Mortal Kombat Trilogy
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| Mortal Kombat Trilogy | |
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Series | Mortal Kombat |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Rating(s) | BBFC: 15 ESRB: M (Mature) |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Game.com |
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is the second and last update of Mortal Kombat 3, following Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It adds characters and stages from Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II into the mix.
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[edit] Characters
Every character that has ever appeared in a Mortal Kombat game prior to Mortal Kombat Trilogy appears in this game. Rain and Noob Saibot are playable for the first time with their very own moves, combos, and finishing moves. Along with the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 roster, Mortal Kombat Trilogy adds Baraka, Johnny Cage, Raiden, and "classic" versions of Jax, Kung Lao, Kano, and Raiden. Bosses Motaro, Shao Kahn, Goro, and Kintaro are also now playable. A new secret character appears, as well. This character, known as Chameleon, rapidly switches between all the male ninjas (Classic Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Noob Saibot, Human Smoke, Rain, Reptile, and Ermac) during combat. He is similar to the original Mortal Kombat's version of Reptile, but Chameleon changes his color, not just his stance. This character is playable by performing a special button combination.
The Nintendo 64 version, due to limitations of cartridge space, lacks the classic versions of Jax, Kung Lao, Kano, and Raiden, as well as Goro and Kintaro. Also, Motaro and Shao Kahn are not selectable at the main screen. Cheat codes have to be entered to gain access to them. The N64 version also combines the two Sub-Zeros into one convenient palette swapped version. Chameleon is replaced with the secret character Khameleon, a grey female ninja, and is present as both a secret opponent and a playable character. While she, too, switches her move sets (making her considerably weaker), she has a cohesive storyline, unlike her male counterpart.
[edit] Kombat zones
Almost every battle arena that has been featured in Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 makes an appearance in this game. The PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn versions only lack the Hidden Portal and Noob Saibot Dorfen from MK3, while the N64 version lacks Kahn's Arena and The Bank from MK2 and MK3, respectively. Only a handful of backgrounds from the first Mortal Kombat make it into this game such as the Courtyard, Goro's Lair, the Pit, and the Pit Bottom. Palace Gates, Warrior Shrine and Throne Room were removed. The N64 game also includes a new level: the Star Bridge, which is basically the Pit II background with a star-filled sky. Some older backgrounds are also "enhanced" with extra graphics and added animation. Some examples of this are The Portal, which now includes a temple-like building on each side of the stage, and the N64's Kahn's Kave, which has animated clouds and a glowing floor added to it. The N64's Lost Bridge also has Hornbuckle and Blaze appear at random in its background.
Many of the background music tracks remain intact from MKII and MK3, especially for the CD-ROM versions of the game, but many of the songs are not played with their correct levels. The N64 version only uses music from MK3. Oddly enough, all of the music taken from MK3 on the CD-ROM MKT games is noticeably slowed down in both speed and pitch for unknown reasons. None of the music from the original Mortal Kombat makes it into any of the stages (or the entire game).
All of the levels that featured a stage fatality made it into this game except for the stage fatality featured in the Pit II level. Because of the great amount of effort required to have filmed new, extra animations with actors for the non-Mortal Kombat II character sprites for the Pit II's overhead fall, they simply left the fatality out entirely.
[edit] Layers
The following displays the Kombat Zones where a character can be uppercutted into different backgrounds.
- The Subway → The Street
- The Bank → The Rooftop
- The Soul Chamber → The Balcony
- Scorpion's Lair → Kahn's Kave
- Goro's Lair → The Armory → Kombat Tomb (N64 version only)
[edit] New to the series
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy introduces the Aggressor bar, which fills as the combatants fight. When the bar fills, the character becomes much faster and stronger for a short period of time.
- 3-on-3 simultaneous battles (only in the N64 version).
- A finishing move known as a Brutality is featured in this game. This finishing move requires the player to perform an 11 button combo which causes their opponent to explode. Brutalities were initially placed in the Genesis and SNES ports of UMK3.
- Many of Mortal Kombat Trilogy characters have brand new special moves and finishing moves.
