Mortal Kombat Trilogy, which version is better? PS1 or N64? 

I remember spending Saturday mornings looking through the psx trilogy instruction manual and looking at all the characters while watching MK Defenders of the Realm cartoon. Sigh, we didn’t know how good we had it back then

The PlayStation version is more complete, more characters, more music etc. the only strike against it was the loading time.

PSX version for sheer content. N64 version for core gameplay.

Ed Boon and John Tobias had no creative control over Mortal Kombat Trilogy. That's one of the reasons why the game was rushed. Me personally I always loved the PlayStation version over the Nintendo 64 version.

I own the PlayStstion port and the PC port. Out of the “CD” ports, I can’t recommend the PC one enough. Three words, “NO LOAD TIMES”

I lost count of the amount of hours I spent playing this on the PS1. I don't think my grandparents understood age ratings at all as they just got me this without any questions xD I was only 7

As a Shang player, the loading times for the morphs on the PS1 killed it. You could select your morphs in advance for a smoother experience so at least that was a work around.

load time ?? The original PlayStation had games that took FOREVER to load in between levels. The N64 had almost zero loading time

My friends and I all had the N64 version because in our midwest town, EVERYONE chose the N64 console over the PS1. I only met one person in my life with the PS1 in that town. It was all about drinking Surge, playing the N64 with friends, and skateboarding and rollerblading back then. LOL. We enjoyed the N64 version quite a bit but spent most of our time on Goldeneye.

MKT for PS1 also has classic MK1 Kano, and classic MK2 Jax. Pressing select over the characters

You having my three favorite childhood arcade cabinets behind you just made my day!

The N64 version should've been better. Feels like it was rushed.

I played the HELL out of the N64 version. It was the 2nd game I got for my N64. Loved it

PS1 was so awesome. The load times just killed me. I got UMK3 on Sega Saturn, and the load times were horrendous but it looked fantastic.

N64 3v3 tournaments are really fun to watch on N64.

I've played both and can't complain on either. The achieved what they were made to do; entertain. While the load times were a bit annoying, I've come to use them as a moment to clear my head, relax and focus.

Back in the late 90s I had the N64 version and one of my friends has the Playstation version. After school when we'd want to have tournaments with our group of friends we'd always default to the Nintendo 64 version just because of the no loading. The only other game I can think of where we played the Nintendo 64 version over the Playstation was San Fransisco Rush.

18:07 wow that difficulty sure ramped up real quick. Definitely true to how an arcade version would have been. Edit: load times never really bothered me, I would rather have better sound so my pick would be ps1 for that reason. Another great video, Darryl, I really look forward to your content. Still waiting on that Mythologies finale!

One thing to note on the PSX's MKT music: it was written to the disc as 48000Hz audio, but played back at 44100Hz, making it slower and lower-pitched.

I played both growing up but the n64 playing the wrong music in almost every level really bugs me.

Loading for the options menu…loading for the character select screen…brutal! Can’t believe it used to be normal!

I love your history and knowledge of Mortal Kombat ❤

My favorite video game of all time. I played it for years on the N64 at a cousin's house until I eventually got a PlayStation one and got trilogy for it. Aside from being able to use the Boss characters I didn't see anything better about the PlayStation especially considered you could just put in the codes to unlock them on the N64 version anyway. Shao Kahn and motaro were so overpowered from what I remember

allot of good memories getting up every morning to play this with my dad on the ps1 before he dropped me off at school. He's definitely the reason i still love both Mortal Kombat and Tekken as much as i do

Excellent video! Hope you can also compare Saturn and PC ports too (although I think PC would stomp the other 3 ports)

I had the ps1 version back in 1997 ... The cd was in my ps1 literally for over a year straight! MK Trilogy is my all time #1 favorite old school Mk game easy!

17:50 💯 I grew in the late 90s, and I miss the mellow and simplicity of not having social media where you had to step out the door and meet people because everyone was doing the same 😂

Saturn version when ???

You ought a versus video on Street Fighter 2 including World Warrior, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Super Street Fighter 2 New Challengers, and other versions.

bit refers to the color depth or pixel precision. It determines the number of possible colors or shades that can be displayed per pixel, allowing for more realistic and detailed images with smoother gradients.

How can it be a fair comparison when you using a high HD TV on the PS1 and a Dinosaur 1818 BC TV on the N64?

I used to love this game back in the day!

Mortal Kombat Trilogy was also on Sega Saturn and other platforms. Review the Saturn version of MKT.

