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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. A new collection spanning the series' initial period, which includes four arcade games, various home ports, and related titles, goes beyond just a well-emulated series of classics along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the creators at Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. This compilation features emulated versions of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of several of these titles. The collection even includes the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and franchise originators Ed Boon and John Tobias were figuring out how to make a fighting game, produced using film material of live performers, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — containing vintage recordings, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, comics, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to see a group of young game developers, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, channel their pop-culture interests into creating a legendary video game series.

Historical Section

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how these identical developers contended with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule made from analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its peak period in gaming halls. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Playable Component

Placed within the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the original releases. At various points, audience members can jump into a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I allocated the majority of my time playing the arcade classics, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, particularly during one-on-one local play. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unjust the development approached in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking a human opponent — online play is available in the majority of included games, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the anthology, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has added several intelligent quality-of-life features and display customization choices. As an illustration, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques during gameplay and opt to have infinite time to perform a Fatality. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, removing the requirement to complete complicated methods to access them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the CRT monitors of gaming halls or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the option to have arcade-like bezels surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Extra Content

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the music from multiple fighting releases excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. There are also character profiles that contain backgrounds and numerous narrative components displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the opportunity to play a piece of "lost media" 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 early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but included the option to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor bug fixes and balance. But the Wavenet update didn't find widespread adoption, in part