From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mortal Kombat 3
Developer	Midway
Publisher	Midway (arcade) Williams Entertainment (ports) SCEA (PS1 version)
Designer	Ed Boon, John Tobias
Released	1995
Genre	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Platform(s)	Arcade, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, PlayStation, PC
Input methods	8-way Joystick, Buttons: 6 (HP, LP, BLOCK, HK, LK, RUN)
Arcade cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Midway Wolf Unit hardware Sound CPU: ADSP2150 Midway Digital Compression System (DCS) - Amplified Mono Latest Game Version : Revision 2.1
Arcade display	Raster resolution 400 x 254

Mortal Kombat 3 (also known as MK3) is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. It was updated into Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and later Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Taglines:

• For they [sic] these symbols will mean power. To you they'll mean $.
• Get ready for the fight of your life...
• ... Plunge into the darkness, it's your fight. It's your life. Mortal Kombat 3.
• There is no knowledge that is not power.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Characters and cast 2.1 New characters 2.2 Returning characters 2.3 Boss and sub-boss 2.4 Other characters 3 Arenas 4 Storyline 5 Criticisms 6 Ports 7 Port screenshots 8 External links

Mortal Kombat 3 builds further on the gameplay of the previous game. A "Run" button, accompanied by a "Run" meter, was introduced. This was primarily to address concern from fans who thought that the previous games gave too much of an advantage to the defending player. The Run meter is drained by running (the character cannot run backwards, only forwards) and by performing combos. "Chain combos", also known as pre-programmed combos (labelled "dial-a-combos") were also introduced. Chain combos are preprogrammed button presses that are unblockable once one hit connects (e.g., one of Sonya's chain combos is HK-HK-HP-HP-LP-b+HP). Some chain combos end with an uppercut or other move that knocks the opponent into the air, so that more punishment can be dealt via a traditional juggle combo. To please players of various skill levels, a "Choose Your Destiny" screen appears in 1-player mode. This new feature allowed player-selectable difficulty.

For the first time, certain levels were interactive by allowing characters to be uppercutted through the ceiling where both characters would continue the battle in a different stage. This could alter the game's level cycle. Both normal uppercuts and uppercuts that are part of a ground combo would result in a level change. Kung Lao's "Whirl Wind Spin" move would also have the same effect. However, if the final hit of a round happens to be an uppercut (i.e., the character is defeated by an uppercut), there is no level change.

All of the different style of finishing moves featured in Mortal Kombat II (Fatalities, Babalities, and Friendships) return in MK3. Additionally, the long rumored Animality, where the character transforms into an animal in order to kill their opponent, is featured for the first time. Another new addition is the Mercy, where the character can give their opponent a small sliver of life if they have won two rounds and are at the "Finish Him/Her" screen. It is necessary that a Mercy is performed for an Animality to occur. Finally, three new stage Fatalities can be performed in the Subway, the Bell Tower, and the Pit 3.

Another concept exclusive to this game are the "Kombat Kodes". These were 6 digit codes entered at the VS screen in a two player game to modify gameplay, fight hidden characters or display certain text messages. Also introduced in this game was the "Ultimate Kombat Kode", which was a 10 digit code that could be entered after a game was over in single player mode. If the correct code was entered, Smoke would become a permanent playable character on the character select screen. The arcade owner, however, could reset this code by accessing the game's diagnostic menu by hitting a DIP switch within the MK3 cabinet.

The game's overall style was envisioned differently than in the previous Mortal Kombat games. Opposed to the heavily Oriental themes of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, MK3's theme is much more Western contemporary. The game's stages are set in modern locations, three of the characters are robots, and traditional character designs (such as Sub-Zero's or Kano's) have been dropped or modified in favour of modern replacements. The overall game has a much darker tone than its predecessors, and uses a noticeable darker and less vibrant colour palette. Characters are now heavily digitised (as opposed to the hybrid digitised/hand-drawn style of Mortal Kombat II.) Many of the game's backgrounds are now, for the first time, created using pre-rendered 3D graphics. This change is also reflected in the sound track, in which all Oriental motifs have been dropped in favour of modern instrumentation.

• Cyrax (Sal Divita)
• Kabal (Richard Divizio)
• Nightwolf (Sal Divita)
• Sektor (Sal Divita)
• Sheeva (Stop motion)
• Sindel (Lia Montelongo)
• Kurtis Stryker (Michael O'Brien)

• Liu Kang (Eddie Wong)
• Kano (Richard Divizio)
• Kung Lao (Tony Marquez)
• Maj. Jax Briggs (John Parrish)
• Shang Tsung (John Turk)
• Smoke (Sal Divita)
• Lt. Sonya Blade (Kerri Hoskins)
• Sub-Zero (John Turk)

• Motaro (Stop-motion)
• Shao Kahn (Brian Glynn)

• Noob Saibot (Richard Divizio)

• The Balcony
• Bell Tower
• The Graveyard
• Kombat Temple
• The Pit III
• Soul Chamber
• The Subway
• The Bank
• The Bridge
• The Rooftop
• The Street
• Noob Saibot's Dorfen
• The Hidden Portal

Fed up with continuous losses in tournament battle, Shao Kahn, who had lost to Liu Kang in the Outworld tournament, enacts a 10,000 year-old plan. He would have his Shadow Priests, led by Shang Tsung, revive his former Queen Sindel, who unexpectedly died at a young age. However, she wouldn't be revived in the Outworld. She would be resurrected in the Earthrealm. This would allow Shao Kahn to cross the boundary lines and reclaim his queen.

