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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its first appearance in arcades. This latest compilation covering the brand's formative years, which includes four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, goes beyond only a accurately simulated set of legendary games including less celebrated releases — it's also a comprehensive historical account about the making of the iconic franchise.

As a dedicated enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to understand and value about the series.

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other retro collections from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions 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 worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when developer Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of actual people, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — which includes historical videos, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to watch a handful of young game developers, working with minimal planning or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals addressed how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of VHS tapes and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of the series' creation process and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and game character images among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the games themselves. During specific moments, users can directly access a combat game session or one of its home console ports to rediscover its combat system and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I dedicated most 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, especially in one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude 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 another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the anthology, a mix of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For instance, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and choose to enable infinite time to perform a Fatality. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, removing the requirement to complete complicated methods to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple 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 Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple fighting releases absent the noise of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Also present are fighter biographies that include bios and the various bits of lore shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the form 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 gaming halls. The online-enabled release of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but included the option to battle network competitors and included some minor bug fixes and balance. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part