🔗 Share this article

The Mortal Kombat series retains numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its original launch in gaming halls. The recent anthology spanning the franchise's earliest days, comprising four arcade games, several home system versions, and spinoffs, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a detailed chronicle about the development of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. This compilation features digitally recreated editions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of certain releases. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias were discovering methods to create a combat title, produced using film material of live performers, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — that features vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of pioneering developers, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the no-longer-operating Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals contended with how to consistently surpass their achievements, facing no small amount of stress to duplicate their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. The collection additionally features some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the games themselves. At certain intervals, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here remain enjoyable, especially in direct competitive sessions. However, facing the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a reminder of how crude and unbalanced the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters blatantly cheat to win or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mainly control latency and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has included some smart user experience improvements and display customization choices. For example, users can elect to show each character's special moves during gameplay and opt to have infinite time to perform a Fatality. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform some esoteric trick to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable arcade-like bezels encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various fighting releases without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at direct online competitive gaming in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but included the option to battle network competitors and included some minor bug fixes and balance. However, this network version didn't find widespread adoption, in part