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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the capacity to surprise, over three decades after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. The recent anthology spanning the franchise's earliest days, which includes four original arcade titles, several home system versions, and derivative games, transcends only a accurately simulated set of legendary games along with lesser-known entries — it's also a rich documentary about the development of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other retro collections from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. The collection even includes the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, 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 Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and brand founders the visionary developers were determining how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of live performers, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — that features historical videos, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to observe several young game developers, working with minimal planning or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant demand to replicate their triumphs. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of analog films and analog photographs and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and secrets of MK in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the games themselves. During specific moments, viewers can hop into a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and visual presentation, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, notably with direct competitive sessions. But playing against the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a reminder of how crude and unfair the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking another person to compete with — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the anthology, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a handful slight anomalies — mainly control latency and sporadic glitches, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and graphical adjustment settings. For instance, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques during gameplay and select to activate infinite time to execute finishing moves. Also included are choices for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform some esoteric trick to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Extra Content

There are plenty of welcome features besides the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that enables players to reexperience the music from multiple combat titles without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also character profiles that feature histories and the various bits of lore displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Historical Preservation

One of the biggest highlights for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. This network version of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but included the option to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part