Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
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| Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Release date(s) | 1995/2006 |
| Genre(s) | Versus Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously, 8 players alternating for Tournament Mode (2 at a time) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Super NES, Sega Megadrive, Sega Saturn, Xbox 360 |
| Input | 8-way Joystick, Buttons: 6 (HP, LP, BLOCK, HK, LK, RUN) |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | Midway Wolf Unit hardware Sound CPU: ADSP2150 Midway Digital Compression System (DCS) - Amplified Mono Latest Game Version : Revision 1.2 |
| Arcade display | Raster resolution 400 x 254 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 32768 |
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. It is an update of Mortal Kombat 3 and was later updated into Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Midway has also released an online version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360. The game was released to the marketplace in North America accidentally on October 19th. It was then taken off, before being released officially on October 20th, 2006. A near arcade perfect-version of UMK3 also shipped with the premium versions of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the PS2.
Contents |
[edit] Characters and cast
UMK3 has all of the Mortal Kombat 3 fighters plus some of the characters that were left out from Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II:
- Jade (Becky Gable)
- Kitana (Becky Gable)
- Scorpion (John Turk)
- Smoke, robot form (Sal Divita). Formerly only accessible via a secret code in MK3, Smoke became a normal playable character in UMK3.
- Reptile (John Turk)
The following characters were hidden unlockable characters:
- Mileena (Becky Gable) - Unlocked by Ultimate Kombat Kode
- Classic Sub-Zero (John Turk) - Unlocked by Ultimate Kombat Kode
- Ermac (John Turk) - Unlocked by Ultimate Kombat Kode, he was rumored to be a glitched red ninja from the original Mortal Kombat game. His name comes from the alleged "ERror MACro" glitch. He is now a new playable character.
- Human Smoke (John Turk) - Unlocked by holding a special button combination after choosing Smoke (Mortal Kombat)
Hidden opponents:
- Noob Saibot (John Turk) - Although he was featured in the original MK3, he is no longer the palette swap of Kano but once again of a ninja. Like before, he is fought via Kombat Kode. Some machines known as Wavenet machines which were mostly placed throughout the Chicago area had a hidden code to play as Noob Saibot.
- Rain (John Turk) - Featured in the games opening montage, he is a fake hidden character that is not found in this game. He was meant to be a mock of song-artist Prince's hit "Purple Rain." Like the song, Rain is characterized by the bright purple ninja outfit that he wears. In the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo version he was playable. He also becomes playable in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
[edit] New to UMK3
[edit] Other mentionable changes
- New 2-on-2 kombat mode (similar to an Endurance match but with humans on both sides).
- New 8 player tournament kombat.
- "Chain combos", commonly called "dial-a-combos", can now be started by using a jump punch or a hop kick.
- Stryker now has a "rapid fire gun" special move added to his arsenal. His grenades have been given a delay which greatly tones down his ability to bombard foes.
- Kano now has a diagonal cannonball among his special moves.
- Liu Kang and Sonya have new knock-up dial-a-combos.
- On stages where the opponent can be knocked to the stage above it, knock-up dial-a-combos will no longer do this. Only regular uppercuts allow this to happen.
- A "toned down" Kabal, whose combos do less damage. Also, Kabal cannot perform his ground saw move after a spin. This makes little difference though as any moves performed on someone after the ground saw can be blocked.
- A "toned down" Sub-Zero, who can no longer create an ice clone next to the opponent to freeze him on the spot. If he tries, the statue will not form.
- Cyrax's air throw adds to the "combo meter."
- Sheeva's ground throw activates damage protection.
- Performing Liu Kang's bicycle kick special drains the run meter.
- Jax's projectiles have a longer recovery time.
- Both Sektor and Robot Smoke's Teleport Punch can now home in on their target.
- Sonya's MK3 Friendship, which had her waving her arms back-and-forth in a silly manner, is removed. Now she simply does her victory pose and a row of flowers grow out of the ground.
- Sonya's leg grab move adds to the "combo meter" and does reduced damaged after 3 comboed hits.
- Performing a roundhouse when your opponent is in the corner pushes your character out of the corner.
