🔗 Share this article

Mortal Kombat still possesses many hidden mysteries and the power to astonish, over three decades after its initial debut in gaming halls. This latest compilation spanning the series' initial period, which includes four arcade games, several home system versions, and spinoffs, goes beyond just a well-emulated set of legendary games including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has paid close attention its creation and evolution, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Defines the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to previous classic compilations from developer Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. The collection includes digitally recreated editions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of several of these titles. The anthology additionally contains 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 is therefore not a “best of” collection, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and franchise originators Ed Boon and John Tobias were figuring out how to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of actual people, on the fly. Watching the documentary — that features vintage recordings, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a global sensation. It's truly remarkable to see a group of young game developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, channel their pop-culture interests into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Historical Section

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the fighting series and the developers' professional journeys at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals contended with how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant stress to duplicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule made from VHS tapes and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that spans games, comics, films and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some unreleased actions and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the original releases. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and visual presentation, recreated with impressive accuracy on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time playing the arcade classics, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, notably with local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unbalanced the programming was in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents clearly employ dishonest tactics or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking someone to play against — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the anthology, a combination of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, the creators has included some smart convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. For instance, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and opt to have unlimited duration to perform a Fatality. Additionally available are settings for accessing hidden fighters, eliminating the need to execute some esoteric trick to access them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the CRT monitors of gaming halls or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the soundtracks of different fighting releases excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. There are also fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and numerous narrative components shown through arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

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 particular edition, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in coin-op establishments. This network version of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but included the option to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update didn't find widespread adoption, in part