Rate the Game: Week 107

[M-A-G]

Another morning greets us, ladies and gentlemen. Hopefully you're being greeted with better weather than we are over here as the rain can't decide if it wants to stay on or off. It's rather tempting "stay under the covers" weather but we have responsibilities that we cannot shirk! This week's Rate the Game certainly qualifies as such. Speaking of which, last week's Alan Wake qualified to join the ranks on our illustrious leaderboard. It wasn't as familiar with the TPWW Universe as I might have believed but what did the people who did play it have to say? I summon the leaderboard!

<select><option selected="">Rate the Game Results

<option>1. (TIE) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)</option>
<option>3. (TIE) Hitman: Codename 47, Mass Effect (4.75)</option>
<option>5. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)</option>
<option>6. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)</option>
<option>7. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)
<option>8. (3-WAY TIE) Chrono Trigger, Portal, Red Dead Redemption (4.5)</option>
<option>11. (3-WAY TIE) Mega Man 2, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)</option>
<option>14. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>15. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>16. Mega Man X (4.36)</option>
<option>17. (TIE) Metal Gear Solid, BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>19. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>20. (TIE) Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>22. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>23. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>25. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>26. (TIE) Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>28. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>29. (12-WAY TIE) Super Mario Kart (4.0)</option>
<option>- Sonic the Hedgehog 2</option>
<option>- Super Metroid</option>
<option>- The Simpsons</option>
<option>- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night</option>
<option>- Donkey Kong Country 2</option>
<option>- Resident Evil 4</option>
<option>- Super Smash Bros.</option>
<option>- Banjo-Kazooie</option>
<option>- EarthBound</option>
<option>- Fallout 3</option>
<option>- Mirror's Edge</option>
<option>41. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>42. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)</option>
<option>43. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>44. (3-WAY TIE) Contra, Castlevania, Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>47. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>48. (TIE) Half-Life, Infamous (3.83)</option>
<option>50. (TIE) SimCity 2000, Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>52. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>53. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>54. (TIE) Double Dragon, Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>56. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>57. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>58. (3-WAY TIE) Diablo, F.E.A.R., Alan Wake (3.66)</option>
<option>61. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>62. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>63. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>64. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>65. (3-WAY TIE) Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Burnout Paradise (3.5)</option>
<option>68. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>69. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>70. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>71. (5-WAY TIE) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Crash Bandicoot, Wolfenstein 3D, Left 4 Dead (3.33)</option>
<option>76. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>77. (TIE) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>79. (3-WAY TIE) Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>82. SoulCalibur (3.16)</option>
<option>83. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>84. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>85. (TIE) Virtua Fighter, Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>87. (5-WAY TIE) Time Crisis, Tekken, Earthworm Jim, Metroid, Halo 2 (3.0)</option>
<option>92. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>93. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>94. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>95. Bayonetta (2.75)</option>
<option>96. (3-WAY TIE) Dead Rising, Gauntlet, Assassin's Creed (2.71) </option>
<option>99. (TIE) Silent Hill, The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>101. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>102. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>103. (TIE) Twisted Metal, Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>105. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>106. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

Well much like the character of Alan Wake finds himself lost in the woods, the game Alan Wake finds itself lost in the middle of the pile with a 3.66 average. He's got some OK company with F.E.A.R. and Diablo, though. He doesn't do as well as Remedy's previous hit, Max Payne, sadly.

Moving on, let's say we close out the month of April with a banger, huh? It's been a while since we've had something crack that top 10. Do we have anything left in the bowl that can muster up enough love to shake things up in the elite section? What do you have for us this week, bowl?

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/BhbxQQiI2F62VJpagC" width="480" height="222" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/BhbxQQiI2F62VJpagC">via GIPHY</a></p>

The bowl knows its role; and our role is to rate this game, our 107th! It's the third-ish entry to the blood-splattering fighting franchise, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3! I went with this one as opposed to the vanilla Mortal Kombat 3 as I think more people are familiar with this version. Maybe I'm wrong, though. You'll have to tell me. You'll also have to tell me what you thought of it by slapping this sucker with your rating. Does it carry on the legacy of Mortal Kombat faithfully? Let's see how this entry fares as we say good-bye to April. Until next week!

[Big Vic]

I understand why others like it but I was very shit at these games.

