Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a fighting video game that adds new characters and levels to Mortal Kombat, a series of fighting games. The game implemented new finishing moves for some of the characters. A finishing move is a kind of move in fighting games that can deliver serious damage when it hits the opposing character. Typically, it can greatly reduce the opponent’s health bar. Additionally, auto combos can be selected, making attacks easier to do. An "aggressor bar" is added in the game screen. If it fills up, the character becomes more powerful and faster. When the opponent is blocking, the aggresor bar takes twice as long to fill up. The "brutality" feature enables the player to produce long attack combinations that, when finished, make the opponent explode. The player has to press 11 buttons successively in order to succeed in performing the brutality move.
The game lets the players play thirty two characters from the Mortal Kombat series. These include new characters Baraka and Raiden. The characters also have new sprites. Their portraits in versus mode are also changed. Some of the characters, which include Kano and Jax, have alternate costumes. A new character - named Chameleon, is also added.