MK3 and UMK3 "WaveNet Edition" ?

Ah that makes sense. The bland looking font of the SNES version betrays it in those KLOV shots definately (both for MK3 and UMK3).

The PC version seems very close to the arcade, the real different being in the fine resolution (losing details there), though the select square for the character choosing obviously differs. You can also see dramatically how in the 16 bit versions the sprites decrease in size.

Someone should do a comparison of the MK2 versions of MK as well. I always felt like the characters in MK2 were "bigger" than those in MK3, but I don't think that's actually true, it just "felt" that way when playing I guess.
 
Heres a quick comparison of a couple of versions of MK2. I dont have access to the 32X version right now, but it was basically low color like Genesis but higher resolution then Genesis or SNES.

And the pics of the SNES version are screwy because I had been messing around with that one a bit.

mk2_compare.jpg


The different resolutions make it tough to compare. But, overall the SNES version is suprisingly faithful to the arcade graphics wise.
 
There's no way Genesis could have better graphics than SNES. The only thing Genesis did at times was a very close pixel to pixel representation of things. SNES team embelished on a lot of stuff here and there because they probably knew it couldn't be perfect. I posted some comparison screens years ago:

http://www.darktemplarz.com/mk2/

including some musics. When I did this I resized all the screens to match but didn't have any kind of blitter for the arcade, so actually, it's not even the best comparison that could have been done.
 
Actually, the 32X had better colour depth than the Genesis one, but not quite on par with the SNES one (the difference is astounding in the dead pool stage). Gameplay wise, you're not missing much; it's identical to the Genesis one with very few animations added.

The noteworthy differences were in the backgrounds that were richer in colour and more animations. Kahn's Arena had the live crowd, and the shadow priest in the tower area was there for example.

Call me crazy, but the reworked music in the Genesis/32X version sounds better than the SNES one (though it was closer to Dan Forden's original compositions). That's where it ends; the SNES sfx and the rest of the audio was superior.
 
Kurgan said:
I always felt like the characters in MK2 were "bigger" than those in MK3, but I don't think that's actually true, it just "felt" that way when playing I guess.
Click to expand...

Actually it's true, MK2 character sprites are bigger than MK3 sprites. Check it out:

07.gif
02.gif


I remember them talking about that in GamePro several years back when they were reviewing MK3 for the arcades.

By the way, I tracked down a pic of the select screen on the 32X version of MK2. It definitely wasn't as low color as the Genesis version. They did lower the colors in some spots for whatever reason (lazy bastards), but most of the game is pretty colorful:

mortal02.gif
 
I always heard the 32X version of MK2 was more of a tweak than a remake of the Genesis version (sort of like the Sega CD version of Mk1 vs. the Genesis version), though an actual improvement in graphics (better be!).

Of course the 32x addon only enhanced the graphic capabilities of the Genesis, it didn't enhance the sound, and since the SNES had a better sound system, it makes sense that it could have superior audio.

I was comparing the PC version of MK1 the other day (I LOVED the dos version and played it a ton in the day, it was MK for me ever since the arcade days, and I never owned any of the inferior console ports). However it does have some differences. The res was slower, and the audio, even on the sound blaster was not quite arcade accurate (plus the pit blood evaporated in mid air). It did have a neat intro with the music playing (your "invitation" to the contest, love that). The Roland (?) had a neat piano like rendition of the music though, very relaxing and out of character for Mortal Kombat. ;)

It's fun to compare versions...!

(quoted)
mk2_compare.jpg

mortal02.gif
(32X)
(end quote)

Btw, among competative veterans of MK2, MK3, UMK3, etc. is MK1 considered a crap game now? Or is there any sense of competition here? I realize it's slower, has fewer characters and no dial-a-combos, but otherwise does anyone consider it tournament worthy these days?
 
Kurgan said:
I always heard the 32X version of MK2 was more of a tweak than a remake of the Genesis version (sort of like the Sega CD version of Mk1 vs. the Genesis version), though an actual improvement in graphics (better be!).