My parents use to rent me a N64 from Block Buster Video just so I can play Mortal Kombat Trilogy since I didn’t own one but overall eventually got a Ps1 along with MK Trilogy game

Just a heads up, there was a 1997 PC version which was a port of the playstation version, AND that PC version got re-realsed on GoG in 2022! to run on modern Windows 7,8,10,11 etc

Hey buddy yet again another classic review. I played mostly on the ps1. Have to say back @ the day this was a thing I guess I didn't mind the loading time for we weren't familiar with something better than the pc version and loading times..both looks awesome and played amazing two..come today I'll pretty much would reviewed them 50/50.. evenly. Keep this stuff up my friend you rock 👊

Yay! a real comparison! Wish you'd worked in the Saturn version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy into this comparison.

You should do MK4 for both platforms... and MKM: Sub-Zero

I don’t know why it bugs me that the announcer does not say “Round 1” in the PS one version. Feels incomplete

Great video, I own both versions still. They're both fun as heck, though personally I prefer the N64 version out of all versions, it's the best for competitive play, more balanced and has Khameleon as well as the 3 on 3 exclusive mode besides the no loading issues as you've pointed out, as someone who likes using Shang that's definitely makes a difference for me.

Good to see you're better and personally i only played the PS1 version

I would say N64 because of the loading times. But one thing i dont get why is there like multiple arms and legs for the characters when getting blown up?

A very enjoyable video, Darryl. I played the PlayStation version growing up, and more recently the PC version released on GOG Galaxy - which is very good! An interesting thing about the N64 version is that some stages have more detail to them; The Deadpool has a red sky behind the grates, and Khan's Kave has a glowing floor and animated clouds in the background. I guess you could argue it's the more complete version in that sense. Great video as always 👍

Technically, bits could refer to a few different things. 1. Address space. All the memory locations and other chips the CPU needs to be able to send/receive data and commands to/from will be mapped to this. More bits = more memory and functionality. 2. Data bus bandwidth. This is basically how big the chunks of data moving in and out of the CPU are. More bits = more data being handled. 3. Internal data type processing. This is how big the chunks of data the CPU can perform operations on are. More bits = the CPU can process larger numbers, make calculations with more precision, and get work done more efficiently. Of course, marketers just ran with More bits = more better. In reality, it depends on how well engineered the CPU, chipset, and logic board are, as well as how good the programmers and designers are.

In simplest language 32-bit versus 64-bit just refers to how many lines of code the processor can chew through at once & how much memory it can address at once. Generally the N64 version is more visually impressive but it was often missing multimedia elements. Since the 5th generation had the additional X-Factor of CD versus Cartridge, there are times where the higher storage capacity of the CD based PS1 would come off superior despite having a “lesser” CPU & graphics & other times where the quicker load times in general, smoother graphics & usuall especially having access to the full content of the game without having to load things in & out from the disc into memory made for the better experience.

It’s cool that we both share the same first name and the exact spelling , and we are also huge MK fans 🔥🔥🔥 thank you for your contents bro … keep it up

"Bits" usually were regarding the data width of the graphic processors, but were just one part of a system's architecture. SNES had more colors than Sega Genesis, supported sound samples and had a great sound chip and many cartridges had performance enhancing chips like the FX chips. Genesis had faster processors and supported higher resolutions than SNES. It's weaknesses were fewer colors, and more difficult sound composition due to using synthesized sound. The GEMS sound driver helped, but not all composers used them well. Lots of times Genesis ports or versions were poor because they had less experienced teams, or the publisher cheapened out by only springing for smaller ROM sizes for cartridges on Genesis. Genesis was an underdog for a looong time, after all. Neither n64 or Playstation were 2D powerhouses, but for MK Trilogy the PSX was able to have more characters and cd quality sound, so it is my preferred version.

As I understand it, the N64 needed serious compression to get everything to fit and the audio suffered as a result. The PSX version had excellent audio and content, thanks to the storage space of the disc, but was infamous for loading delays, especially involving Shang Tsung morphs.

