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Mortal Kombat still possesses its share of secrets and the ability to amaze, well past its 30th anniversary after its initial debut in arcades. This latest compilation spanning the franchise's earliest days, which includes four original arcade titles, various home ports, and spinoffs, goes beyond simply a faithfully reproduced collection of iconic titles and not-so-classics — it additionally serves as a detailed chronicle about the creation of the iconic franchise.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has carefully followed its development and progression, there was plenty new for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Defines the Legacy Kollection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like other vintage game anthologies from the development team Digital Eclipse, part historical documentation, portion interactive museum. This compilation features simulated releases of the first arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, plus console and handheld ports of several of these titles. This compilation also features the series' ventures at spin-off titles, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — some of the brand's least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a greatest hits compilation, but an exploration into the franchise's initial era, when developer Midway and brand founders Ed Boon and John Tobias were determining how to make a fighting game, produced using film material of live performers, as they went along. Observing the archival material — that features archival footage, recent conversations, and scans of old flyers, comics, and including internal communications — it's incredible to witness how the series transformed from modest origins to a international craze. It's truly remarkable to watch a handful of young game developers, developing without clear direction or supervision, direct their entertainment passions into creating a legendary video game series.

Documentary Portion

The documentary portion of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection traces the growth of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the now-defunct Midway. It further illustrates how those same creators addressed how to routinely one-up themselves, encountering significant stress to duplicate their triumphs. It serves as a compelling period piece constructed using video recordings and film-based pictures and hand-drawn illustrations, which showcase the DIY nature of Mortal Kombat's development and how word of mouth helped circulate its mysteries and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's thoroughly enjoyable set of brief historical films that spans games, comics, films and including the humorous real-world tour. The collection additionally features some never-implemented techniques and character sprites among its previously unreleased material.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the quintet of documentary episodes' progression are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. During specific moments, viewers can hop into a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to revisit its gameplay and artistic style, emulated nearly perfectly on current technology.

I allocated the majority of my time experiencing the original arcade titles, specifically Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Numerous titles here stand the test of time, particularly during direct competitive sessions. However, facing the computer-controlled adversaries in these titles is a demonstration of how basic and unjust the programming was in early Mortal Kombat games. CPU-controlled opponents blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. Without having another person to compete with — online play is available in the majority of included games, but somewhat limited in options — the experience will be incomplete.

Visual Options

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the collection, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are accurately emulated, though I have noticed a couple minor issues — mainly control latency and the occasional bug, notably within Mortal Kombat 4. Although the titles are primarily displayed authentically, developer Digital Eclipse has included some smart quality-of-life features and visual presentation options. For instance, you can choose to reveal combatant-unique actions during gameplay and choose to enable infinite time to perform a Fatality. Additionally available are settings for revealing concealed combatants, eliminating the need to execute obscure techniques to access them.

Artistically, the releases can be enjoyed with multiple visual enhancements and presentation styles. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection offers very realistic filters that mimic the traditional television screens of coin-op establishments or household displays, or the greenscale screen of a Game Boy. A particularly nice touch is the setting to activate gaming hall-style borders encircling the display, with the MK game of your choice accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Additional Features

Players will discover multiple nice touches beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that lets you revisit the music from multiple Mortal Kombat games excluding the sounds of combatants violently defeating each other. There are also character profiles that feature histories and numerous narrative components displayed via the idle displays of gaming hall releases and conclusions.

Lost Media Recovery

Among the most significant features for dedicated series enthusiasts is the opportunity to play a example of historically missing material in the format of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This particular edition, a moderately improved edition of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an initial venture by the company at direct online competitive gaming in gaming halls. The Wavenet Edition of the game is practically indistinguishable to UMK3, but featured the capability to battle network competitors and featured various slight bug fixes and balance. However, this network version never gained traction, in part