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Mortal Kombat continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its original launch in arcades. The recent anthology including the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, is more than just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. The collection includes digitally recreated editions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. This compilation also features the franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and brand founders the visionary developers were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — which includes vintage recordings, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's genuinely amazing to see a group of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into creating a legendary video game series.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, encountering significant demand to replicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule made from VHS tapes and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of the series' creation process and how word of mouth helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Gaming

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the actual titles. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and artistic style, recreated with impressive accuracy on modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here hold up, notably with direct competitive sessions. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unbalanced the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having a human opponent — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but too light on features — you'll be missing out.

Visual Options

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and graphical adjustment settings. For instance, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on-screen and select to activate infinite time to execute finishing moves. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic effects that reproduce the CRT monitors of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the soundtracks of different combat titles excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a example of historically missing material in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to challenge online opponents and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part