Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Months following the fiasco that was Mortal Kombat 3, which stripped out many popular characters from the previous two MK titles, Midway answered their fans with UMK3.
Essentially borrowing everything from MK3, the “ultimate” remake corrected many of the complaints with the standard MK3 title. Scorpion, Reptile and Kitana are playable off the bat, as well as green palette swap female ninja Jade (who was previously a hidden unplayable character in MK2).
UMK3 on SNES also added two console-exclusive playable characters in more male palette swap ninjas Rain and Noob Saibot (who is a silhouette). Yet more palette swapped characters are available. Among them are the “classic” Sub-Zero and Ermac (male ninjas) and the returning Mileena.
The cyborg version of Smoke, an unlockable character in MK3 is now playable by default with his human form also unlockable: making for a total of 7 different colors of the same male ninja! The female ninja template is used three times as is the cyborg, which actually added to the cheese factor that, like it or not, was ingrained as part of MK’s Kung Fu movie-like theme. (Come on, that’s a fair statement! Did we take fatalities all that seriously either?)
To make room for all of the changes, MK3’s Sheeva, who does appear in the arcade version of UMK3, was removed from the SNES version. Some of her data can still be found via a bug in the options menus, allowing you to play with an “invisible” character and utilizing some of her moves. (A bug which I am proud to say I found long before cheats and the like were available via the Internet.)
The SNES version didn’t include the MK3 stages and instead, as part of cartridge limitations, only included the five new arcade levels. Animalities were removed with Brutalities added. Several finishers were altered or changed, particularly with the two console-exclusive ninjas.
In all, you can tell Midway got their act together. This was the definitive 16-bit MK title as it included the most playable characters and features of all those released. The arcade release coincided with MK3’s release on home consoles, so if you were paying attention at the time, you could’ve avoided the regular MK3 and waited for the ultimate (and better) edition to be released!
Mortal Kombat 3
Here’s a game that I get some flack for not liking: Mortal Kombat 3.
Front the get-go we don’t have the Roman numerals in the title and it goes downhill fast from there. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing technically wrong with the game itself. Graphics, audio, etc. are all updates which build on MK2. A run button was added so players couldn’t just sit on the defensive, you could breakthrough ceilings of stages to jump up and into a new area, the dumb but appealing Animalities were introduced as was a “Mercy” option to spare your opponent in lieu of finishing them off right away.
Where this game goes south is from the planning phases. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to totally remove all of the palette swap ninjas, but they did. That meant no more Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena, Baraka or Reptile. Sub-Zero returned without a mask and with a completely different set of moves: a change which was incorporated into a storyline with the follow-up title Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
But those weren’t the only players removed or changed. Johnny Cage, and Rayden were also no-shows. MK2 hidden ninja Smoke became a secret playable character who was converted into the third of three palette swapped cyborgs. Of the 15 total playable characters, only Shang Tsung (changed yet again) Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Jax came back from MK2. MK1 originals Sonya and Kato, missing from MK2, returned as well.
That should’ve been enough to get psyched up about, but losing Scorpion, a traditional Sub-Zero and Rayden was a lot to overcome when their replacements were Nightwolf (a Native American inspired warrior), Stryker (a police officer) and Kabal (who or what is Kabal?)
Another major change was substituting “Outworld” levels with playing on Earth. The more realistic stages weren’t bad, but with the removal of the fighters above, the game lost its Kung Fu movie vibe and, in my opinion, felt stale. Both MK2 bosses, Shao Kahn and Motaro also returned, adding to what felt like an overall lack of creative direction.
Again, this isn’t a terrible game in the sense of playing it. Had this been MK1, it may have been a major hit. However, the missing characters and old school ninja movie theme detracted from what could’ve been a solid sequel.
Stay tuned for my review of UMK3, where Midway attempts to make up for these changes and does a decent job doing so.
Mortal Kombat (Genesis Version)
There was always this thought that Nintendo was the only company to censor the original Mortal Kombat, but that was never the case. The Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was also censored, out of fear of those Congressional video game violence hearings.
Sega’s MK1 had a “blood code” and without it, the game was actually inferior to the SNES version. If the code wasn’t enabled, you’d actually get the “heart rip” fatality without the heart… or the blood.
At least the SNES version didn’t confuse the unknowing gamer and as upfront about being neutered. Yet, it was the Genesis copy which sold better, despite having a lot of animation and sound stripped from it since Sega’s hardware was more limited than the Super Nintendo.
You can have a look at my review of the SNES version here and compare notes: while I didn’t play through the Genesis one further, you can see that by graphic comparisons, several things are different. The Genesis also has less colors and if you were to hear the audio, it’s disappointing too. (Which is odd, as the Genesis actually had some games with great audio: Sports Talk Football speaks to that strength of the console.)
Also, playing with the three-button Genesis controller was a no-go for obvious reasons too.
In the end, I give this one a thumb in the middle. If you were a Genesis owner back in the day, this was your childhood. However, if you had the option of playing one or the other, even without blood, the SNES was the superior version of this game.
Mortal Kombat (SNES version)
Prepare for a deluge of fatalities and body-ripping reviews on one of my favorite series of all-time… well, at least the 2-D versions.
Mortal Kombat was a trendsetting series in many aspects. Each console version has its strengths, weaknesses, and differences, plus Acclaim (who released the home versions of the game) had different developers help depending on which console the game was released on. They also hashed out a ton of variations over the years, milking the cash cow for what it’s worth.
MK itself caused a ton of controversy with blood and guts and gore. As such, Nintendo neutered the blood and original fatalities from the original game when releasing it on the Super Nintendo. For example, Sub Zero’s spinal cord rip became a freeze and smash fatality (which actually made its way into sequels).
There was sweat instead of blood and while the Super Nintendo version had superior graphics and audio and was a closer arcade translation than that of the Genesis version (due to Sega’s inferior hardware) it was still a monumental success, but also inadvertently sent fans flocking to buy a Genesis console for the more violent version.
Stay tuned as I review the other versions, including Sega’s MK1 plus Nintendo caving and allowing the blood and gore in Mortal Kombat 2 for the SNES.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
This one took awhile to complete, but it brings back some memories… both good and bad.
The good: incredible graphics, especially for a Super Nintendo title. Solid gameplay with high replay value. Plus, it’s Mario and an extension of the same Koopa/Mario story, so what’s not to like?
I’ll tell you what: crying baby Mario!
If you’ve never played this title, it’s still a favorite going back to my childhood. However, the mechanics are as follows: swallow enemies using Yoshi and turn them into eggs you can use as a weapon or to unlock areas. Don’t get hit however, or you have ten seconds (which countdown super-fast and is more like 5-6; a known bug in the SNES version) to grab Baby Mario who floats around on and off of the screen in a bubble.
Sometimes saving Baby Mario will send Yoshi to his doom. Other times it’s just annoying, cheap areas of constant crying.
Overall, I love this game. The graphics were second-to-none in that era and still hold up incredibly well in 2018. The sound is so catchy my daughter was humming it in the car… and the final boss battle is not only really unique but could be the best audio track in any 16-bit game. Ever.
My only other gripe with playing it is the stupid “special” areas where Yoshi can turn into a helicopter or a bulldozer. He looks like a generic version of Pixar’s “Cars” and it just seems so out of place.
This one’s highly recommended for anyone on a Mario kick… and trust me, I have more Mario to come!