PC Windows version is better (I know there is a DOS version for PC though) But if I have to choose, let's see the pros and cons... PROS: NINTENDO 64: * No Loading (I like that cause I like to play as Shang Tsung) * Includes The Hidden Portal Stage from MK3 and the exclusive "The Star Bridge". * It has secret fights like MK1 and MK2, including the hints before a fight. * Several ways to unlock hidden characters: Ultimate Kombat Kode, Secret Menus, a secret sequence * It has mini games included * It has "Khameleon" * It has 3vs3 mode. * Fatalities for Shao Kahn and Motaro (Not sure but I think they can also kick in the air) * Champion Endurance Mode on Choose Your Destiny Screen * Different CPU Difficulty * Being this port on a catridge, there is less risks to be damaged by using it. * More and new Shao Kahn's Treasures. * Scorpion has the "Scorpion Clones" Fatality included. * Nightwolf has a different Friendship * Shang Tsung can be fought in arcade mode. * You can "reverse" a babality turning into a kind of "Hara-Kiri" holding both kick and punch buttons. * Raiden Uppercut Fatality can be done with an alternative sequence (I think it is "Forward, Forward, Down + HP) PLAYSTATION: * More characters, including bosses plus Goro and Kintaro, 4 Klassic Versions (Kano, Kung Lao, Raiden and Jax) and Chameleon. * Bosses selectable from the beggining, no need of hidden codes. * Better sound * More music, MK2 stages tracks included. * Includes Kahn's Arena and The Bank Stages. * Rain is way easier to use than N64 version. * Bosses have more special moves * PSX Version has a cinematic intro (I don't know if Saturn version have it) * At the time it was way cheaper to buy than the N64 version (At least in my country, Chile). CONS: NINTENDO 64: * Less content * Less frames (It feels strange when you hit or kick in the air. It looks more limited in this area compared to the other versions. You can notice that watching combos, too) * The sound is lower and worse. The music sounds like midi. * The N64 controller (You can accustom to the control, but is kind of annoying at the beggining) * Shang Tsung can't morph into bosses and Baraka. PLAYSTATION * Many Loading times * The game is faster than Arcade UMK3 (That's my personal opinion, it annoys me that you need to do EVERYTHING faster when you fight) All of these facts being said, I choose N64 versions just because of no loading times, the 3vs 3 mode, the champion endurance mode and the "real trilogy vibe" by adding secrets fights, hints and mini games as prior MK Arcade games.

Now with what can be done with N64 roms to compile and run them smoothly, that may be the new best way to play it. That + the N64-exclusive Super Endurance mode for the towers? I know there's gotta be a person ready to show off. _For the uninitiated, Down + Start on Kano shakes the screen and activates the mode._ The Champion tower is a real challenge, and I know there's a TAS of this here on YT somewhere.

The content, music, and controller were better on the PS1. The load times were a nightmare.

Fun fact I Alpha tested this back in the days and only 2 characters were available with super limited moves. As a teen that's all I needed! To this day it's still my favorite iteration.

If you didn’t play this high with your buddies you missed out

Good video, I enjoy both my best friend had both. We noticed the difference PS1 more fighters more levels better music, N64 no load times 3v3, fighters looked bigger but we didn't know at the time it was zoomed in a little. Both good that's what made having different consoles unique. Now they are all just a PC now besides Nintendo

Another great video! I hope you're feeling better, I think this is another example of where you can't go wrong with either version you choose. They both have there strengths and weaknesses such as the audio and graphics looking more crisp and clear on the Playstation, while the n64 version is much more blurry and the audio sounds more muffled. There's also one of the worst glitches on the Playstation version where if you beat the game while playing on a Playstation 2, the game will crash before you are sent to Shao Khan's hidden treasures 😮 There's also the slower lower pitched music and no Animality theme on the Playstation version.

I own the official guide book. Very cool stuff. Got Mkt when it was released back then. Man .. these times.

Greetings from Honduras Amazing video

While they're are both fun there's not much to do in MK Trilogy for the PS1 since every characters had been unlock for you from the get-go. The only other character is a randper version of the ninjas. In the N64 version you at least had to unlock most of the stuff and find other secrets. The PS1 does had more characters but most of those contents were recycled from MK3 and Ultimate MK3.

I prefer PS1 version because i never played N64 version. Had i have known Goro and Kintaro were absent i wouldn't have liked it anyway because i was a huge Goro and Kintaro fan. And it sucks that you needed a code to play Shao Kahn and Motaro on N64. Whereas in PlayStation they were readily available.

Great video. I like when you do the OFFICIAL games. That being said, question here: Why was the N64 on CRT but not PS? I don't want to be disrespectful or anything like that, but the PS version looked better than it actually is because it was not on CRT like the N64 version. (Especially if emulation is being used.) Also, I could have sworn the N64 version had bigger characters; I could be wrong. You had me laughing hard with the "atrocious load times". 😂🤣

Shinnok was mentioned for the first time in a Mortal Kombat game in MKT. His first glorious (I bend the knee to Shinnok) mention comes at the ending bio of Noob Saibot

I could never pull off fatalities in any MK game, so this one was a godsend. I always used to use the one button fatality code, which I still remember; on Konfigure, hold up, R1, L1, R2 and L2.

