Mortal Kombat has been around for so long, it’s easy to take it for granted. NetherRealm’s newer fighting games have consistently set the standard for what fighting games could be, both in competitive contests and single-player stories. While older generations may have forgotten the series’ humble beginnings, younger players may not even be aware of them at all.
**Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection**, from Atari and Digital Eclipse, tells the story of the franchise’s earliest days in a way that’s informative, honest, and fun. The games may not be what they once were, but they’re still a blast to revisit—some even improved by a few slight quality-of-life tweaks.
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### Primitive Kombat
Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection features a mixture of classic games from the arcade, home consoles, and handheld devices. While Digital Eclipse is familiar with taking games from previous generations and presenting them for a new audience, the Mortal Kombat series came with unique challenges.
Some games are presented as a “warts and all” package, offering a fascinating historical perspective. This is especially true of the earlier titles, which had multiple versions across arcade and consoles. For example, the original **Mortal Kombat** had voices on the Super Nintendo, while the Sega Genesis version featured blood hidden behind a code.
The visual presentation of **Mortal Kombat II** noticeably differed across arcade, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sega 32X versions. These differences extended to gameplay, too.
One gameplay aspect that stood out in the older fighting games was loading speed. The Super Nintendo version of Mortal Kombat II, specifically, had a noticeable stutter every time a round started. All versions felt distinctly slower compared to their arcade counterparts. In many ways, that’s part of their charm. In the 90s, that was the standard, and the hard-hitting violence and over-the-top finishers often exceeded expectations.
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### Enhancements and Quality of Life
Digital Eclipse stepped in with some improvements in certain cases. Notably, in the PlayStation versions of **Mortal Kombat Trilogy** and **Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero**, loading times were optimized, resulting in smoother gameplay. There’s even a Rewind feature in some titles, like Mythologies: Sub-Zero, which addresses inherent flaws without compromising the original experience.
While it’s great to have a more playable version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, this raised some conflicting feelings about performance consistency. Part of me wished similar optimizations were applied to the older titles, but there’s a certain charm in seeing the games exactly as they were.
Where the collection really shines is its quality-of-life options. Players can enjoy on-screen move lists, Fatality timers, and various cheats. Some features lean into historical curiosities, such as unlocking developer options on arcade versions.
Of course, no discussion on Mortal Kombat history is complete without mentioning the secret characters from the earliest games. The collection includes options to access iconic fights—like Reptile in Mortal Kombat and Smoke, Jade, and Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat II—without jumping through the original hoops. This feels like a fun bonus for anyone who grew up playing these classics.
There are even unlockables I didn’t expect, like the ability to play as Goro in the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat.
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### What’s Missing and Final Thoughts on the Games
While I love the mix of arcade, console, and handheld titles in Digital Eclipse’s collection, a few games from this era would have been great additions. The arcade version of **Mortal Kombat 4** is a strong inclusion to mark the end of the franchise’s original 2D era, but I would have loved to see the Sega Dreamcast port included for comparison.
Similarly, **Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3** is represented by arcade and Super Nintendo versions, but the Sega Saturn version would have been an interesting contrast. And while the enhanced PlayStation version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy is impressive, spotlighting the Nintendo 64 version would offer a fascinating CD vs. cartridge comparison.
Despite these absences, the collection remains a strong lineup of amazing fighting games, flawed platformers, and handheld curiosities—all worth experiencing at least once for their historical significance. Yes, even **Mortal Kombat: Special Forces**.
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### A Deep Dive with the Documentary
A significant portion of the collection features five-to-ten minute vignettes telling the story of the original Mortal Kombat development team. It’s one thing to recognize Mortal Kombat as an all-time top franchise, but it’s another to see the origins of Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden and their humble beginnings at Williams Bally/Midway.
One early introduction video shows the four creators introducing themselves in a Beatles-esque manner, a storytelling style that’s become increasingly rare in today’s video game landscape.
Digital Eclipse assembles a full-blown 1990s time capsule with initial pitches, original press releases, TV commercials, magazine clippings, and behind-the-scenes videos from various events. The documentary captures not only the evolution of the games but also how Mortal Kombat became a pop culture phenomenon.
While today’s video games sell more units and generate more revenue—a point Ed Boon notes—the documentary vividly expresses the extent to which Mortal Kombat dominated the world during its early years.
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### Honest Reflections and Franchise Turnarounds
Rather than a flawless victory march, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection’s documentary concludes with a refreshingly honest tone. It celebrates early successes but also addresses the franchise’s biggest turning point with sincerity.
Looking back in 2025, Mortal Kombat 4 feels like a fun novelty. The development team discusses the risks of moving into 3D, the rapid decline of arcade culture, and how the installment became a jumping-off point for new audiences.
The documentary doesn’t shy away from the turmoil during that period, weighing merits and flaws of late 90s, post-MK3 games. However, the timeline somewhat stumbles toward the end, offering only brief summaries of the 2000s and 2010s games without added context or behind-the-scenes insights.
One could argue that the collection isn’t focused on those later titles, but it does raise the question of why they were included when the start of the 3D era might have made a more natural conclusion. Still, the final vignette revisiting nearly everyone featured is heartwarming and well worth watching.
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### Round 1: The Verdict
As fighting games, nothing in Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection compares to what NetherRealm is delivering today. The earliest MK games can feel jarring with their slower pace and primitive presentation. Fundamentally, though, these games hold up—especially when played locally with friends—and showcase the foundation of what would become today’s Mortal Kombat.
The quality-of-life and optimization improvements, especially for Mortal Kombat Trilogy, make the experience feel much smoother than on the original PlayStation hardware. There are even training features included to help players practice and improve.
With a collection of classic games and a heartfelt documentary, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection further proves that nobody does this kind of compilation better than Digital Eclipse. Whether you’re an old-school fighter or want to show your kids what Mortal Kombat looked like back in the day, this is the best way to do it.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146581/mortal-kombat-legacy-kollection-review-score