The Mortal Kombat series has undergone numerous re-releases and ports over the years, particularly with the first few titles in the franchise, but these were largely released years ago. Prior to this point, only the more recent releases from the last decade or so are easily accessible on modern platforms due to a lack of backwards compatibility unless you bought an Arcade 1Up unit with them on it.

Thankfully, NetherRealm Studios has finally answered the cries of fans by enlisting gaming collection developer extraordinaire Digital Eclipse to give the early years of the series the love it deserves in the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection.

Celebrating the Past

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection celebrates the history of the franchise, focusing mostly on the 1990s with a few 2000s titles thrown in there as well. The game in total offers 23 variations of Mortal Kombat games, with many duplicates of the same game just on different platforms. The total number of different games included really depends on your interpretation of a port or a new version of a game.

From the start, you have access to every single game within the collection. To make this even easier to browse, the menu allows you to sort between arcade versions, console versions, handheld versions, or view them all together. I adore when collections use original box art and such to display games in a classic collection and Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection does not disappoint. As you scroll through the list of games, each entry is accompanied by an image of the arcade cabinet or the game’s box art, along with the game’s name, a platform icon indicating its compatibility, and the year of release. The only change they made here on each box art is that they removed the actual names of the systems from the box art, instead using more generic terms and showing an icon representing the console beside it.

Before diving into the individual games and whether they are still fun to play today or not, let’s go over all of the games included in the collection. To start, you have the original Mortal Kombat, which was released in arcades in 1992. This game has four ports included beyond the arcade version, including the 1993 Genesis version, the 1993 SNES version, the 1993 Game Boy version, and the 1993 Game Gear version. Jumping to the sequel Mortal Kombat II from 1993, there are also four ports beyond the arcade version, including the 1994 Genesis version, the 1995 Sega 32X version, the 1994 SNES version, and the 1994 Game Boy version. Next, Mortal Kombat 3 from 1995 includes the same year’s port for both Genesis and SNES.

The most intriguing of the inclusions revolves around 1995’s Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Not only do you get the arcade version and the 1996 SNES port, but you also get the incredibly rare 1997 WaveNet Arcade version. Prior to this release, it was impossible to find ROMs for this version, which originally was exclusive to only arcades in the Chicago and San Francisco areas. These WaveNet units had a T1 internet line connected, which allowed for potential future updates, but they never really materialized and died off quickly. The big thing about this one was that it was the only arcade version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 that included Noob Saibot as a playable character. This is something that could have just been left buried forever, but the fact that the development team went to the lengths to revive this version really shows how much love and care they put into Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection.

That is far from all, though, as the collection jumped to the PlayStation era as well with the inclusions of 1996’s Mortal Kombat Trilogy, 1997’s Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and even 2000’s Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. I was kind of hoping we’d get the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy as well, but there isn’t much difference there.

The leap to 3D for the mainline series is also included with 1997’s Mortal Kombat 4 in the arcade. Sadly, we did not get the console versions, namely the Mortal Kombat Gold release on Dreamcast. While Gold was inferior visually, it did add extra content that would have been nice to have seen be included regardless.

Lastly, there are three games from the Game Boy Advance era with 2001’s Mortal Kombat Advance, 2002’s Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, and 2003’s Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Having Deadly Alliance included as only a handheld version without its console counterpart is quite disappointing, but I have no doubt that NetherRealm is already planning a second 3D-focused collection for those games down the road based on how much they put into this one.

All of the games included can be played offline, obviously, but it’s also possible to play a number of them online as well. Essentially, all of the arcade versions can be played online, as well as the console ports of each, outside of the single player games like Sub-Zero and Special Forces. The only option for online play is through Quick Match, sadly, with the ability to turn off cross-region matchmaking if you so choose. It is weird that they did not include friend play or lobbies at launch, but they have at least already promised that this is coming in a free update post-launch.

Choose Your Fighter

The original Mortal Kombat has multiple versions in the game, but the best all-around is always going to be the arcade version. Mortal Kombat has always been my least favorite of the original trilogy, as it’s pretty bare-bones all around with the roster, but it’s still a lot of fun to play today. The visuals hold up very well, and the gameplay is as good as it’s always been.

