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The Mortal Kombat series continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, well past its 30th anniversary after its initial debut in gaming halls. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and related titles, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics along with lesser-known entries — it's also a rich documentary about the development of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, section playable historical record. This compilation features emulated versions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of several of these titles. The anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts 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 consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an examination of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were discovering methods to create a combat title, produced using film material of real actors, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — containing vintage recordings, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, illustrated stories, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from simple starts to a international craze. It's genuinely amazing to observe several pioneering developers, working with minimal planning or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how those same creators reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record constructed using video recordings and traditional photos and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations 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 compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and character sprites among its archived development assets.

Playable Component

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the original releases. During specific moments, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here remain enjoyable, especially in one-on-one local play. However, facing the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the coding existed in the franchise's pioneering releases. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but rather basic in functionality — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are largely presented as-is, the creators has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. As an illustration, users can elect to show each character's special moves on-screen and select to activate unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform some esoteric trick to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of arcades or home televisions, or the monochrome green display of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice precisely and gently mirroring against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, including a music player that lets you revisit the music from multiple fighting releases excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Historical Preservation

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at direct online competitive gaming in coin-op establishments. The online-enabled release of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to battle network competitors and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version never gained traction, in part