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This iconic fighting game retains its share of secrets and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a rich documentary about the creation of the renowned brand.

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

What Defines the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. The collection includes simulated releases of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of some of those games. This compilation also features the series' ventures at spinoffs, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were determining how to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of actual people, as they went along. Watching the documentary — that features historical videos, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding 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 historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how these identical developers contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, encountering significant pressure to repeat their success. It represents an intriguing historical record made from video recordings and traditional photos and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of the series' creation process and how oral tradition helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's an eminently watchable series of documentary shorts that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the comical physical events. The compilation also contains some unused moves and character sprites among its archived development assets.

Playable Component

Interspersed along the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the actual titles. At various points, users can directly access a combat game session or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I dedicated most of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, especially in one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unjust the programming was in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. If you don't have someone to play against — network gaming is included in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the compilation, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and display customization choices. As an illustration, you can choose to show each character's special moves during gameplay and opt to have unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform some esoteric trick to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic options that simulate the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the setting to activate arcade-like bezels surrounding the screen, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the soundtracks of different fighting releases absent the noise of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Also present are fighter biographies that include bios and multiple story elements presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

One of the biggest highlights for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at head-to-head network battles in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part