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Mortal Kombat continues to hold many hidden mysteries and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation spanning the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the making of the renowned brand.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has carefully followed its creation and evolution, there was plenty new for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The anthology contains simulated releases 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 action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a highlight reel anthology, but a study of the series' formative period, when developer Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were discovering methods to create a combat title, created from video recordings of actual people, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — which includes historical videos, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and including internal communications — it's astonishing to observe how the series transformed from humble beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to see a group of young game developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the combat franchise and the developers' professional journeys at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how those same creators reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of video recordings and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are prompts to play the original releases. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a Mortal Kombat title or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, notably with one-on-one local play. However, facing the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a testament to how primitive and unfair the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having someone to play against — online play is available in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The two dozen available combat games in the anthology, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and display customization choices. As an illustration, players have the option to show each character's special moves during gameplay and choose to enable endless periods to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the option to have gaming hall-style borders 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

Players will discover multiple welcome features besides the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the soundtracks of different combat titles excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that include bios and the various bits of lore shown through the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

A particularly notable inclusion for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. 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