🔗 Share this article

This iconic fighting game still possesses its share of secrets and the ability to amaze, over three decades after its first appearance in arcades. This latest compilation spanning the brand's formative years, which includes four arcade games, several home system versions, and derivative games, goes beyond just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the making of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The anthology contains emulated versions of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a greatest hits compilation, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — that features historical videos, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, comics, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to see a group of early video game creators, working with minimal planning or guidance, focus their cultural enthusiasms into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the fighting series and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how the very same individuals reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule made from analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which reveal the self-made character of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped spread its rumors and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that spans games, comics, films and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some unused moves and character sprites among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to rediscover its combat system and artistic style, emulated nearly perfectly on current technology.

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. Several releases here stand the test of time, particularly during direct competitive sessions. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a demonstration of how basic and unfair the development approached in the series' initial installments. Computer-directed fighters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. If you don't have another person to compete with — online play is available in numerous anthology releases, but too light on features — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are accurately emulated, though I detected a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and display customization choices. As an illustration, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions on-screen and choose to enable unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic filters that mimic the CRT monitors of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. A notably appreciated element is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the tunes of various fighting releases excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that feature histories and the various bits of lore presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update didn't find widespread adoption, in part