If you're a fan of online fighting games, there's absolutely no reason for you not to own this.
User Rating: 8.9 | Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 X360
Ah, good 'ole Mortal Kombat. If you're a casual gamer, odds are, you've probably played pretty much every Mortal Kombat in the early saga. Pretty much every installment in the saga has become an Arcade classic, likewise with the port over to home consoles. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is an updated version of Mortal Kombat 3, one of the greatest Arcade fighting games ever made. The emulation over to the Xbox 360, for the most part, is perfect. I've yet to notice one sound or animation off key. The gameplay is near perfect, and really hasn't aged too, too much. The default settings for the Xbox 360 controller work really well, although it would have been nice to edit the controls to your liking. Another disappointment that needs to be addressed is the lack of a move list, that I feel should have definitely been included. The Mortal Kombat games have always been known for their Fatalitys and special moves, and to search around the internet just to be able to find these moves will no doubt be frustrating for new MK players, or those who simply forgot how to do a move or two. Just in case you were wondering, though, Scorpion's Spear is STILL the same. The game also features the same graphics which look just as good as they did back in the day. The single player mode can also be very frustrating. At about the third or fourth match, the computer will begin to block and somehow get out of almost every move you do. They'll also quickly adapt to the strategy you use, which will make the game extremely difficult for new players, and may turn they off of the singer player portion of the game almost immediately. However, making up for the disappointing single player comes the excellent multiplayer. The game also boasts some easy and tough achievements for you to earn that will keep you coming back to the game for a while. The multiplayer portion of Ultimate MK 3 is nearly flawless (no pun intended). I've very rarely come into lag infested games (only one ever, I believe), and for the most part the game runs smoothly basically all the time. There are ranked matches, and unranked matches, and a mode in the unranked matches in which four players sit in one room as two face off against each other, with the winner keeping the ability to play, and the next person in line stepping up to face that person. The game keeps track of your win/loss record in every category, and while that may not make sense to some of you, I like the idea of knowing your record for every match you ever played online. The game does track your True Skill ranking in ranked matches, though. But beware, the online mode is full of experienced players. Upon dusting off and getting my skills back in the game, I ran across several players who just plain destroyed me. There's also your share of rude players out there as well. But don't let it discourage you: it's all part of the online fun to get them back one day. All in all, if you're a Mortal Kombat fan like me, then there's absolutely no reason not to pick this game up for the 800 Microsoft points it's going to cost you. If you're a fan of online fighting games in general, then there's also absolutely no reason not to pick this up as well. Ultimate Mk 3 is arguably the best game on the Xbox Live Arcade right now, period. 
