The one that started the downfall.
These are the words of Raiden...
For centuries Earth has used Mortal Kombat to defend itself against the Outworld emperor Shao Kahn. But, Shao Kahn has become frustrated by the failed attempts at taking Earth through tournament battle. He enacts a plan which began 10,000 years ago.
During this time, Kahn had a queen named Sindel, but she died at a very young age. Kahn's shadow priests lead by Shang Tsung, make it so Sindel's spirit will someday be reborn, but not on the Outworld, but on the Earth realm itself.
This unholy act enables Shao Kahn to step through the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen. Thus enabling him to seize the Earth realm at last.
Upon breaching the portal onto Earth, Shao Kahn slowly transforms Earth into part of the Outworld itself.
Kahn strips the Earth of all human life, and claims all the souls his own.
The remaining humans are scattered throughout the planet. These are the selected warriors that must defend Earth once again. "
Mortal Kombat 3 was released for the SNES in 1995. It had great potential to possibly be the best in the series. It had a much larger story than MK1 and MK2 combined. It also introduced a new combo system that made pulling off combos easier than in MK2. And MK3 also introduced the ability to run. MK3 will not be remembered for how great it was, but rather for it's fast paced action. MK3 is a game that the battles are fast paced. As you may remember MK1 and 2 were fairly slow/average paced games. MK3 is a lot faster. There's almost no time to think when fighting, the game almost wants you to button mash.
People like Jax, Kano, Kung Lao, Lui Kang, and Sonya Blade make a return. And MK3 also featued the new Sub-Zero. People familiar with the MK storyline know that this Sub-Zero is the younger brother of the one we know from MK 1 and 2. But when Scorpion kills him, this younger Sub-Zero steps in to avenge his brothers death. The big difference with this Zero is that he wears no mask. MK3 also saw the debut of Sindel, Smoke, Sheeva, Sektor, Nightwolf, Kabal, and even the fighter many call the worst MK fighter ever: Stryker. But one major disapointment in this game was the absense to the fan favorite, Scorpion. To this day, MK3 is the only game which doesn't feature this fighter.
The big bad boss was again Shao Kahn, and he was just as time this around as he was in Mortal Kombat 2. But Kintaro doesn't return. MK3 features the debut of the sub-boss Motaro. While Goro and Kintaro both had 4 arms, Motaro has 4 legs. He also has the ability to teleport, which adds to the difficulty. Though in the end, he doesn't come close to how diffucult Goro and Kintaro were.
The graphics in MK3 are also majorly improved over MK2. The models are more realistic, and the game has a darker tone than MK2 did. The environments are also well done and there are a variety of the levels you can fight in.
Even though MK3 had a great story, great graphics, a lot more characters, and new features, it's the gameplay itself and the fun factor where this game comes short. Like I said earlier the game had a fast paced action. Well maybe it was just a little too much fast paced. The fights themselves are often frustrating, and not a whole lot of fun. Though MK3 does feature a multiplayer mode, which adds a bit more fun. Though overall, Mortal Kombat 3 is a great game, but is also the beginning of the MK downfall.