Mortal Kombat Trilogy

***Mortal Kombat Trilogy*** (***MKT***) is a fighting game released by Midway in 1996 as a standalone update to *Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3* for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn and PCs. Further versions were also released for the Game.com and R-Zone. It features a similar basic gameplay system and the same story as *Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3*, but adds characters and stages restored from *Mortal Kombat* and *Mortal Kombat II*. New additions to the game included the "Aggressor" bar, and a new finishing move called Brutality, a long combination of attacks that ends with the opponent exploding. The game was met with mixed reviews upon release.

## Gameplay

*Mortal Kombat Trilogy* introduces the Aggressor bar, which fills as the combatants fight (twice as much if the opponent is blocking). Once the bar is filled, it grants the character fast movement and greater attack damage for a short period of time.

Many characters gained additional special moves. Some were simple edits of existing moves (such as Stryker throwing two grenades instead of one), while others were unused animations never implemented in their intended previous games. These special moves included *MK* Kano's Spinning Blade move, *MKII* Kung Lao's Air Torpedo, Goro's Spinning Punch move, Raiden's Lightning that shoots from behind the opponent, and Baraka's Blade Spin move. Additionally, Shao Kahn gained a throw and grab-and-punch move, and Motaro gained a proper throw move. Sub-Zero's famous "spine-rip" Fatality reappears in the game, but is completely censored, as the screen blacks out with only the "Fatality" text visible. This was due to avoid having to re-animate the fatality for this game.

Trilogy adds the "Brutality" finishing move, which requires the player to perform an 11-button combo in order to rapidly beat on their opponent until they explode. (Brutalities have been previously featured in the Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES ports of *UMK3*.) All of the arenas that featured a Stage Fatality are featured in this game, except the Pit II.

All of the battle arenas that were featured in *MKII*, *MK3*, and *UMK3* are available in *MKT*, but only four backgrounds from the original *Mortal Kombat* were featured (Courtyard, Goro's Lair, the Pit, and the Pit Bottom). The PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn versions lack The Hidden Portal and Noob's Dorfen stages from *MK3*, while the Nintendo 64 version lacks Kahn's Arena and the Bank from *MKII* and *MK3*, respectively.

## Characters

Along with the *Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3* roster, *Trilogy* adds Raiden and Baraka exactly as they appeared in *Mortal Kombat II*. Both characters were updated in the vein of other *Mortal Kombat 3* characters, now able to run and perform combos. Johnny Cage was also added to the roster, this time portrayed by Chris Alexander (replacing Daniel Pesina). He kept his moves from *MKII* except for the Split Punch, which was excluded since none of the actors from *MK3*/*UMK3* had filmed poses for getting hit in the groin. Bosses Goro, Kintaro, Motaro and Shao Kahn are also playable characters from the start (except for the Nintendo 64 version where only Motaro and Shao Kahn are included and must be unlocked via a cheat menu).[2] The PC, PlayStation and Saturn versions also contain alternate versions of Jax, Kung Lao, Kano and Raiden as they appeared in the first two titles.

Two new secret characters appear as well, depending on the version of the game. Most versions have Chameleon, a semi-visible ninja who rapidly switches between all the other male ninja (Classic Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Noob Saibot, Human Smoke, Rain, Reptile, and Ermac) during combat. This character is playable by performing a special button combination. The Nintendo 64 version replaced him with the female equivalent named Khameleon, who switched between the other female ninja instead.