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This iconic fighting game still possesses many hidden mysteries and the power to astonish, over three decades after its original launch in gaming halls. A new collection spanning the series' initial period, comprising four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, transcends only a accurately simulated series of classics including less celebrated releases — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the development of the legendary series.

Even as a lifelong Mortal Kombat fan who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was much to discover for me to understand and value about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. This compilation features digitally recreated editions of the first 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 franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like action games 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 “best of” collection, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the creative duo behind the series were figuring out how to create a combat title, digitized from footage of actual people, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — containing archival footage, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and including internal communications — it's astonishing to observe how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a worldwide phenomenon. It's genuinely amazing to observe several early video game creators, working with minimal planning or oversight, focus their cultural enthusiasms into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals addressed how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable demand to replicate their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece made from VHS tapes and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which demonstrate the hands-on approach 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 thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unused moves and character sprites among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Placed within the five-part documentary's timeline are prompts to play the original releases. At various points, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I dedicated most of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, especially in local multiplayer matches. But playing against the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a demonstration of how basic and unbalanced the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. Lacking a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but rather basic in functionality — 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've observed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are mostly shown in their original form, the creators has included some smart user experience improvements and display customization choices. For example, users can elect to display fighter-specific techniques on the display and select to activate infinite time to perform a Fatality. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, without having to perform 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 effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Game Boy. A particularly nice touch is the option to have coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the artificial ebony plastic frames. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the music from multiple fighting releases absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are combatant descriptions that feature histories and the various bits of lore shown through the idle displays of gaming hall releases and endings.

Historical Preservation

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 specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but included the option to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version didn't find widespread adoption, in part