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This iconic fighting game retains many hidden mysteries and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its original launch in gaming halls. This latest compilation spanning the brand's formative years, featuring a quartet of arcade releases, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, is more than just a well-emulated collection of iconic titles including less celebrated releases — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the development of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong Mortal Kombat fan who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Defines the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, part playable archive. The collection includes simulated releases 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 franchise's attempts at derivative games, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an exploration into the series' formative period, when developer Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of live performers, as they went along. Observing the archival material — which includes archival footage, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even interoffice faxes — it's astonishing to observe how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or supervision, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the combat franchise and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how the very same individuals contended with how to routinely one-up themselves, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their achievements. It represents an intriguing historical record made from VHS tapes and film-based pictures and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how personal recommendations helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's highly engaging set of brief historical films that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Experience

Interspersed along the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are prompts to play the actual titles. During specific moments, viewers can hop into a game of Mortal Kombat or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and visual presentation, recreated with impressive accuracy on contemporary systems.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, particularly during direct competitive sessions. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a reminder of how crude and unfair the coding existed in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have a human opponent — online play is available in the majority of included games, but too light on features — you'll be missing out.

Visual Options

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the compilation, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are primarily displayed authentically, the creators has added several intelligent user experience improvements and graphical adjustment settings. For instance, players have the option to show each character's special moves during gameplay and opt to have unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, eliminating the need to execute complicated methods to unlock them.

Visually, the games can be enjoyed with multiple filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the monochrome green display of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the setting to activate coin-op-inspired frames framing the gameplay, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that lets you revisit the tunes of various fighting releases absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements shown through the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

One of the biggest highlights for dedicated series enthusiasts is the chance to experience a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at direct online competitive gaming in coin-op establishments. The online-enabled release of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but featured the capability to challenge online opponents and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part