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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses many hidden mysteries and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. The recent anthology spanning the franchise's earliest days, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, transcends only a accurately simulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it's also a detailed chronicle about the development of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan 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 similar to previous classic compilations from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, portion interactive museum. The anthology contains emulated versions of the original 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 spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to make a fighting game, produced using film material of live performers, as they went along. Observing the archival material — containing vintage recordings, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's frankly astounding to observe several young game developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, focus their cultural enthusiasms into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how those same creators contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece made from analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how oral tradition helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unreleased actions and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Placed within the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At various points, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I allocated the majority of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here remain enjoyable, notably with direct competitive sessions. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a reminder of how crude and unfair the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents blatantly cheat to win or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mainly control latency and intermittent errors, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever quality-of-life features and display customization choices. For instance, players have the option to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and select to activate unlimited duration to perform a Fatality. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform complicated methods to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the traditional television screens of arcades or domestic TVs, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the option to have gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that include bios and multiple story elements displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans 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 initial venture by the company at head-to-head network battles in arcades. This network version of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update failed to achieve popularity, in part