[edit] Storyline
Mortal Kombat Trilogy is the same storyline as Mortal Kombat 3, which follows Mortal Kombat II and precedes Mortal Kombat 4. The introduction to Mortal Kombat Trilogy is stated as follows:
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Thousands of years ago an order of the wisest men from the far east received visions of the dark realm known as the Outworld. It was a world ruled by chaos and a vicious Emperor known as Shao Kahn. They learned that travel between Earth and the new found realm would someday be possible if the conditions were right, the conditions being the unbalancing of the furies. Negative and positive forces which keep our unstable universe from collapsing onto itself. Knowing that an Outworld invasion was imminent, the wise men appealed to the Elder Gods. It was for this reason the Elder Gods created the tournament called Mortal Kombat. For nine generations Mortal Kombat was ruled by Outworld's finest warrior-prince Goro. The Earth was on the brink of its destruction when a new generation of warriors were victorious in defending its realm. The warrior monk, Liu Kang, would become the new Champion. But his victory was short lived as he and his comrades find themselves lured into the Outworld to compete in a second tournament. Little did they know that the tournament was merely a diversion. A scheme devised by the dark Emperor to break the rules set forth by the Elder Gods and witness the reincarnation of his former Queen Sindel on the Earthrealm itself. The unholy act gives Shao Kahn the power to step through the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen, thus enabling him to finally seize the Earth. These are the trilogy of events which comprise Shao Kahn's final attempt at taking the Earth. |
[edit] Cast
- Baraka, Kano & Kabal: Richard Divizio
- Lt. Sonya Blade: Kerri Hoskins
- Maj. Jackson Briggs a.k.a. Jax: John Parrish
- Johnny Cage: Chris Alexander
- Kurtis Stryker: Michael O' Brien
- Liu Kang: Eddie Wong
- Kung Lao: Tony Marquez
- Nightwolf, Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke (cyborg) & Raiden (versus screen picture): Sal Divita
- Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Scorpion, Reptile, Smoke (human), Rain, Ermac, Noob Saibot & Chameleon: John Turk
- Raiden (game): Carlos Pesina
- Kitana, Jade, Mileena & Khameleon: Becky Gable
- Sindel: Lia Montelongo
- Shao Kahn: Brian Glynn
- Shao Kahn's Voice: Steve Ritchie
[edit] Versions and Revisions
- There were at least three public revisions of this game for the PlayStation. With each revision, aspects of the gameplay were refined, producing gameplay closer to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Arcade. The final version was the Greatest Hits edition. Many of the infinites and bugs found in the game only existed in earlier revisions.
- There were at least two public revisions of this game for the Nintendo 64. There was little difference between them.
- There were at least two public revisions of this game for the PC. The PC version is a direct port of the PlayStation version. The Final version (indicated by the word 'final' next to the version number in the about dialog box) has gameplay identical to the Greatest Hits PlayStation version. The Windows revision, however, became unplayable following Windows 2000 and subsequent variants (the game would crash frequently). There is an unofficial patch available (updating the game to version 1.1) that removes the code where the game interfaces with your hardware, thus eliminating the bugs. You can find this patch here.
[edit] Bugs and glitches
- If Baraka's Blade Spin move is performed on an opponent who is above a certain height in the air and is close to the corner of the level, it can cause the game to lock up.
- When Baraka's Blade Spin move is performed on female opponents, they yell as if they are a male opponent. This also happens when Noob Saibot's Multi-Slam Fatality is performed on a female opponent.
- If Human Smoke's Teleport Punch fatality is performed on an opponent standing at either end of the stage, the punch will completely miss the opponent and he/she will continue standing, unharmed. The game, however, will still register it as a Fatality.
- By exploiting bugs, most characters can perform infinite combos.
- In the N64 version, performing Mercy as Shao Kahn will only result in him saying 'Smoke Shows Mercy'
- The N64 version of Motaro has a Fatality move in which he rips his opponent's head off and holds it over his head, and sometimes, upon performing it on certain characters, the head will appear several feet from Motaro's hand, still held in the air.
- In the N64 version as well, play as Motaro was meant to be limited to a single battle. However, if a player entered the code to play as Motaro in both the first and the second rounds of a 2-player match, then allowed the timer to run down on player 2, Motaro could be used for an entire tournament. This caused only one major glitch in which, if the ending story was chosen after winning the tournament, the game would freeze, due to the lack of programming for Motaro's ending.
