Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Midway has enriched the MK world with the introduction of history’s finest superheroes – and supervillains. Rob Power gets showered in claret...

Back in the heady days of the Sega Mega Drive, there was only one game that really laid the smack down, and that game was Mortal Kombat.

There was really nothing else like it; before the ex-arcade title made its way into the world of console gaming, nobody had really thought about, say, coding a move into a fight game where you could literally rip out your opponent’s spine – or throw their lifeless corpse onto an evil row of spikes. Mortal Kombat was dark, brooding, utterly brutal, completely ruthless and, consequently, massively popular.

Over time, Mortal Kombat grew to become a mainstay of the gaming world. Those with a penchant for titles that involved copious amounts of bloodletting, extreme violence and a raft of highly stylised and individual characters flocked to it. And with the  blue-rinse brigade’s horrified reaction soon dying down, the series experienced widespread success – enough to justify numerous sequels, a film, comic and endless additional spin- offs. So, when Midway announced it would be pitching its much-loved Mortal Kombat characters up against some of the biggest superhero names out there, the internet went crazy. Interest in the series has been completely rejuvenated.

The DC Universe holds some of the biggest and best comic book characters out there, with names such as Superman and Batman surely enough to give anyone an idea of the sort of legends we can expect to see in this crossover title. It’s a huge deal, something that fans of both franchises will be keen to get hold of and, importantly, it’s packed full of enough recognisable names and faces for regular folk who know nothing of the intricacies of the comic book world.

In short, it’s a great idea and one that has already begun to take off. “We’ve talked about teaming up Mortal Kombat with another for brand over ten years,” reveals Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon “Nothing really became of the team-ups we pursued. So after Armageddon we were all ready to start the next M-rated MK game when the DC opportunity was presented to us. A number of people on the MK team are huge comic book fans.

"I personally grew up reading comic books and clearly remember when the Superman vs Spiderman comic came out. I freaked out because a crossover was something I never thought I’d see. It was one of the big ‘events’ and to this day I have that – very worn – comic in my office at work. Needless to say the idea of crossing over our universe with the DC universe was something that excited us and we really wanted to do something different for the next gen debut of Mortal Kombat. So the more we thought about it, the more excited we got – and we decided this would be a great match-up game to do.”

Sending Mortal Kombat off in a brand new, completely unchartered direction, this title already looks set to rejuvenate the series and bring it to the attention of a whole new fanbase. “I feel like change is necessary for any series to continue selling respectable numbers after doing many sequels,” continues Boon.

“One of the reasons we’ve managed to keep Mortal Kombat selling well for so long has been because we always try to introduce something new to each MK game. This is going to be the first Mortal Kombat game on the latest generation of game consoles so we knew we had to do something big this time. I’m sure the next Mortal Kombat game will have something dramatically different than this one.”

Getting involved with all things DC led to its own set of complications – namely, how can a series so used to being up to its elbows in blood and guts reconcile itself with a set of characters that never kill in pursuit of victory? Fatalities, long a favourite aspect of Mortal Kombat for many fans, has had to be toned down for a start, and there have been other changes besides. “We certainly had to get used to the DC Universe,” says Boon.

“But at the same time we never expected to have Superman tear someone’s arms off. The DC Heroes don’t kill and we knew that before we even signed up for this deal. Still it was challenging to maintain the Mortal Kombat feel while staying within a Teen rating.”

The appeal of making this title is an obvious one – many of the huge array of cult characters that populate both worlds are massively popular in their own right – and giving players a chance to get to grips with them in a beat-em-up setting is one that is just too good to miss.

“The DC Universe brand really does help to open new opportunities and bring in a whole new audience to the Mortal Kombat experience,” comments Mortal Kombat brand manager Mark Cook. “Characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Joker – and environments like Gotham City and Metropolis – are iconic and inspiring, and the Mortal Kombat world offers a unique experience to interact with them. Following on from the success of The Dark Knight film release, the world of Batman in particular is receiving a lot of interest from new channels.”

As is befitting what is clearly going to be a big hitter for Midway,  you can expect a marketing blitz and enough giddy excitement from an extensive fanboy following to make the whole thing a high profile proposition. “We have Midway’s biggest ever campaign and spend to look forward to this holiday season,” continues Cook.

“We kicked off a broad reach cinema campaign at the end of August, running through launch. This has been complemented with a huge outdoor presence. London Underground advertising, as well as promotion in nationwide phone kiosks and lifts throughout major shopping centres will ensure our release window will be surrounded by ... Article continues below