Atari, in partnership with Digital Eclipse and Limited Run Games have recently announced a compilation of Mortal Kombat games, for all modern platforms. All four original arcade and console versions will be included, as well as quite a few others. This will be available on the Switch 1/2, Xbox One/Series, PlayStation 4/5 and PC. Digital editions are expected to be released September 31st, with standard physical editions shipping in December and the “Kollectors Editions” not shipping until late spring next year; Pre-orders for the Kollectors Edition end August 31st, but there’s no listed cutoff date for the rest. Oddly, it seems only Atari is selling different the standard versions, so check out both links if you’re interested:
Physical Editions (Atari): https://atari.com/collections/mortal-kombat-legacy-kollection
Physical Editions (LRG): https://limitedrungames.com/search?q=mortal+kombat&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
Game List: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat:_Legacy_Kollection#Games
As a Mortal Kombat fan, this seems like a very cool release and there’s a lot people might want to try. The WaveNet version of UMK3 is something most people have never seen and unless you grew up in the 90’s, you probably haven’t played the Game Gear version either. And while UMK3 WaveNet might really be worth playing, I think stuff like the GG version is really worth spending a few moments with, at least once – If nothing else, it’ll be a great demonstration of how developers back then pushed the limits of far less powerful hardware to get the game to run at all. While the GG version absolutely didn’t age well, it was my first home version of the game and every few years I’ll play a round or two for nostalgia.
Of course, as a superfan of the original MK, I have a lot of questions about this. First, I get that no company has the budget to ensure every single version of the game is flawlessly emulated and for some of these console versions, just giving people a glimpse of what they were like is fun and all that’s needed. But how’s the emulation on the arcade versions? Good enough to host Klassic (;p) tournaments, or just laggy transfers to modern platforms? And the stuff like netplay and auto-unlocking of secrets sounds awesome, but I’d really like to know how they actually perform before pre-ordering – How’s the scaling of the odd original resolution? Are there quality CRT filters, or am I going to have to feed this through my RetroTINK 4K for it to look “retro”? Are there fun options like “computer always performs a fatality” and stuff like that? How about a version of MK1 Turbo as a fun hidden unlock? These are all questions fans of the game want answered by reviewers who know what to look for…
Which is another huge grievance of mine these days for all titles (not just this): If I wanted to wait until quality reviews of the game are out, I’ll probably miss the pre-order window for the physical versions, or they might just be sold out. I can pre-order now with hopes that the game will hold up, but if I want the fanciest edition, I won’t get my game for over six months after the digital version is released. So do I have to buy it twice? I guess as gamers, we’re living in weird times and just have to deal.
