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This iconic fighting game continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its initial debut in gaming halls. The recent anthology covering the series' initial period, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, several home system versions, and related titles, transcends simply a faithfully reproduced set of legendary games along with lesser-known entries — it additionally serves as a comprehensive historical account about the development of the legendary series.

As a dedicated devotee of the franchise who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was plenty new for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other retro collections from developer Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, section playable historical record. The collection includes simulated releases of the pioneering 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 franchise's attempts at spin-off titles, like combat-focused releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when developer Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were figuring out how to make a fighting game, produced using film material of actual people, on the fly. Viewing the historical footage — containing archival footage, new interviews, and scans of old flyers, comics, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how Mortal Kombat went from humble beginnings to a global sensation. It's truly remarkable to see a group of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, channel their pop-culture interests into birthing an iconic game franchise.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and the founders' vocational paths at the currently closed Midway. It then goes on to show how the very same individuals reckoned with how to consistently surpass their achievements, encountering significant demand to replicate their success. It's a fascinating time capsule constructed using VHS tapes and film-based pictures and manual drawings, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped circulate its mysteries and secrets of MK in its arcade heyday. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable series of documentary shorts that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the silly live-action tour. The collection additionally features some unreleased actions and digital fighter representations among its cutting-room-floor content.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the actual titles. At various points, viewers can hop into a combat game session or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and visual presentation, emulated nearly perfectly on modern hardware.

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 hold up, 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 coding existed in the series' initial installments. CPU-controlled opponents obviously use unfair advantages or are conversely remarkably unintelligent. If you don't have someone to play against — online play is available in most titles in the collection, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Display Features

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the collection, a combination of gaming hall, television, and mobile releases, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a few small quirks — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has added several intelligent user experience improvements and graphical adjustment settings. For example, users can elect to reveal combatant-unique actions on the display and select to activate infinite time to complete lethal techniques. Additionally available are settings for accessing hidden fighters, without having to perform complicated methods to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic options that simulate the cathode-ray tube displays of coin-op establishments or home televisions, or the limited color monitor of a portable gaming device. A particularly nice touch is the option to have arcade-like bezels framing the gameplay, with your selected Mortal Kombat title precisely and gently mirroring against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that enables players to reexperience the tunes of various combat titles excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. Also present are character profiles that contain backgrounds and multiple story elements displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

A particularly notable inclusion 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 specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at one-on-one internet-based play in coin-op establishments. The Wavenet Edition of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but included the option to battle network competitors and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part