Mortal Kombat 3: Why?

[Poofta!]

I have always thought that MK3 was the beginning of the end for MK. Sure it wasnt the worst of the series (I think MK4 and the spinoffs took that crown) but it was so goddamn stupid, hard and corny that I knew then that the series will never recover.

MK is a great game and MK2 is downright awesome. I think they are among the best fighters of the 16-bit era (arcades including).

Street Fighter has better owners, they were [somewhat] smarter with the franchise, and were making enough money from other properties and investments to prevent the destruction of SF (but it wasnt for their lack of trying haha, I hate all the Alphas, EXs and all the SF IIIs)

Once the series went to dail-a-combos it kinda lost the luster for me. MKII was a very good fighter 2D fighter and on par (IMHO) with Street fighter 2.

agreed.

all my friends back then played and tried to master both games.

[Poofta!]

Exactly. Many refer to the first MK game being like an "old kung-fu movie", which I would agree, To me, it's got tons of atmosphere, and the second one took it and added added a bit of horror to it.

The 3rd resembles a Sci-Fi channel movie. Gameplay mechanics aside; the characters and backgrounds are lame, all violence is treated as a joke, and the music is just too upbeat and corny.

wow, i never thought of that! i have to agree though, good call!

[ConsoleAddict]

Mortal Kombat 3 is an example of a company thinking that they can do no wrong and half-assing their effort simply because their devoted MK disciples were going to play this in the arcades and buy the home versions regardless of quality.

At least in MK and MKII, two-player games were fair. With unblockable combos in MKIII, it just made the game frustrating for those players who weren't as adept to doing dial-a-combos. I think they didn't need the new -alities, some of the characters were silly (like Stryker and his outfit, couldn't they have sprung more money on his costume?) and there wasn't that same spirit to the game that the first two had.

I don't know why people still play MK games or why they are still making them. They always seem more limited than SF games. I hear they are making yet another game and they are even thinking of making it AO.

For the record, I loved MKII on SNES. I never played the Sega 32X version so I can't comment on how nice it is but the SNES was arcade-perfect. I couldn't see anything missing from that game. I tried to get into MK3 on the PSX, even bought it, but the fire wasn't there.

[The Shawn]

So, because I don't like Mortal Kombat, I immediately suck at all video games and should kill myself?

I think any credibility you had in this debate was just demolished with that post.

Way to go, slugger.

Next time try a real argument.

The Humor-get it.

[onReload]

I was under the impression that SF2: World Warrior came out in '91, then Champion Edition came out several months before MK1, in '92.

[The Shawn]

I was under the impression that SF2: World Warrior came out in '91, then Champion Edition came out several months before MK1, in '92.

Hmmnn. It seems I was mistaken.

MK 1 - October 1992
SF championship - April 1992

I DO however know for a fact that there was a region thing going on, as the first Street Fighter Arcade unit that I ever got to play was in 94 or so... well after MK 2 arcade was released. No arcade in MY area seemed to have them anyway's. And I think the one I played was the Japanese Hyper edition at that.

[ubersaurus]

Heh, MK was huge around here back in the day. I've heard stories of the major fighting game arcade in the area, Wizzards, having several MK2 machines when that game came out, and having people on them for the bulk of the day. SF2 had it's fans, but man, when we'd hold game nights and run Hyper Fighting on SNES, you'd only get a few people playing. Put in MK2, and the room just played that for hours. Dunno about MK3, but I know UMK was pretty popular as well. Hell, I think I've seen some old tournament footage from a couple years ago of Michigan people running that game at a major tourney that happened to have a machine.

I realize that Midway wanted to make a game that was pointedly NOT a Street Fighter II clone, and although it wasn't amazing at first, they eventually put together a really good experience with Ultimate. It's just a shame they took the series into 3D... I know it still sold well, but the gameplay has never recovered.

[The Shawn]

Heh, MK was huge around here back in the day. I've heard stories of the major fighting game arcade in the area, Wizzards, having several MK2 machines when that game came out, and having people on them for the bulk of the day. SF2 had it's fans, but man, when we'd hold game nights and run Hyper Fighting on SNES, you'd only get a few people playing. Put in MK2, and the room just played that for hours. Dunno about MK3, but I know UMK was pretty popular as well. Hell, I think I've seen some old tournament footage from a couple years ago of Michigan people running that game at a major tourney that happened to have a machine.

