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Mortal Kombat 3 was pretty shit huh?
- Thread starter Christopher
- Start date
Christopher
BDE (Big Dad Energy)
Stryker tho
Until now and this thread I didn't realized anyone liked Stryker...
Gambit 1138
Banned
WHAT
Osu 16 Bit
Member
Nope. It's good. Kitana was missed but Sindel is cool and the female ninjas returned a few months later in UMK3 anyway. A classic.
It's called MK trilogy because the concept is every character (including all versions of characters) from MK1, MK2, and (U)MK3 all in the MK3 fighting engine.
You could, for example, select MK1 kano or MK3 kano, or MK1 raiden or MK2 raiden, etc. Not every single character was there (due to certain actors being fired), but that was the concept.
It was very hodgepodge in terms of execution. The main draw was "everybody ever!"
Allforce
Member
I can remember when MK3 came out in the arcades, there was ONE videostore in town that got it when it released and the hype was off the charts to say the least.
Everyone was big into MK2, game had a lot of legs at all the local arcades. So when I got there at Video Connection at 10 AM on Saturday morning there was a crowd of at least 30 people all waiting to get in on the new hotness.
All I remember about that morning is after about 45 minutes everyone had pretty much had a go or two at it, and at that point people started taking their quarters OFF the cabinet. It was truly a gaming moment I'll never forget as everyone there, young and old, slowly came to the realization that the game in comparision to MK2 was utter shit. I just remember some older guy, probably in his 20's (I was about 16-17 at the time) throwing his hands up like "I can't, I can't" and just leaving after a match haha.
I had one friend who got really good at it, but since pretty much everyone in the area who played MK2 didn't bother with 3 he never had anyone to play against. I'd go with him to the arcade and he'd just play the CPU by himself.
Everyone was big into MK2, game had a lot of legs at all the local arcades. So when I got there at Video Connection at 10 AM on Saturday morning there was a crowd of at least 30 people all waiting to get in on the new hotness.
All I remember about that morning is after about 45 minutes everyone had pretty much had a go or two at it, and at that point people started taking their quarters OFF the cabinet. It was truly a gaming moment I'll never forget as everyone there, young and old, slowly came to the realization that the game in comparision to MK2 was utter shit. I just remember some older guy, probably in his 20's (I was about 16-17 at the time) throwing his hands up like "I can't, I can't" and just leaving after a match haha.
I had one friend who got really good at it, but since pretty much everyone in the area who played MK2 didn't bother with 3 he never had anyone to play against. I'd go with him to the arcade and he'd just play the CPU by himself.
lovely ladies
Member
Jawmuncher
Member
I wonder who he is comparable to Street Fighter side.
A lot of people really like him, but he always seems to get the shaft regardless.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is excellent in theory. It vaguely reminds me of the Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary whatever it was edition where you can play as whichever version of a character you want. Well, depending on the platform, at least. I loved it way back when.
Gameplay-wise, I agree with the comments that MK back then was also barely serviceable as a game. The AI cheats, and it's all about uppercuts, moves are obtuse and require guides in order to know what's what, and everything always had a very static and fixed feeling. The only real thing it had going on was the mo-cap sprites and unusual violence for the time. It was a 90s thing, you had to be there to understand.
Gameplay-wise, I agree with the comments that MK back then was also barely serviceable as a game. The AI cheats, and it's all about uppercuts, moves are obtuse and require guides in order to know what's what, and everything always had a very static and fixed feeling. The only real thing it had going on was the mo-cap sprites and unusual violence for the time. It was a 90s thing, you had to be there to understand.
ss_lemonade
Member
I remember liking the genesis version a lot because it had some of the missing voice sfx from previous games
I still had a bunch of good MK3 arcade memories. I remember I was actually the one who entered the ultimate kombat kode to unlock smoke at my arcade, and I felt like a champ. I also remember once this dude granted me mercy, and I came back and destroyed him - this was when the game had first launched so there was a crowd watching and people gave the dude so much shit.
But it was nothing like the phenomenon MK2 was. I remember lines snaking out of the arcade to play MK2.
This 3 was bigger than 2 in my area. 4 was a disaster.
