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Mortal Kombat continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in arcades. The recent anthology including the series' initial period, which includes four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and spinoffs, is more than only a accurately simulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the development of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time enthusiast of the series who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. The anthology contains digitally recreated editions of the original 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 franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to create a combat title, produced using film material of live performers, on the fly. Watching the documentary — that features historical videos, contemporary discussions, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of young game developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the combat franchise and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals contended with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using video recordings and analog photographs and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and secrets of MK in its peak period in gaming halls. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, users can directly access a combat game session or a console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, emulated nearly perfectly 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. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, particularly during direct competitive sessions. But playing against the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a reminder of how crude and unfair the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking another person to compete with — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — the experience will be incomplete.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the compilation, a mix of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For instance, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions on the display and select to activate endless periods to execute finishing moves. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform complicated methods to access them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the limited color monitor of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders framing the gameplay, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that include bios and multiple story elements displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at direct online competitive gaming in coin-op establishments. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to challenge online opponents and contained several small glitch repairs and refinements. However, this network version never gained traction, in part