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Mortal Kombat retains its share of secrets and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its initial debut in gaming halls. The recent anthology including the series' initial period, comprising four original arcade titles, various home ports, and spinoffs, goes beyond just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

As a dedicated Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its development and progression, 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 vintage game anthologies from the creators at Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, portion interactive museum. 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. This compilation also features the series' ventures at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a “best of” collection, but a study of the series' formative period, when the creators at Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were determining how to develop a battle series, created from video recordings of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — that features historical videos, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from modest origins to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to observe several pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how those same creators reckoned with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using video recordings and film-based pictures and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. The collection additionally features some unused moves and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the original releases. At various points, audience members can jump into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here hold up, especially in one-on-one local play. However, facing the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unjust the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Without having someone to play against — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the anthology, a blend of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I detected a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, the creators has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and display customization choices. For instance, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and choose to enable infinite time to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, eliminating the need to execute complicated methods to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic options that simulate the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the option to have gaming hall-style borders framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, containing a soundtrack mode that enables players to reexperience the soundtracks of different Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are combatant descriptions that feature histories and the various bits of lore presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and endings.

Archival Discovery

A particularly notable inclusion for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content in the guise of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at direct online competitive gaming in arcades. This network version of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but provided the ability to challenge online opponents and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version never gained traction, in part