Nah – the latest Mortal Kombat is the most popular at the moment. UMK3 could come in second though. As for bundling MKG with MKX; it seems great but unlikely. MKG could go gold again by its own, with HD graphics.

I would love to see an MKG HD!

It would be splendid and profitable but don't get your hopes too high.

It is indeed the most popular 'classic' MK, and I never understood why. It's basically a 'done-in-the-last-minute' rehash of MK3, with generic ninjas, dumb fatalities, still dumber animalities, and notoriously cheap AI gameplay.. Its only advantage whatsoever was the addition of Scorpion, whose UMK3 version I didn't even like.

UMK3 is the most popular because it added the fun of MK2 to the off the reservation divergence that was MK3. MK1 was great realism and a little dark, MK2 was a cartoony and insanely hard spinoff, then MK3 went left field, took out the favorite characters, and added new ones (but added speed via running). MK3 was okay for a few months but was TOO different. I remember squinting at the arcade screen because you couldn't see Kabal in the Cathedral. Neon animalities were stupid. UMK3 seemed rushed as in 'Damn, we F'ed up, quick hire developers and put Scorpion and some Easter eggs in quick!!!' It showed because the colors got more bright but the animations were so generic you could tell a contracted developer with no knowledge of MK cookie cutter-ed them.

There was only one UMK3 in the series and MK2 is and will always be the top MK game EVER!

Most popular among who?

Casual gamers who aren't "fanboys" like us would probably say MK2 since a lot of them stopped liking the game after MK3.

I'd say I like UMK3... but I don't; mainly because of I didn't like MK3. If they remade MK2 with UMK3's fighting mechanics then that'd be a dream come true. Those MUGEN guys just can't get it right, so downloading those shit-games is not an option.

well put. MK2 was always my fave til MKD bumped it down to 2nd place. thats saying a lot for MKD since the roster had quite a few easily forgettable characters

UMK3 may be the most popular classic MK game but it was rushed, you can see it clearly in the smal details. Some animations are a bit choppy, another MK with palette-swapped ninja's, even Scorpion and SubZero have the same fighting stance...come on..the last time I saw that was on the SegaMD MK1..pffft
But to be honoust, it is not a bad game at all, in fact I did enjoy playing the game, for sure. I still have the Snes version which included Rain and Noob, which I think is UMK3special edition..haha. And I have a MAME version of UMK3.
My personal all-time classic is still MK2.
Some people say mk2 is cartoony, wel I can tell you: You werent there at the time when it was first released because it looked damn realistic for it's time.
And people say MK1 was realistic and dark: well it was because of the fact that MK1 was shot with lower quality camera's than MK2 was.........
MK2 = the all-time classic
MK1 = The pioneer and damn good.
UMK3 = the 2nd all-time classic
MK3.. the worst classic if you ask me, but it brought some good things with it: the RUN button and those Combo's were a very nice add, but all the favourite characters were gone and thats why I didn't like the game that much. (Sorry Ed)
Nothing more to say, have a nice day...

Hey everyone, I've been lurking for a bit, figured I'd pop my proverbial cherry and weigh in here.

MK9 has moved about 4 million units, more than any other MK game to date. But the franchise undeniably peaked in terms of pop culture relevance in the mid 90's, and like it or not, UMK3 is the cherry on top. There's also no telling how many cartridges might have sold were it not for the huge 90's arcade scene, and if home consoles were as ubiquitous then as they are now.

Unlike most self-professed MK fans, the arcade version of UMK3 is, to me, the MK formula taken to its logical conclusion. Not as crucial to the franchise as 2, but my personal favorite.

Besides, the most damning complaints around MK3 are often about issues specific to the ports. Remember, these games were made for arcades, not home systems. Even your beloved MKII pales in comparison to its arcade counterpart.

But then again, I think MKM:SZ is the last true Mortal Kombat game, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I would think MK2 would be the most popular as this game is what (I think) launched the MK series to greatness much like SF2 did for the SF series. I do remember liking UMK3 the best though since it had all the characters available at the time.