Legacy Kollection input lag and VRR: what helps

Why it feels delayed

The delay people noticed at launch was not a bug in the emulation. Digital Eclipse published its own explanation, and it starts with the arcade hardware:

“the original Mortal Kombat arcade games ran at around 54 frames per second instead of the standard 60 FPS”

A display or a console running at a fixed 60 Hz has to reconcile that with the game’s own 54 FPS, and the usual result is repeated frames. Repeated frames add visible delay between your input and what happens on screen. That is the mechanism behind the complaint, and it explains why the arcade originals felt snappier on their original monitors than an emulated version does on a modern television.

What VRR changes

Variable Refresh Rate is the fix Digital Eclipse built support for, and the studio’s description of why it works is specific:

“When your system’s VRR option is turned on, we can sync the monitor to the non-standard frame rates that were used on the original arcade games, which was usually around 53 Hz.”

Instead of forcing the game toward 60 Hz, the display follows the game. Digital Eclipse also notes that with VRR enabled you “may also perceive an improvement in input latency” — the wording is deliberately cautious, because VRR removes a source of delay rather than eliminating delay entirely.

Turning VRR on

Three things have to support VRR at once: the console or PC, the display, and the cable between them. If any one of the three does not, the option will either be greyed out or will not take effect.

On a console, the cable matters: Digital Eclipse specifies HDMI 2.1 (Ultra High Speed), and on PS5 that cable is a requirement rather than a recommendation. On PC, DisplayPort 1.2a or newer also carries the signal.

Supported platforms

The original Xbox One being excluded is easy to miss, because the two mid-generation Xbox models above it do support VRR. Switch 2 support is also narrower than the platform list suggests: it applies in handheld mode, which is the mode that can vary its refresh rate.

Other things to try

Beyond VRR, the practical list is short, and it is worth separating what the developer has stated from what is general advice.

• Install the current update. Digital Eclipse shipped stability and performance work across the 2025 and 2026 updates, including fixes that were specific to the post-launch period. Running an older build reproduces problems that no longer exist.
• Check the display is not in a picture-processing mode. This is general advice rather than a developer statement: television and monitor modes that add motion smoothing or heavy processing introduce their own delay on top of whatever the game does. A game or low-latency mode is the usual recommendation.
• Use the wired or lowest-latency controller option available. Also general advice — controller connection adds to the chain but is not something Digital Eclipse has written about.
• Test in training mode. The training mode added in the 2026 updates lets you practise against a defined AI and swap sides, which makes it easier to judge whether a change helped.

The PC-specific side of this is on the PC guide, and the wider online picture is on the online play page.