Thanks to the Stop Killing Games campaign, we are finally talking about how all games deserve to be preserved in one way or another - not just for consumers, but for the history of the medium. Games as a service have utterly bastardised the art and commodified everything, most of our spare time, and made it so that anything that sells fewer than several million copies should be thrown away and forgotten.

Then, at Gamescom this year, I got to play an unfinished build of Mortal Kombat 3 made for an unreleased piece of hardware that would have allowed arcade machines to have online play. It barely works, and one of the characters is a blatantly unfinished version of Noob Saibot, but I couldn’t believe my luck that I got to play it at all.

Mortal Kombat 3: Wave Net Edition would not have been preserved nowadays. It would have had millions of dollars sunk into it, and then it would have been erased from existence, along with the jobs of many of its developers. But here it was, included in a timeline of Mortal Kombat’s legendary history, every single trial and error preserved alongside how often it was thinking ahead of itself.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is full of treats like this. Part game, part interactive museum, it was my favourite demo at Gamescom this year, and it’s not even close.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection Is For Every Type Of Fan

Containing the best re-releases of these classics we’ve ever seen, and all of the documentary footage and archival material lovingly included throughout, it’s clear that Legacy Kollection comes from a place of passion.

Every version of these older games is here, warts and all, but also with optional quality-of-life features. Want to torture yourself by playing Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero? Go ahead. Want to actually experience the game in a way that’s playable? Give yourself 1,000 lives, and use a rewind feature whenever the game throws a cheap death at you.

Every game has this rewind feature if you feel like cheesing your way through some fights.

You can tackle the Legacy Kollection however you like, but long-time fans out there will want to go through the whole timeline. This puts all of the documentary clips, concept art, development notes, and, of course, the actual games, in chronological order. You play as you learn about the effort that went into making each new entry, giving you a new lens in which to see them through.

Archival material includes the first doodles of the original roster, as well as cut characters. My personal highlight was old footage of actors recording the movesets for their characters.

Or, if you’re just here to play some of the best retro fighters out there, you can jump straight into the thick of things. You won’t be disappointed here, either, as so much work has gone into making only the most necessary changes needed to get these playing on modern hardware. For instance, the most dramatic change I was shown was reducing the notoriously long load times on the PlayStation release of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, as it turns out that this was hard-baked into the code so as not to overwhelm the console.

But since this is all about enabling you to experience these games however you want, there are a ton of optional features. Now, you can unlock the secret character fights without all of the absurd steps in the original releases, letting you get your ass kicked by Reptile and Jade whenever you want. You can also jump into versus or practice modes with ease, letting you learn how to play the classic without having to brave the notoriously punishing AI.

Ultimately, all of my thoughts about the game come from a lifelong Mortal Kombat freak, but Digital Eclipse had put together a beautiful package that so many different types of players would love. I cannot remember the last time we saw a retro collection that wasn’t just made for the love of the games, but also those who made them, and I cannot wait to play through the highs and lows of the Mortal Kombat series.

Like Follow Followed

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

Fighting Systems Released 2025 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence Developer(s) Digital Eclipse Publisher(s) Digital Eclipse, Atari, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer Franchise Mortal Kombat Number of Players 1-2 players Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown
Where to play Close

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

Step into the arena and choose your fighter! Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes all the essential games from Mortal Kombat's early years. Experience the legendary origins of the franchise with the iconic arcade classics that started it all—alongside a curated selection of most-loved home versions and rare, fan-favorite releases—a celebration of the franchise’s groundbreaking legacy.

Digital Eclipse's interactive documentary format explores how Mortal Kombat changed the way society perceived video games. By using digitized humans as player sprites in an over-the-top, martial-arts fighter, the game thrilled players, shocked critics, and laid the foundation for a franchise that has thrived for more than 30 years. Hear firsthand from the original dev team of Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden, along with other exclusive interviews, rare concept art, vintage marketing materials, and archival video footage. 

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection also lets players explore Mortal Kombat lore, with a timeline of the original series' storyline and comprehensive character histories that offer stories, secrets, and glimpses behind the scenes at their creation.

Powered by Expand Collapse