I can’t lie, I love Mortal Kombat. Call it the nostalgia brought on by the 1995 movie (insert MORTAL KOMBAAATTT shout here) or recall the long list of arcade and console classics that inspired it. I realize now that that movie was nowhere near as good as any game released before or since, but honestly, that was my first experience with the series.
Well, that and the Mortal Kombat Trilogy, which I received as a gift on the original PlayStation. At the time, I didn’t think I was playing one of the best Mortal Kombat games, but I knew it was great. While playing with my cousins who are older than me, I had a hard time remembering all the combinations and fatalities of my favorite character, Liu Kang.
This series has been going on ever since, and I’m with it. After going through the 3D fighting era of the Nintendo 64 and eventually the PlayStation 2 and beyond, I was excited to see how the series reached its zenith and celebrated its history and highlights with Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. This package is certainly great for the most part, thanks to solid ports and a really cool documentary by developer Digital Eclipse that brings together various developers from across the franchise’s 33 years to comment on the influence of each title.
choose your combat
Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection brings back old Mortal Kombat titles in remastered form, including:
Mortal Kombat – 1992 (versions include Arcade, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Gear) Mortal Kombat II – 1993 (versions include Arcade, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy, and 32X) Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995 (versions include Arcade, SNES, Sega Mega Drive) Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 – 1995 (versions include Arcade, WaveNet Arcade, and SNES) Mortal Kombat Trilogy – 1996 (PlayStation version) Mortal Kombat 4 – 1997 (Arcade version) Mortal Kombat Mythology: Sub-Zero – 1997 (PlayStation version) Mortal Kombat Special Forces – 2000 (PlayStation) Mortal Kombat Advance – 2001 (Game Boy Advance) Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance – 2002 (Game Boy Advance version) Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition – 2003 (Game Boy Advance)
There’s a lot of content here that will make your head spin, but the game does a great job of categorizing these games into easy-to-navigate menus. My only complaint with the presentation here is that the game doesn’t explicitly indicate which console version of the game it’s running, only showing a small logo for the console next to the game. That’s fine if you know what console you’re looking at, but for younger or less knowledgeable viewers, the translation may not make sense.
Another gripe I had with the whole package besides Mortal Kombat 4 is the game selection. Granted, Mortal Kombat Mythology: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat Special Forces are painfully average at the best of times, but I’m left wondering why Game Boy Advance versions of certain titles were included.
I understand Mortal Kombat Advance, but why include the Game Boy Advance version of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, which was released on other major platforms at the time like PlayStation 2 and Xbox? Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance on the Game Boy Advance isn’t that bad, but the console version is great.
Still, one could argue that while the team at Digital Eclipse wanted to include games from this era, replacing Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat Special Forces with Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monk and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, respectively, and even Mortal Kombat: Deception was definitely a mistake. These games introduced lots of new ways to play as well as other fun modes and stories.
Those complaints aside, most of what’s here is really great. The original has held up incredibly well, and while the AI is still incredibly robust, it’s all very clean and polished. It’s funny to see how Mortal Kombat was wreaking havoc on the coins in kids’ piggy banks in arcades back in the 90s, even on easier difficulty settings.
More hardcore fans will also appreciate the inclusion of the WaveNet Arcade version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, a version of the game built by Midway to run on the unreleased multiplayer service. This version only adds actual playable versions of Noob Saibot and Human Smoke, but it’s simply nice to see a game once considered the holy grail of the franchise getting some love here.
Interestingly, you can now join battles online via Quick Match or by creating rooms that others can join via Online Arcade. The latter option is a much better experience to rely on with friends. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a match, as this collection allows you to do a quick match within any game.
The power of collection
While most of the experience is valid, there are new additions to the actual package that greatly improve the experience. For example, players can now create and load save states, as well as rewind up to 30 seconds in any game, which is useful if you’re playing on a harder difficulty or don’t want to be sent back to the main menu when playing against Shao Kahn.
There are also cool visual filters you can experiment with, like including old CRT borders or Game Boy Advance faces that frame the classic 4:3 aspect ratio that these games are displayed in. If you’re as old as me, you probably remember playing on a TV similar to this in real life, and the nostalgia is as strong as a Hiryu kick to the face.
There’s also TV scan lines and LCD pixelation, which help give the game its intended retro look, but you can also turn these off. Additionally, you can also change or enlarge the aspect ratio of each game if you are not a fan of the original look.
But most of all, I love how Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection marries its selection of games with a great documentary that you can find in The Krypt from the main menu. I wish this had been a little more front and center as it really is the shining star of this whole package.
The documentary is comprised of five chapters, and players can select each chapter to flick through a timeline of exclusive videos in which members of the original team, including original co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias, talk about the founding of the franchise and the development of each game across the collection.
Complete with new interviews and snippets of about 2-3 hours of footage, I was surprised at how deep and insightful this was. Even between interviews, you can access original notes, character drawings, and story ideas left on the cutting room floor. We get a closer look at the challenges presented to the team as the series transitions to 3D, along with all the legal hurdles and video game ratings in the United States that have come about as a result of the Mortal Kombat franchise.
I devoured this over several nights and it was so delicious I had no idea what to expect.
Inside The Krypt, in addition to a complete list of the Kombats in the collection and the games in which they appeared or were introduced, you’ll also have access to a complete overview of the Mortal Kombat legends, as well as a music player that lets you scrub through all the tracks from these games. Finally, we have Kombat Kard. It provides a complete breakdown of time spent in games, along with online and offline wins and losses, favorite games, and favorite characters.
final thoughts
I can’t replay every game in this collection to the same degree, but I love what the team at Digital Eclipse has put together here. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection presents some incredibly polished versions of numerous games of varying quality, but you can feel the love and passion at every turn.
If the games aren’t enough for you, check out The Krpyt, a great documentary that will please hardcore and casual fans alike. While the online multiplayer aspect was literally impossible to review, I take solace in the fact that these games were updated and ultimately saved again for generations to come.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlights: Rich versions of each game. Every game feels fresh and polished. Crypto contains so many valuable goodies, including a must-see interactive documentary
Cons: Some games in the collection are still terrible
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Atari Inc., Digital Eclipse
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
Available: Currently
Review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 Pro using an activation code provided by the publisher.
A featured header image is also provided by the publisher.
