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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its initial debut in arcades. The recent anthology spanning the series' initial period, featuring four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, transcends just a well-emulated series of classics along with lesser-known entries — it's also a comprehensive historical account about the development of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to understand and value about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to previous classic compilations from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. The anthology contains simulated releases of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. The collection even includes the brand's experiments at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a “best of” collection, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were figuring out how to develop a battle series, produced using film material of live performers, on the fly. Watching the documentary — containing archival footage, new interviews, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to see a group of young game developers, working with minimal planning or oversight, channel their pop-culture interests into creating a legendary video game series.

Historical Section

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators addressed how to consistently surpass their achievements, encountering significant pressure to repeat their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of VHS tapes and film-based pictures and pencil sketches, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are prompts to play the games themselves. During specific moments, viewers can hop into a game of Mortal Kombat or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I dedicated most of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, notably with one-on-one local play. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unfair the coding existed in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the anthology, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are mostly shown in their original form, the creators has incorporated various clever quality-of-life features and graphical adjustment settings. For instance, users can elect to show each character's special moves during gameplay and select to activate endless periods to complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform complicated methods to obtain them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the traditional television screens of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

The collection includes numerous appreciated elements beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various Mortal Kombat games without the din of combatants violently defeating each other. There are also combatant descriptions that feature histories and numerous narrative components presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Historical Preservation

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a example of historically missing material in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor bug fixes and balance. However, this network version never gained traction, in part