Sega CD
Released in 1988, the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles. In mid-1990, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske developed a four-point plan for sales of the Genesis: cut the console's price, develop games for the American market with a new American team, continue aggressive advertising campaigns, and ship "Sonic the Hedgehog" with the Genesis as a pack-in game. The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games yet made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) decided to purchase a Genesis instead.
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
The Sega Genesis version was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Williams Entertainment in June 1996 in North America and by Acclaim Entertainment on November 28, 1996, in Europe (Mega Drive version). Due to the limitations of the system's hardware, the Sega Genesis port featured inferior graphics and sound to these of the SNES port. Like on the SNES, Sheeva was removed, Shao Kahn's treasure chest has only 10 boxes, the announcer no longer says the characters' names, Kitana's "Kiss of Death" only inflates heads, Scorpion's "Hellraiser" Fatality is different, Sonya's Friendship from "Mortal Kombat 3" is used, and the game retains the Bank stage. There were, however, several differences. Unlike the SNES version, the Genesis version features more stages: with the addition of the five new ones, it also feature six of the original ones from "MK3", including the Subway, Bank, Rooftop, Soul Chamber, The Temple, and The Pit 3. There are several additional cuts regarding special and finishing moves: both Animalities and Mercy were removed; Rain and Noob were given a Brutality, but no other finishing moves; Human Smoke shares Scorpion's combos, rather than having unique ones; in Stryker's Friendship, the running characters are replaced by dogs. It did, however, have exclusive features in comparison to the arcade. Again, like the SNES port, Rain and Noob Saibot are made playable characters along with bosses Motaro and Shao Kahn, and Mileena, Ermac and Classic Sub-Zero are playable without any need of codes; Brutalities are also included in this version. Shang Tsung can morph into Robot Smoke, Noob Saibot, and Rain, which is not possible in the arcades, while Nightwolf is given the Red Shadow shoulder move that was later used in "MKT". This version also features a rendition of "Pong" entitled "MK4", which is the same as the one that appeared in the Genesis/Mega Drive port of "MK3".