MK Trilogy is the game that got me into MK. I grew up playing it right around when Deadly Alliance came out.

The loading kills the PS1 version, although it's superior.

I have both versions and play them quite a bit. Besides the audio and video quality being slightly different. The only animation difference between the two is in Shao Khans lair. On the N64 there's a blue sky with clouds moving outside the door. On the PS1 the clouds are gone but the edges of the doorway still have a bluish white outline.

I like the Ps1 version better, more characters, and no having to unlock them. Better controler, and sound.

Mk trilogy is the greatest mk of all time! I only played the PS1 version tho.

Hi, Darryl. Thank u for this trip down memory lane! Your review categories brought in fond memories of my fav video magazine GamePro, from back in the day! You have a new subscriber, here. Thank u, my friend.

I like the Nintendo 64 mortal Kombat trilogy because I play it the most I had best time playing it and it was awesome the mortal Kombat trilogy for Nintendo 64 got more character and good old time for me to play mortal Kombat trilogy for Nintendo64 😁😄

Speak for yourself, Darryl. My (then) 15 year-old ass was in the biggest rush ever. To play any new MK game, that is.

What about the Saturn version? That version might be the best one. As long as it’s being played on a CRT. Show Sega some love 💙

ps1 had mk2 kung lao and jax, and mk1 raiden and kano. you had to press select button while your cursor was highlighting the characters.

always a cozy time on this channel

It's finally my time to shine! This one is my baby! This is hands down the PEAK of the series. PS1 LOOKS and SOUNDS better. However, you can really clean up the N64 graphics with good cables and a good upscaler like a 'Framemeister' or just play it on a CRT with SVideo or COMPONENT cables, but the sound is gonna suck no matter what. N64 IS FASTER in GENERAL!! PLUS, there's no loading times. THE PS1 version is very flawed, outside of the obvious load times. The frame rate breaks what would normally be the A.I. of UMK3 with more characters lending to lots of bugs that you would normally never see. The Aggressor mode is broken in the PS1 as well. This is all avoided in the 64 version! Solid frame rate with the AGGRESSOR mode OFF. NO BUGS. You can dominate this game if you get good at the A.I. baiting. It's not really a matter of which is better to play...the fact is, if there had to be a definitive version of MKT ... ITS HANDS DOWN THE N64 PORT. It is a beast... despite its muffled SOUND . Oh baby, oh baby...how I truly adore it. It's the only version you could use to play Competitively. Oh and if you turn OFF the stamina meter, thats when things get real FUN! Its a HURRICANE of a game! IF ONLY SOME AWESOME FAN WOULD DO A " IMPROVEMENT ROMHACK" FOR THE N64 VERSION... ADDING BACK THE MISSING and OUT OF PLACE SONGS AND CLEANING UP THE MUFFLED SOUND. POSSIBLY A COSTUME COLOR SELECT FEATURE. MAKE IT TO WHERE THE BONES AND GORE DONT DISAPPEAR UPON (some) FATALITIES AND THE BRUTALITIES. OMG COULD YOU IMAGINE? I DREAM OF IT!!! This game is my BITSH!! AND YOU WOULD BE TOO if you dare play against me on it!! This is the first MK GAME I decided to use a thumb glove with so I can be faster and smoother on the Dpad.

I'm 39 years old and the load times never bothered me and it still doesn't

I got both versions I grew up with the ps1 version so that will always be better to me 🔥

Agreed. Trilogy should have hit the arcades back then.

PS1 for me!I still have both,but never liked N64's version!

The N64 version is my all-time favorite video game ever. The 3 on 3 fights were my shit. My go to team was Scorpion, Jade & Baraka. I was unbeatable.

I have an inexcusable soft spot for the N64 version... It must be the red tinted windows in the Deadpool stage (reminiscent of the SNES version.) No loading times helps too. Too bad the difficulty is truly brutal!

Hey man… would love to see some KI content.. memories of the arcade version etc. keep up the awesome videos man 👍👍

I remember renting the N64 version and being super excited. When I popped it in . I was so disappointed 😔☹️

Interesting video. So the PS1 and N64 versions you showed were incredible looking. I would rate the PC version as 7.5 out of 10 if you are an MK fan. Otherwise PS1/N64 Trilogy or Arcade UMK3 is far better than PC MKT The PC version of trilogy is not as good in graphics quality as your versions or even the UMK3 arcade in all aspects but is still fun. Even on PC the AI is insanely hard compared to PC MK3 and arcade UMK3. Finishing towers at any difficulty takes ages. As you mentioned there are tricks that players know and I don't know these yet. Why this version was not released in the arcade is another interesting discussion altogether.