PassiveObserver
Member
I felt this same disappointment as a kid. MKII was so cool on SNES. MKIII was just goofy.
uncredited male
Member
The number of Kabal players when this first released was something else. That and Cyrax.
The best player I saw with MKIII didn't use any of the combos or run button. Just simple Street Fighter mechanics. Best match I ever saw was a Sektor vs Shang Tsung. It was amazing. Game was such a letdown from II.
The best player I saw with MKIII didn't use any of the combos or run button. Just simple Street Fighter mechanics. Best match I ever saw was a Sektor vs Shang Tsung. It was amazing. Game was such a letdown from II.
You had to be there.
I remember a local movie theater got an MK3 machine, and everyone freaked out when the MK symbol in the character select screen occasionally rotated to reveal a third cyborg character. Speculation (among twelve year olds, mind you) ran wild. A few weeks later the timed unlock expired and Smoke was revealed as that secret character. It may seem dumb now but in a (mostly) pre-interent world, it was insane.
I remember a local movie theater got an MK3 machine, and everyone freaked out when the MK symbol in the character select screen occasionally rotated to reveal a third cyborg character. Speculation (among twelve year olds, mind you) ran wild. A few weeks later the timed unlock expired and Smoke was revealed as that secret character. It may seem dumb now but in a (mostly) pre-interent world, it was insane.
Memorabilia
Member
I'm in the same boat, only this is my first play through EVER of the first 3 games via MK Arcade Kollection (360). I was going to do a LTTP thread but I'll probably just sum it up here.
My general feelings so far without any nostalgia goggles: MK1 is just OK. I beat it in one sitting (several restarts). It's hard to understand how this game ever became such a successful franchise based on just the first game, but I suppose if I had played fighters during the time it came out I'd probably understand better. I'm sure it did something evolutionary, if not revolutionary at that time...even if for the life of me I can't figure out why. Judged on just the first game, the only thing interesting about it are the fatalities.
MK2 is a huge visual leap over the first. But the AI is the cheapest, most frustrating fuckin bullshit I've ever experienced in a game. It's pixel-perfect, God-like reaction time/anticipation after about the 6th ladder opponent is the definition of un-fun. Similar to MK1 beating opponents has almost nothing to do with skill and everything to do with finding the one or two attack patterns that can exploit the AI and then spamming the shit out of it. Enemies spam their special abilities non-stop. Oh, and Kintaro can fuck right off. I know a lot of people love MK2 but it seems fundamentally broken on purpose in its design to suck quarters out of pockets rather than being fun.
I haven't played MK3 yet, but if the AI is as bad as in MK2 I'm not sure I'll have the patience to slog through it like I did with the first two.
The worst thing about the MK3 games is how lazy they got because all they could do is rely on sprite edits - they wouldn't actually bring people in to do new frames of animation. In MK2, you had a bunch of moves and fatalities which had very unique frames of animation - kung lao's hat split fatality, for example, has a different "falling apart" animation for each character. They KINDA did that with vanilla MK3, but when each update came about, they'd have to get more and more outlandish to avoid needing new frames of animation. That's why most of the fatalities, for example, end with the opponent exploding into 10 skulls and 4 rib cages - because they couldn't actually have the sprites for these old characters react in unique ways.
That's also why Johnny Cage doesn't have his nut punch move in MKT - no frames of animation for people bending over grabbing their crotch.
Carnby
Member
My local arcade had a similar reaction. After a few weeks I noticed arcade regulars were choosing to play older fighting games (like Killer Instinct) over MK3, even though it was still fresh and barely anything had been discovered. MK3 just sucked. It was such a disappointment.
Leafhopper
Banned
I was more insulted by the 15 legs when I was younger. "You only have 2 of those. How do you mess that up?" I would say.
I liked playing with him. Mostly because I make people rage with the 100% combo lol.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
I have a friend who is an asshole in this game.
He tells me when playing online he would act AFK as Kabal and not touch the controller or do anything. Then after a while, because the opponent would think he really was AFK, he would do the spin attack and then a 40+% combo.
He tells me when playing online he would act AFK as Kabal and not touch the controller or do anything. Then after a while, because the opponent would think he really was AFK, he would do the spin attack and then a 40+% combo.
abracadaver
Member
I hated MK3 because of the shit fatalities.
I liked MK4 because it had pretty cool fatalities.
