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So there you are, faced with the monstrosity of a half-human, half robot thing. It's a battle to the death, and no mercy will be shown (unless you choose to grant it). Blood is the order of the day, and ripping your opponent limb from limb is also strongly advised. Then you get the immortal words "Finish Him (or Her)," and this is your chance to impress the onlooking Shao Kahn, so what you do? Turn yourself into a snowman. Only in Mortal Kombat.

Yes, it's that time of year when we dust off the Dettoz (for all those nasty cuts and scratches) and prepare to decapitate a few people as Mortal Kombat returns to torment Mary Whitehouse and sell bucketloads of games to the gore-loving public. This isn't any old conversion however. This is the "Ultimate" version, and by far the best of the series.

The difference between this and the other versions is that it features the most characters - an initial total of twenty to play as - and of course the obligatory secret warriors. And coupled with the greatly improved combo potential, the programmers appear at first glance to have thought of everything. But, as we all know in the cliche business, never judge a book by its cover, so let Mean Machines be your gide as we venture into the places no other man dare go. This is even more dangerous than the bin under Gus' desk - this is Kombat territory...

Created by the Williams pairing of Boon and Tobias, this is the fourth version of Mortal Kombat to appear on home formats. Originally a coin-op.

We've said that so many times over the last few months that it's getting boring. Beat up someone. Ho hum.

As we all know, fatalities hold the initial appeal in Mortal Kombat, but for those wishing to humiliate their opponents a little more, friendships are here to rub your mates' noses in it a little further.

Not only will you be able to give him flowers or other such loving keepsakes, but it means that you'll have beaten them without the aid of blocking. So roll up folks, as we take you through the friendship tour. Single file only, and have your money ready when you enter.

Let's talk combos. Many people were a bit peeved with the first couple of games because they lacked the versatility of Streetfighter in terms of combos. But in MK3, the programmers added a whole new combo engine, giving the chance to string together loads of hits by simply hitting the buttons in the correct order.

Admittedly, this wasn't the hardest of things to pull off, and it failed to offer the variations of SF. But for this version, it seems that the programmers have had another look at it and tweaked the engine once more, making different combos a lot easier. For a start, another hit has been added to everybody's combos - a jumping punch which can then lead straight into more hits.

And now, special moves can be slipped into the proceedings with a lot more ease and grace than before.

As you will be aware, there are three empty spaces in the character select screen when you first start the game. And do you know who the three secret people are? Well, you probably do, but we'll tell you again anyway. All of these are accessed by a Kombat Kode, but we won't spoil it by telling you just yet.

1. Mileena
   She originates from the same race as Baraka from MK2, and conceals a nasty set of teeth beneath her mask. As with that game, she has a couple of wacky fatalities - for instance, she eats a packet of nails, and spits them at her opponent.
   
   Her normal moves are the same as in the second game.
2. Ermac
   A lot of confusion has surrounded him, and whether he was included in an earlier arcade version of Kombat. At certain points in the game, a message would appear along the lines of Ermac 094374020384987. Ermac actually stands for Error Mac, and was a bug, but now he's a full flung character.
3. Classic Sub Zero
   Extend a hand as we welcome back the Old Subby from the grave. Thrown in to give the nostalgic among you something to cling onto, his primary moves remain exactly the same as the older versions of MK. He has acquired two new fatalities in the refurbishment process.

The strangest of all the finishing move possibility are definitely the Animalities. These involve the player morphing into an animal, and then finishing off the opponent in one form or another.

To perform these moves, you and your enemy must have won a round each. Then, in the final round, you must get the 'Finish Him/Her' message up, and then perform a mercy (move over half a screen away, and hold run, press D, D, D then release run).

Now kill the person again and perform the desired move to set the animal free! Maybe.

Anyway, not all the Animalities are blood and guts moves. Reptile turns into a monkey that chases the opponent off the screen, and just when you think that Kitana has turned into a cute little rabbit, it then promptly devours you.

As well as being able to participate in the one-on-one side for this gore fest, there are a couple of other opportunities for you to indulge in a bit of multi-player fighting. There is a four character, two player, mode which is like the Endurance from the one player game, where you take control of two players, and one takes over from another when defeated.

Then there is the eight (count 'em) player knockout-style battle, where two people fight each other for one round, and the winner progresses further until only one warrior is left.

What is it about a bit of blood and guts that makes you lot go mental? The sight of someone's head being ripped off seems to appeal to almost everyone, judging by the sales of the other games. And, having played this version, I can now safely say that I understand why.

It's hard to put my finger on exactly, but there is something about this game that keeps on pulling me back for more. It's not so much that I'm a crazed psychotic killer who needs the sight of blood to keep going. It's just that I really like this game.

The other versions, which I played for many hours, were a source of many chuckles, but the novelty of the finishing moves soon wore off.

And although this happens in this game, there is far more here to keep the interest level high. The graphics are really well drawn, and coupled with the extremely atmospheric music (which I think is one of the best elements of the game) make for the suitably Gothic setting a game like this requires.

And, fatalities aside, there is a lot more in the way of combos and other finishing moves to warrant purchase if any of the other versions are owned.

I initially harboured doubts over the quality of the coin-op surviving the conversion process. I needn't have worried - this is more than just another round of Mortal Kombat. Another top class fighting game has arrived for the Saturn.

Steve is spot on when he contrasts this new Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 with the previous games. I've never been so much of a fan of Mortal Kombat over the Capcom games because the main fighting was subordinate to all the fancy finishing.

Now every aspect of the game is of the highest quality, with a pace and variety to the player styles that is pretty breathtaking. There's an enormous amount of playing in Ultimate Mortal Kombat, even for the seasoned player, and the computer promotes a particularly vicious onslaught in one-player mode.

Just a short period convinced me I'm going to have to practise like hell to match Steve. Suits me, sir.

Graphics 92%
P. The backgrounds and the presentation of the game are all very good, and contain lots of details.

Animation 91%
P. The characters' movements are fluid and smooth. N. Some of the fatalities don't look at complete and 'real' as they could.

Music 94%
P. One of the strongest suits of the game. Played through the right system, the atmosphere comes booming across.

Effects 89%
P. Stacks of speech, linked with squelches, spurts and bone crunches, are all you could possibly hope for.

Playability 92%
P. Easy to pick up, but tougher to get the combos and finishing moves down to a tee.

Lastability 93%
P. Over twenty characters to master, with three different game styles and lots of difficulty settings.

Overall 93%
Easily the best Kombat of the series, and well worth owning even if the other versions are sitting on your game shelf. An excellent game.