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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its first appearance in gaming halls. This latest compilation spanning the series' initial period, which includes four original arcade titles, various home ports, and derivative games, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a rich documentary about the development of the legendary series.

Being a long-time enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. This compilation features emulated versions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. The anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were discovering methods to develop a battle series, produced using film material of actual people, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — that features vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and reproductions of classic advertisements, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a international craze. It's frankly astounding to see a group of early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how the very same individuals reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record composed of VHS tapes and film-based pictures and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of the series' creation process and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. It also includes some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Placed within 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 console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision 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. Several releases here stand the test of time, notably with local multiplayer matches. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a testament to how primitive and unbalanced the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. If you don't have someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Display Features

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a combination of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, the development team has added several intelligent user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For instance, players have the option to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and opt to have unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be played with a variety of graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Extra Content

The collection includes numerous nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the soundtracks of different Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are fighter biographies that feature histories and the various bits of lore shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for committed franchise followers is the opportunity to play a example of historically missing material in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at head-to-head network battles in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update failed to achieve popularity, in part