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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 arcades. This latest compilation including the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the development of the legendary series.

Being a long-time enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its development and progression, 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 previous classic compilations from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. The collection includes emulated versions of the pioneering arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of certain releases. The collection even includes the franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a highlight reel anthology, but an examination of the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of real actors, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — containing vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and reproductions of classic advertisements, comics, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a global sensation. It's truly remarkable to watch a handful of early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how those same creators contended with how to consistently surpass their achievements, facing no small amount of pressure to repeat their success. It's a fascinating time capsule composed of video recordings and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some unreleased actions and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Placed within the five-part documentary's timeline are invitations to experience the actual titles. During specific moments, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and artistic style, emulated nearly perfectly on contemporary systems.

I dedicated most of my time playing the arcade classics, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, particularly during direct competitive sessions. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unjust the programming was in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking another person to compete with — online play is available in numerous anthology releases, but too light on features — 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 handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, the creators has added several intelligent convenience enhancements and graphical adjustment settings. For example, you can choose to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and select to activate unlimited duration to perform a Fatality. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, removing the requirement to complete some esoteric trick to access them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the CRT monitors of arcades or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A notably appreciated element is the option to have gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that lets you revisit the music from multiple fighting releases without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and numerous narrative components presented by the demo sequences of coin-op titles and final sequences.

Historical Preservation

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the chance to experience a example of historically missing material in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. 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 error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part