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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, over three decades after its original launch in arcades. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, transcends just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles including less celebrated releases — it's also a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the iconic franchise.

Being a long-time devotee of the franchise who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. The collection includes simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of some of those games. This compilation also features the series' ventures at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a “best of” collection, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were determining how to create a combat title, digitized from footage of live performers, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — which includes archival footage, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's astonishing to observe how the franchise evolved from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to observe several young game developers, working with minimal planning or guidance, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of stress to duplicate their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of video recordings and traditional photos and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the comical physical events. The compilation also contains some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the original releases. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I dedicated most of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, especially in local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unjust the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking another person to compete with — online play is available in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has added several intelligent quality-of-life features 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 complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for unlocking secret characters, 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 options that simulate the CRT monitors of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A notably appreciated element is the option to have arcade-like bezels surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the music from multiple combat titles absent the noise of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are fighter biographies that feature histories and numerous narrative components displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration 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 practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to challenge online opponents and contained several small glitch repairs and refinements. However, this network version never gained traction, in part