I realize that Midway wanted to make a game that was pointedly NOT a Street Fighter II clone, and although it wasn't amazing at first, they eventually put together a really good experience with Ultimate. It's just a shame they took the series into 3D... I know it still sold well, but the gameplay has never recovered.

Hell, I remember when the 7-11 down the street from my job got an MK 2 cabinet, I'd get out at 11PM and put my quarters on the cab just to get a place in line, you had to keep winning to hold the cab! Got so much buisiness into that dumpy little store that the employees started giving us free hot dogs and slurpies.

Bunch of neighborhood total strangers who played our own tourneys every night, sometimes there would be 20 of us in the store at a time, good times.

[tentencanidae]

I wholeheartedly agree with you. MKII was the best one. The mechanics were decent, and the graphics had a major overhaul. By the time 3 came out though, it was already obsolete. Street Fighter series is a far superior fighting game.

It was fun being a teen, and memorizing codes for fatalaties and such, but again, I agree that it was just campy.

[jonebone]

I dunno, I own all of the MK games from Sega/SNES up through N64/PSX and have played most of the PS2 / Xbox ones also. I actually enjoyed MK3 for the most part, as it was the only MK I owned as a child (how bizarre I know). The robots were cool (Cyrax bombs / Sektor's net) and the animalities / friendships / babalities were interesting... though they grew old fairly fast I'll admit.

Even though I personally enjoy the MK series more than SF, I do concede that SF probably had better mechanics. But MK just always seemed more "fun" IMO. There is no SF equivalent to the feeling you get from a well-timed uppercut in MK, especially when the dude pops up and says "Toasty!" Plus I find the MK characters to be a little more interesting. Sub-Zero is definitely my all-time favorite.

And was MK4 really that bad? I don't have that many memories of it (haven't played it in YEARS), but I remember the weapons being a fairly cool add-in. It's just that the other two fighting stances were pretty stupid...

[MagicMajenta]

I realize that Midway wanted to make a game that was pointedly NOT a Street Fighter II clone, .

You have to give Midway a lot of credit for that. They saw that there could be a lot of money to be made from fighting games just seeing the money SF2 was raking in. But at the same time they wanted to come up with their own original fighting game and not just a copycat and for the most part they succeeded unlike some companies who have made a living out of "Street Fighter II clones" ahem SNK. Don't get me wrong SNK is great. They just decided to go the tried and tested route that was already trodden by SF 2. Midway tried to explore different avenues on the fighting game genre and they will always be remembered for their original concepts like their fatalities, animalities, babalities, etc. Yes the series went downhill , but MK and MK2 will always be fighting classics. And nobody can take that away from them.

[Zapf]

At least in MK and MKII, two-player games were fair.

uhhh most high level mkII I see ends up like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPUILts3Q38

I don't even know where you are going with "fair". Dial a combo style mechanics doesn't really mean much - the tekken series has had a similar mechanic throughout its life and its one of the better fg's out there.

[j_factor]

You have to give Midway a lot of credit for that. They saw that there could be a lot of money to be made from fighting games just seeing the money SF2 was raking in. But at the same time they wanted to come up with their own original fighting game and not just a copycat and for the most part they succeeded unlike some companies who have made a living out of "Street Fighter II clones" ahem SNK. Don't get me wrong SNK is great. They just decided to go the tried and tested route that was already trodden by SF 2.

I'd just like to point out that Fatal Fury came out the same year as SF2. Not sure of the exact release dates but it seems unlikely that SNK was jumping on a bandwagon.

[MagicMajenta]

uhhh most high level mkII I see ends up like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPUILts3Q38

I don't even know where you are going with "fair". Dial a combo style mechanics doesn't really mean much - the tekken series has had a similar mechanic throughout its life and its one of the better fg's out there.

OMG!!! Projectile heaven. Those two didn't even want to get near each other. You can count the number of times when they actually got in close toward the end.

