Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection launches to mixed reviews on Steam

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection should have been an easy win. It bundles together the first four Mortal Kombat games, including the WaveNet version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 previously thought lost, as well as less fondly remembered spin-offs like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero for the sake of completeness and the memes. It also comes with an interactive documentary about the history of the gory fighting series, à la The Making of Karateka. Sounds like the complete package.

Yet, within days of release, 55% of its Steam reviews are negative. “Input lag is unacceptably high in every game—even offline” says one, with some players complaining it’s even noticeable in the menus. Others are upset that “the online’s in a terrible state. Quick play matches with random people only. You can’t queue for more than one game at a time, so the community’s splintered between games.” Another laments, “The 360/PS3 MK Kollection that came out over 10+ years ago had better netcode than this”.

It’s not just the lag and online that players are complaining about either, with the AI coming in for a drubbing as well: “Since half of the match is just the enemy social distancing and staying 6 feet away from me, God Forbid Milenna gets ******** covid”.

According to Digital Eclipse’s FAQ, lobbies are coming in a post-release update. “In the weeks following launch,” they say, “we will add Online Arcade, a system where you can create lobbies, choose the players, and rotate games for the tastes of your private group of friends. We’re finalizing the UI details on these features now.”

There’s also been a hotfix to deal with some audio issues and a handful of other bugs, which comes with the note: “Additional fixes will be addressed in the coming days in another update.” It’s entirely possible they’ll turn this around, but it’s a shame to have games that are 30 years old arrive on PC feeling like they needed more time in the oven. At least the documentary has been well-received—it’s the focus of most of the positive reviews.