Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Review

6.0

Format Xbox 360

Developer Digital Eclipse

Publisher Midway

Genre Beat 'em Up

Back in the '90s, it was a clear-cut battle between Capcom's Street Fighter II and Midway's Mortal Kombat series. UMK3 was the penultimate game of the series' 2D days, with the 'Ultimate' tag acknowledging it was an upgrade of MK3, rather than a new title.

The addition of returning fighters, tweaking the game's balance and adding an eight-player tournament mode arguably made it the best so far in the series, escaping the one-trick pony of the notorious fatalities that Mortal Kombat first gained popularity for.

But unlike Street Fighter II, the game has weathered badly between then and now. While the AI in SFII can be difficult, it was never unfair. UMK3 offers no such assurance.

Despite some cool character designs, there's no denying that everybody has routine projectile/charge attack moves. Also, successfully stringing together combos lacks the sense of hard-won pride found in other fighting games - a problem that dampens any chance of intense two-player matches.

Old school fight fans may enjoy the rush, but for anyone else looking for two-player beat-'em up perfection, Ryu and Co are still reigning champions a decade on.