page Updated: |
July
26th, 2024
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| Developer(s): |
Midway
Sculptured Software
SNES / Megadrive
Eurocom
Saturn
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| Publisher(s): |
Midway
Arcade
Williams Entertainment
Ports
SCEA
PC
Sega
Saturn |
| Designer(s): |
Ed Boon, John Tobias
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| Platform(s): |
Arcade, SNES, PC, Genesis, PS1, Saturn, Mega Drive, Game Gear, Game Boy,
Sega Master System
(Brazil only), PSP
(in Midway Collection)
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| Release Date(s): |
Apr.
15th, 1995
Arcade
Oct. 13th, 1995
 SNES
November 1995
Game Boy
1995
Megadrive/Genesis
Oct. 7th, 1995
PlayStation
November 1995
 PlayStation
June 14th, 1996
 PlayStation
1996
PS1/Saturn/Game Gear/Sega Master System |
| Characters: |
Liu
Kang, Sub-Zero, Sonya
Blade,
Kung
Lao, Jax,
Sektor,
Shang
Tsung, Cyrax,
Sindel,
Stryker,
Nightwolf,
Sheeva,
Smoke,
Kabal,
Kano,
Motaro,
Shao
Kahn
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Featured Video:
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| Related Games: |
Mortal
Kombat 3 Ultimate, Mortal
Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 4,
MK Gold, MK: Deadly
Alliance, MK: Deception, MK: Armageddon, MK Trilogy, Mortal
Kombat VS DC Universe, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal
Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal
Kombat 1, Samurai
Shodown 3, Darkstalkers 2, Fatal
Fury 3, King of Fighters '95, Savage
Reign, Street
Fighter Alpha, Marvel Super Heroes, Killer
Instinct 2, Darkstalkers
2, Fatal Fury 3, Tekken
2, World Heroes Perfect, Samurai
Shodown 3, Street
Fighter: The Movie,
WeaponLord |
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Gameplay
Engine
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7.5 / 10
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Story
/ Theme
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7.5 / 10
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Overall
Graphics
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8.0 / 10
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Animation
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7.5 / 10
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Music
/ Sound Effects
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7.5 / 10
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Innovation
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6.5 / 10
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Art Direction
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7.0 / 10
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Customization
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5.0 / 10
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Options / Extras
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7.5 / 10
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Intro / Presentation
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8.0 / 10
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Replayability / Fun
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6.5 / 10
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"Ouch" Factor
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8.5 / 10
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Characters
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6.5 / 10
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BOTTOM LINE
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7.1
/
10
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Review based on Arcade / PS1
version
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| Final
Words: |
Due to the insane success of the first two MK
titles, of course MK3 was going to be an insanely "popular" game by default.
I remember being in 6th grade when all the gaming magazines were talking about MK3
before it released in arcades... and once it did arrive, it certainly turned some
heads. MK3 was definitely a sharp looking game for the time (with a sharp
looking cabinet to boot).
However, the name "Mortal Kombat" alone doesn't automatically equal a good
game (contrary to what much of the casual audience seems to believe). However,
most serious fighting game players back then were smart enough to realize that MK3
wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
No
doubt a lot of returning MK fans pretty much hated
MK3 with a passion for various reasons... first and foremost, since it was missing many characters.
The "type-you-an-ass-kicking" combo system also didn't go over too
well. I actually enjoyed playing
MK3 casually for a
little while, but the game definitely felt a bit rushed and as if something was
"missing".
Hence... Midway released the sequel,
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, several months after MK3's release.
Thankfully, the sequel brought back many of the staple characters in the franchise and was a much more
complete and well-received game (basically what MK3 should have been).
~TFG
Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen
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