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Mortal Kombat still possesses its share of secrets and the power to astonish, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in gaming halls. A new collection covering the series' initial period, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a detailed chronicle about the development of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. The collection includes emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts at derivative games, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to create a combat title, produced using film material of actual people, on the fly. Watching the documentary — containing archival footage, contemporary discussions, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and even interoffice faxes — it's astonishing to observe how the series transformed from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's genuinely amazing to observe several pioneering developers, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, facing no small amount of demand to replicate their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's an eminently watchable series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At various points, viewers can hop into a game of Mortal Kombat or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here remain enjoyable, especially in local multiplayer matches. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unfair the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking another person to compete with — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a handful slight anomalies — mainly control latency and intermittent errors, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the creators has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and graphical adjustment settings. As an illustration, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on-screen and opt to have infinite time to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, without having to perform some esoteric trick to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or domestic TVs, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing precisely and gently mirroring against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Also present are fighter biographies that feature histories and the various bits of lore displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and endings.

Historical Preservation

A particularly notable inclusion for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the ability to access a example of historically missing material in the guise 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 head-to-head network battles in gaming halls. This network version of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but included the option to battle network competitors and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update never gained traction, in part