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The Mortal Kombat series continues to hold many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. A new collection including the series' initial period, comprising four arcade games, various home ports, and related titles, goes beyond simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it's also a detailed chronicle 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 plenty new for me to understand and value about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, portion interactive museum. The collection includes emulated versions of the pioneering 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 anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a greatest hits compilation, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and franchise originators Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to create a combat title, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — containing vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from simple starts to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the combat franchise and the developers' professional journeys at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how these identical developers addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their triumphs. It represents an intriguing historical record made from VHS tapes and analog photographs and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. It also includes some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Placed within the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the original releases. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, especially in direct competitive sessions. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a reminder of how crude and unjust the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. AI-managed characters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having someone to play against — network gaming is included in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are accurately emulated, though I detected a few small quirks — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. As an illustration, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and choose to enable infinite time to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete some esoteric trick to obtain them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the traditional television screens of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing precisely and gently mirroring against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the tunes of various combat titles excluding the sounds of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also combatant descriptions that contain backgrounds and the various bits of lore displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Historical Preservation

Among the most significant features for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at head-to-head network battles in coin-op establishments. The Wavenet Edition of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part