Of course the 32x addon only enhanced the graphic capabilities of the Genesis, it didn't enhance the sound, and since the SNES had a better sound system, it makes sense that it could have superior audio.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it definitely wasn't a full remake. They took the Genesis version, cleaned it up, added more colors, added a couple new frames of animation, added (most of) the missing sound effects and samples, added a display that was closer to the arcade (the life bars, text and all that), and that was pretty much it. They even kept the crappy music from the Genesis version as well as the original samples from it.

I'm nearly positive that the 32X enhanced the Genesis' sound, though. You can hear a major difference between the gritty, tinny sound of the phrase "Finish Him!" (which was already in the Genesis version) and the crystal clear sound of "Baraka Wins... Fatality" along with the other samples they added. I think the 32X's sound capabilities are at least comparable to, if not better than the SNES's (don't quote me on that).
 
32X enhanced the quality of Genesis audio. It added a couple of channels to the existing Genesis sound system. I thought Genesis had 6 channels and 32X added 2, but that's not based on any particularly reliable source, just something I've read over the years. If that is the case its probably roughly equal to SNES, although I've not really heard any 32X games that would convince me that is true.

Star Wars Trilogy comes to mind. They pushed the 32X on the graphics and there was a fairly high production quality but the sound still didn't seem to live up to SNES.[/i]
 
Shao Kahn's speech was crystal clear, moreso than the SNES version. Some of the added grunts and sounds were pretty clear too (though there wasn't much of them). The only notable changed effect was Shang Tsung's fireballs. Other stuff like Cage's fireball, Scorpion's spear were the same as the Genesis version.

This all may sound great, but the overall result was really marginally improved audio. The SNES one was still better overall.

Of course, the gameplay was the same, which didn't really help much.
 
From an old EGM I have around '92:

SNES
Processor: 65816 3.58 mHz
Res: 512x448
Colors: 32,768
On screen Colors: 256
Max Sprites: 128
Sprite Size: 64x64

Gen
SNES
Processor: 6800 7.6 mHz
Res: 320x224
Colors: 512
On screen Colors: 64
Max Sprites: 80
Sprite Size: 32x32

I was sure they listed sound processors in here too, but it might have been in another mag, I thought Genesis was 4 bit mono and SNES was 8 bit dual channel.

Sega CD is compared with Turbo Duo, CD is listed with 8 channel Stereo

At the time SNES had only 80 games and Genesis had 320, there's stuff listed for PC Engine and Turbo Express in here too. I think there's one ad for MK somewhere. SF2 is Video Game of the year. This Mag is a great little time capsule of gaming. Glancing through it, there's a featured article for Contra III, Zelda 3, Gate of Thunder and Streets of Rage III that use the MK3 font for in all the captions. There's also an ad for "Baton" a teleplay device.

By the way Mike, Sagat is 7'5" 172 lbs.
 
The Wavenet rom is available out there, I have it, But it is not easy to find!

MAME won't run it, so you have to actually trick the mame program into auditing the regular version of the Umk3 rom,
then replacing that rom, with the rom called the "Zeus Hack."

It replaces Shang Tsung and Stryker's images on the character select screen with that of silver dragon boxes, like the hidden's. Highlighting these boxes shows Human Smoke and Noob Saibot. There is also a cheat, to control the 3 hiddens without doing the Ultimate Kombat Kode.
 
That isn't the Wavenet rom, that's the Zeus hack. I've had it for years. I also gave it to someone who said he then burned it onto rom chips with the equipment he has at college, so there is one legit arcade board with the Zeus Hack on it. The Wavenet version is again, not the Zeus Hack. All you have to do is rename the zip file.
 
I may have actually found someone who owns a Wavenet UMK3 machine. Going to see if it's a) legit and b) he's willing to sell it.
 
We really deserve a good version of MK Trilogy. Will will never get it, but maybe the Wii Virctual Console will release the N64 version with enhanced graphics and sound. Thats probably are only hope left.

Patrick, I need to get into contact with you, ive located another RARE MK PCB, and need to see about getting it emulated for MAME so everyone can have it.
 
Korn do you have split personalities? MKFIX has been talking to me for the last two days, as you've been telling me for the past two days. Unless there is another rare item?
 
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