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This iconic fighting game retains many hidden mysteries and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its original launch in gaming halls. The recent anthology covering the franchise's earliest days, comprising four arcade games, various home ports, and spinoffs, transcends just a well-emulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a comprehensive historical account about the creation of the renowned brand.

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 Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, section playable historical record. The collection includes emulated versions of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of certain releases. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a highlight reel anthology, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when the development team Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were discovering methods to develop a battle series, produced using film material of real actors, as they went along. Viewing the historical footage — which includes vintage recordings, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, illustrated stories, and even interoffice faxes — it's remarkable to see how Mortal Kombat went from simple starts to a worldwide phenomenon. It's truly remarkable to observe several young game developers, operating with virtually no plan or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how those same creators addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant pressure to repeat their success. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of video recordings and traditional photos and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its arcade heyday. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's thoroughly enjoyable collection of mini-documentaries that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some unreleased actions and game character images among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the five-segment historical film's chronology are prompts to play the actual titles. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and graphics, emulated nearly perfectly on current technology.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here stand the test of time, notably with one-on-one local play. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a reminder of how crude and unjust the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. CPU-controlled opponents blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having another person to compete with — internet multiplayer exists in the majority of included games, but rather basic in functionality — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Technical Presentation

The two dozen available combat games in the collection, a combination of coin-op, home system, and portable titles, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and sporadic glitches, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has included some smart convenience enhancements and visual presentation options. For example, players have the option to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and select to activate infinite time to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the CRT monitors of arcades or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, containing a soundtrack mode that lets you revisit the soundtracks of different fighting releases excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are combatant descriptions that contain backgrounds and numerous narrative components displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for committed franchise followers is the opportunity to play a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at one-on-one internet-based play in arcades. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but provided the ability to challenge online opponents and contained several small glitch repairs and refinements. Yet this online edition never gained traction, in part