[Destor]

while im firmly in the Trilogy 64 camp of this line UMK3 is an ace of a game. 3, UMK3 and Trilogy (64 & PSX) all sucked up a lot of my time

[drave]

Gonna go read the differences and figure out if I played this or not.




Is this the one that introduced Stryker and Cabal? IT WAS. And "combos"!




I'll give this a 4. Great game, HUGE lineup and yeah. This was in the days where I couldn't "do all the moves" with a D-pad....... but the game wasn't intangible for fighting noobs. I fared decently well in DOA online, but never Mortal Kombat :D

[Destor]

Striker and Kabal were introduced in mk3 not umk3

[Destor]

umk3 was mk3 but with a much larger roster and some mechanical changes that are major at high level play and undetectable at the casual level. but the expanded roster of umk3 is mostly adding the mk2 cast. i dont think umk3 had any debuting characters though it did have the mk2 hidden bosses playable for the first time.

[Destor]

trilogy 64 is where its at

[drave]

Yeah - UMK3 is MK3 to me. The entries don't exist separately in my old man memory.

[Destor]

everyone prefers umk3 over mk3 pretty unanimously

[drave]

Not disagreeing, just don't remember the two separate entities in my gray matter. Definitely remember UMK3 with all the shit and "return of the ninjas".

[Destor]

my point was if you rated mk3 as X umk3 is atleast X so its not of a huge consequence

[Lock Jaw]

I have played Mortal Kombat 3 but not ULTIMATE

[M-A-G]

umk3 was mk3 but with a much larger roster and some mechanical changes that are major at high level play and undetectable at the casual level. but the expanded roster of umk3 is mostly adding the mk2 cast. i dont think umk3 had any debuting characters though it did have the mk2 hidden bosses playable for the first time.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 debuted Ermac.

[Destor]

Ermac is in MK1...ish. Originally he was a glitch when Scorp/Subs color pallete didn't load properly becomin red. His name showed "Ermac." Ermac = ERror MACro. In the mk2 arcade one of the idle screen messages was a riddle that implied Ermac could be foughtiin mk2. he couldnt though. just a gimmick to keep people feeding quarters.


so...as a true character ermac debuted in umk3 yeah. but also no.

[Destor]

i wouldnt say he debuted in umk3 but it was the 1st time he was playable as an authetic character with back story and move set

[drave]

I remember the Reptile fight in MK1 - that shit felt so cool when it happened.

[Destor]

mk1 reptile was such a mother fucker. too fast lol

[M-A-G]

Ermac is in MK1...ish. Originally he was a glitch when Scorp/Subs color pallete didn't load properly becomin red. His name showed "Ermac." Ermac = ERror MACro. In the mk2 arcade one of the idle screen messages was a riddle that implied Ermac could be foughtiin mk2. he couldnt though. just a gimmick to keep people feeding quarters.


so...as a true character ermac debuted in umk3 yeah. but also no.

The "ERMACS" thing was in the diagnostics menu for the operator. It was just mistakenly attributed to another secret character that didn't actually exist. I will give the developers credit for essentially carrying on the joke and making him a real character though, one of the better ones, in my opinion.

[M-A-G]

I remember the Reptile fight in MK1 - that shit felt so cool when it happened.

I miss this era of fighting games where discovering secret characters involved more than just whether or not you had the cash to cough up to get them.

[M-A-G]

Can't forget Rain who was added to the home versions, even though he wasn't in the arcade despite the attract mode briefly showing him.

http://www.segacollection.com/reviews/umk3_1.jpg

[Fignuts]

3

Eh, this came out as 2d fighters were really hitting their stride and there were far superior offerings at the time.

[Fignuts]

You also had the beginnings of the 3d fighter era which play like a ford model T now, but at the time they far more impressive than the goriest of fatalities.

[DAMN iNATOR]

5. For a fighting game in the 16-bit era, this game's roster was fucking massive which made it endlessly replayable for me.

[DAMN iNATOR]

The "ERMACS" thing was in the diagnostics menu for the operator. It was just mistakenly attributed to another secret character that didn't actually exist. I will give the developers credit for essentially carrying on the joke and making him a real character though, one of the better ones, in my opinion.

