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This iconic fighting game retains numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. This latest compilation including the franchise's earliest days, comprising four original arcade titles, various home ports, and derivative games, is more than simply a faithfully reproduced series of classics and not-so-classics — it functions as a rich documentary about the making of the renowned brand.

Even as a lifelong enthusiast of the series who has closely monitored its development and progression, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from the creators at Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, portion interactive museum. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, along with home system and portable adaptations of several of these titles. This compilation also features the brand's experiments at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' most criticized releases.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a highlight reel anthology, but an examination of the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and brand founders the visionary developers were figuring out how to create a combat title, produced using film material of actual people, as they went along. Observing the archival material — which includes historical videos, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, graphic novels, and even company memos — it's incredible to witness how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a international craze. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of early video game creators, working with minimal planning or supervision, focus their cultural enthusiasms into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Historical Section

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection charts the rise of the fighting series and its creators' careers at the currently closed Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators addressed how to consistently surpass their achievements, experiencing considerable stress to duplicate their achievements. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using video recordings and analog photographs and manual drawings, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the silly live-action tour. It also includes some never-implemented techniques and game character images among its archived development assets.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. During specific moments, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or a home system version to revisit its gameplay and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on current technology.

I allocated the majority of my time playing the arcade classics, especially Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, particularly during one-on-one local play. Yet competing with the aforementioned game's AI-controlled opponents is a testament to how primitive and unbalanced the development approached in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents clearly employ dishonest tactics or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Lacking another person to compete with — network gaming is included in numerous anthology releases, but too light on features — you'll miss the full enjoyment.

Display Features

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a mix of arcade, console, and handheld games, are precisely simulated, though I've observed a few small quirks — mostly input lag and intermittent errors, especially with Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are mostly shown in their original form, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever convenience enhancements and display customization choices. For instance, you can choose to reveal combatant-unique actions on the display and select to activate infinite time to execute finishing moves. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be played with a variety of visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the CRT monitors of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the limited color monitor of a Nintendo handheld. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable arcade-like bezels framing the gameplay, with the specific combat game you're playing faithfully and subtly duplicating against the faux black plastic borders. It's very artistically charming.

Extra Content

Players will discover multiple welcome features besides the documentary and emulated arcade classics, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games absent the noise of combatants violently defeating each other. Additionally included are fighter biographies that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion for committed franchise followers is the chance to experience a segment of previously unavailable content 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 direct online competitive gaming in arcades. The online-enabled release of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. But the Wavenet update failed to achieve popularity, in part