I liked MK4 because it had pretty cool fatalities.
Speaking of KI, my arcade had a huge killer instinct player base. I adored that game. Then KI2 came out and everybody played it for like one week, then never played it again. KI2 basically killed the series for a decade and a half.
I would still go and play KI1 in my arcade when I was low on tokens because it only took 1, and I could get very far with Orchid and TJ Combo on just one credit. Such a fun game.
NinjaMouse
Member
MK3 and UMK3 were both AWFUL compared to MK2. I probably spent entire paychecks at the arcade playing MK2 in high school, but could never find that "spark" in 3. UMK3 was a little better, if only for bringing back familiar characters, but I found myself forcing myself to like it enough to play it.
¡HarlequinPanic!
Member
Agreed, its pretty fascinating that boon and tobias were willing to split away from the old look that made MKII so iconic. I have an egm book from back before it came out and they talka bout how they made all these changes and didn't have scorpion in it because they didn't want the characters to get stale and wanted to give the fans something new.
I actually like the dead city art style, though Pit 3 always felt disappointing.
They backed out ultimately but I guess they really thought they'd be pumping out a new mainline MK every few years back then or something.
The book also goes over each character with a stupid bio, outlining things like "favorite book' (Kano's is Steal this book!) and favorite ice cream flavor (Did you know Motaro prefers Coffee ice cream?). Don't know the policies about sharing it but it'd be fun to if I could.
My best friend and I got very good at the game and would have epic matches. We would laugh because the moment a match would begin, we'd both immediately hold block just to make sure no cheap-shot moves were executed.
I mained Sub Zero in vanilla MK3, but I was Lui Kang in every update because he had a wicked mid-air combo I discovered.
Gentleman Jack
Member
Kabal had pretty easy 60-70% combos off a single spin if you were anywhere near the corner. That air fireball was soooo dumb.
I think stryker had an infinite against the entire cast though? My memory's rough on that one.
XxSlasherMcGirkxX
Member
As long as you had a buddy. The CPU in all of the original Mortal Kombats where cheating pieces of shit.
I remember, despite owning vanilla MK3 on my genesis, being hyped out of my mind for the saturn release of UMK3, though. I don't exactly know why, I had already played it to death in the arcade. I think I was reasoning that I could play without spending money.
I actually bought an N64 specifically for MKT because, originally, it was announced as an N64 exclusive.
I actually bought an N64 specifically for MKT because, originally, it was announced as an N64 exclusive.
early revision only, they nerfed his screen baton sweeping move.
They never fixed classic sub zero or lui kang's infinites, however. Of course, those were only introduced in UMK3.
Gentleman Jack
Member
The CPU never needed to charge a charge move, never whiffed a throw and could punch you out of the air without blinking. Input reading cheat AI fo real.
Troubled Bat
Member
If you played MK3 then you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to be playing UMK3.
Whenever people talk about the cheap AI in the MK3 games -- and it was most definitely cheap -- they usually bring up Jade and her bullshit combo that she'd spam when you'd do a special move that no actual human could ever pull off.
but here's the thing - that combo, and most bullshit combos in the game that reacted to the player - were only triggered by special moves. If you played a brawling character like Lui Kang who's best strategy was NOT to use his special moves but rather to abuse his combos, those characters were push overs.
But the AI was indeed bullshit.
JinjoUnchained
Member
UMK3 fixed the roster problems and plays much better. I wonder if UMK3 was supposed to be the original game and had to be released in an unfinished state. But it shouldn't take a special edition to make a highly anticipated sequel any good. Reminds me of Ninja Gaiden 3 Razer's Edge and Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3: it's good they fixed it, but their existence is an insult as they shouldn't collect our money for the crappy original version.
Also surprised at all the Stryker love here. I thought he was the MK whipping boy due to the backward baseball cap and his stupid expression. Thought I was the only one who liked him.
Also surprised at all the Stryker love here. I thought he was the MK whipping boy due to the backward baseball cap and his stupid expression. Thought I was the only one who liked him.
Drilbit777
Member
There's a reason they made Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 you know. That version is 1000x better than vanilla.
Ganzlinger
Member
Ultimate MK3 is the best one in the franchise for me. I don't like the modern titles.
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