Collection essentials #336: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)

I’ve talked about Mortal Kombat 3 before, the SNES version. But this is the version I want to talk about more, since it was hands-down the best version of UMK3 released in the ‘90s. You can refer to that post to read more about some of the changes MK3 brought to the series.


The first Mortal Kombat 3 was very different from the previous two games in various ways, and one of those ways was the cast of characters. Many characters did not return for the third game, even really popular ones. The game decided not to include any ninja characters at all with the exception of the three “cyborg ninja” characters they introduced. Sub-Zero did return, but his mask and ninja outfit were gone, de-ninjifying him. The original Mortal Kombat 3 is the only main game in the entire series where the iconic character Scorpion does not appear.


So the biggest addition to UMK3 is the seven ninja characters, six of which are from past games and one of which is brand new. And as you’d expect with an updated version of a fighting game, there were gameplay tweaks, such as new mechanics (you can now start a combo from a jump attack, most notably), new moves for existing characters, and some edits to existing moves to balance the game a little. There are also new stages to fight in, which replace some of MK3’s original stages, but this is really just an aesthetic difference. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is considered by many to be the best classic Mortal Kombat game and is the one most widely played competitively in that category. 


This Saturn port is excellent and very close to the arcade original. If you compare it to the SNES and Genesis versions, the difference is night and day. The biggest flaw with this Saturn version is the load times, as you’ll have to wait somewhere from 8 to 14 seconds between fights, which is a lot compared to the arcade version where load times are practically zero. There are some little imperfections too, such as some stages not having the correct background music, and sometimes the announcer doesn’t speak when he did in the arcade original. But on the whole, this really feels like the same game as on the arcade machine, which is what you want in a port.


I went through a big Mortal Kombat phase in my teen years, and this port was one of the reasons I wanted a Saturn. The first Saturn I ever bought came with a bunch of games which included UMK3, which was one of my reasons for biting on that opportunity. And it didn’t disappoint! 


I was going to remark how this port may be kinda obsolete, since UMK3 has been ported a couple times to newer consoles without the load times. However, those ports aren’t so accessible now, since they were digital only on a previous generation of consoles where the online stores are either gone or barely working. So Saturn UMK3 is still a very viable version to consider. For me, it’s a no-brainer collection essential.

 

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