Being able to relive the days of your childhood games can be either a good or a bad thing. When it comes to Mortal Kombat on modern consoles, it’s very rare to play the retro titles. As the games you get to experience in the present are Mortal Kombat X to 1 (the reboot version). With the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, players now have the chance to experience this. Digital Eclipse offers a variety of games from the 2D fighting days of the series. Albeit, games like Deception, Shaolin Monks, and Armageddon are missing. But for a collection of games I was excited about, the title has a few bruises showing that hurt it.
Mortal Kombat is still that same old, iconic mythology
When it comes to the story of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, it is unchanged. However, for newer players, it covers a lot. The best warriors of Earthrealm compete in a lethal tournament called Mortal Kombat. Throughout the games, the Earthrealm warriors are fighting to keep winning the tournament. Because if they don’t, the planet can fall victim to an invasion from the desolate realm of Outworld. The series has the warriors going up against foes like Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn, in a bid to preserve good in the universe.
The story of the Mortal Kombat games in the Legacy Kollection is fantastic. It’s a power struggle between good and evil in the dramatic soap opera sense. But you mix in martial arts and magic to create the perfect concoction that Midway and NetherRealm have done for years. Each of the characters has a different ending that showcases a distinct narrative. Although the main basis of the games’ stories is told through text form, when you boot the games up. It’s a generation-spanning tale that only grew more interesting and ridiculous in the best way as time went on.
Earthrealm vs. AI
Let me start by saying that the AI in the earlier Mortal Kombat games has been tough. More specifically, those in MK1, 2, 3, 4, and Trilogy. More so, the games had dynamic difficulty that would scale as you progressed further. In the Legacy Kollection, it feels like the AI difficulty doesn’t track. Rather, the AI starts to become incredibly difficult by the second fight, as if the difficulty has been cranked up. For the years I have played the Genesis version of MK1, it feels really tough. Even when I select the “Extra Easy” mode for a game, I get the feeling that I am facing Shao Kahn with each opponent. And if you want to bring in newer players, it’s not gonna be easy if the curve of fighting difficulty accelerates this much.
Sadly, though, this is not the worst when it comes to AI in the game. The main culprit is right in the main menu of the game. It seems that characters on the scrolling menu are indeed generated with AI… or upscaled with it, mainly due to the appearances of various characters looking off. An example of this is Johnny Cage and Sonya’s faces. It’s a move that I’m rather disappointed to see, as it feels like a shortcut. Digital Eclipse could have had designers work on the menu design. And with it being something that moves, it would have been unique. But the inclusion of AI for this feels almost degrading to the game.
A solid Mortal Kombat Kollection with not-so-great controlling
When it comes to the games in this collection, it’s a pretty good lineup. The console and handheld versions of Mortal Kombat 1 to 3, plus the versions of those and the fourth entry. Furthermore, it also includes Sub-Zero Mythologies, Special Forces, and the Game Boy Advance version of Deadly Alliance. Overall, there are around 23 titles to enjoy, and it’s a fantastic amount of options. While some are just different versions, they all feel like different experiences from one another. Plus, you get to enjoy the origins and some of the best entries within the series on modern consoles, which is a win in itself.
Additionally, being able to enable the on-screen moves list for all of these titles is another great move. While I love the games, trying to remember all of the moves is tricky. So, having the advantage of inputting moves to overcome the opponent is much easier. Whether it’s special moves or fatalities, it gives you an idea of what to prep for. Plus, if you are looking at learning and studying a character, it can make it that much easier to do. It makes the games much more approachable for all players. Also, further incentivizing you to try and learn different characters and what each of their moves does.
But one of the biggest issues with playing these games is the input lag, and believe me, it is really prominent. When trying to input moves, the delay messes with activating specials or fatalities. Plus, it can lead to combos not starting, and leave you wide open to start taking damage. It’s worse against AI because they don’t have to worry about this. So there ended up being various times where I was being tossed up by the opponent. Because the input delay was really throwing me off. And for players who delve mainly into online, this can be a big issue. Whether or not this gets fixed in the future is up in the air, but it makes things really tricky at the moment.
A flawless documentary
Digital Eclipse did some special by adding a massive documentary section to the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. The team collected and curated over three hours of footage and interviews, including recent ones the team did with current and former developers of the Mortal Kombat team. Covering from just before development all the way to where NetherRealm currently is. Honestly, all the footage is fantastic to go through. There is so much incredible detail on core members of the series, such as Ed Boon and John Tobias. Once I started watching, I grabbed my favorite chips and was hooked. It’s a feature that shouldn’t go unnoticed when starting up the game. In fact, it makes it sweeter to check it out before you even boot up a single title.
Additionally, within the documentary section are tons of archival pieces of memorabilia and concepts to read through and look at. Within it, you can see the original names for characters that John Tobias came up with. Furthermore, you get to see artworks of different stage designs that John Vogel created in the titles. It is a humbling experience to check out. As you see, a group of friends goes from making pinball machines and old Midway titles. To make one of the biggest fighting game franchises of all time. Digital Eclipse put a lot of work into this archival side of the game to pay tribute to the original development team. And they did right by me, something that I think should be seen more in retro remasters.
Visually and audibly better
The video quality of the Legacy Kollection is an obvious step up from the classic days and from the more recent Arcade Kollection. Each of the games looks clearer, and the pixels look really brought out. If you want to opt for the retro look, there are even filters and borders that mimic a TV set and scanlines. Really nailing home the experience that many of us had back in the days when these were brand new to the scene. While seeing the games in higher graphics may show their age, I think it’s a nice trait for them. You can see the live-action actors better for the titles and get a better understanding that they were not computer-generated. Plus, the fatalities and blood effects look clearer than they ever have before.
In the audio side of things, I didn’t find any issues with the sound effects or the music. In fact, it was really satisfying to be able to hear the MK1 Genesis intro music. Something that had me harkening back to my days when I first heard it on the original console. Instead of anything being low-resolution in terms of sound, things sound touched up. From the hard uppercut noises on MK1 to Kabal’s Raging Flash on UMK3, it all sounds much better. Something that can make all the difference in the Mortal Kombat series.
A clear victory or early match slip-up?
The Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection was something that I was really excited to dive into. An archive of various games from the retro days and a unique documentary to accompany it. However, what came out of this release was AI generation, really rough input delay, and bad difficulty scaling. A collection that feels like it needed more time to cook, but instead came out bruised and full of issues. While many can be rectified, many of the issues described can leave a bad taste in your mouth right away. More so, with an online experience that is spotty, it can have you questioning if it is simply an afterthought.
Digital Eclipse did some good work on titles like The Cowabunga Collection. But seeing this transition, it really hurts to see as a Mortal Kombat fan. While it may even leave newer fans with some disappointment. The game’s touch-ups, the massive documentary section, and the great games collection are indeed wins. And show that strides were indeed made to give fans a more updated and presentable collection of Mortal Kombat games.
In the state that the game currently sits, it is a hard justification to dive into if you already own the titles on other systems. But if you are a newer fan or want to enjoy it on modern systems, it’s the best option. The collection can be fixed, but as a fighting fan and a bigger MK fan, it feels like an entry that you can wait for changes to be made. And if the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 movie follows the trend, it could be a tricky year for fans of the series.
The Review
Fair