When Sindel is reincarnated in Earthrealm, Shao Kahn reaches across the dimensions to reclaim her. As a consequence of his action, the Earthrealm becomes a part of the Outworld, killing billions instantly. Only a few are spared, as Raiden protects their souls. He tells them that Shao Kahn must be stopped, but he cannot interfere; due to his status, he has no power in Outworld, and Earthrealm is partially merged with Outworld.

Shao Kahn has unleashed extermination squads to roam throughout the Earthrealm and kill any survivors. Also, Raiden's protection only extends to the soul, not to the body, so his chosen warriors have to fight the extermination squads and repel Shao Kahn. Eventually somehow every human on Earthrealm comes back.

Mortal Kombat 3 follows Mortal Kombat II and shares continuity with both Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy which were both updates of this game. The next new game in the series was Mortal Kombat 4.

Although the game was a hit, some MK fans disliked the inclusion of new main characters in place of highly praised characters such as Raiden, Johnny Cage, Reptile, and Scorpion[1] In fact, this was the first mainstream Mortal Kombat game to lack the traditional palette-swapped masked ninjas (Sub-Zero is not counted due to his new appearance). This proved to be unpopular with fans of the series, which lead to the ninja concept being reinstated in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Also, many fans found the urban areas such as subways and city streets which served as the games "Kombat Zones" uninteresting in comparison with the previous games, which contained Oriental and fantasy settings.

Johnny Cage's and Scorpion's absences were due to the fact that Daniel Pesina, who portrayed both characters and all of the other ninjas, was fired from Midway, after appearing in an ad for the game BloodStorm, while Rayden's absence was because Pesina and his brother Carlos (who played Rayden) were helping Data East make Tattoo Assassins. All of the ninjas would later be played by John Turk (who portrayed the unmasked Sub-Zero and Shang Tsung), and Cage would be played by Chris Alexander. Carlos, on the other hand, is still employed by Midway.

Mortal Kombat 3 was ported to nearly all of the major home consoles available at the time of its release: Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo and PlayStation. It was also released for portable game systems such as the Game Boy.

To fit on the Game Boy major sacrifices had to be made. Only nine of the original fifteen fighters (Kano, Sonya, Sub-Zero, Cyrax, Sektor, Sheeva, Sindel, Kabal, and Smoke) were available, only five stages existed, there were no button-link combos, no Motaro sub-boss, and no finishers outside of fatalities and babalities. Shao Kahn used his moves from Mortal Kombat II. Although rated M for mature, this version did not include much of the overt gore and violence seen in its parent systems but kept some of the "burning" fatalities (immolating a defeated opponent down to just a burnt skeleton). However, the graphics are superb for a Game Boy title, with smoother animation and greater attention to detail on the fighters than the older MK titles for Game Boy.

There was also a scaled down Game Gear version of MK3 which was never released in the US. Only Europe and Japan saw a release, and it is rare to find; a complete packaged version can be seen on Internet auctions for as much as $90. It is almost the same as the Game Boy version, although it includes blood and gore, is in color, and features Noob Saibot as a hidden character. There was also a port for the Master System, which is nearly identical to the Game Gear version, although it was only released in Brazil by Tec Toy, distributor of Sega's products in that country.

There were 2 different versions of MK3 for the PC. The first was a DOS version, which is unique as it does not closely resemble any of the other ports. It features good animation, sound, graphics, and it implements the gameplay of the arcade with a high level of precision. The second version was a Windows version. It is a direct port of the PlayStation version of the game, featuring the same menus, identical sprite sizes and qualities and the same gameplay as the PlayStation version.

MK3 for Windows and for PlayStation is also the base for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Sega Saturn. These games feature the same sprite sizes and qualities and almost identical menu systems but the Sega Saturn version has the additional content from UMK3 roughly added in as well.

Mortal Kombat 3 is also available as part of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The title include a 'making of' documentary about the game.

SNES	Sega Genesis	DOS	Sega Master System & Sega Game Gear
Game Boy

• Rare MK3 Demo (MS-DOS)
• Rare MK3 videos: making of, interviews and trailers
• Mortal Kombat 3 at MobyGames

v • d • e Mortal Kombat series
Fighting games	Mortal Kombat · MKII · MK3 / Ultimate MK3 / MK Trilogy · MK4 / MK Gold · Deadly Alliance / Tournament Edition · Deception / Unchained · Armageddon · MK8
Adventure games	Mythologies: Sub-Zero · Special Forces · Shaolin Monks
Information	Main characters · Minor characters · Fatality
Other	Films · Comics · Live Tour · Music · Card Game