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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its original launch in arcades. A new collection spanning the franchise's earliest days, comprising four arcade games, various home ports, and derivative games, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the development of the renowned brand.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was plenty new for me to understand and value about the series.

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. This compilation features digitally recreated editions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. The collection even includes the series' ventures at spinoffs, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a “best of” collection, but an examination of the series' formative period, when developer Midway and franchise originators the visionary developers were determining how to create a combat title, digitized from footage of live performers, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — that features historical videos, recent conversations, and digital copies of vintage posters, illustrated stories, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from simple starts to a worldwide phenomenon. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of young game developers, working with minimal planning or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how these identical developers reckoned with how to regularly outdo their previous work, experiencing considerable pressure to repeat their success. It serves as a compelling period piece constructed using video recordings and film-based pictures and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. The collection additionally features some never-implemented techniques and game character images among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Interspersed along the five-part documentary's timeline are opportunities to engage with the games themselves. At certain intervals, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

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. Numerous titles here remain enjoyable, notably with one-on-one local play. But playing against the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a testament to how primitive and unjust the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. AI-managed characters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having another person to compete with — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the anthology, a combination of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has added several intelligent quality-of-life features and graphical adjustment settings. For example, you can choose to show each character's special moves on-screen and opt to have infinite time to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform complicated methods to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate effects that reproduce the CRT monitors of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames surrounding the screen, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Additional Features

The collection includes numerous nice touches beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that enables players to reexperience the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Also present are combatant descriptions that include bios and numerous narrative components presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at one-on-one internet-based play in gaming halls. The online-enabled release of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. However, this network version failed to achieve popularity, in part