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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its initial debut in arcades. The recent anthology including the brand's formative years, featuring four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, goes beyond just a well-emulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the development of the renowned brand.

As a dedicated Mortal Kombat fan who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was plenty new 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 the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The collection includes simulated releases of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of several of these titles. The collection even includes the series' ventures at spinoffs, like action-oriented titles 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 an examination of the series' formative period, when developer Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were figuring out how to develop a battle series, created from video recordings of real actors, as they went along. Observing the archival material — which includes historical videos, contemporary discussions, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a global sensation. It's truly remarkable to observe several young game developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the combat franchise and the founders' vocational paths at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how these identical developers reckoned with how to consistently surpass their achievements, facing no small amount of stress to duplicate their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record constructed using video recordings and traditional photos and pencil sketches, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how word of mouth helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and character sprites among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the games themselves. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on contemporary systems.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here remain enjoyable, notably with one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unjust the development approached in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a mix of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are precisely simulated, though I detected a couple minor issues — primarily delayed responses and intermittent errors, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has included some smart user experience improvements and display customization choices. For instance, you can choose to show each character's special moves on-screen and choose to enable endless periods to perform a Fatality. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to obtain them.

Visually, the games can be experienced with numerous filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the CRT monitors of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A particularly nice touch is the choice to enable arcade-like bezels encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple appreciated elements beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various fighting releases without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are character profiles that feature histories and numerous narrative components displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Archival Discovery

One of the biggest highlights for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience 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 head-to-head network battles in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but included the option to challenge online opponents and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part