Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Review

By Matt Edwards Published 3 December, 2008

When worlds collide.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Poor old Mortal Kombat. Everything seemed to go downhill for the world's most visceral fighting series when it hit the third dimension after the release of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3: Mortal Kombat 4 was a letdown, Deadly Alliance and Deception failed to make up for it, Armageddon was ill-conceived and the less said about the likes of Mortal Kombat: Special Forces the better.

But what was it about the early games that made Mortal Kombat so endearing? Was it gameplay that offered a viable alternative to the likes of Street Fighter II? Or was it the thrill of Sub-Zero's spine-ripping fatality, performed with the help of a tips section? No one seems to remember exactly, but with the series now languishing behind the likes of Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter, Midway is hoping Superman, Batman and friends can rescue it from the brink in this comics vs. beat-'em-up crossover.

Crossovers sometimes work (Namco x Capcom, for instance), and the inclusion of Solid Snake and Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl earlier this year proved popular. But the most obvious touchstone for MK vs. DC is of course Marvel vs. Capcom - with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom the most hotly anticipated. MK vs. DC doesn't have what it takes to dethrone Marvel vs. Capcom, but it's relatively competent.

The Story Mode opens as Raiden defeats Shao Kahn and sends him hurtling through a portal. At the same time on Earth, Superman defeats super-villain Darkseid by blasting him with his heat vision as he tries to teleport away. In a typical DC twist, neither villain is actually destroyed, and instead they merge to become Jeff Goldblum - sorry, Dark Khan.

As the universes slowly cross over, the various combatants on either side suffer from fits of rage, attacking everyone they encounter - even former friends! Everyone's power also fluctuates wildly, explaining away Liu Kang's sudden ability to fight Superman and so on. Characterisation is good, as the likes of Scorpion and The Joker behave in a way that complements one other's brand of malevolence.

'Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe' Screenshot 1

The window of opportunity for throws to connect is frustratingly unforgiving, often having no effect on a reeling opponent well within range.

Before commencing Story Mode, you're given the choice of the Mortal Kombat or DC side. Once you've pledged your allegiance, you fight through seven or eight character-specific chapters with cut-scenes in-between. These are irritatingly un-skippable and plagued with terrible voice-acting, but they're interesting enough to spur you through the two-to-three hours required. There's also the option of bicycle-kicking your way through Arcade, complete with the classically-stacked tower of conquest. The brief character endings are more or less throwaway, but dedicated MK fans might get a kick out of them.

Of course, Mortal Kombat has struggled with combat ever since it went 3D; it's reliance on simple pre-programmed dial-a-combos, basic juggles and cheap specials has left it way behind Soul Calibur's guard impacts or the sheer depth of Virtua Fighter. Yet in some ways MK vs. DC seeks to improve. Gone are the tacked-on style and weapon stances, with more emphasis on experimenting with a character's strengths, developing combos through manipulation of the in-game physics. Oddly, however, you have to use the analogue stick for 3D movement and sidestepping, and the d-pad for 2D movement and jumping, while holding the left trigger reverses this. Bizarre. At least include a few options for customising it.

'Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe' Screenshot 2

The female characters, although starting to edge away from the butch transvestite staple, are still lacking somewhat in femininity.

MK vs. DC adds further pain to the onslaught with Klose Kombat, Free-Fall Kombat and Test Your Might. Klose Kombat is initiated when you grab your opponent, giving you about five seconds to target one of four areas with the face buttons - crotch kicks, arm breaks and haymakers. Should your opponent match your button press they'll perform a Kounter move and escape further damage. