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Mortal Kombat still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, over three decades after its initial debut in coin-op establishments. A new collection spanning the series' initial period, featuring four original arcade titles, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, goes beyond just a well-emulated set of legendary games and not-so-classics — it additionally serves as a rich documentary about the creation of the legendary series.

Being a long-time devotee of the franchise who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was much to discover for me to learn and appreciate about the series.

What Constitutes the Historical Compilation

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection comparable to other vintage game anthologies from developer Digital Eclipse, part documentary, part playable archive. This compilation features emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. The collection even includes the brand's experiments at derivative games, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — two of the franchise's worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but a study of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to develop a battle series, digitized from footage of live performers, as they went along. Watching the documentary — that features vintage recordings, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, comics, and even company memos — it's remarkable to see how the series transformed from humble beginnings to a international craze. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and its creators' careers at the now-defunct Midway. It subsequently demonstrates how those same creators addressed how to consistently surpass their achievements, encountering significant stress to duplicate their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece composed of analog films and film-based pictures and manual drawings, which reveal the self-made character of the franchise's production method and how oral tradition helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its golden era in coin-op establishments. Told in bite-sized chunks, it's highly engaging collection of mini-documentaries that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the comical physical events. It also includes some unreleased actions and character sprites among its archived development assets.

Interactive Gaming

Interspersed along the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are invitations to experience the games themselves. At certain intervals, users can directly access a Mortal Kombat title or a home system version to rediscover its combat system and graphics, recreated with impressive accuracy on contemporary systems.

I spent the bulk of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Many of the games here remain enjoyable, especially in direct competitive sessions. Yet competing with the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a demonstration of how basic and unfair the development approached in the series' initial installments. Computer-directed fighters clearly employ dishonest tactics or are otherwise dumb as rocks. If you don't have another person to compete with — network gaming is included in most titles in the collection, but too light on features — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the compilation, 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, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, the development team has included some smart convenience enhancements and display customization choices. For example, you can choose to show each character's special moves on the display and opt to have unlimited duration to execute finishing moves. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, removing the requirement to complete obscure techniques to obtain them.

Artistically, the releases can be experienced with numerous graphical effects and display options. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes remarkably accurate options that simulate the cathode-ray tube displays of arcades or domestic TVs, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A notably appreciated element is the choice to enable arcade-like bezels framing the gameplay, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of welcome features besides the educational material and simulated classic games, featuring an audio component that allows users to rediscover the music from multiple combat titles absent the noise of two kombatants viciously slaughtering each other. Additionally included are combatant descriptions that feature histories and multiple story elements displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and conclusions.

Historical Preservation

A particularly notable inclusion for dedicated series enthusiasts is the opportunity to play a piece of "lost media" in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a somewhat revised iteration of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway 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 error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition didn't find widespread adoption, in part