Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Williams Entertainment (US), Acclaim Entertainment (EU), Tectoy (BR) Williams Entertainment (US), GT Interactive Software (EU)
Developer: Midway Avalanche Software Eurocom Entertainment Software
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action
Release Date RRP Code
ESRB PEGI BBFC USK OFLC Tectoy

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is an update to Mortal Kombat 3, adding extra characters and stages as well as tweaking some of the gameplay. As well as appearing in the arcades, it was brought to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Saturn and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. More recently it has been re-released for the Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade.

Ports

Mega Drive Version

The Mega Drive version takes a hit in terms of graphical quality, but still provides extras not seen in the arcade original. Like the SNES port, Rain and Noob Saibot are made playable characters along with bosses Motaro and Shao Kahn. Mileena, Ermac and Classic Sub-Zero are playable without any need of codes. Shang Tsung can morph into Robot Smoke, Noob Saibot, and Rain, which is not possible in the arcades.

Brutalities are also included in this version. Nightwolf has his Red shadow shoulder move from Mortal Kombat Trilogy and this version contained a rendition of Pong entitled "MK4".

Animalities and Mercies were removed, reducing the number of finishing moves. (however, Kabal still has his animality combination coded and if executed, it causes lots of random glitches.) Shao Kahn's treasure chest has only 10 boxes instead of 12, and the announcer no longer says the characters' names. Most of the levels seen in Mortal Kombat 3 are missing, including The Balcony and The Street, so uppercutting in the Subway and Soul Chamber does not take the player to the level above. Although the Bell Tower has been removed, the Stage Fatality is still in the code and executable.

Another leftover from MK3 that wasn't totally deleted was code data for the 'Endurance Mode', which is still accessible through a Game Genie code. Sheeva has been removed, although her sound clips are still available in the sound test. Sonya's Friendship from Mortal Kombat 3 is used, as opposed to her Friendship from the arcade version of UMK3.

Scorpion's "Flaming Hand" Fatality is different too: he takes the opponent back to the Scorpion's Lair stage, where they just catch on fire and explode. Kitana's Kiss of Death only inflates heads with the same effect as Kabal's "Air Pump" Fatality. Rain and Noob were given a Brutality, but no other finishing moves. Human Smoke shares Scorpion's combos, rather than having unique ones and in Stryker's friendship, the running characters are replaced by dogs.

Saturn Version

Curiously, the Saturn version is less accurate, being closer to Mortal Kombat 3 in design, dropping many Ultimate features.

"The Bank" level that was present in MK3 but was missing from the arcade UMK3 returns. Shang Tsung was given a morph for the Robot Smoke, which was not possible in the arcades. The secret characters can be unlocked via a secret options screen, eliminating the need to enter three separate Kombat Kodes to unlock them, which is useful as there is no save system. The Kombat Kodes (to unlock the secret characters) were shortened to have six slots instead of ten (probably in order to allow it to be performed with only one controller), but this method is still slower than entering one code to access the secret options screen.

There are a few new Kombat Kodes, but several that were present in the arcade release no longer work in the Saturn version. Noob Saibot is a shadow Kano as in MK3, 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" can still be displayed.

Loading times cause the "Supreme Demonstration" mode to take almost 30 minutes to complete.

Production Credits

Mega Drive Version

Midway MK3 Ultimate Design Team

Ed Boon, John Tobias, Steve Beran, Dan Forden, Tony Goskie, Dave Michicich, John Vogel

Avalanche Software Development Team

Programmers: Jim Henn, Gary Penacho, John Blackburn, Todd Blackburn

Artists: Derek Newman, Alan Taylor

Sound By: Chris Braymen

Avalanche Software Testing: Jason Humphrey

Special Thanks To: Patrick Alphonso, Mike Crandall, Paul Blagay, Jeff Knight, Neil Melville, Mike Lott, Kent Barney, Roy Wilkins, Jim 'Crash' Jung

Thanks To: Ned Martin, Adam Clayton, Rob Nelson, Mike Callahan

Williams Entertainment Team

Michael Rubinelli, Michael Gottlieb, Curtis R. Cherrington

Williams Entertainment Testing: Mike Vinikour, Eddie Ferrier, J.R. Salazar, Richard Blair, Ross Deynata, Kevin Elrod, Andy Kaffka, Fred Pampo, Ben Larkin, Toan Ngo

Special Thanks To: Dave Schwartz, Mark Guidarelli, Paul Dussault, Jim Flaharty, Justin Heber, Will Shen

Saturn Version

Ultimate MK3 Design Team:

Software: Ed Boon

Graphics: John Tobias, Steve Beran, Tony Goskie, Dave Michicich, John Vogel

Sounds and Music: Dan Forden

Ultimate MK3 Saturn Development Team:

Producer and Programming: Mark Hetherington

Hardware Code: Paul Bates

Programming: Dave Pridmore

Sound and Music: Neil Baldwin

Steve Richie as The Voice of Shao Khan

Grunts, Screams, Groans and Gibberish: Jon Hey, Peg Burr, Dan Forden, Ann Mazza, Vince Pontarelli, Ed Boon

Eurocom Entertainment Testing: Richard Moody, Kevin Holt

Many Thanks Go To: Hugh Binns, Adrian Mannion, David Schwartz, Greg Miller, Mark May, Mark Guidarelli, Scott Patterson, Rob Atesalp

Packaging and Print Material: Debbie Austin, Steve High, Shawn Murphy, Dave Young

Product Manager: Brian Johnson

Williams Entertainment Testing: Peter Chang, Steve Kramer, J.R.Salazar, Will Shen, Jason Shigenaka, John Stookey, John Ubalde, Eddie Fe

Special Thanks: Michael Rubinelli, Michael Gottlieb

Physical Scans

Mega Drive Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 80 №182

	80
Based on 1 review

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, EU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Saturn Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 80 №175 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) 86 GameFan (US) 82

	83
Based on 3 reviews

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc

Saturn, EU
Cover

Saturn, BR