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The Mortal Kombat series retains its share of secrets and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, which includes four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, is more than only a accurately simulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the development of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has carefully followed its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. This compilation features simulated releases 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. This compilation also features 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 worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of live performers, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — which includes vintage recordings, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and even interoffice faxes — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed 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 supervision, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It further illustrates how these identical developers reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of analog films and film-based pictures and pencil sketches, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how personal recommendations helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. It also includes some unused moves and character sprites among its archived development assets.

Interactive Gaming

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the actual titles. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, recreated with impressive accuracy on contemporary systems.

I dedicated most of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here stand the test of time, notably with local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a demonstration of how basic and unbalanced the coding existed in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters blatantly cheat to win or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in numerous anthology releases, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are accurately emulated, though I detected a few small quirks — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and display customization choices. As an illustration, you can choose to show each character's special moves during gameplay and choose to enable endless periods to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete complicated methods to obtain them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A particularly nice touch is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a example of historically missing material in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version never gained traction, in part