- If Shang Tsung morphs into Rain and uses his Mind-Control Orb after it says "Finish Her/Him", the game will lock up.
- Another bug in the N64 version is during a fight on the Pit 1 stage. When you defeat an opponent and it says "Finish Him/Her", knock the defeated player into the pit using Smoke (both forms), Scorpion, or any other ninja who has a javelin grapple move. When the falling opponent is about to reach your character's level on the way down, immediately throw a spear at the falling enemy. The spear will catch the falling opponent and you will be able to continually beat on the player until the "(Player) wins" screen pops back up (the screen will halt its downward motion almost immediately and scroll back up to the players on top of the pit). You will even receive a Fatality bonus. (Note: this glitch was done on the original release of the N64 version, and the second release of the game may have fixed this bug.)
- Randomly, ninjas will turn completely white (like Noob Saibot in previous games, but completely white instead of black), if you touch the ninja when it's in "absolute zero" glitch, your character will freeze as if Sub-Zero had frozen them.
- If you play the game in the PS2, the only glitch is when you win the game - or win the 8-Man Tournament - as the game is supposed to send you to Shao Kahn's Treasures, but the game freezes, with a black screen, and the music still going.
- In the PlayStation version, there is a glitch associated with Noob Saibot's disabler move. Once a character has been 'disabled' they cannot attack for a period of time. If a combo is being performed on a character when the disabler wears off, the hit counters and damage protection flags reset, allowing for longer combos to happen. This includes when Noob Saibot fires the disabler twice and becomes disabled himself.
- If the players are on either end of the Dead Pool stage when performing its stage fatality, the opponent will float through the wall.
- In the N64 version, if you do the Dead Pool stage fatality with Raiden, the skeleton will be black instead of white.
- In the N64 version, the game would occasionally freeze up during the fight with Shao Kahn.
[edit] Trivia
- The N64 version of the game, like MK3 and UMK3, provides the player with an "Ultimate Kombat Kode" screen after a single player game is over where a 6 digit code can be entered, presumably to unlock Khameleon and Human Smoke for normal play. However, no correct code has been known to exist.
- Johnny Cage is the only character to have all new sprites for this game. This is a result of Johnny Cage's original actor, Daniel Pesina, being fired by Midway sometime after the release of Mortal Kombat II. His new sprites are that of Chris Alexander. In addition, new sprites were created to show MK2 Raiden and Baraka running and falling from a standing position.
- New frames were also created for MK1 Kano to replace the old frames used for his victory stance and heart rip fatality by modifying Kano's new Mortal Kombat 3 sprites. These new frames are very noticeable as they are not of high quality. No reason for these modifications have been given.
- Several unused special moves from MK and MK2 make their first official appearance in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. These special moves include MK1 Kano's Spinning Blade move, MK2 Kung Lao's Air Torpedo, Goro's Spinning Punch move and Baraka's Blade Spin move. Shao Kahn also has a throw move and a grab and punch move that is exclusive to this game.
- This was the first (and only, up till Mortal Kombat: Armageddon) game to feature all the "ninjas" in one game.
- After beating the PlayStation version of the game, the final message in the credits says "MK4 coming in 1997".
- The N64 version is the only version to give Motaro and Shao Khan fatalities to perform, either as computer controlled or regularly controlled characters.
- The Playstation and Saturn versions of the game only have twelve boxes for the Kahn's Treasure Cave screen at the end of the tournament, whereas the N64 version has well over twenty to pick from. The N64 version also has a more cohesive "Supreme Demonstration" feature (which shows every Fatality, Babality, Friendship, Animality, and Brutality for every character) than the PS1 or Saturn versions as the latter versions needed to load the fatalities and cannot show every one in the allotted time.
- In the Nintendo 64 version, The Graveyard stage has more random names on the gravestones near the front. As well as the original Midway design team of MK3, names of the team at Williams Entertainment were added. The date of death on the stones was changed, from April 1, 1995 to September 30, 1996.
- The "combined" Sub-Zero in the Nintendo 64 version wasn't just a combination of both character's special moves, but also of their storylines. He had the unmasked Sub-Zero's bio (without the line "The ninja returns unmasked"), and the classic Sub-Zero's ending. This left some unanswered plot points in both parts of his story.
