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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses its share of secrets and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its first appearance in arcades. This latest compilation spanning the brand's formative years, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, various home ports, and related titles, transcends only a accurately simulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the making of the legendary series.

Being a long-time devotee of the franchise who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. The collection includes emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of certain releases. The anthology additionally contains the series' ventures at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a highlight reel anthology, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and brand founders the creative duo behind the series were determining how to create a combat title, produced using film material of actual people, through experimentation. Watching the documentary — containing archival footage, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's astonishing to observe how the series transformed from humble beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to watch a handful of young game developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the developers' professional journeys at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how these identical developers reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece constructed using VHS tapes and analog photographs and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. The collection additionally features some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are prompts to play the games themselves. At certain intervals, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, especially in local multiplayer matches. But playing against the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unjust the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Visual Options

The two dozen available combat games in the compilation, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and intermittent errors, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, developer Digital Eclipse has included some smart quality-of-life features and display customization choices. As an illustration, players have the option to display fighter-specific techniques during gameplay and choose to enable unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that lets you revisit the tunes of various fighting releases excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. There are also fighter biographies that include bios and multiple story elements shown through the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a example of historically missing material in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. But the Wavenet update failed to achieve popularity, in part