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Mortal Kombat retains many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its original launch in gaming halls. This latest compilation spanning the franchise's earliest days, comprising four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and derivative games, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles and not-so-classics — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the iconic franchise.

Being a long-time enthusiast of the series who has paid close attention its development and progression, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to understand and value about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the development team 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 several of these titles. The collection even includes the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a highlight reel anthology, but an examination of Mortal Kombat's early days, when developer Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were determining how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — which includes archival footage, recent conversations, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to observe several pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the combat franchise and its creators' careers at the no-longer-operating Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of VHS tapes and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some unreleased actions and character sprites among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the actual titles. At various points, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, especially in one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents blatantly cheat to win or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking a human opponent — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the anthology, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and display customization choices. For example, users can elect 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, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the CRT monitors of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Game Boy. A particularly nice touch is the option to have arcade-like bezels encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing precisely and gently mirroring against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the music from multiple combat titles excluding the sounds of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are character profiles that feature histories and multiple story elements presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

One of the biggest highlights for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. However, this network version failed to achieve popularity, in part