- Robot Smoke's spear is disabled after 4 comboed hits. Also worth noting, the spear actually comes out of the compartment on his chest, where in MK3 it was actually summoned from behind him.
- When Shang Tsung juggles an opponent with his fireball, there is now a minimum of two other hits needed before another fireball can be performed.
- Improved CPU opponent AI.
- Shao Kahn's Lost Treasures are added to when you beat the game.
- The "Select Your Fighter" screen no longer states which Kombat Zone is going to be used during the match.
- The original red portal background used for the "Choose Your Destiny" screen is now replaced with a blue portal.
- The character endings are only accompanied by text and your character's versus screen picture.
- The spelling mistake in Sindel's ending is corrected.
- The only bios featured are for Kitana, Jade, Scorpion, and Reptile (the ninja characters who weren't featured in the original MK3 and don't have to be unlocked via Ultimate Kombat Kode in this game). The bios and the full body portrait of each character from MK3 are removed. The bios that are featured use their versus screen portrait with text on a background of the battleplan/portal. Reusing versus screen portraits instead of having a unique full body portrait for each character bios to save ROM space was also done in the SNES/Genesis ports of MK3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy (which does contains bios for most of the characters).
- The storyline pictures and accompanying text have been removed (beginning with "These are the words of Raiden" and explaining the plan to conquer Earth and the Tournament warriors' struggle).
- An extra "Master" difficulty is added to the "Choose Your Destiny" screen.
- "Endurance Matches" return since last being featured in the first Mortal Kombat. Some matches have you face as many as three opponents in a given round.
- When Shang Tsung morphs, the name of the character he transforms into is now announced.
- During the game's end credits, when Dan Forden's image is shown, the "Toasty!" sound is now played.
[edit] Kombat zones
Including all of the original backgrounds from the Mortal Kombat 3, minus The Bank (which was removed), UMK3 includes several new backgrounds:
- Scorpion's Lair (Hell): This stage also contains a new pit fatality, where the opponent is uppercutted into a river of lava.
- Jade's Desert
- In a reference to his MK3 ending, Cyrax is seen stuck waist-deep in sand in the background.
- Kahn's Kave
- River Kombat
- Scislac Busorez (Blue Portal): A combination of the background from the UMK3 "Choose Your Destiny" screen, The Pit 3 bridge, and the mountains and bridge from The Pit II in MKII.
- This stage is added to the permanent level cycle when Mileena, Classic Sub-Zero, and Ermac are unlocked.
- When unscrambled, "Scislac Busorez" spells out "Classic Sub-Zero."
- Noob's Dorfen: An obvious knock-off of The Balcony stage, can now be played using a Kombat Kode unlike having to fight Noob to see it like in MK3.
- When unscrambled, "Noob's Dorfen" spells out "Boon's Forden."
- Smoke's Portal (Hidden Portal) - A combination of the background screen and the Pit 3 bridge, this stage is only accessible when the player is fighting CPU Smoke via Kombat Kode.
[edit] Layers
The following displays the Kombat Zones where a character can be uppercutted into different backgrounds.
- The Subway → The Street
- The Soul Chamber → The Balcony
- Scorpion's Lair → Kahn's Kave
[edit] Storyline
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is assumed to be the same as the Mortal Kombat 3 story, except with more added characters. Mortal Kombat Trilogy later overrides the UMK3 story.
[edit] Arcade vs. consoles
Like most Mortal Kombat games of its time, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 made its debut in the arcade. When it was ported to home consoles, it underwent several changes.
[edit] Sega Saturn changes
- "The Bank" stage is back.
- There are a few new Kombat Kodes, and a couple from the arcade do not work here.
- The Ultimate Kombat Kodes (to unlock the secret characters) have six slots instead of ten (probably in order to be performed with only one control).
- Alternatively, the secret characters can be unlocked via a secret options screen, which is faster than entering all three UKKs one by one (since the characters unlock cannot be saved).
- Noob Saibot is a shadow Kano as in Mortal Kombat 3, not a black ninja as in the arcade version of UMK3.