[kedawa]

As soon as they added the run button I lost interest.
I find MKII to be the most fun casual fighting game of its time, but it falls apart at a higher skill level.
I'd love to see a HD remake of MKII.

[ShinobiMan]

I have fond memories of MK 3. I thought the stage designs were awesome, and the ability to uppercut or knock your opponent into another stage was brilliant. Very original at the time.

I remember attending a release party at Incredible Universe (anyone remember that store?) the day it came out. Huge crowd... everyone salivating to play the new Mortal Kombat. They had a big stage set up in the middle of the store, and the model who played Sonya in the game was there in costume to promote it.

[grolt]

For me, MK3 jumped the shark with all its outlandish robot characters and the bloat of end moves. The game had just grown way too big for its britches by this point, and all the extra goofy fatalities, babalities and, as my brother would call them, beastialities just made the game too overstuffed to be taken seriously. The first MK is wonderful in its endearingly crass simplicity, and the second grew the series just right, but by 3 the formula had grown tired and pulled in just too many different directions. I remember even the blood looked overly cartoony and not in that striking realist vein that made the first two games so visceral. And seriously...what the FUCK were they thinking with Kabal? What a disgrace to fighters and to life in general.

Even when they brought back all the classic characters in UMK3, which I played a ton of back in the day on the Saturn, the game just never was the same. It was too big, it lost the balance from before, and trying to do all the button mashing for the finishing moves just became too much of a chore. To me that's not fun, that's work. I'd rather just watch that shit on YouTube now.

Back when MKII came out, it really made the first game look shoddy and inferior in every way, but when MK3 came out, that changed. And with that, and every subsequent sub-par sequel/reiteration, it just made the simplicity and focus of the first MK seem that much better. I think of all the games, the first has risen in stature over the years because the series has fallen so far off the rails that fans are realizing it was the dark tone, small cast and simple gameplay that drove the series in the first place. Or maybe I'm being biased here because the MK port for the Master System is so much better than its broken MKII and MK3 ports. So I guess I'll thank MK3 for making me like the original that much more, but that's all I'll give it.

Lest we forget:

[ubersaurus]

UMK3 lost the balance? Tell that to anyone who ever decided to get good at Mortal Kombat :P UMK3 is not just balanced for an MK game, it's balanced for a fighting game. Very much a game based on matchups between characters, as opposed to MK2, which was dominated by Jax and Mileena pretty hardcore.

[DreamTR]

MK was a decent fighitng game franchise and at the very least, what other American franchise had the balls to do anything and still exist to this day making games?

MK1 was low on gameplay, but high on gore.

MKII was a VERY good game on all ends. I know people complain about the balance on that game, but it's not as skewed as everyone thinks.

Mileena is the best character in the game, but only because she beats Jax. She has even matchups vs Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Raiden and slight advantage over Scorpion.

Jax beats everyone else, loses to Mileena, is even with Kung Lao, has a slight advantage over Raiden and Liu Kang.

Top characters in the game are Mileena, Jax, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Kitana.

UMK3 is also a very good game, but you are comparing apples to oranges.

All the people that "whine" about MKII generally LOVE UMK3 because it is not a turtle game, but it is not without its problems (Kabal, Smoke(s), Ermac, etc) I'm not sure why runjabrunjabrunjab is more exciting than ground pound or sai all day, but the fact of the matter is UMK3 players complain that MKII is broken because they lost in it, and I can't find an MKII player to complain about UMK3.

Have to respect both games, apples to oranges, both are solid and VERY playable.

[cityside75]

MKII was a VERY good game on all ends. I know people complain about the balance on that game, but it's not as skewed as everyone thinks.

Mileena is the best character in the game, but only because she beats Jax. She has even matchups vs Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Raiden and slight advantage over Scorpion.

Jax beats everyone else, loses to Mileena, is even with Kung Lao, has a slight advantage over Raiden and Liu Kang.

Top characters in the game are Mileena, Jax, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Kitana.

Cool info. I have loved MK2 since release day, and have a multicade cab with MK2 that I still play a lot to this day. Back when it was newer, I recall Sub Zero being the character of choice for better players, but now he's not even mentioned. He's still my personal best character by far, and none of my local competitors can touch him. I'll have to look for some Youtube videos of Jax....