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Development:Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade)
This page details development materials of Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade).
In December 2023, Mortal Kombat 3 arcade source files were leaked by the same leaker who did the same for Mortal Kombat II in 2022, with a large amount of never-before-seen unused assets, including assets related to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
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Character Sprites
General
Every character has unique animations for the following situations:
"Low blocking". It's unknown what this mechanic would've done.
Jax's backbreaker move.
Being bent during Kano and Sindel's Fatalities.
Being scared during Kabal's "Scary face" Fatality.
Being hit by Nightwolf's unused "knee breaker" move.
Being killed by Sheeva's "nail" Fatality. Additionally characters would actually show damage during this fatality as well, demonstrated here by Nightwolf getting more bloody in each frame.
Nightwolf
An unused attack internally called "SIDEAXE".
An unused stomp move.
Nightwolf using a knee-breaking kick similar to the Bone Breaker throws from Mortal Kombat 4. Probably intended to be his close kick, before the combo system was added. Every character has reaction sprites related to this move. The sprites are used in the final game for a different attack.
After reflecting a projectile, his reflector was supposed to shoot out a wave of energy.
This animation is used in the final game for his Fatality, but without the green FX.
An animation for his Animality where the wolf howls after mauling his opponent.
An entirely unused Friendship! In the final game, this was scrapped in favor of a Mortal Kombat II reference. This was later used in the N64 port of Trilogy.
Stryker
| To do: Add the sprites. |
A different version of his Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 gun move. Instead of shooting his opponent repeatedly, he would've shot all his bullets at once, creating a projectile.
There's also a diagonal version of this move.
An unused frame for the explosive gilet from his Fatality.
His Fatality originally had a fuse, which would've lit up the bombs.
Sub-Zero
| To do: Add the sprites. |
An unused "Ice Shaker" move, which would later be introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
Jax
A rather weird animation of Jax moving his arms around.
An unused move internally named "AIRBOP".
Kabal
Kabal's saws were originally meant to rise from the ground.
| To do: Add the sprites. |
Kabal's Animality sprites show the "horse" jumping.
Kano
An airborne version of Kano's knife throw.
A landing animation for Kano's air throw.
Turning while crouched. Kano is the only character to have this kind of animation.
Sindel
An unused combo.
Sindel's combo strings originally had a blue effect following her hands.
Sonya
An unused animation for Sonya during her BIGBALL Fatality.
| To do: Add the sprites. |
Also, the energy field she shoots out in the final game originally had a different design.
Kung Lao
An animation of Kung Lao actually calling the dog during his Frienship.
An early version of his spin move which includes matching FX.
Different variants for a hat throw move.
An animation for the hat flying around.
Shang Tsung
Shang Tsung's victory pose originally included a green shine on his face.
An actual animation for his Soul Steal Fatality!
Sheeva
An unused grab which looks like Goro's grab from Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 4.
Male Ninjas
Classic Sub-Zero's Ice Spike Fatality from Mortal Kombat Trilogy was apparently supposed to be introduced in 3, along with his Friendship.
Rather than sharing the same body animation, Scorpion's Toasty and Reptile's Acid Spit Fatalities were supposed to be slightly different.
Scorpion's Hell Hand Fatality was originally animated!
Cyber Ninjas
Cyrax's bombs were supposed to open upon hitting the floor.
Sektor's flamethrower Fatality was originally supposed to be a special move. The fire has a "hit" animation and there's more frames than in the final game.
An unused cyber-skeleton which was supposed to appear during Kano's skeleton rip Fatality.
Female Ninjas
An unused move for Kitana. Internally named "KTBUZZSAW".
An unused animation for Mileena's kiss Fatality.
A lot of Jade's moves have unused staff FX.
Motaro
A grab animation for Motaro. This is different from the one in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and actually resembles more his Fatality in Mortal Kombat 1.
An unused taunt, which involved him speaking. The sprites remain (albeit unused) in the final game.
Motaro raising his legs. Purpose unknown.
An unused backhand attack.
Motaro running.
Stages
The Kave
An entirely unused stage called "The Kave" can be seen in this development video. It is unknown why it was scrapped.
The Bank
Two different versions of the rug used in The Bank stage. The first one would later be used in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Bell Tower
A sprite for the "actual" bell! It remains in the final game, but it's unseen in normal circumstances. There's also an animation of the bell ringing.
The Balcony
An animated well prop. The sprite is cut off.
Unused candles. Possibly meant for The Balcony or Noob's Dorfen.
The Temple
Unused small candles.
The Rooftop
An unused floor (roof?) for the stage.
The Street
An unused car which would've appeared in the background.
The Pit III
An unused drill, probably meant for The Pit III stage.
Waterfront
Unused cloud sprites, probably meant for the Waterfront stage.
Other Sprites
A raindrop animation. Possibly meant for the Waterfront stage.
A smoother version of the explosion effect. In the final game, only 14 frames are used, rather than the 21 found in the source files.
Another explosion effect. Only a part of it is used in Stryker's Fatality.
Unused Graphics
Menus
Early versions of the continue screen.
An even earlier version of the title screen, which can be seen in this development video and on the rare Goro's Lair Game Over screen from Mortal Kombat II.
An early version of the title screen for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
| To do: Put the individual graphics and the number sprites. |
An unused trademark text for the title screen, Press Start/Insert Coin text, and a Wins counter (which includes numbers). The latter graphics would later be used in Mortal Kombat 4.
Different mockups for the character selection screen, using Nightwolf's icon as a placeholder. In this "making of" video, there's another similar mockup using Raiden's icon as a placeholder and the text "Chews your fighter".
An entirely unused Name Screen along with its cursors!
Some unused text graphics, probably meant for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
An early version of the VS screen, internally named "MK3VS".
Attract Mode
An image depicting Johnny Cage's death at the hands of Motaro.
An image of Raiden. Later repurposed for Mortal Kombat Trilogy for his ending.
Various close-up sprites of some characters. Possibly an early version of the "Good Guys" screen in attract mode or an Actor Credits screen.
A sprite of Kung Lao which would've been used in his bio screen. In the final game, Kung Lao's bio doesn't appear due to the absence of this sprite; the game just skips it entirely.
Unused props for the "choose your destiny" screen.
Gameplay
Text graphics for "Evil Fatalities". Possibly an inside joke or a placeholder.
| To do: Put only the unused names and add Kintaro's unused announcer voice. |
Various name graphics for the characters' lifebars, including some unused ones (such as the developers' and Kintaro's). Interestingly, Kintaro also has an unused announcer voice, which isn't recycled from Mortal Kombat II.
Minigames
| To do: Upload the sprites for the other unused minigame, "Robotron". |
Much like MK2's hidden Pong minigame and the final MK and UMK3's hidden "Galaga" minigame, graphics for an unused minigame spoof of Defender are here too. Williams published it and Joust (which is referenced in Shang Tsung's Friendship move), hence the inclusion.
Miscellaneous
An unused sprite called "COMBOBOX". Purpose unknown.
Johnny Cage's portrait, along with lifebar graphics and name from the original Mortal Kombat, appears in the source files.
Original Palettes
Different palettes for various characters exist in the source files. They're all internally named "ORIGP", which most likely stands for "Original Palette".
