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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, over three decades after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation including the franchise's earliest days, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and related titles, goes beyond simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it's also a rich documentary about the development of the renowned brand.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to understand and value about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other retro collections from the development team Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. The anthology contains emulated versions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of certain releases. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments at derivative games, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when the development team Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to create a combat title, created from video recordings of real actors, as they went along. Watching the documentary — containing archival footage, contemporary discussions, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's astonishing to observe how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to observe several young game developers, working with minimal planning or guidance, channel their pop-culture interests into creating a legendary video game series.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the fighting series and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how the very same individuals addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of pressure to repeat their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record constructed using analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the actual titles. During specific moments, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I dedicated most 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 direct competitive sessions. Yet competing with the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a reminder of how crude and unbalanced the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. AI-managed characters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having another person to compete with — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and display customization choices. For instance, players have the option to display fighter-specific techniques during gameplay and opt to have endless periods to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to access them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the CRT monitors of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's very artistically charming.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous welcome features besides the educational material and simulated classic games, including a music player that lets you revisit the tunes of various combat titles excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. There are also combatant descriptions that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and endings.

Archival Discovery

A particularly notable inclusion for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a segment of previously unavailable content in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version never gained traction, in part