- Since the arcade intro is missing, Rain does not appear in the game, yet the message kombat kode "Rain can be found in the Graveyard" is still there.
- Shang Tsung can morph into Robot Smoke, which is not possible in the arcades.
[edit] SNES changes
- Animalities removed.
- Sonya's Friendship from Mortal Kombat 3 is used as opposed to her Friendship from the arcade version of UMK3.
- Brutalities are introduced, a new form of Fatality which allows the player to attack their opponent with a series of kicks and punches which result in the victim exploding, leaving a somewhat unrealistic amount of bones on the ground.
- Shao Kahn's treasure chest has only 10 boxes instead of 12.
- Ermac's Fatality is altered.
- Scorpion's Hellraiser fatality is different. He just takes the opponent back into the Hell stage where they just catch on fire and explode.
- Sheeva has been removed (although launching the "tournament" 8 -vs- 8 mode on the PAL UK version by holding the L+R buttons and pressing start on the title screen, and then selecting random characters by pressing up+start will in most cases select sheeva. The graphics data for this character is removed, but her moves can be performed such as teleport and fireball, meaning that she is effectively invisible. This normally causes the game to crash after so many moves).
- Kitana's kiss of death only inflates heads..same effect as Kabal's air pump fatality.
- Rain and Noob Saibot are playable. Mileena, Ermac and Classic Sub-Zero are playable without any need of codes.
- Motaro and Shao Kahn are unlockable characters for two player fights, although only one player can choose a boss.
- Announcer no longer announces the characters names.
- Most of the MK3 levels are missing.
- The portal stage from MK3 (where you fight Robot Smoke) is present, but the graphics have been replaced with the UMK choose your destiny BG. The music that is played in this stage is the same as in MK3. This stage is accessible through a PAR code.
[edit] Mega Drive/Genesis changes
- Animalities and Mercies removed.
- Sonya's Friendship from Mortal Kombat 3 is used as opposed to her Friendship from the arcade version of UMK3.
- Brutalities introduced, a new form of Fatality which allows the player to attack their opponent with a series of kicks and punches which result in the victim exploding.
- Shao Kahn's treasure chest has only 10 boxes instead of 12.
- Scorpion's Hellraiser fatality is different. He just takes the opponent back into the Hell stage where they just catch on fire and explode
- Sheeva has been removed.
- Kitana's kiss of death only inflates heads..same effect as Kabal's air pump fatality.
- Rain and Noob Saibot are playable. Mileena, Ermac and Classic Sub-Zero are playable without any need of codes.
- Motaro and Shao Kahn are unlockable characters for two player fights, although only one player can choose a boss. In addition, only one boss can be unlocked at any given time.
- Shang Tsung can morph into Robot Smoke, which is not possible in the arcades. He can also morph into Noob Saibot and Rain.
- Announcer no longer announces the characters names.
- Most of the MK3 levels are missing which include the Balcony and Street so uppercutting in the Subway and Soul Chamber does not take you to level above.
- Although the bell tower has been removed, the stage fatality is still in the code and executable
- it is rumored that there is still left over code data for the 'Endurance Mode' in MK3. It is accessible through a PAR code
[edit] Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
- Xbox Live online VERSUS support.
- Added online leaderboards to keep track of all time network stats and friends. (Wavenet had something like this)
- Added screen size adjustment for anything between 4:3 and 16:9 TV's.
- Unlockable Achievements.
[edit] Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wave Net
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wave Net was a rare network version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It was tested in the Chicago and San Francisco areas and many people are not aware of it. One outlet that stocked it still had the jack for the game. This version included extras that were available even in local play. It ran over a T1 line that was directly connected back to Midway HQ in Chicago.
One of the reasons this version wasn't widely adopted was the rarity and cost of T1 lines at the time. This game was released before alternative broadband access was available. At the time, a T1 was the only guaranteed way to get broadband into an arcade. The game didn't utilize the full bandwidth of the T1. Midway subsidized the cost of the line during the tests to make it more attractive to the arcade owners.
