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The Mortal Kombat series has become one of the iconic and most legendary video game franchises of all-time. Its impact on pop-culture and significance to the gaming industry cannot be understated. From influencing future generations of fighting games in arcades, to adding phrases like "FINISH HIM" into the pop-culture zeitgeist, people love playing the Mortal Kombat games. This is why Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is a special compilation of the original games that began everything, and laid the foundation for a franchise that would continue for decades. The humble beginnings of Mortal Kombat were in the arcades on coin-operated machines, long before everything became dominated by home consoles. And luckily for fans and newcomers alike, the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection contains every arcade release in the series, showcasing how far the games have come since the 90s and how much people love to play them. It's a nearly flawless victory for a retro game compilation that brings together these beloved classics. Here is a ranking of every Mortal Kombat arcade game in the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. Mortal Kombat 4 The jump to 3D visuals When the craze for arcades began to die down in the late 1990s, many franchises were beginning to make the jump from 2D sprites to 3D polygons. This was influenced by the arrival of the original PlayStation a few years earlier, enticing developers to make new games with a new presentation. Franchises like Mortal Kombat eventually made the transition into 3D visuals, while trying to maintain the same edgy appeal that made the original trilogy so appealing. Mortal Kombat 4 is a game that doesn't always get a lot of shine, in comparison to the other classic arcade releases. It was the first title to introduce new characters that became more important in later entries in the series, as well as the first game to interject weapon combat into the fighting. Like it's predecessor, Mortal Kombat 4 has combos and running that make the matches a lot faster, as well as the brutal and over-the-top fatality finishers that are a trademark of the series. But the new look and new technology offered a different vibe that the previous games didn't have, ushering in a new era for the franchise. Although not a bad port of the arcade release, Mortal Kombat 4 may be the game that is played the least by many people. It consistently gets overshadowed by games like Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, mostly because the combat is very similar. The roster of characters is pretty big, with a lot of newer faces to go along with returning warriors. If you've never played Mortal Kombat 4 before, it still manages to be a lot of fun to experience in the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, especially with some of the hidden features from the arcade version turned on. Mortal Kombat Beginnings in Outworld The original arcade game that started a revolution of mature game releases. By modern standards, the original Mortal Kombat has a lot of flaws in its gameplay, but massive appeal with its presentation and sense of style. The game was made at a time when fighting games like Street Fighter 2 were a dominant force, and Mortal Kombat was seen as a legitimate alternative. The presence of blood from every hit, killer finishing moves, and a more grounded approach to a fantastical concept with its photo-realistic characters made the game very popular. Playing the game today is still a lot of fun. While secrets like Fatalities and the Reptile battle are commonly known now, it was part of the mystic that Mortal Kombat had among arcade players and fans of games back then. It was a different kind of fighting game that was cool to many growing up back then, almost like the punk rock equivalent of an arcade game release. In the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection, just about everything you remember is here and presented in the best way to date. There's not a lot of depth to the game as a whole, but all the bells and whistles of the original game that started the franchise are here for everyone to see. The most important part of the original Mortal Kombat arcade game was how it made the public response to the idea of mature video games being sold in stores. Although it wasn't the sole reason, Mortal Kombat was a point of contention that led to public hearings with the United States Senate and the creation of the ESRB, which created the video game ratings we see games today. The release of the game was a moment in pop-culture that significantly changed things forever for the industry, in positive ways that seemed disguised at the time. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 The ultimate battle on Earth If there's any divisive release in the Mortal Kombat series among players, it's the release of Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. While there were multiple versions of the third entry in the series, all of it is essentially the same experience spread across different releases. The best version of everything related to Mortal Kombat 3 comes in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which adds in more characters and hidden secrets that weren't in the first version. Fan favorites like Scorpion were brought back after the response from fans missing them, and legendary rumors became a reality with new fighters added to the roster. The multiple versions of the game are included in Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection, which has each of the separate arcade releases. This includes the elusive WaveNet version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which added Noob Saibot and Human Smoke as playable characters and other unique balance changes. This version also had online capabilities back in 1997, allowing players to fight others in a different location back then. Now in the Legacy Kollection, the game can be played online in a bigger capacity. As a whole, Mortal Kombat 3 is the game that also has the most dire story in the franchise, with Shao Kahn coming to Earthrealm after being defeated in the previous tournament. The number of characters that are part of the game is larger than previous entries, with even more showing up as playable characters in the home console ports of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It's the closest entry of the franchise that is similar to Capcom's Street Fighter 2, which had its own multiple versions of the same game released over time. To this day, many competitive Mortal Kombat players still compete against one another in tournament events that host Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 as a playable game. Mortal Kombat II Nothing, nothing can prepare you If there's one game out of the entire Mortal Kombat franchise that is emblematic of what makes it so appealing, Mortal Kombat II would be that game. Expanding upon the small roster of fighters, and vastly improving the visuals of every sprite and background, Mortal Kombat II is a big leap in quality for the series. To many fans even today, the game is arguably the most beloved out of all the original arcade games. Mortal Kombat II manages to increase the stakes within its story, increasing the scope and seriousness of the battles taking place within the Mortal Kombat tournament. But what it manages to do the best is make every character and their arsenal of moves even better. Now, instead of one Fatality finisher move, characters have multiple finishers that can kill the opponent. But in addition to that, other finishers, like the Friendship and Babality moves, had another layer to how matches can end, whether it's humiliating or all in good fun. Like the tag line for the game said back then, nothing, nothing could prepare you for how much of a step forward this sequel was after the original game. Mortal Kombat II was so popular that the first live-action movie for the series from New Line Cinema based many of the visuals and overall design of characters on what was in the game, as well as which characters to include in the story from the game's roster. Despite the later games having more fighters and more mechanics added to the battles, many fans of the series feel that Mortal Kombat II is the definitive entry of the series that is still played heavily to this day. A legacy of kombat through the ages
