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Mortal Kombat continues to hold many hidden mysteries and the power to astonish, over three decades after its initial debut in arcades. A new collection including the franchise's earliest days, which includes four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and derivative games, is more than just a well-emulated series of classics along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the making of the legendary series.

Being a long-time devotee of the franchise who has paid close attention its development and progression, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other retro collections from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. This compilation features simulated releases of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments at derivative games, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an examination of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were discovering methods to make a fighting game, produced using film material of actual people, as they went along. Watching the documentary — containing vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and reproductions of classic advertisements, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from humble beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to observe several early video game creators, working with minimal planning or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into creating a legendary video game series.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals reckoned with how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece constructed using VHS tapes and film-based pictures and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Playable Component

Interspersed along the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the actual titles. During specific moments, viewers can hop into a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to reexperience its mechanics and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I dedicated most of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here remain enjoyable, notably with local multiplayer matches. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unjust the programming was in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Without having someone to play against — network gaming is included in numerous anthology releases, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. As an illustration, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and opt to have endless periods to execute finishing moves. Also included are choices for revealing concealed combatants, eliminating the need to execute obscure techniques to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the CRT monitors of coin-op establishments or domestic TVs, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

The collection includes numerous welcome features besides the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various combat titles excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Archival Discovery

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at head-to-head network battles in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and featured various slight glitch repairs and refinements. However, this network version never gained traction, in part