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Mortal Kombat continues to hold numerous undisclosed elements and the power to astonish, more than 30 years after its original launch in gaming halls. A new collection spanning the brand's formative years, comprising a quartet of arcade releases, multiple console adaptations, and derivative games, is more than only a accurately simulated series of classics and not-so-classics — it's also a rich documentary about the development of the renowned brand.

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

What Makes the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from developer Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, 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 several of these titles. The anthology additionally contains the franchise's attempts at spinoffs, like action-oriented titles Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' worst entries.

The Legacy Kollection is therefore not a greatest hits compilation, but an examination of Mortal Kombat's early days, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were discovering methods to develop a battle series, created from video recordings of real actors, as they went along. Watching the documentary — that features archival footage, recent conversations, and reproductions of classic advertisements, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's astonishing to observe how the franchise evolved from modest origins to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of early video game creators, operating with virtually no plan or guidance, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Educational Component

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of the fighting series and the founders' vocational paths at the no-longer-operating Midway. It then goes on to show how these identical developers contended with how to regularly outdo their previous work, encountering significant stress to duplicate their success. It represents an intriguing historical record made from video recordings and analog photographs and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of Mortal Kombat's development and how oral tradition helped circulate its mysteries and hidden aspects of Mortal Kombat in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's highly engaging series of documentary shorts that includes titles, illustrated stories, cinematic adaptations and even the comical physical events. The compilation also contains some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Gaming

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are invitations to experience the original releases. During specific moments, users can directly access a game of Mortal Kombat or one of its home console ports to reexperience its mechanics and visual presentation, emulated nearly perfectly on modern hardware.

I spent the bulk of my time playing the arcade classics, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, especially in direct competitive sessions. Yet competing with the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. Computer-directed fighters blatantly cheat to win or are otherwise dumb as rocks. Lacking someone to play against — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The twenty-three accessible Mortal Kombat titles in the anthology, a blend of arcade, console, and handheld games, are accurately emulated, though I've observed a handful slight anomalies — primarily delayed responses and sporadic glitches, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. And while the games are largely presented as-is, developer Digital Eclipse has incorporated various clever user experience improvements and display customization choices. For instance, users can elect to show each character's special moves during gameplay and opt to have endless periods to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for revealing concealed combatants, without having to perform obscure techniques to unlock 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 CRT monitors of gaming halls or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Nintendo handheld. An especially welcome feature 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 simulated dark plastic edges. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the educational material and simulated classic games, containing a soundtrack mode that allows users to rediscover the soundtracks of different fighting releases without the din of combatants violently defeating each other. There are also fighter biographies that include bios and numerous narrative components displayed via arcade games' attract mode screens and final sequences.

Archival Discovery

One of the biggest highlights for hardcore Mortal Kombat fans is the opportunity to play a segment of previously unavailable content in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an pioneering effort from the developer at head-to-head network battles in gaming halls. This network version of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but featured the capability to compete against internet adversaries and included some minor error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part