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This iconic fighting game still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the capacity to surprise, over three decades after its first appearance in gaming halls. This latest compilation covering the series' initial period, featuring four original arcade titles, various home ports, and derivative games, is more than only a accurately simulated series of classics including less celebrated releases — it functions as a rich documentary about the development of the iconic franchise.

Being a long-time enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its creation and evolution, there was much to discover for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to previous classic compilations from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, portion interactive museum. The collection includes digitally recreated editions of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of certain releases. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at derivative games, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an examination of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and series co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to develop a battle series, produced using film material of live performers, on the fly. Observing the archival material — that features vintage recordings, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the combat franchise 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 pressure to repeat their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using analog films and traditional photos and pencil sketches, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable collection of mini-documentaries that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the silly live-action tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At various points, viewers can hop into a combat game session or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I spent the bulk 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 one-on-one local play. Yet competing with the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unbalanced the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. If you don't have a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the compilation, a mix of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, developer Digital Eclipse has included some smart user experience improvements and display customization choices. For instance, you can choose to display fighter-specific techniques on-screen and opt to have unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, eliminating the need to execute some esoteric trick to access them.

Visually, the games can be experienced with numerous visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the CRT monitors of arcades or home televisions, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable arcade-like bezels 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.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the soundtracks of different combat titles excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. There are also combatant descriptions that include bios and numerous narrative components shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features 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 specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to battle network competitors and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. However, this network version didn't find widespread adoption, in part