Walks by wearing a " I'M A NOOB SAIBOT GUY" graphic tee

[Sepholio]

I miss this era of fighting games where discovering secret characters involved more than just whether or not you had the cash to cough up to get them.

There is STILL an undiscovered Reptile fight in MK11. Devs have confirmed (pretty sure they did), the fact its there has been datamined, but no one as of yet has been able to figure out how to trigger it.

[M-A-G]

everyone prefers umk3 over mk3 pretty unanimously

The thing with vanilla Mortal Kombat 3 that makes it less palatable than Ultimate is that some of the characters are broken as fuck, Kabal in particular. The omission of characters like Scorpion and Raiden were also major strikes against it.

[M-A-G]

Walks by wearing a " I'M A NOOB SAIBOT GUY" graphic tee

Noob is indeed cool but really, the Mortal Kombat fandom can really be defined in only one way: you're either a Scorpion guy or you're a Sub-Zero guy.

[Sepholio]

I'll make it Rain on Scorpion or Sub-Zero any day of the week.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Ok, fine, you guys have convinced me. I'm...*SIGH*...

...A Mokap guy.

[Destor]

The thing with vanilla Mortal Kombat 3 that makes it less palatable than Ultimate is that some of the characters are broken as fuck, Kabal in particular. The omission of characters like Scorpion and Raiden were also major strikes against it.Kabal is still the best character in umk3. competitive umk3 is nearly exclusively kabal and human smoke

[M-A-G]

Ok, fine, you guys have convinced me. I'm...*SIGH*...

...A Mokap guy.

AUDIBLE GASP!!!

[Destor]

as far as ninjas go though if noob wasnt banned in trilogy hed be everyones main

[M-A-G]

Kabal is still the best character in umk3. competitive umk3 is nearly exclusively kabal and human smoke

Oh, I don't doubt Kabal's tier level in Ultimate. They just had to tone him down, along with Sub-Zero, from the vanilla version, like changing his Ground Saw. As an aside, he was actually the first character I tried when Mortal Kombat 3 hit one of the arcades at the mall we used to go to. His design made me curious about him when I saw the first screenshots in magazines.

[Destor]

i love kabal. plays great. looks cool. solid backstory. good characte all around

[Sepholio]

Oh, I don't doubt Kabal's tier level in Ultimate. They just had to tone him down, along with Sub-Zero, from the vanilla version, like changing his Ground Saw. As an aside, he was actually the first character I tried when Mortal Kombat 3 hit one of the arcades at the mall we used to go to. His design made me curious about him when I saw the first screenshots in magazines.

Same. First time I played the game I was like "oooh, this guy seems kinda cool looking". The spin dash thing he does sealed the deal for me haha. This is def my guy. I didn't even realize how broken he was at the time.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Kabal is still the best character in umk3. competitive umk3 is nearly exclusively kabal and human smoke

Rain was an interesting character too.

Also, since we're already focused on the first update to MK3, it should be noted that the second, MK Trilogy was also pretty good. Anyone else remember Khameleon, the N64 exclusive female version of Chameleon, who was the male character with a 'C' in every other version?

https://www.mksecrets.net/images/mkt/mkt-khameleonvs.png

[M-A-G]

The female one is Khameleon. I don't think I think I ever stumbled upon her even though I knew she was in the game. I only got to play as Chameleon in Armageddon.

[M-A-G]

I'll make it Rain on Scorpion or Sub-Zero any day of the week.

Just to be clear on where I stand, I am most certainly a Sub-Zero guy.

https://i.imgur.com/ZRSSyn0.png

[drave]

wekasauce

[DAMN iNATOR]

The female one is Khameleon. I don't think I think I ever stumbled upon her even though I knew she was in the game. I only got to play as Chameleon in Armageddon.

Hey, I originally typed it with a K. I just didn't notice the nefarious auto-correct change it back on me.

[DAMN iNATOR]

wekasauce

I hate that my stupid browser is seemingly incapable of displaying the court jester of all fonts, Comic Sans MS. I'm browsing via my Android phone on Opera, if that means anything to anyone.

[M-A-G]

Had a thing for Lia Montelongo, who played Sindel in this game and then went on to be Sareena.

https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_medium/3/34651/2489772-lia%20montelongo%20ass.jpg