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This iconic fighting game still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, over three decades after its initial debut in arcades. This latest compilation spanning the series' initial period, which includes four original arcade titles, various home ports, and derivative games, is more than only a accurately simulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a detailed chronicle about the creation of the iconic franchise.

As a dedicated enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to understand and value about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, portion interactive museum. The anthology contains emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of some of those games. This compilation also features the series' ventures at spin-off titles, 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 “best of” collection, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when the creators at Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to make a fighting game, created from video recordings of live performers, as they went along. Watching the documentary — which includes vintage recordings, contemporary discussions, and digital copies of vintage posters, comics, and even interoffice faxes — it's remarkable to see how the franchise evolved from simple starts to a global sensation. It's frankly astounding to see a group of pioneering developers, operating with virtually no plan or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Historical Section

The historical documentation of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, encountering significant stress to duplicate their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule made from video recordings and analog photographs and manual drawings, which reveal the self-made character of Mortal Kombat's development and how word of mouth helped spread its rumors and secrets of MK in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and including the humorous real-world tour. It also includes some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Gaming

Placed within the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the games themselves. At certain intervals, viewers can hop into a Mortal Kombat title or a console adaptation to revisit its gameplay and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on modern hardware.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here hold up, especially in direct competitive sessions. Yet competing with the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the programming was in the franchise's pioneering releases. AI-managed characters obviously use unfair advantages or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking a human opponent — network gaming is included in numerous anthology releases, but somewhat limited in options — you'll be missing out.

Visual Options

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are largely presented as-is, the development team has added several intelligent quality-of-life features and display customization choices. For instance, you can choose to reveal combatant-unique actions on-screen and choose to enable unlimited duration to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, eliminating the need to execute obscure techniques to unlock them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or home televisions, or the limited color monitor of a Game Boy. An especially welcome feature is the choice to enable coin-op-inspired frames encircling the display, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the simulated dark plastic edges. It's remarkably visually appealing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the documentary and emulated arcade classics, featuring an audio component that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple fighting releases without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a piece of "lost media" in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This version of the game, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at head-to-head network battles in coin-op establishments. The Wavenet Edition of the game is virtually identical to UMK3, but featured the capability to battle network competitors and contained several small error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part