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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation including the brand's formative years, comprising four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and related titles, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the creation of the iconic franchise.

As a dedicated Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its creation and evolution, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. The anthology contains emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts at derivative games, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a greatest hits compilation, but a study of the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were figuring out how to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — that features historical videos, recent conversations, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from modest origins to a global sensation. It's truly remarkable to see a group of young game developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals contended with how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of demand to replicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule made from analog films and analog photographs and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how personal recommendations helped circulate its mysteries and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. It also includes some unused moves and game character images among its archived development assets.

Playable Component

Placed within the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, viewers can hop into a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and visual presentation, emulated nearly perfectly on current technology.

I dedicated most of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, especially in direct competitive sessions. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unjust the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the creators has added several intelligent quality-of-life features and graphical adjustment settings. For example, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on-screen and choose to enable endless periods to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, removing the requirement to complete complicated methods to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the CRT monitors of arcades or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple fighting releases excluding the sounds of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also combatant descriptions that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Historical Preservation

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. This network version of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version never gained traction, in part