Both the Genesis and SNES versions are also quite good, though they are not quite on par visually with the arcade as back in the day. These versions both perform quite well also. Mortal Kombat had its share of controversies back in the day, but one of them that particularly bothered gamers was that the SNES version had the blood removed entirely and replaced with sweat. Genesis also experienced this, but could have the blood turned back on with a code. This game makes it quite easy to do in the Additional Settings menu though, where blood is already turned on by default and you can choose to turn it off instead. This blood setting is also available for all arcade versions, as well as some other games, such as Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

The Nintendo Game Boy has a lot of classic games on it, but many ports of console titles fared pretty poorly when brought to the handheld platform. Mortal Kombat is definitely one of those, as it’s nearly unplayable on Game Boy. Not only does the monochrome color scheme in this version make it difficult to see, but the gameplay is also awful due to unbearable lag and sluggish controls. Not only that, but Johnny Cage is also missing from the base roster, and you cannot encounter Reptile either. Most of the games are ones I would go back and play again in the future, but this is one of the few I would avoid at all costs.

After playing the Game Boy version of the original, jumping into the Game Gear version is leagues better all around. Not only are there color visuals, but the fighters actually control semi-well and do not feature the incredible lag that was found in the Game Boy version. Instead of Johnny Cage missing from the starting roster, this time it’s Kano alongside the removal of Reptile as an encounter. It’s still obviously inferior to the arcade and console ports, but it’s worth a look nonetheless.

Mortal Kombat II is where the series really took a leap for me and stood out even more when I was a kid. The expanded roster, stage fatalities, and more were fantastic then and are still just as great now. The arcade version is once again the king here, but the other console ports are really enjoyable. The SNES version is now on par with the others, as blood is included, with the visuals and music putting it over the Genesis version for me. The Sega 32X matches the visuals of the SNES, but the music is still what you’re used to for the Genesis. Regardless, it’s hard to go wrong with any of these versions.

That even extends to the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat II, which, surprisingly, is actually pretty good. Especially when compared side by side with the original Game Boy version, this version is a masterpiece. The game actually feels more like a handheld version of the original and performs significantly better. The abundance of lag and sluggish controls is greatly minimized to surprisingly make this one at least a good bit of fun to try out.

Mortal Kombat 3 actually has the most versions overall in this collection, although they are presented under a few different names. The original Mortal Kombat 3 has always been a great game to play, control-wise and story-wise, but the character omissions are what really drag it down overall. You just can’t have a Mortal Kombat game without Scorpion, which this game tried alongside others like Kitana. While the core game is great and can still be enjoyed, really, there isn’t as much reason to play any of the three versions of Mortal Kombat 3 because you also have Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 available to play.

Besides a few stage replacements and some ending artwork changes, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is the definitive version of Mortal Kombat 3 and arguably the supreme version of the classic trio in arcades. There are some people that think this is where the series started to jump the shark with crazy inclusions like Babalities and Animalities, but I still love having wacky parts of the series like this to enjoy. UMK3 also added back the missing characters in on top of some new stages and even more content. In this collection, you have the original arcade version and the aforementioned WaveNet version, as well as the SNES version. Overall, there’s not much reason to play anything other than the WaveNet version unless you’re partial to the SNES port.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy released for the PlayStation and essentially was a further update to Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 with an even larger playable roster and stages. You can even play as Goro, Motaro, Kintaro, and Shao Kahn if you so choose. Being on the PlayStation meant that the game could be even closer to the arcade versions, although Trilogy was never actually released in arcades. Essentially, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was a best of the original Mortal Kombat trilogy of games as it states in the title, which makes it one of the best to play if you’re looking for the max amount of characters and options available to you. This game also introduced something known as the Aggressor Bar, which made your character faster and stronger the more full it was. This feature was exclusive to this game and is not particularly noteworthy. On the other hand, the game also introduced Brutalities that have become a staple of the franchise in the years since.

