Collection essentials #368: Mortal Kombat Trilogy (PS1)

Here’s a very interesting release. Fighting games back in the ‘90s were almost always made for arcades, due to them being very multiplayer-focused and because arcade hardware was best. But Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a game made exclusively for consoles and never saw an arcade release of any kind, and it’s hard for me to think of any other popular fighting game series in the ‘90s that had a game like that. 

What actually IS Mortal Kombat Trilogy? It’s basically a third version of Mortal Kombat 3, releasing less than a year after the second edition, “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3”. And it kinda feels in a way like a love letter to the fans, because EVERY playable character from the previous Mortal Kombat games is included, INCLUDING the big bad burly bosses which normally aren’t playable! They included Noob Saibot and Rain who were previously selectable in just the SNES and Genesis ports of UMK3. Also included are four “classic” editions of characters from Mortal Kombat 1 or Mortal Kombat II with their original sprites, though they don’t play exactly the same. There’s even a secret character named “Chameleon” who transforms into the various male ninja characters at regular intervals. “Brutalities”, a new type of finishing move from the SNES and Genesis ports of UMK3, are included. There’s an optional feature called “AGGRESSOR” which gives a meter that builds the more a player attacks, eventually granting a damage boost. Many of the stages from previous games return, too. And some returning characters got brand new moves.

It might surprise you to learn that, at least competitively, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is more widely played and respected than Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Why would that be? There are various reasons, actually. One is that the game wasn’t really designed with balance in mind, as some characters are blatantly overpowered such as Noob Saibot and Rain. Another is that the game introduces an unfortunate number of glitches, such as one where a player may get the “AGGRESSOR” damage boost for the duration of the match even if the option for it is turned off. It’s worth noting that the “Greatest Hits” rerelease like the one shown in the photo did fix some of the glitchiness, though. The game plays faster than UMK3, and so fans who were used to the speed of the arcade machine aren’t thrilled with the speed change, and there a lot of them because back in the ‘90s most competitive players played in arcades rather than consoles. Another issue is that the game unfortunately has rather long loading times, so you need patience to enjoy it. In contrast, the arcade version of UMK3 as well as some of its ports have basically zero loading times. Personally, I feel like Trilogy was designed more for casual fun than competitive play, and that’s okay as far as I’m concerned.

When I was very young and interested in Mortal Kombat without access to the internet at home, I was eager to learn more about the series and didn’t know what Trilogy was for a long time. I saw the name “Mortal Kombat Trilogy” in a cheat codes book and became aware of its existence, but didn’t know very much about it. Then, in 2003, shortly after I got my PlayStation, I’ll never forget the day I saw it for sale at the now-defunct Movie Gallery in my hometown of Belchertown, Massachusetts. I looked at the back of the box, saw the character select screen…and my mind was BLOWN!! Look at all those characters!!! It wasn’t very expensive, so I nabbed it, and the copy you see in the photo is that very same one I found that day. I spent so much time with Mortal Kombat Trilogy back in the day and enjoyed seeing all of the large variety of content it had to offer. It scratched a very big Mortal Kombat itch that I had.

Nowadays, Mortal Kombat Trilogy is still a great choice for casual classic Mortal Kombat fun. The best way to play is probably the PC version available for purchase on gog.com, since it drastically cuts down on loading times from the PS1 original. Even if it’s not the best version, this PS1 release is one I spent a lot of time on and has a strong nostalgia factor going for it, making it an easy choice as a kollection essential.