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This iconic fighting game still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the capacity to surprise, more than 30 years after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. A new collection including the brand's formative years, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the creation of the iconic franchise.

As a dedicated enthusiast of the series who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to understand and value about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to previous classic compilations from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of certain releases. The collection even includes the series' ventures at derivative games, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and brand founders the creative duo behind the series were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of real actors, on the fly. Watching the documentary — that features historical videos, recent conversations, and digital copies of vintage posters, comics, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to observe several early video game creators, working with minimal planning or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals contended with how to consistently surpass their achievements, encountering significant pressure to repeat their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of VHS tapes and analog photographs and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. The collection additionally features some unreleased actions and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are prompts to play the actual titles. At various points, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to reexperience its mechanics and artistic style, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I allocated the majority of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here hold up, particularly during one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the coding existed in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. If you don't have someone to play against — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a blend of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I detected a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, the development team has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and graphical adjustment settings. For example, players have the option to show each character's special moves on the display and select to activate infinite time to complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform obscure techniques to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the soundtracks of different Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are character profiles that include bios and the various bits of lore displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a example of historically missing material in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version failed to achieve popularity, in part