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Mortal Kombat retains many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. A new collection spanning the brand's formative years, comprising four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and spinoffs, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games and not-so-classics — it's also a rich documentary about the making of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of some of those games. The collection even includes the series' ventures at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a highlight reel anthology, but a study of the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to make a fighting game, produced using film material of actual people, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — that features archival footage, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, comics, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from humble beginnings to a international craze. It's frankly astounding to see a group of early video game creators, working with minimal planning or oversight, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the now-defunct Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of pressure to repeat their success. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of video recordings and film-based pictures and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the comical physical events. It also includes some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the original releases. At various points, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here hold up, particularly during local multiplayer matches. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unbalanced the development approached in the franchise's pioneering releases. Computer-directed fighters blatantly cheat to win or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the anthology, a blend of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has added several intelligent user experience improvements and visual presentation options. As an illustration, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and opt to have infinite time to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, removing the requirement to complete complicated methods to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or domestic TVs, or the monochrome green display of a Game Boy. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are character profiles that include bios and numerous narrative components displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and endings.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a example of historically missing material in the guise 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 arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part