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The Mortal Kombat series continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, over three decades after its original launch in arcades. The recent anthology covering the brand's formative years, which includes four arcade games, various home ports, and related titles, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles and not-so-classics — it functions as a rich documentary about the making of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, section playable historical record. 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 several of these titles. This compilation also features the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an exploration into the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of live performers, as they went along. Watching the documentary — which includes vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to see a group of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, channel their pop-culture interests into creating a legendary video game series.

Educational Component

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the combat franchise and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It then goes on to show how those same creators contended with how to consistently surpass their achievements, facing no small amount of demand to replicate their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of video recordings and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that spans games, comics, films and even the comical physical events. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, especially in direct competitive sessions. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unfair the coding existed in the franchise's pioneering releases. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having someone to play against — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has included some smart user experience improvements and graphical adjustment settings. For example, users can elect to show each character's special moves on the display and select to activate endless periods to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, eliminating the need to execute some esoteric trick to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Additional Features

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that feature histories and numerous narrative components presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the format 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 direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. The online-enabled release of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but included the option to battle network competitors and included some minor bug fixes and balance. But the Wavenet update never gained traction, in part