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This iconic fighting game still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its original launch in gaming halls. This latest compilation including the franchise's earliest days, which includes four arcade games, several home system versions, and related titles, transcends just a well-emulated set of legendary games along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the making of the renowned brand.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. This compilation features simulated releases of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of some of those games. The collection even includes the series' ventures at derivative games, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a “best of” collection, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to create a combat title, created from video recordings of real actors, as they went along. Watching the documentary — containing historical videos, contemporary discussions, and reproductions of classic advertisements, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's astonishing to observe how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a international craze. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of early video game creators, working with minimal planning or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how those same creators reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, facing no small amount of stress to duplicate their triumphs. It represents an intriguing historical record made from analog films and film-based pictures and manual drawings, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the comical physical events. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the original releases. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, emulated nearly perfectly on contemporary systems.

I allocated the majority of my time playing the arcade classics, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here stand the test of time, especially in one-on-one local play. Yet competing with the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unfair the development approached in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters blatantly cheat to win or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Without having someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in numerous anthology releases, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the anthology, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are largely presented as-is, the creators has included some smart quality-of-life features and visual presentation options. For instance, players have the option to show each character's special moves on-screen and choose to enable unlimited duration to perform a Fatality. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, eliminating the need to execute obscure techniques to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the setting to activate gaming hall-style borders surrounding the screen, with your selected Mortal Kombat title faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the soundtracks of different fighting releases without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and numerous narrative components presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content 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 direct online competitive gaming in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but included the option to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight glitch repairs and refinements. However, this network version failed to achieve popularity, in part