I never liked how they slowed down some tracks to match the MK2 tracks' keys in the PS1 port. MK3/UMK3 didn't had this (which ever disc version released on any console), why we couldn't have this in PS1? D: The mild inconvenience in PS1 MK games are loading times, specially if you were a Shang Tsung mainer. You had to configure to not load any additional character, probably 1 character (and that was the opponent character only), moves only, or full Shang Tsung. These were the settings if IIRC. Full settings would mean more longer loading times as the game had to load each character Shang Tsung recalled. I can tolerate the SNes-like soundfont used in MKT64 though the N64 had power enough to drive something like the DCS system used for music and effects. The only SEVERE inconvenience in MKT64 is the CPU being effing insane! You played in Easy, but go Normal on either tower. For seasoned player, this might not be a convenience, but for the average, they can note the difference in either game and find the PS1 version more lenient in difficulty. The PS1 controller was never my favorite for fighting games, but I felt more comfortable playing it on the N64 as you can mimmick the 6 button layout from Genesis UMK3. :) On either games, both they use memory cards/paks. But it's a shame they didn't use back up ram or EPPROMs for save data or provide both options (like Perfect Dark did) regarding the N64 version. Thank you for showing us this gem!

Also on the PS1 version, when 1-Button Fatalities were enabled, sometimes the game would "glitch" and the fatality wouldn't occur.

The OG genesis MK1 had the limited blood 🩸 the Super Nintendo version used what looked like dry mud after upper cuts etc. Man that was time ago

Nintendo chose the cartridge based system as they said loading times were far to slow, those cost was very limited space on the cartridges at the time.

I had the 64 version absolutely loved it

Talking about sounds, both versions lacks many bgms. n64 has lo quality sounds and bgms. It has all the sounds and speeches but has poor quality. And has no mk2 and1 bgms. Where as. Psx has good cd quality bgms, has mk2 stages bgms. But lacks the folowing. listen it carefully when selecting towers. The (dun) bgm is not present. Rround1 2 3 etc sounds are missing. Fight, superb, wel done, finish him/her, and hit sounds quality is poor plus the landing/running sounds are missing. End of round and when finish him/her moments, the specific stage bgms are missing. All the bgms are slower then the original. There are many other sound errors which I don't remember.

I watched a couple of your videos the other night 🤷🏾‍♀️ I'm just commenting now. So I'm not spamming 😅 i prefer the ps1 version. And you're damn good at mk

I got the PS version (still do). At 18yr I had a 20” CRT, 2- 12” sub-woofers sitting on shelves. I had many tournaments with MKT and Twisted Metal. PS version had the male Khameleon which I thought was better because you had more male ninja variants vs the N64 ver. with only 3 female variants. Boss characters, better sound. PlayStation ver. all day!

I dug out and tried playing my MK Trilogy disc on PS3 as a ripped ISO last night. The ISO loads just as slow as the disc!

When I was 16 I traded in my PlayStation with games at a Funcoland for a Nintendo 64 because of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. The screenshots and previews in gaming magazines had me believe it was a better version and Scorpion had three fatalities. I rented MKT at Blockbuster because I think buying it was around 80 dollars at the time. But as soon as I started hearing MKT on the 64, man I was disappointed. I even thought the music was better on the SNES for MK3. I owned MKT on PlayStation first. I would have never traded in my PlayStation.

Testing Graphics you should have used the same exact TV to make it fair for both systems

The ps1 version you can play as Goro, Kintaro, Motaro and Shao Kahn The n64 version you can only play as Motaro and Shao Kahn

I loved Mortal Kombat Trilogy on PlayStation one. Would love to see Mortal Kombat Trilogy playstation one version remastered

This game is awesome recently I played on the PS1 classic

PS1 MKT was a bummer due to Shang Tsung morph changes that created a lag issue and loading time during the gameplay. N64 version the character selection was a big short due to missing some of the classic MK1&2 like Jax, Kung Lao, Kitaro, Goro, Raiden, and Kano. Both versions has its pro and cons depending on the gigabit and hardware implemented during the production process of the game, which I found was a bit lackluster and rushed by the game developers.

7:26 This is the classic Friday night sleepover with pizza rolls set up. Just the TV and the console on the side.

As a kid I played the PC and PS1 PC was great