Ultimate Mortal Kombat

Ultimate Mortal Kombat for the Nintendo DS in 2007 brought Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to a handheld, with the work handed to studio Other Ocean Interactive instead of original developer Midway, an unusual move for the series – previous portable versions were made by other studios and were usually markedly stripped-down conversions, but here the developers decided to carry the game over practically unchanged, including the original button layout remapped onto the console's D-pad and buttons so that the controls stayed as close as possible to the arcade original. The main 2D fights stayed faithful to the arcade source, complete with its whole expanded roster, but the game put the second touch screen to unique use – fatalities were performed with finger gestures directly on the screen instead of the classic button sequence, a tweak no other version of the third entry offered. The game also supported online battles over the then-current Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, so players could test their skills against each other remotely and not only over a local wireless link between two consoles.

The cartridge also included two separate bonus games built on the Mortal Kombat universe: Puzzle Kombat, a stone-matching battle inspired by Puzzle Fighter, and Motor Kombat, a kart racing game featuring the series' characters in the style of Mario Kart. Both added content to the package that never made it into the arcade third entry, turning the port into a standalone three-games-in-one package, so for the price of a single cartridge a player got a fighting game, a puzzle title, and a racing minigame all at once, and could switch between them at any time depending on mood, without ever having to reach for another game or dig into a bag for another cartridge.

Why play: For Nintendo DS owners, this is the most content-packed version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 there is – on top of the classic fights with touch-based fatalities and online play, it adds two whole bonus games, so it's worth it even for people who know the third entry by heart and are looking for a reason to come back to it again.