However, the moment you press "Start," the illusion shatters. And that shattering is the entire point. In a true arcade UMK3 , you choose from ninjas (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile), cyborgs (Sektor, Cyrax), and classic warriors (Liu Kang, Kabal). In Mortal Kombat III Mugen , the select screen is a hostage negotiation of pop culture.
It isn't a tribute to Mortal Kombat. It is a tribute to the idea of Mortal Kombat—the violence, the mystique, the ninjas—filtered through the wild west of the early internet. It is broken, ugly, unbalanced, and absolutely essential. MORTAL KOMBAT III MUGEN
Because UMK3 is a museum piece—perfect, balanced, and dead. Mortal Kombat III Mugen is a living, breathing, spazzing Frankenstein’s monster. It is the chaotic good of the fighting game community. It allows you to live the impossible fantasy: making Liu Kang fight Sailor Moon on the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise, while a low-bitrate techno remix of the MK theme song glitches in the background. However, the moment you press "Start," the illusion shatters