UMK 3 may be overlooked by the amazing MK II but trust me, this game is definately just as good
+Tons of characters including many returning classics
+New tournament and 2 on 2 matches
+Multiplayer never gets old
+Controls are perfect
+Noob Saibot and Rain are nice additions
---Bad Points---
-Audio is missing from aracade version
-1 player is fun but computer is rediculous
-Graphics are ok but not nearly as good as arcade version
-No Raiden?
UMK 3 is often looked upon as a good game, but merely a quick cash scam from MK 3. Many of you who probably played MK 3 for the first time remember the shock of seeing no Scorpion, Sub-Zero (ninja version), Reptile, Raiden, or Johnny Cage. How could they do that they were some of the best characters, instead we're introduced to a new batch of unknown characters: WHICH WE NEVER HEARD FROM IN FORVER. Don't get me wrong MK 3 was awesome, but the character selection was very poor. Howeverm this review is of UMK 3, the version I find much better and satisfying. Sure Raiden is still missing but I'll rant about that later. The bottom line is, this game is fun, but there's obvious flaws that make it overlooked compared to MK II.
First off, gameplay in this game is perfect. The SNES controller layout is perfect with your 4 primary attacks (high and low kick, and high and low punch being A, B, X, and Y) were all perfect. Then the L and R buttons were geniously used as Run and Block. Although the Genesis version might be argued to be better due to the fact that the 6 button controller resembles the aracade more but I prefer the SNES version. Second off, I don't know why, but I hated the arcade versions cause of joysticks were hard to pull off special moves and fatalities, but the D pad on the SNES will give you no problems. Again the D pad on the Genesis maybe argued to be better for jumping/flipping but it's all about personal preference. Not to mention, the combos and special moves are rediculously easy and really is one of the reasons UMK 3 is my favorite fighter/MK game.
Graphics and Audio is probably the weakest part of this game however. Graphics aren't bad, but compared to the arcade version well theyre......ummm.....ya they're pretty bad. Also, audio in this game is weak. I mean don't get me wrong the music is kick ass and sounds great but WTF, where's the announcer saying FATALITY. I mean I understand they only had so much space to work with the SNES cartridge and maybe I'm being unreasonable, but when there's a brutality just why the **** does the guy say fatality when the screen clearly says BRUTALITY. That's just bad game designing. Also, the announcer doesn't announce your characters names *sigh*.
Like I stated before this game is really flaw and right here I'm just gunna let loose on all of my issues. First off, like I said graphics and audio are annoying but I'll clearly look by that because of the amount of room they had to squeeze material on. However, I'm pissed off that there's no Raiden, not so much Johnny Cage cause I thought he was a *****, but no Raiden, he's the ****in thundergod for Christ's sake. Also, why is the AI so impossible at times. Like seriously there's times whenever you do a certain mover EVERY TIME, and believe me every time where the AI jsut does the same move to counter attack it. Ask anyone whose played the game. There's fights where you can't touch the person cause they have an impossible pattern and you can't touch them. Play this game and you'll know what I mean. Also, my other problem with not necesarily UMK 3 but the series in general is, why the **** were so many characters in this game we never heard of again til Deception or Armagedon. I mean Nightwolf, Kabal, Sindel, Stryker, Ermac, Jade, and many others not included in 4 or Deadly Alliance. Some of those characters are absolute classics. Also, to add to that, why was Baraka in MK II and never in like any other MK games until MK Deception (I'm not counting Gold cause not too many people have played it), it's the same thing with Baraka in MK II as all the characters I mentioned in MK 3/UMK 3.
However, the game also has some really cool aspects and hidden treasures I love about this game. First off, the fatalities are not dissappointing and I'm still debating if they're better than MK II's because MK II was full of classics (Liu Kang's Dragon, Kung Lao's Body Slice, Raiden's Electrocution). Also, in addition we're treating to new Friendships, Babalities (kinda dumb), Anamalities (funny and clever), and Brutalities. Every character has their own unique one of those (except for Babalities they're all essentially the same), and 2 fatalities. Also, stage fatalities are given for certain stages such as uppercutting people into lava in Scorpion's Lair. Another thing I always liked but isn't that great was Smoke turning into Human Smoke. It wasn't that cool but it was a little charm that was cool to me. Also, new password cheat codes are added before entering a multiplayer match. All the cheats are pretty dumb but there's 2 or 3 good ones. All in all, UMK 3 is full of surprises.
UMK 3 although is definately flawed and it's noticeable it's still a fun game. Having said that you're porbably wondering why I gave it a 9 after all I've *****ed about. Well to be honest the flaws really piss me off, but the game itself is just so fun and addicting. Sure I hate the lack of audio and the graphics, but the game is still awesome. I mean honestly, the flaws I mentioned are mostly due to the technology of the arcade version and the technical limitations of the SNES cartridge. It's still a great game and worth getting. Although people say MK II is better I disagree, MK II is great don't get me wrong, but after playing UMK 3, MK II's gameplay feels slow and boring. UMK 3 is a cult classic and is still popular on the 360 online arcade. If you see this for SNES or Genesis get it (preferably the SNES version), or get it on the X Box arcade cause you can play online and it's the actual arcade version. Beware though if you play the version on the 360 online against people and you're new, you'll get owned and killed in less than 10 seconds. All in all though, UMK 3 is a great game and on of my favorites for the SNES.