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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its first appearance in arcades. A new collection spanning the brand's formative years, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and related titles, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games including less celebrated releases — it functions as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its creation and evolution, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from the development team Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The anthology contains simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the series' ventures at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a greatest hits compilation, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and franchise originators Ed Boon and John Tobias were discovering methods to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of actual people, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — that features historical videos, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from simple starts to a international craze. It's frankly astounding to observe several pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, facing no small amount of stress to duplicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using video recordings and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of the franchise's production method and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its peak period in gaming halls. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. It also includes some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a home system version to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, notably with local multiplayer matches. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unfair the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents clearly employ dishonest tactics or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. If you don't have a human opponent — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Display Features

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the compilation, a combination of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has included some smart convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. For instance, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions on-screen and choose to enable endless periods to execute finishing moves. 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 filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic effects that reproduce the CRT monitors of arcades or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games without the din of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

One of the biggest highlights for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. 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