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This iconic fighting game continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the capacity to surprise, over three decades after its initial debut in arcades. A new collection spanning the brand's formative years, which includes four original arcade titles, various home ports, and derivative games, goes beyond simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games and not-so-classics — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the making of the iconic franchise.

Even as a lifelong devotee of the franchise who has closely monitored its creation and evolution, there was much to discover for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Defines the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection similar to other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, section playable historical record. This compilation features emulated versions of the original 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 brand's experiments at derivative games, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection consequently doesn't represent a highlight reel anthology, but a study of the series' formative period, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to develop a battle series, produced using film material of live performers, as they went along. Observing the archival material — which includes vintage recordings, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to see a group of young game developers, working with minimal planning or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into creating a legendary video game series.

Historical Section

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how these identical developers addressed how to regularly outdo their previous work, facing no small amount of pressure to repeat their achievements. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of analog films and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how personal recommendations helped spread its rumors and undisclosed elements of the series in its arcade heyday. Delivered in easily digestible portions, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Playable Component

Distributed throughout the five-part documentary's timeline are opportunities to engage with the games themselves. At certain intervals, viewers can hop into a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, simulated with remarkable precision on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, notably with one-on-one local play. But playing against the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unfair the coding existed in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having someone to play against — network gaming is included in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — the experience will be incomplete.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I have noticed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are largely presented as-is, the creators has included some smart quality-of-life features and graphical adjustment settings. As an illustration, you can choose to show each character's special moves on-screen and opt to have endless periods to perform a Fatality. Also included are choices for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform obscure techniques to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate filters that mimic the traditional television screens of gaming halls or domestic TVs, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the setting to activate arcade-like bezels surrounding the screen, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Extra Content

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various fighting releases absent the noise of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that contain backgrounds and the various bits of lore presented by arcade games' attract mode screens and endings.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the opportunity to play a example of historically missing material 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 head-to-head network battles in gaming halls. This network version of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part