The Legacy Kollection of Mortal Kombat: A Stunning Success for the Fighting Game Franchise

This iconic fighting game retains its share of secrets and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its first appearance in coin-op establishments. The recent anthology covering the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, transcends just a well-emulated series of classics including less celebrated releases — it's also a comprehensive historical account about the development of the legendary series.

As a dedicated enthusiast of the series who has paid close attention its creation and evolution, there was much to discover for me to understand and value about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. The anthology contains digitally recreated editions 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 franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were determining how to create a combat title, digitized from footage of live performers, through experimentation. Watching the documentary — that features vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed from humble beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of pioneering developers, operating with virtually no plan or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the developers' professional journeys at the now-defunct Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals contended with how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their triumphs. It represents an intriguing historical record constructed using video recordings and traditional photos and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and game character images among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Gaming

Placed within the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the actual titles. During specific moments, users can directly access a combat game session or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time playing the arcade classics, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, notably with local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a testament to how primitive and unbalanced the development approached in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have a human opponent — online play is available in the majority of included games, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I detected a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, the creators has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For example, users can elect to show each character's special moves during gameplay and select to activate unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for unlocking secret characters, eliminating the need to execute some esoteric trick to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders surrounding the screen, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

Players will discover multiple appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple combat titles without the din of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are character profiles that feature histories and the various bits of lore shown through arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at head-to-head network battles in gaming halls. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part