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The Mortal Kombat series retains many hidden mysteries and the capacity to surprise, more than 30 years after its first appearance in arcades. A new collection including the series' initial period, which includes four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, transcends only a accurately simulated set of legendary games including less celebrated releases — it functions as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

As a dedicated enthusiast of the series who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The collection includes simulated releases of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of certain releases. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and franchise originators Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — which includes historical videos, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, comics, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a worldwide phenomenon. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how these identical developers addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using analog films and analog photographs and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the games themselves. During specific moments, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, 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. Several releases here hold up, especially in direct competitive sessions. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a testament to how primitive and unfair the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters blatantly cheat to win or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, the creators has included some smart quality-of-life features and graphical adjustment settings. For example, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and select to activate unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete some esoteric trick to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the monochrome green display of a portable gaming device. A notably appreciated element is the option to have arcade-like bezels encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the soundtracks of different Mortal Kombat games without the din of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are character profiles that include bios and multiple story elements displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

One of the biggest highlights for committed franchise followers is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in coin-op establishments. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part