Mortal Kombat 4 is the last of the arcade inclusions in the collection, marking the series’ transition to 3D. Of all the original games, this one has been easily one of the most difficult to play today, especially in the arcade version. Unless you somehow have an original arcade unit, there has been no other way to play the arcade version of Mortal Kombat 4 legally. Compared to the original trilogy of games, Mortal Kombat 4 definitely does show its age a little more due to being from the 3D era where developers were still trying to figure things out. That said, this game introduced some new mechanics that played a larger role as the series progressed. This includes the introduction of weapons for each fighter and the ability to move in a 3D plane, rather than the typical 2D plane. One of the best or perhaps most infamous things about Mortal Kombat 4 are some of the Arcade endings that are so over the top and corny that they are amazing. The Jarek one is still every bit as cringy as ever, but I still love every second of it.

Mortal Kombat Advance for the Game Boy Advance was released in the same year as the handheld’s original launch, but the game itself was actually a version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, adapted for the Game Boy Advance six years after its original arcade release. At the time, it might have been fun to play, but this version is not good in any sense of the word. The visuals look poor when put on a full size screen, the game runs slowly, and there’s just zero reason to play it over the arcade or SNES versions at all.

The handheld titles up to this point had been a bit hit and miss, but that finally changes with the next two games of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is actually designed for the Game Boy Advance and it takes great advantage of the system at the time. While the visuals may be a bit blurry on a larger screen now, they look much better than previous handheld titles and the actual gameplay is a lot of fun. The roster is comprised of 12 characters from the console version of Deadly Alliance, including the only appearances of characters like Kenshi.

Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition serves as essentially a sequel to the GBA version of Deadly Alliance, where you now get the remainder of the playable characters from the console version that were not in the first game like Mavado and Johnny Cage. The only carryovers from Deadly Alliance on GBA to Tournament Edition are Scorpion, Quan Chi, and Shang Tsung. Like Deadly Alliance, Tournament Edition is a high-quality fighter on the Game Boy Advance and remains enjoyable to play together. Based on how poor the the first GBA outing for the series was, these two could have easily been overlooked, but they definitely are at least worth a try.

The last two games in the collection that we have to talk about are definitely the two most peculiar of the bunch compared to the others as they aren’t actual fighting games. Before even diving into these two, I knew about their incredibly poor reputations despite never having played them. Even so, I went in with a positive attitude to see if there was anything enjoyable to be had from them.

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero moves away from the traditional fighting genre to an action-adventure game where you play as the original Sub-Zero, Bi-Han, in a prequel to the first game. Even with moving to a new genre, though, the game still, oddly enough, maintains most of the same gameplay, with fighting, as you now move left to right in the level. The visuals look quite good from the PS1 here, still using real-life character models that the series had been known for, instead of going the route found in Mortal Kombat 4.

An immediate problem here though is just how stiff playing as Sub-Zero feels. It’s one thing to be a little stiff in a fighter, but that does not work in a side-scrolling game that becomes a platformer in some sections. These are some of the absolute worst sections too, as grabbing onto ledges can be a nightmare due to the game’s physics. The way that Sub-Zero turns in different directions is also incredibly painful and frustrating, but at least this version has a setting you can adjust to modernize this. This game also had a power up system where you had to earn experience points to unlock attacks like forward freeze, so you are stuck with just punching and kicking for the first few minutes until you unlock the first power up. At least there’s a decent number of power ups to unlock in the game though.  The game is the very definition of janky and is hard to recommend, but I can’t say that I didn’t at least have a little fun with it and wish the series would experiment a little more like this. The live action cutscenes are pretty cool to see in the game, even as dated and low-budget as they look too.

While Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is not good, but is at least playable and a little fun, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is just plain bad. Rather than utilizing the classic style character models and live-action cutscenes from Sub-Zero, this game adopts a more traditional PS1-era design that hasn’t aged well. Instead of a side-scrolling style, this also tries to be more modern for that time by aiming to be more like say Metal Gear Solid, but it fails miserably at doing so. The enemies feel like sponges when you hit them and it just does not even feel like a Mortal Kombat game either. This game is famous for its development troubles that ultimately resulted in the removal of Sonya Blade as a playable character and much of the game, so who knows what could have been. For the time being, though, you can skip this one entirely as it really has no redeeming qualities other than saying you tried it.

