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The Mortal Kombat series retains its share of secrets and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its original launch in coin-op establishments. A new collection spanning the series' initial period, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and derivative games, transcends just a well-emulated series of classics along with lesser-known entries — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the creation of the iconic franchise.

As a dedicated Mortal Kombat fan who has paid close attention its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to understand and value about the series.

What Defines the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, part playable archive. This compilation features emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of certain releases. This compilation also features the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, 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 consequently doesn't represent a highlight reel anthology, but a study of the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the visionary developers were figuring out how to develop a battle series, created from video recordings of real actors, through experimentation. Viewing the historical footage — containing historical videos, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to watch a handful of early video game creators, developing without clear direction or oversight, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

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 then goes on to show how the very same individuals reckoned with how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule made from analog films and film-based pictures and pencil sketches, which reveal the self-made character 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. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging 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 character sprites among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the five-part documentary's timeline are opportunities to engage with the original releases. During specific moments, audience members can jump into a combat game session or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and artistic style, recreated with impressive accuracy on contemporary systems.

I spent the bulk of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, notably with local multiplayer matches. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unfair the development approached in the franchise's pioneering releases. Computer-directed fighters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having another person to compete with — online play is available in numerous anthology releases, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a couple minor issues — primarily delayed responses 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 quality-of-life features and display customization choices. As an illustration, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions on-screen and select to activate unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be played with a variety of visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic filters that mimic the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

The collection includes numerous welcome features besides the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the soundtracks of different Mortal Kombat games excluding the sounds of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are fighter biographies that feature histories and the various bits of lore presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the opportunity to play a segment of previously unavailable content in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and included some minor glitch repairs and refinements. But the Wavenet update never gained traction, in part