When it first hit the arcade floors, Mortal Kombat was as technically impressive as it was fun to play. The digitised video animations were astounding, and the fact that it refused to pull its punches in terms of graphic violence made it an immediate hit.
Of course, two dimensional cut-outs from digital photos aren’t as impressive today, so the series can only rely on its arcade action to keep the punters playing. And the brand new mobile adaptation of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 manages to do just that.
Looking at the aesthetics first, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 manages to recapture some of its visual glory by recreating the graphics on the small mobile screen perfectly. All the animation are intact, and the moves, violence and gore are all handed over without any compromise. Even the audio remains unaltered, with all the crunching, splashing, grunting, groaning and screaming that added depth to the controversial action still present.
The character roster has been thinned down to seven exponents, but this is probably no bad thing. It makes room for complete characters, who’s move lists are as well populated here as in any other version. There’s also a lot of repetition in the Mortal Kombat cast, so losing the likes of Reptile is of no concern at all. A great cross-section of the series’ most diverse fighters are included, so you won’t feel as though there’s a lack of playable characters.
The simple mode does away with the majority of the combo requirements, and asks you only to mash a couple of buttons to choose the severity of an attack. It even chooses whether to throw a kick or a punch automatically, which might sound like it’s doing all the work for you, but the difficulty levels are very well balanced so there’s still plenty of opportunity to lose if you indiscriminately bash the 5 key.
The infamous fatalities (and babealities) are also simplified, requiring a quick button or direction press to activate them at the end of the round. This is probably the best part of the simple control system, as it’s always a disappointment when you muck up the mega-death at the end of a well-fought round.
The advanced control system leans more heavily toward the arcade controls, with button and direction combos required to pull off the fancier attacks. The punch and kick buttons are also separated, making it a more refined – yet undeniably more difficult – match. That said, when you do pull off a special move, it’s considerably more satisfying.
A move list is readily available at any time during a fight, which is a small but important gift to the seasoned Kombat gamer. Even the most hardcore fan will struggle to recall the awesome moves for each and every character, and being able to quickly check the roster of attacks adds a lot of variety to the action and prevents you from repeating the same moves over and over.
All in all, this is the most complete and accessible mobile version of Mortal Kombat we’ve ever seen, and will take some serious beating in the pocket beat-‘em-up stakes. A must-have for fans of the series, and fighting game fanatics alike.
