Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)

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Saturn Mega Drive
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn
Publisher: Williams Entertainment (US) Acclaim Entertainment (EU) GT Interactive Software (EU)
Developer: Avalanche Software Eurocom Entertainment Software
Licensor: Midway Manufacturing
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Fighting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1996-06-27 $59.9959.99 T-9701H EU 1996-06 T-25403H-50 DE 1996-06 T-25403H-50 PT 199x STJGT0209 UK 1996-06 £44.9944.99 T-25403H-50 PL 1996 219zł219 AU 199x FULT07SSC BR 1997-04 US 1996-10-11 T-97146 EU 1996-11-28 T-81616-50 PT 1996 MDJAK0402 UK 1996-11-28 £44.9944.99 T-81616-50 GR 199x BR 1996-10 R$79.9979.99 047240
Non-Sega versions Arcade

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn) 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 first to the Sega Saturn and then to the Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. More recently it has been re-released for the Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade.

Gameplay

Fighters

Building on Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 features the whole cast of its non-Ultimate counterpart (although on the Mega Drive, Sheeva is cut), and re-introduces some characters from Mortal Kombat II.

	Rain
	Missing in the Saturn version. Rain was originally a joke character teased in the arcade Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (performing a combo on Shao Kahn during the attract sequence) but was purposely not made playable until these home ports. He is named after the Prince song, "Purple Rain".
	Reptile
	(Kurtis) Styker
	Jax (Major Jackson Briggs)
	Nightwolf
	Jade
	Noob Saibot
	Sonya (Blade)
	Kano
	Mileena
	Unlockable in the Saturn version.
	Sub-Zero
	Sub-Zero (classic)
	Unlockable in the Saturn version.
	Kung Lao
	Sektor (LK-9T9)
	Kitana
	Ermac
	Unlockable in the Saturn version. Short for "Error Macro", Ermac is named after an acronym found in earlier versions of the audit menu in the original Mortal Kombat. Speculation about what this number meant led to the name being teased in Mortal Kombat II, and being made into a fully fledged fighter in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
	Scorpion
	Cyrax (LK-4D4)
	Kabal
	Sindel
	Smoke
	Liu Kang
	Shang Tsung
	Sheeva
	Missing in the Mega Drive version.
	Motaro
	Shao Khan
	Chameleon
	Chameleon, who would make his full debut in Mortal Kombat Trilogy exists in the Mega Drive version of the game, but can only be accessed through cheat devices. While in Trilogy he constantly changes colour and mimics the moves of the other male ninjas, here he uses Scorpion's yellow colours (sometimes switching to Rain's) and is clearly unfinished.

Versions

Mega Drive version

Using the prior MK3 port as a base, 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.

On the Mega Drive, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is generally seen as closer to the original arcade game than its Super NES counterpart when it comes to gameplay and content. The Super NES has the advantage of higher quality audio and more colourful (if lower resolution) graphics, though some stages lack parallax scrolling, or are omitted from the game due to cartridge space or time restraints.

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.

History

Release

A Japanese Saturn version was planned, but cancelled. This version was set to be published by SoftBank.

As with previous games in the series, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was banned in Germany on launch. The ban would not be overturned until 2005.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

Midway Manufacturing 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

Source:

In-game credits

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

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, PT

Mega Drive, GR
<div style="margin:auto; max-width:px"> 320x120px Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Saturn version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Game Players (US) 73 №0906, p61 GamesMaster (UK) 90 №43, p40/41

	82
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 KByte (HU) 91 Consoles + (FR) 96 Computer & Video Games (UK) 75 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 86 Freak (IL) 89 Gambler (PL) 85 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 82 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 73 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 85 Joypad (FR) 80 Maximum (UK) 75 Mega Force (FR) PAL 73 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 93 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 50 Player One (FR) 90 Secret Service (PL) 90 Sega News (CZ) 86 Sega Power (UK) PAL 93 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 91 Total Saturn (UK) PAL 81 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 80

	83
Based on 21 reviews

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Saturn)

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, PT
Cover
Disc

Saturn, AU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, BR
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 7290770d MD5 5a129779699f8b388e97c9c0d703d503 SHA-1 bf2da4a7ae7aa428b0b316581f65b280dc3ba356	4MB	1996-08	Cartridge (US)
✔	CRC32 ecfb5cb4 MD5 3dcf09e58870a2cf850f9788078684be SHA-1 044bfdb3761df7c4d54a25898353fabcd3f604a3	4MB	1996-10	Cartridge (EU)
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	459,042,192		CD-ROM (EU)	T-25403H-50 V1.007
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	459,053,952		CD-ROM (EU)	T-25403H-50 (Alt) V2.000
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	459,025,728		CD-ROM (US)	T-9701H V1.006
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1		1996-02-07					Page