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The Mortal Kombat series continues to hold its share of secrets and the capacity to surprise, over three decades after its first appearance in gaming halls. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and derivative games, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has carefully followed its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. This compilation features digitally recreated editions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a greatest hits compilation, but an examination of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of real actors, on the fly. Watching the documentary — containing historical videos, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to see a group of early video game creators, working with minimal planning or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Historical Section

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how these identical developers reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant pressure to repeat their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record composed of video recordings and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable collection of mini-documentaries that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. It also includes some unused moves and game character images among its cutting-room-floor content.

Playable Component

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the original releases. At various points, users can directly access a combat game session or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here stand the test of time, particularly during local multiplayer matches. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having a human opponent — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the compilation, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I detected a few small quirks — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. For example, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions on-screen and select to activate endless periods to complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or home televisions, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Extra Content

There are plenty of welcome features besides the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of combatants violently defeating each other. There are also combatant descriptions that include bios and multiple story elements shown through the demo sequences of coin-op titles and endings.

Archival Discovery

A particularly notable inclusion for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the ability to access a example of historically missing material in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a slightly updated version 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 virtually identical to UMK3, but provided the ability to battle network competitors and included some minor bug fixes and balance. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part