#1186 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Boss Hack (ARC) Bosses (1/2): Shao Kahn playthrough

Channel:

AdmiralMcFish - Bosses and Hidden Characters

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Published on May 24, 2021 10:08:58 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I67iu_UHJaQ

Game:

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 7:55

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A playthrough of the final boss Shao Kahn in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Cup Edition.

Shao Kahn’s Moves:
• D, f+LP = Shoulder Charge
• D, f+HP = Rising Shoulder Charge
• B, f, f+LP = Projectile attack
• B, f+HP = Hammer Swing
• D, d+HK = Laugh
• D, d+LK = Ridicule


Now here’s a damn special hack. Another tournament style hack, this one adds Classic Smoke as a regular hidden character, entirely adds Rain into the game, and even makes Shao Kahn and Motaro fully playable! It even adds classic stages from MK1 and 2 as well, and numerous other things. It’s just amazing. As with the MK2 boss hack, this was one which I discovered by way of my friend Torentsu, and I’d recommend giving his channel follow if you’re into the sort of videos that I do (and Tekken-related shitposts): https://www.youtube.com/user/Torentsu

UMK3 is one of those games which is technically very good, but I just honestly never really tend to play it. It’s just a bit brutal, really, and the bosses are no exception to that. I also just can’t stand the design compared to the gorgeous dark fantasy of MK2, and even the general designs don’t really do a lot of me. It was certainly much improved over MK3, but not to the point I think it saves the game, personally. Like, this is obviously a good game, but there are just so many other titles I prefer over it. The difficulty of the game is definitely one of those compounding factors. Endurance matches return and they’re more insufferable than ever, as they tend to contain the hidden characters whose AI is amped up even more than others, as it was in previous titles. It’s just kind of bullshit really and I’ve never understood why Midway had such a hardon for it, even including it in Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game.

Then, however, you get to the bosses, Motaro and Shao Kahn. Good fucking lord. Bosses in previous titles were difficult, certainly, but I felt like you got used to them after a while. Shang Tsung you just have to keep your distance from, MK2 Shao Kahn had a few exploits and would occasionally give you a free hit, and Goro and Kintaro weren’t so bad as you blocked correctly and got the timing down to punish their stomp attacks.

Motaro and MK3 Shao Kahn on the other hand? Jesus Christ. I’ll get into Motaro next time, so let’s just focus on Shao Kahn for now. I’ve said this before about the MK games and I’ll say it to death; the difficulty ultimately comes from the AI. Shao Kahn is innately powerful, sure, but what really makes him dangerous is just how perfect his goddamn playing is. He can and will counter and block all your moves with ease, will give you no room for counter-attack, and pretty much just exists to torment you. Get stuck in a corner blocking? He will unleash a flurry of special moves until you are dead. That’s it. He will occasionally taunt, but apart from that the only thing you can do is try to bait a Rising Shoulder Charge attack from him which you then dodge and counter, but that’s not consistent in the slightest. In MK3, I would take somewhere around 10 minutes to get to Shao Kahn, and then an hour to 2 hours to actually beat him, he is that awful and inconsistent. In MK2, there was a consistent strat for beating him which required blocking in a corner, taking a hit and then uppercutting him. Here, however, I’ve never worked out a proper strategy; I just win from luck, if at all.

Move-wise, the only real difference Kahn has to his MK2 form is his projectile, which has changed from an energy spear to an orb projectile, which to me always seemed like a step-down design-wise. It almost seems weird that this was the only change, but it’s probably best not to overthink MK3’s design.

Kahn is pretty good here, but the issue with both bosses is that they are really, really slow. You have to time their hits on regular characters really, otherwise they will just be cancelled out by the opponent’s moves. This often meant liberal use of Kahn’s Rising Shoulder Charge, as it has great range, knocks the opponent over and will ignore projectiles, making it my move of choices in clinch situations and against the bosses themselves. You even have the ability to taunt at will should you wish to use this, though this will usually lead to you getting hit (as is the point, I suppose). It’s also quite difficult to get an infinite off against opponent as it only really works in the corner, and the timing for it is a little more difficult than previous bosses in the MK series, I found. His Sledgehammer attack is great for punishing enemies who try to close in on you, particularly as it stuns them afterwards and leaves them vulnerable to a follow-up attack (the combo usually dealing around 47% damage in the process!).

[Continued in a pinned comment]

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