Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for SNES is a one-on-one fighting game set during Shao Kahn's takeover of Earthrealm. A chosen warrior works up a tower of increasingly difficult opponents, with the Outworld emperor and Motaro waiting near the end. The game expands on Mortal Kombat 3 by bringing back several masked fighters, including Kitana, Jade, Reptile, and Scorpion, alongside returning martial artists, cybernetic ninjas, and sorcerers.

Matches are best two rounds out of three. Each fighter has a health bar and a green Run meter: holding Run lets a combatant quickly close distance, while the same meter supports the fast chain combos that define this entry. Punches, kicks, throws, sweeps, crouching uppercuts, aerial attacks, blocking, and character-specific special moves create opportunities to control space or extend a hit into a damaging sequence. A well-placed uppercut can also send an opponent through a breakable floor on the appropriate arena.

The SNES cartridge offers three combat formats. Standard Mortal Kombat selects one fighter per side, while four-player two-on-two Kombat gives each side a pair of fighters to use. Eight-player Tournament Kombat builds a bracket from eight selected warriors. The single-player ladder can be attempted at several tower difficulties, and the options menu permits control remapping, handicap adjustments, sound settings, and switches for blood and Fatalities.

Its roster mixes familiar MK3 combatants such as Liu Kang, Jax, Sonya, Kung Lao, Kabal, Sindel, Stryker, Nightwolf, Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke, Shang Tsung, and Sub-Zero with the returning ninjas. The SNES version makes Mileena, Ermac, and Classic Sub-Zero readily selectable, and it gives Rain and Noob Saibot playable places on the roster. Motaro and Shao Kahn can be unlocked for two-player battles, though the game limits a match to one boss selection.

Victory can end with more than the ordinary knockout. Players can enter precise inputs for Fatalities, Babalities, Friendships, and stage-specific finishers, then use the VS screen's Kombat Kodes to access further secrets and rule changes. This version also adds Brutalities, long attack strings that culminate in an explosive finish. Mercy remains available, despite the removal of Animalities from the SNES release.

Avalanche Software built this Super Nintendo conversion from the earlier SNES Mortal Kombat 3 code, and the cartridge is a distinct adaptation rather than a direct arcade duplicate. To fit the system, it removes Sheeva, reduces the arena selection to seven backgrounds, omits the announcer's spoken character names, and shortens Shao Kahn's Lost Treasures reward sequence. Rooftop and The Pit 3 are present through codes, while the new stages include locations such as Scorpion's Lair, Jade's Desert, River Kombat, Kahn's Kave, and Lost.

Those compromises differ from the Genesis version, which contains more stages but does not keep Mercy, and from the later Nintendo DS release, which closely follows the arcade game and adds wireless play and Puzzle Kombat. The SNES port instead has its own balance of cuts and bonuses: it trades Sheeva and Animalities for playable Rain and Noob Saibot, unlockable bosses, Brutalities, and cheat menus that expose additional settings, endings, and hidden material.