A European ratings listing for "Mortal Kombat Kollection Online" has given fresh hope for a retro remaster of the original arcade Mortal Kombat trilogy. A newly discovered PEGI entry is just the latest chapter in the decade long saga of the once-cancelled HD project. Read on for the full story:

It seems the saga of an HD remaster of the original Mortal Kombat arcade trilogy is an on-going one. New concept art has emerged from the latest in a string of aborted attempts at a revival, revealing interesting features from Mortal Kombat Kollection Online. Read on:

Back in March, Mortal Kombat Online took an overview of the winding Saga of Mortal Kombat HD. The ill fated project began life as a contemporary remake of the classic games, using new actors to recreate the original sprites in an HD digitized format. As revealed by an unnamed source who worked on the project: the game was shelved by Warner Brothers for internal reasons [full story].

Little has been made known or available from the aborted Mortal Kombat HD project, but thanks to make-up artist Tanea Brooks -- we've now got our most intimate look at some of the work that took place!

After 20 years as a successful franchise, its the sequel to the eponymous Mortal Kombat that many still regard with fondest memories. For fans who live and bleed Mortal Kombat, however, the tournament-centric original can never be completely forgotten. Such is the dedication of a focused group of industrious fans, who've applied themselves to independently designing and developing a playable revamp of the original dubbed: Mortal Kombat HD.

Determined by consensus; the objective of Mortal Kombat HD was to create a slavishly complete, high definition remake of the 1992 arcade classic. Built from the ground up, using popular 2D freeware engine MUGEN as a playable base and 3D models -- the project would be made of all original resources, designed to imitate the original as exactly as possible. Therein would lie the problem, however, leading to an effective shutdown of any intention to release a working product, rendered by Warner Brothers late last week.

While the enthusiasm of fans may lead them to desire otherwise, Warner Brothers' position represents an open and shut case. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's also a self-evident example of copyright and trademark infringement. Exceptions may exist at the prerogative of intellectual property owners who choose to overlook infringements, but they are always within their rights to shut down unlicensed fan projects.

On the surface, this would appear to be an effective end to the MKHD fan game as it was intended. To release any playable version to the public would be to court personal ruin. No fan will play it. Much less clear, however, is the exact motivation for Warner Brothers' intervention. While there is broad intellectual property protection and brand management to consider -- there is an extensive history behind MKHD.

Our friends over at TRMK have just posted a pretty amazing bombshell: according to their sources, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is in the process of developing a re-release of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3! However, this collection will have more in common with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix than Midway Arcade Treasures. Entitled Mortal Kombat HD Kollection, the game will be a high-definition remake of the first three Mortal Kombat arcade games. From the article: