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Mortal Kombat continues to hold its share of secrets and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its original launch in coin-op establishments. A new collection covering the brand's formative years, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and related titles, transcends just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the making of the iconic franchise.

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 Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. The collection includes emulated versions of the pioneering 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 spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were figuring out how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of actual people, as they went along. Watching the documentary — containing historical videos, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to observe several early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Documentary Portion

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the fighting series and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how these identical developers reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of pressure to repeat their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of VHS tapes and traditional photos and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its peak period in gaming halls. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the games themselves. At certain intervals, viewers can hop into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, particularly during one-on-one local play. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unfair the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — you'll be missing out.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a blend of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a handful slight anomalies — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, the development team has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For instance, you can choose to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and opt to have unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, eliminating the need to execute some esoteric trick to obtain them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the option to have arcade-like bezels framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are character profiles that include bios and numerous narrative components displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Archival Discovery

A particularly notable inclusion for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at head-to-head network battles in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part