Friday, May 23, 2008

GET OVER HERE! thoughts on Mortal Kombat vs. DC


Mortal Kombat, the bloodiest game of the 90's, is coming out with its first crossover fighting game. Originally put out by Midway, Mortal Kombat became infamous for being one of bloodiest games of the 90's, they set the bar high for violence and aggression previously not seen before in arcades.


This fall Mortal Kombat will be releasing , Mortal Kombat vs DC, this will pit classic characters you know and love from both franchises beating the tar out of each other. Except no fatalities. You heard me right, a Mortal Kombat game with no fatalities.


This will be a Mortal Kombat with no fatalities. No one is going to pull Green Lanterns' heart out and show it to him. Superman and Scorpion will not be exchanging any fire from holes in their head. Batman won't be killing anyone, as usual. Just another check in the, "why'd they do that" column.


But first I think we need a little history lesson on the subject of comic book crossover games. About 12 years ago Capcom and Marvel Comics worked together to create a crossover franchise that would change 2D fighting games forever. X-men vs. Street Fighter might not have been the best in the series, but with out a beginning there would not been the, as of now, final product of Marvel vs. Street Fighter 2.


I am not a good Street Fighter player, I don't claim to be. But I do enjoy the series. I like the characters and look of the games. They have been pretty consistent since the first Street Fighter game was released in 1987. This kind is what players and fans like about the series, they always know what they are getting into, quaterturn from down to forward and pressing punch gets you the Ryu Fireball.


Sadly Mortal Kombat does not have this consistency. Over the years they have been chipping away at what made Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat. I am not one to complain about progress, but I do like certain consistency in my games. You know what, even if it was spectacular game play, what it really comes down to it both Mortal Kombat and DC are a few years too late on this idea.


DC is too big now to try and do anything fun with. Look at the Marvel vs Capcom games, all the Marvel characters look like they are Street Fighter universe already with that magna style look to them, there is no real story to be told, it is just wow, all these characters are fighting each other. Characters like Mega Man, and that little dog. Try not to forget Mega Man and a little dog fighting Magneto. The game had a sense of light heartedness, good solid game play as well as general bad assery.


MK vs. DC, well that is going to have story written by Jimmy Palmiotti, so you know, it will be serious and important. As a fan of comic books this game seems like something Marvel would do. Marvel actually made a fighting game a few years ago called Marvel Nemesis, which wasn't horrible, it certainly was not in the typical fighting game. But at least they did something different. Make a fighting game using your own franchises characters, or make a fighting game that people want to see. Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter.


Having not played the game at all, and only seeing a few screen shots and a trailer, I am not impressed with the idea. The game might be fun, but much like when The Misfits came back out in the mid 90's, they should have called it something else, because at that point they had moved rather far away from the mark. This is not a Mortal Kombat game, this should be called something different. Call it what is it DC comics vs. some ninja guys. Toasty!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

No fatalities?! Are they out of their minds?

John Vielee said...

I agree fully with you. Horrible idea. Plus seeing the screen shots of Superman just make me cry because we'll never have a Superman game that looks that good.