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The Mortal Kombat series retains many hidden mysteries and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its original launch in coin-op establishments. The recent anthology including the series' initial period, which includes a quartet of arcade releases, various home ports, and derivative games, is more than just a well-emulated series of classics including less celebrated releases — it functions as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. The collection includes emulated versions of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of some of those games. The collection even includes the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and brand founders the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of live performers, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — containing historical videos, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from simple starts to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to see a group of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, focus their cultural enthusiasms into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of the combat franchise and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their success. It serves as a compelling period piece made from analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable collection of mini-documentaries that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are prompts to play the games themselves. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, emulated nearly perfectly on modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here hold up, especially in local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with 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 clearly employ dishonest tactics or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have another person to compete with — network gaming is included in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the compilation, a mix of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has added several intelligent user experience improvements and visual presentation options. For instance, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on-screen and select to activate unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for revealing concealed combatants, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the option to have gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's very artistically charming.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various combat titles excluding the sounds of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. There are also combatant descriptions that include bios and the various bits of lore shown through arcade games' attract mode screens and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at direct online competitive gaming in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight glitch repairs and refinements. But the Wavenet update didn't find widespread adoption, in part