WAVENet was never publicly released. It's highly unlikely any of those test games were ever sold to the public after WAVENet was dismantled so it's unlikely there are any ROMs available. Some of the code may of been used in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for xbox 360
[edit] Mortal Kombat Advance
| Mortal Kombat Advance | |
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| Developer(s) | Virtucraft |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Series | Mortal Kombat |
| Release date(s) | December 12, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
Mortal Kombat Advance is the name given to the Game Boy Advance port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The character roster is the same as its 16-bit counterparts. The Game Boy Advance features two less buttons than were used in UMK3, which resulted in many special move button sequences being consolidated or changed. Players complained that the CPU difficulty had increased too dramatically from UMK3, allowing computer opponents to execute excessively long and difficult combos. The game was panned by critics and fans alike. Electronic Gaming Monthly editor Dan Hsu gave it the first "0" rating in the magazine's history. It currently has a rank of 33% at Game Rankings.
[edit] Mortal Kombat Armageddon
On all "Premium Edition" copies of the PS2 version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, a near arcade-perfect version of the game is included on the first disc. This version is markedly slower than the arcade version, with some moves and multi-hit combos working less efficiently than in the original. Additionally, when unlocking Ermac, Mileena and classic Sub-Zero with Kombat Kodes on the VS. screen, they do not remain unlocked after the game is reset.
[edit] Trivia
- Sheeva was removed from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the SNES and Sega Mega Drive. However, only her graphics were removed, not her character itself. On the SNES, if the player uses the code to play in the 8 on 8 tournament mode and chooses "random select" for all characters, a question mark is displayed, instead of a character portrait. When this happens, the player will have access to an invisible Sheeva that is incredibly fast and very glitchy, complete with fatalities.
- A bug in the CPU AI can be utilized to easily beat the game, even on Master difficulty. While backfliping away from an opponent, if the player performs a jumpkick, the CPU will always throw a projectile. This leaves the CPU vulnerable to attacks such as Smoke's teleport-uppercut, which can easily lead into a devastating (up to around 40% damage) combo.
- Another bug in the CPU AI was introduced in this MK3 update. If the player walks back-and-forth, not getting too close to the CPU opponent and not walking too far away from it, the CPU will mimic the players walking movements the entire round and never attack. This gameplay flaw remained and was not corrected for Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
- In the arcade version of UMK3, Human Smoke and Noob Saibot both have versus screen images, however, they are only used during attract mode.
- In Mortal Kombat Advance, three hidden characters can be used by completing any tower other than Novice. The hidden characters are Shao Kahn (Grand Master), Motaro (Master), Smoke (Warrior).
- In a recent video demonstrating the new version of UMK3 for Xbox Live Arcade, the game was labeled "Ultra Mortal Kombat 3" instead of "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3." The video itself showed some odd gameplay anomalies as well, including a Reptile projectile that moved differently than in the arcade version.
- In the Sega Genesis version, while playing as Kabal, if you hold HP and press Forward+Forward+Down+Forward as a Fatality his head will pop off and if you press other buttons, a glitchy Kano will appear.
- In the arcade version there is a bug which allows the player to replay the game an almost infinite amount of times on just one credit. After beating Kahn, the player must choose the fight with ermac prize and perform a mercy on Ermac (Players must beat Ermac in the 1st round and lose the second, perform mercy on the 3rd). The game would then start over. Effectively allowing the player to play forever should they repeat the same process upon defeating Kahn again.
- The game was released on Xbox 360 via the marketplace in Europe on October 21st.
- The XBox Live Arcade version of this game has a few new glitches not found in the original arcade version, such as the stage cycle not being random. The only way to get to a new stage online is through Kombat Kodes.
[edit] External links
- Incredibly In-depth Strategy Guides for Each Character at UltimateMK
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat at MobyGames
- Some information from someone who was working at WMS at the time.
- http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=3018
- Mortal Kombat Advance at MobyGames
- Individual move lists optimized for a secondary display at UMK3.net
Categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with large trivia sections | 1996 arcade games | 1996 computer and video games | Arcade games | Mortal Kombat games | Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis games | Sega Saturn games | Super NES games | Xbox 360 Live Arcade games | Computer and video games with digitized sprites
