Mortal Kombat's Legacy Kollection: A Stunning Success for the Fighting Game Franchise

This iconic fighting game still possesses many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its initial debut in arcades. This latest compilation including the franchise's earliest days, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and spinoffs, goes beyond only a accurately simulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it's also a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, 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 several of these titles. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were determining how to create a combat title, produced using film material of live performers, on the fly. Observing the archival material — that features archival footage, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a international craze. It's genuinely amazing to observe several early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how the very same individuals contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record made from video recordings and film-based pictures and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the series' creation process and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. It also includes some unreleased actions and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Playable Component

Placed within the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the games themselves. At various points, 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 modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here remain enjoyable, especially in local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a reminder of how crude and unfair the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. Computer-directed fighters blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Display Features

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and graphical adjustment settings. For instance, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and choose to enable unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, eliminating the need to execute complicated methods to obtain them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic filters that mimic the CRT monitors of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. A notably appreciated element is the option to have arcade-like bezels framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Additional Features

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple fighting releases without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also fighter biographies that feature histories and multiple story elements presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part