"Thousands
of years ago an order of the wisest men from the far east received visions of the dark realm known as the Outworld. It was
a world ruled by chaos and a vicious Emperor known as Shao Kahn.
They learned
that travel between Earth and the new found realm would someday be possible if the conditions were right, the conditions being
the unbalancing of the furies. Negative and positive forces which keep our unstable universe from collapsing onto itself.
Knowing
that an Outworld invasion was imminent, the wise men appealed to the Elder Gods. It was for this reason the Elder Gods created
the tournament called Mortal Kombat.
For nine
generations Mortal Kombat was ruled by Outworld's finest warrior-prince Goro. The Earth was on the brink of its destruction
when a new generation of warriors were victorious in defending its realm.
The warrior
monk, Liu Kang, would become the new Champion. But his victory was short lived as he and his comrades find themselves lured
into the Outworld to compete in a second tournament.
Little
did they know that the tournament was merely a diversion. A scheme devised by the dark Emperor to break the rules set forth
by the Elder Gods and witness the reincarnation of his former Queen Sindel on the Earthrealm itself.
The unholy
act gives Shao Kahn the power to step through the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen, thus enabling him to finally seize
the Earth.
These
are the trilogy of events which comprise Shao Kahn's final attempt at taking the Earth."
Every character that has ever appeared in a Mortal Kombat game prior to
Mortal Kombat Trilogy appears in this game. Rain and Noob Saibot are playable for the first time with their very own moves,
combos, and finishing moves. Along with the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 roster, Mortal Kombat Trilogy adds Baraka, Goro, Johnny
Cage, Kintaro, Raiden, and "classic" versions of Jax, Kung Lao, Kano, and Raiden. Bosses Motaro and Shao Kahn are also now
playable. A new secret character appears, as well. This character known as Chameleon appears, and rapidly switches between
all the male ninjas. Basically Chameleon is a newer version of MK1 Reptile, but Chameleon changes his color, not just his
stance. This character is playable by performing a special button combination.
The Nintendo 64 version, due to limitations of cartridge space, lacks the classic
versions of Jax, Kung Lao, Kano,
and Raiden as well as Goro and Kintaro. Also, Motaro and Shao Kahn are not selectable at the main screen. Cheat codes have
to be entered to gain access to them. The N64 version also combines the two Sub-Zeros into one convenient palette swapped
version. Chameleon is replaced in the N64 version with the secret character Khameleon, a grey female ninja, and is present
as both a secret opponent and a playable character. While she too switches her gender (making her considerably weaker), she
does have a cohesive storyline, unlike her male counterpart.
Almost every battle arena that has been featured in Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat
3, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 makes an appearance in this game. The PlayStation version only lacks the Hidden Portal from
MK3 and the N64 version lacks Kahn's Arena from MK2. Only a couple of backgrounds from the first Mortal Kombat make it into
this game such as the Courtyard, Goro's Lair, the Pit, and the Pit Bottom. The N64 game also includes a new level, the Star
Bridge, which is basically a different take on the Pit II background. Some older backgrounds are
also "enhanced", with extra graphics and added animation. Some examples of this is are the Portal, which now includes a temple-like
building on each side of the stage, and the N64's Kahn's Kave, which has animated clouds and fire added to it. Many of the
background tracks remain intact, especially for the CD-ROM versions of the game, but many of the songs are not played with
their correct levels.
As you'd expect, all of the levels that featured a stage fatality made
it into this game except for the stage fatality featured in the Pit II level. Because of the amount of trouble it would have
been to film extra animations with actors for the non-Mortal Kombat II characters for the Pit II's overhead fall, they simply
left the fatality out completely.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy introduces the Aggressor bar, which fills as the
combatants fight. When the bar fills, the character becomes much faster and stronger for a short period of time.
3-on-3 simultaneous battles (only on the N64 version) and player-versus-player
Endurance matches, in which both players choose a lineup of up to eight characters and battle until one player is defeated.
A new finishing move, known as a Brutality, is featured in this game.
This finishing move requires the player to perform an 11 button combo which causes their opponent to explode.
Many of Mortal Kombat Trilogy characters have brand new special moves
and finishing moves.