Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection needs to have the 3D era games to be Komplete

During a recent PlayStation State of Play showcase, the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection was revealed to be coming in 2025. The compilation of games from the earlier years of the Mortal Kombat series is planned for a release on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series consoles, and PC via Steam. The collection will bring together many of the classic arcade titles that people remember vividly from the 90s, along with a few other entries from the Mortal Kombat series. The developer Digital Eclipse is adding additional features, like rollback net code for online play, to give fans a meaty package of their favorite mature fighting game. But there's one glaring thing that the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection needs to include in order to truly feel like a complete anthology of the series.

We'll be seeing the three original arcade games for Mortal Kombat, along with the variations of ports that were brought to consoles like the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. At the same time, the collection will have Mortal Kombat 4 and some of the portable game releases from the later years of the franchise. However, one thing alluded to in the games announced is an era of Mortal Kombat games that has yet to be given any sort of remastering or re-release in a collection. In order for the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection to truly feel Komplete, it'll need to have the three Mortal Kombat games from the 3D era of the franchise.

The time MK changed

An overlooked era

The 3D era of the Mortal Kombat franchise was in the early 2000s. This was following the release of Mortal Kombat 4 in arcades and on consoles, which was released on the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Sega Dreamcast. While it was the first mainline game in the series to make the jump into 3D visuals, the gameplay of Mortal Kombat 4 was still based on the series' 2D fighting roots. The very first game to get the franchise moving in 3D space was the release of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox. This fundamentally changed the MK series in a way that tried fresh ideas and gameplay concepts, while still maintaining the integrity of the mature and gory aspects that fans loved about playing any Mortal Kombat game. Fatalities weren't just cheeky finishers done in pixels, but full-blown spectacles that ended matches in spectacular 3D fashion.

This was followed up by two sequels that were released a few years later, Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. All three of these games enabled their fighters to move in 3D space, and even re-introduced weapon-based combat for the entire roster of fighters. The presentation of these games on the newer consoles at the time allowed for the stages were bigger, the gore to be enhanced, and everyone's favorite characters to go above and beyond how we knew them before. At the same time, the lore of the Mortal Kombat universe was expanded upon to bring in new characters, as well as remix classic fighters that had been around since the beginning, offering fresh takes on nearly everyone from the original games.

All the 3D Mortal Kombat titles also took the fantastical elements of the series to new heights, making the universe of Mortal Kombat seem bigger and more dynamic than ever before. The games also took a step of making the series a bit more self-aware of its general reception from fans, including tons of bonus content that many grew to love as the series went on. The idea of the Krypt to obtain unlockables, such as new characters and other goodies, began with the release of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and has stuck with the series ever since. But despite many of these things being laid down within these three releases, these games are consistently overlooked, and often forgotten by many fans. With a few exceptions in some of the most recent Mortal Kombat games, many of the characters or beloved features from the 3D titles are frequently ignored or have been completely left out.

These games really matter

Nobody should ignore this part of the series

For nearly a decade, the 3D style of games was what Mortal Kombat was, for better or worse. All the 3D games from that era added significant elements that would go on to change Mortal Kombat in ways that would become relevant in later years, but would also signify how adaptable the franchise was. While there have definitely been low points right before a complete reboot of the series happened in 2011, those who spent time with the 3D Mortal Kombat games had plenty of great things to latch onto. Whether it was the ever-growing lore that kept getting bigger, or the interesting ideas that mixed up the fighting during gameplay, each game took things a step further to the series' benefit. You simply can't get to where Mortal Kombat is as a franchise today without many of the growing pains and triumphs of the 3D era releases.

However, none of these games have ever been bundled together on modern hardware, outside the platforms on which they were initially released. Most collections of Mortal Kombat games focus on the classic arcade titles, and maybe some additional spin-offs, but never the three games of that specific era. At the same time, the rebooted Mortal Kombat titles often focus on returning elements from the original arcade games and overlook most of what came afterward, including characters or locations from them. It's a completely missed opportunity that has yet to be capitalized on.

Now is the best time

Bring the eras together

This is something that could change with the release of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection on newer consoles. While the collection is already filled with games that were hallmarks of the series, having games like Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Deception, and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon will truly make this collection feel like a celebration of the series' legacy. The announcement of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection has already revealed the inclusion of Mortal Kombat Advanced, which is a portable version of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. A small inclusion of a watered-down version of a mainline entry of the series isn't a way to acknowledge the importance of it. Does that mean we also have to include the spin-off action games based on the series? No, especially when Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is focused more on the mainline entries and core aspects that make the franchise so beloved by many.

But if this can't be done now with the release of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, should it be done right after? We have seen franchises get "legacy collections" that are broken into multiple parts, with the best example being the Mega Man series from Capcom. Even the Street Fighter series, which is viewed as the fighting game rival to Mortal Kombat, has done something similar with its many different games that have been released over the years. This could be done for Mortal Kombat to include all three games of the 3D era as part of the collection. Whether this is done as Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Mortal Kombat titles, the important thing is including them with everything else. This might be a little messy, something Mortal Kombat is no stranger to, but now is the best time for something like this, as the franchise and its legacy are being celebrated.

Kompleting the Legacy

People love to play the Mortal Kombat games for their exciting gameplay and exaggerated presentation. For more than 30 years, players have been doing fatality inputs and battling in Outworld to the sounds of a deep voice telling them to "finish him" for victory. As much as the arcade days of the franchise are the cornerstone of the ongoing franchise, nobody should ignore the 3D era of Mortal Kombat that helped shape the way we view the series today. In order to truly Komplete the legacy of one of the best fighting game series of all-time, the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection needs to have 3D games with it somehow. Anything less than that is simply missing out on a flawless victory with everyone.