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Mortal Kombat continues to hold many hidden mysteries and the capacity to surprise, well past its 30th anniversary after its initial debut in gaming halls. The recent anthology including the franchise's earliest days, which includes four arcade games, various home ports, and spinoffs, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it's also a detailed chronicle about the development of the legendary series.

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

What Makes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other retro collections from the creators at Digital Eclipse, part documentary, section playable historical record. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments 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 an exploration into Mortal Kombat's early days, when developer Midway and series co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias were discovering methods to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of actual people, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — containing archival footage, contemporary discussions, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and including internal communications — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed from simple starts to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to watch a handful of young game developers, developing without clear direction or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators reckoned with how to consistently surpass their achievements, facing no small amount of demand to replicate their success. It represents an intriguing historical record constructed using analog films and traditional photos and hand-drawn illustrations, which reveal the self-made character of the series' creation process and how personal recommendations helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging set of brief historical films 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 cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the original releases. At certain intervals, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a console adaptation to rediscover its combat system and graphics, emulated nearly perfectly on modern hardware.

I dedicated most of my time playing the arcade classics, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here remain enjoyable, particularly during one-on-one local play. Yet competing with the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents clearly employ dishonest tactics or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a mix of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, the development team has included some smart quality-of-life features and visual presentation options. For instance, players have the option to display fighter-specific techniques during gameplay and opt to have unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the traditional television screens of gaming halls or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a Nintendo handheld. A particularly nice touch is the option to have gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice faithfully and subtly duplicating against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's very artistically charming.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of nice touches beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various combat titles without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are fighter biographies that include bios and the various bits of lore displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a segment of previously unavailable content 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 pioneering effort from the developer 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 included some minor glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part