5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

System: Sega Genesis Started: March 2, 2026 Ended: April 8, 2026 Redemption Playthrough First Attempt: 2009 (Xbox 360) Want to know how I was introduced to Mortal Kombat? It was this entry when I was a kid, and this game belonged to a cousin of mine who owned a Sega Genesis in the late '90s. Not only was Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 my first Mortal Kombat game, but it was also one of the first that introduced me to the fighting game genre of video games, alongside Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which my cousin also owned. This game was special to me because I remember freaking out over seeing the Fatalities and how bloody that game was, with its pixelated blood and live-action actors portraying the characters. It looked real back then, but now it has aged and looks more cartoony. I also remember watching the Mortal Kombat movie on VHS and thinking it was awesome. Ever since then, I’ve become a fan of the series and my brother and I played most of the Mortal Kombat games throughout the 2000s, and we always either fought competitively or just played co-op, like Shaolin Monks. Fast forward to 2009, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and it's the Arcade port. I actually bought that digital game, and my brother and I played it so many times. However, we could barely beat Shao Kahn with only a handful of characters, and not all of them. I mainly beat him with Liu Kang and Sub-Zero, and that’s pretty much it. I also remember how difficult and cheap Shao Kahn was as a final boss. At least I managed to beat him, but I still had the feeling that I wanted to finish the game with every character. I didn’t own a Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) until the late 2010s, thanks to a friend of mine who was willing to give away his Model 2 console and his games for a fair price. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was included in the exchange, and I hadn’t gotten around to playing or finishing this game until recently. I wanted to play the Sega Genesis port due to nostalgia since it was the first port I was introduced to Mortal Kombat. This game was a childhood classic of mine, and I still love it, despite all the flaws that still pisses me off. With the success of the first two games, Mortal Kombat 3 was not only a heavy hitter, but I believe it marked a turning point for the franchise, introducing comedic fatalities and Easter eggs. Want to see Kabal inflate one of the character’s heads like a balloon? Or have Liu Kang drop an arcade machine on a Kombatant? Or my personal favorite: Smoke’s fatality, where he drops mini-bombs that blow up Earth. This entry also introduced Babality, Brutality, and Friendship. I can tell Ed Boon and the development team were having a lot of fun making this game. The ultimate version included more characters and fatalities, making it more of a definitive edition. Both the SNES and Genesis ports are unique to the Arcade port as players can exclusively play as Noob Saibot and Rain. Additionally, you can play as the boss characters Shao Kahn and Motaro, but only in 2-player mode. One thing that makes the Genesis version more unique is that it has more stages than the SNES port. For example, the Subway Stage is missing in the SNES version, which sucks because it features one of my favorite stage fatalities. The downside, due to console limitations for both the Super Nintendo and Genesis, Sheeva is not a selectable character in those ports. It's only for Arcade, Sega Saturn and the vanilla version of MK3. One major issue is that it lacks a pause button. Once you start playing arcade mode, you cannot be disturbed or even use the toilet, because if you let the controller sit idle for too long, you get a game over. Additionally, The Genesis port has a shorter Fatality input timer than the SNES and arcade versions, meaning you need to be quick and precise, or you’ll miss your chance to perform a finishing move. As many know, including fighting game casuals, Mortal Kombat 3 is considered a difficult game that sometimes cheats. Fighting Shao Kahn can be especially frustrating. His hitbox detection is wonky, and the game often won’t let you land hits on him. If the game seems to cheat, you can cheat back by blocking his moves until he uses the knee jump, then uppercut him, which does some of the highest damage. Or even better, you can use the 95-life cheat code, which gives you more than enough lives to finish the arcade run. Overall, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 remains one of my favorite fighting games. It may have aged, but it left a lasting impression from my childhood. Compared to the arcade version, it’s vastly superior in terms of graphics and the full experience of more stages. However, if asked what’s the best home port is, I would argue it’s the Genesis version. But if you want to main Sheeva, you should play the arcade version. There are Modern home consoles, like the recently released Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection that includes both the arcade and SNES ports of Ultimate but not the Genesis version—except for the Vanilla MK3. But, If you desire to play Mortal Kombat 3, The Ultimate version is the pick.