Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
This is now the third Mortal Kombat game for the arcade I've reviewed. I have to admit, I dragged my feet a bit when deciding if I should play this or not. The series (at least the arcade version of the series) has not held up well over the years. I reviewed the original Mortal Kombat back in 2015 and it got a D. I reviewed Mortal Kombat II in 2018 and it got a D-. And those were the Mortal Kombat games I remember really enjoying as a kid.
Why didn't I like them? A myriad of reasons. The top reason is the computer AI. They made these games tough on purpose - so you'd keep pumping quarters into them. Unfortunately, this doesn't translate well to the home experience. It makes it more frustrating than anything else. I also found the games incredibly limited. Fighting games have never been my favorite genre. You play them for five minutes, and you've essentially seen everything the game has to offer. Maybe you can extend the life of these games playing with a second player, but I didn't have the luxury of doing that when reviewing these games.
Mortal Kombat 3 was never my favorite of the original games. If I didn't like the first two, playing them in modern times, what was I going to think of this one? Luckily, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. They took some of my concerns about the previous Mortal Kombat games and worked to make this one a little bit more accessible for people looking for a good single player campaign.
Before we dive in too deep, I should note that this is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which is a revamped version of the original MK3 for the arcade. I was actually hoping to play the original game for review purposes, but unfortunately the original MK3 is not included on the "Arcade Kollection" I have for PS3. It's just I, II, and the "ultimate version" of III. I guess it is good that they put the best version of the game on the collection, but I have to admit I was curious to play the original version of 3. Oh well.
Story:
After losing the battle in Mortal Kombats I and II, Shao Kahn has decided enough is enough. He takes the fight to the Earth realm. Playing as one of the game's combatants, you fight through your competitors as you make your way to the final battle with Shao Kahn.
Each character in the game has their own individual storyline, but honestly I wasn't paying too close of attention. Their story segments are explained through little snippets that play when the game is waiting for you to begin playing. So you just have to sit there for 20 minutes not pushing any buttons if you want to see everyone's little story vignette. Totally not worth it. I watched maybe three or four of them, and then I decided to start playing.
I guess I was a little curious to see why Shang Tsung and Mileena were fighting against the Outworld forces, but not curious enough to wait around and find out.
Gameplay:
When the game starts up, you'll notice how you are offered several different difficulty tiers to choose from. For my first playthrough, I chose the easiest one, Novice mode. Took me an hour or so, as some of the fights at the end are really hard, but I was able to make my way through the game and defeat Shao Kahn.
I decided to try a second playthough with a different character. Went straight to Master difficulty this time. My understanding was that Master difficulty was just like Novice, except longer and with more fights. No, no. It's not just Master in name only. They crank that difficulty WAY up. I couldn't even make it through the first fight on Master difficulty. I probably gave it five or six different tries, each with a different character. Couldn't do it.
I restarted the game and picked Novice again. Tried to do some fatalities, but couldn't pull off a single one. When I got to the endurance stage where you have to defeat two fighters, I decided to call it quits. I turned off the game. I'd seen enough, and I had no desire to play any further. The whole experience lasted two hours at the very longest. I was done with Mortal Kombat 3. Remember what I said about fighting games not being my favorite genre? I'm just not a big fan, I hate to say. They don't hold any lasting appeal for me.
That said, I did enjoy this more than the previous two Mortal Kombat games. The difficulty is much more balanced and fair, particularly on the easier difficulty levels. Beating the game doesn't seem impossible anymore. Well, except for the Shao Kahn, Kintaro, and endurance fights. They are absurdly difficult. But I approached these as a challenge to overcome rather than a nuisance, and it made my eventual victory that much more fulfilling. When you beat the game, they even give you bonus stuff to unlock and extra enemies to defeat. It gives this game a shit ton of replay value. If you like this type of game, you can spend days and days unearthing everything there is to unearth.
As far as gameplay goes, not much has changed from the other MK games. Everything is pretty much the same, with the exception of added moves and combos. And of course there are new fatalities, too. The massive selection of fighters to choose from was nice to see. There's a character for every play style out there. Such a massive change from the first game in the series that had just seven people to pick from. The character list gets even bigger in subsequent games. I can't wait to tackle Mortal Kombat Trilogy someday. I remember playing the shit out of that game for the Saturn when I was a kid. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Is this game fun? I suppose. As always, it is better to play with two people. I have no one to game with, as usual, so I just played solo. I found myself having more fun with this than I did the previous two games in the series, which I NEVER thought I'd find myself saying. I've always liked MK3 the least of the original games. I guess this one is better because it is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Maybe if that Ultimate wasn't there I wouldn't like it as much.
Graphics:
This is the best looking of the original Mortal Kombat games. The animations are much smoother than what we've seen in the past. The characters are varied and diverse and fun to look at. I rotated through them each time I'd die, so I'd get to see them all. The blood effects are good. The fatalities are wild and over the top. I couldn't pull any of them off, but at least the computer used a few against me from time to time.
The backgrounds and the setting have always been one of my favorite things about Mortal Kombat. This game delivers on that front, with very well-designed stages. There are even multi-level stages where you can knock people through the ceiling, which is pretty cool.
This game won't win any beauty awards by today's standards, but you have to admit it looks pretty good considering its age. You can tell a lot of time and effort went into stage and character design, and it paid off.
Sound:
This game has good music. All Mortal Kombat games have good music. But it is lacking that catchy, memorable tune that would have put it over the top in the sound department. There is just nothing that stands out to me. I just wrapped this game up yesterday, and if you asked me to hum a tune from this game I would be able to do so. In one ear and out the other, I suppose.
You've got the usual spot-on voice acting though. "Round one... fight!" "Fatality." "Toastie!" "Get over here!" You can definitely recognize that this is a Mortal Kombat game from sound alone. I've got nothing to complain about here. It all sounds great, as always.
Overall:
I had a better time with this than I did with Mortal Kombat I or II. That's indisputable. The quality of life changes, such as the improved enemy AI and the different difficulty tiers were a welcome change. Graphically, the game looks good. There are a ton of characters to pick from and a ton of stages to fight through.
That said, I don't like fighting games. There is just no way around it. Even though I liked it more than the other Mortal Kombats, that doesn't mean I thought this game was great or super fun or anything like that. It's fine. It's okay. For a fighting game.
I'm glad I've knocked out all the Mortal Kombat games on the Arcade Kollection for the PS3. I bought this thing like 10 years ago and I can finally say I'm done with it, and delete it from my hard drive. That's not exactly glowing praise. I'm sure I'll visit the home console versions of Mortal Kombat at some point in the future. Now those I loved as a kid. But the arcade games are just not great. They were fun for the time they were released. It was always exciting seeing one of these units out in the wild. Unfortunately it just doesn't translate to a great home experience.
Congrats, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, on being one of the best arcade versions of Mortal Kombat out there. Now get the hell out of here so I never have to play you again.
THE GRADE:
C-
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
>HERE<
No comments:
Post a Comment