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This iconic fighting game retains its share of secrets and the capacity to surprise, more than 30 years after its original launch in arcades. This latest compilation covering the brand's formative years, which includes four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and spinoffs, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics and not-so-classics — it's also a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

As a dedicated Mortal Kombat fan who has carefully followed its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. 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 certain releases. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at derivative games, like action-oriented titles 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 highlight reel anthology, but an exploration into the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and brand founders the creative duo behind the series were determining how to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of actual people, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — which includes historical videos, recent conversations, and digital copies of vintage posters, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to observe several early video game creators, working with minimal planning or oversight, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the fighting series and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant pressure to repeat their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of video recordings and analog photographs and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and secrets of MK in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. It also includes some unused moves and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are prompts to play the actual titles. At various points, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a console adaptation to reexperience its mechanics and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, especially in direct competitive sessions. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unjust the programming was in the series' initial installments. AI-managed characters blatantly cheat to win or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists 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 collection, a blend of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, the creators has incorporated various clever quality-of-life features and visual presentation options. For example, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions on the display and choose to enable infinite time to perform a Fatality. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform complicated methods to access them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or domestic TVs, or the limited color monitor of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that allows users to rediscover the soundtracks of different combat titles without the din of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. There are also fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via the demo sequences of coin-op titles and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor bug fixes and balance. But the Wavenet update failed to achieve popularity, in part