image courtesy of Nintendo Power

Mortal Kombat Trilogy seems like a forgettable piece of software.  The third game released for the Nintendo 64, MKT was based on the previous iteration of the Mortal Kombat series with added characters and assets.  Looking online, essentially nothing has ever been written on the game’s development save for the most cursory of overviews. To me it feels like a cash grab without merit.

But search on Twitter for MKT and a different story emerges:  

“Playing “Mortal Kombat Trilogy” on the Nintendo 64…def reliving my childhood right now…” -@SKEJayRogers

“Getting out my frustrations via Mortal Kombat Trilogy” -@patrickbambrick

“Estoy descargando Mortal Kombat 4 y Mortal Kombat Trilogy… ¡que recuerdos!” -@VitoAballay

“I was the best player in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, even at a young age. Unbeatable with Liu Kang, Ermac, Scorpion, and Noob Saibot.” -@Shelton_Jamaal

“@LILBTHEBASEDGOD WHERE’S MORTAL KOMBAT TRILOGY BASEDGOD? THATS AN INSTANT #CLASSIC” – @B4s3D_D3Mi_G0D 

[For background on this last inquiry, please see Lil B’s video depicting his videogame collection]

Someone even played an April Fool’s joke about the game, claiming to have found the only known existing arcade board of the game (MKT was actually released exclusively for home consoles).

Take a look at some of the gameplay:

Playing the game feels like any other Mortal Kombat. Just like I expected, the design is iterative over the previous three games that had found mass-market success in arcades and the previous generation of home consoles.  

It is interesting playing these games today with a slightly deeper understanding of how a fighting game is supposed to work.  I remember playing an earlier version of Mortal Kombat as a kid at a restaurant while on a roadtrip with my mom and being driven to tears because I kept getting killed by the computer-controlled opponent who could shoot fireballs at me while my character could seemingly do none of that (the concept of blocking was likewise beyond my conception).  

Needless to say, my satisfaction was palpable upon discovering that I now possess the hand/eye coordination to pull off simple projectile attacks.  However, I immediately became frustrated by Sheeva’s ability to pummel me by jumping off the screen and then back on top of me at will.  C’est la vie!