Beyond the Games

One feature I always love in collections like this is when then they include scans of the original instruction manuals, which every single non-arcade game in this collection has. Even the arcade version of Mortal Kombat 4 includes an instruction manual, while the other arcade units feature flyers from the time instead. Getting to take a glimpse into the past when instruction manuals were really a work of art at times is always great to see, and I’m so happy that they included them here.

On top of the included instruction manuals, each game has its own game settings that you can set from the main menu and some others from the pause menu of specific games. This includes the previously mentioned blood option, but also other things like difficulty options, turning on unlimited round timers and fatality timers, allowing you to play as Human Smoke in UMK3, allowing the playing of characters like Meat or use of alternate costumes in Mortal Kombat 4, and many more. Within each game’s additional settings, you can also turn on a rewind feature, though I found it to be more of a hindrance than a help most of the time here as the way it’s done is through pressing L3 or the button equivalent. One of the best inclusions here was the ability to have each fighter’s special moves listed on screen if you want, allowing you to pull them and fatalities off much easier than ever.  It was a bit strange how some settings were exclusive to the in-game Additional Settings menu, while others were available in the main game selection screen settings options. In fact, if you didn’t pay close attention, you might have missed out on the main settings options for each.

Classic game collections from Digital Eclipse are rarely just the games themselves, as they often are treated like museum pieces for the history of that franchise. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection not only does this through the included instruction manuals, but the entire area of the game known as The Krypt. Typically, The Krypt is a place to unlock items in some of the PS2 era MK games and onward, but here it is used as a tribute to the franchise.

Within The Krypt, a documentary is available to watch about the series, split into five parts. This documentary explores the origins of the franchise, the controversies that arose along the way, the ways in which the franchise was an innovator, and the transition of the series to 3D in arcades and at home.

What is really cool about this documentary, though, is that it’s interactive beyond just providing videos for you to watch. It comprises five total chapters, each spanning a year or two of the franchise, until the final part leaps much further into the future as well. Within each chapter, there are short video snippets of a few minutes each to watch, featuring important names like Ed Boon, while also interspersed with images and text descriptions to effectively build the timeline of the franchise. This is, without a doubt, one of the most in-depth documentary sections I’ve seen included in a gaming collection, and I thoroughly enjoyed going through it as a long-time fan of the franchise.

After the Documentary section, you can then visit the Kombatants section of The Krypt. Within Kombatants, you can look at a bio for each of the characters that have been part of the first four games in the series as at least a base roster Kombatant. Unfortunately, the 3D era fighters from Deadly Alliance that make their way into the GBA version in this collection are not included, but I’m sure they are just being saved for the inevitable 3D collection. When you click on a specific Kombatant, it provides a more detailed description of their character, accompanied by an animation of them next to it. It also lets you go through the games in the series to see how that character’s story unfolded too. It was also a nice touch that you can sort the first four games by listing who was available in each one in this section.

The last section of The Krypt includes the Music Player, a common feature found in collections like this as well. In the Music Player, you can sort through each of the games in the collection and choose to either listen to them or add them to your favorites to create your own playlist to listen to together. I was really hoping to see a surprise inclusion of the incredible Mortal Kombat movie theme song, especially since the movie is mentioned in the documentary section, but sadly, it is not part of the Music Player here unless it’s a hidden unlockable.

Verdict

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection once again proves just how fantastic the early days of the franchise was across the first mainline games, alongside some extra inclusions like Sub-Zero and Special Forces, even if they aren’t all that good. This release is yet another example of why Digital Eclipse is one of the best at revisiting the past, as it not only provides the core experience of these classic Mortal Kombat games but also goes above and beyond with features like The Krypt. Whether you are looking to replay some of your favorite games or perhaps are new to the franchise and want to see where the modern series got its start, you cannot go wrong with Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection.

Score: 9.5/10

Pros:

• Includes still some of the best fighters ever made
• Wide variety of platform options for most games
• Added settings options
• The Krypt kontent
• Included just about everything they could

Cons:

• No lobbies or friend match at launch
• A few games included games are not great

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.