The Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection’s list of games has been finalized, and it’s quite the impressive lineup! Nearly every version of the classic MK franchise is represented in what I can only assume is excellent form. Digital Eclipse’s previous gold Master Series entries have been of extraordinary quality, so there’s no reason to believe this one will be any different. That said, like Atari 50 before it, this may be an amazing collection of games, but it’s far from all-encompassing. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a single MK game that is 100% fully represented! 

Now, this is by no means a dig at Digital Eclipse. They do amazing work, and everyone has limits. But to their credit, they also have a tendency to add games via both paid and free DLC whenever they can. And if I don’t miss my guess, I think this collection is ripe for some DLC packs in the future. So what’s missing, and what can we expect? Let’s take a look. 

The Sega Master System Versions

Believe it or not, Mortal Kombat was on the Sega Master System. Not once, not twice, but thrice! Yes, all three games in the original trilogy were ported to Sega’s 8-bit console, just not in North America. The Master System never really caught on here, but it did gangbusters in PAL territories, which is where all three MK games landed. They’re not entirely dissimilar to the Game Gear versions, which means they aren’t exactly super great, but they do have the advantage of considerably larger screen real estate, which makes them unique from their handheld counterparts. They may not be the most necessary games to play, but especially for North American fans who never had the chance to mess with them before, they’re fascinating historical curiosities that I sincerely hope make a showing.  

Home Computer Kombat

MK’s been ported to home computers for as long as it’s been on home consoles. The Amiga got both MK and MKII, while MS-DOS users got versions of the original three games and Mortal Kombat Trilogy! These versions are just as unique as the Super NES and Genesis ones, offering different takes on these classics that a lot of fans may have missed out on. I would love to see these show up as well. 

The Missing Game Boy/Gear Games

This one doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. The Game Boy and Game Gear were by far the most popular handheld consoles during Mortal Kombat mania (Sorry, Lynx) and while they’re both represented on this collection, they aren’t done so completely. Game Boy and Game Gear versions of Mortal Kombat are here, but the Game Gear version of MKII is suspiciously absent. Meanwhile Mortal Kombat 3 for both Game Gear and Game Boy are missing, as is the Game Boy Color version of Mortal Kombat 4. The emulators for these systems are already in place, so it’s weird to me that these are missing. Especially MK4 on GBC. Yes, it’s not particularly fun to play (and it's ugly as sin), but it’s an interesting game that stands as the only true 2D version of MK4 out there. That’s worth covering here, right?  

What About CDs? 

By and large, I understand why some of these versions are missing. By a certain point, these games were basically arcade-perfect, so including the specific Saturn and PlayStation versions of Mortal Kombat II, 3, Ultimate 3, and Trilogy would be a bit silly. The version of Trilogy included is based on the PlayStation version anyway, and as far as I know the Saturn version didn’t include any unique content. But still, they’re versions of these games that exist, and it would be cool to have them represented here. 

Defender 2.4GHz Wireless Controller for PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC - Retro Fighters

$49.99

  Defender - Next-Gen PS1, PS2, PS3, PS Classic, Switch & PC Wireless Controller   DESCRIPTION Introducing the Defender by Retro Fighters   Next-Gen Wireless Controller for PlayStation...… read more

Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat for Sega CD is an odd exclusion, I'm assuming maybe because emulating Sega CD isn't somethign Digital Eclipse has done before? It's not entirely dissimilar from the Genesis game, but it's got that sweet CD-quality sound! 

Only on Nintendo 64

Meanwhile, the PSX and Saturn’s contemporary, the Nintendo 64, is, as far as I can tell, completely unrepresented here. I have to assume that Digital Eclipse hasn’t gotten a handle on N64 emulation yet, since these games are kind of important to MK’s history. Mortal Kombat 4 and Mythologies: Sub-Zero are largely similar to their PlayStation counterparts, but MK Trilogy is actually quite different in terms of playstyle and even content. It’s got its own character, Khameleon, who is actually different from Chameleon, who appeared in the PlayStation version of the game. And of course, N64 sound is its own animal. These three I think are a shoe-in for DLC at some point. I can’t imagine Digital Eclipse won’t get N64 emulation right eventually! 

Mortal Kombat Gold

This one is probably the most requested game not included in the collection. It’s a unique version of Mortal Kombat 4 that was released exclusively on Dreamcast. And that right there is why I think it’s not here. Much like the N64, I have a feeling Digital Eclipse hasn’t completely cracked the Dreamcast’s emulation yet. Again, that’s just a theory, so don’t quote me on that. Still, I can’t imagine this game’s too far behind. This one screams DLC. 

Tiger Electronics Kombat on the Go

This is the longest of longshots, but if anyone can make it happen, it’s the wizards at Digital Eclipse. Mortal Kombat had quite a history with Tiger, with two different versions of the original game (one was a weird BarCodzz release where you had to scan character trading cards!), and Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 got dedicated handheld LCD games as well. No, these games aren’t terribly fun, but these things were a HUGE part of many kids' lives, and they all feature some fascinating unique artwork! There was even a Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero one! 

But Tiger was more than just dedicated LCD handhelds! Mortal Kombat Trilogy was released on both the Tiger R-Zone and Tiger Gamecom! (Yes, I know it’s game dot com, but whenever I type that out, my computer thinks it’s a hyperlink). The Gamecom game in particular is absolutely fascinating because while it isn’t exactly good, it’s similar to the Game Boy in that you can’t look at it and not wonder how the heck they managed to pull it off in the first place. I figure the chances of these showing are darn-near non-existent, but I would be beyond thrilled to see them show up. 

As far as I can tell, that’s everything related to the classic MK series that is missing from this hopefully wonderful new collection. What do you think? Will we see any of these show up as DLC?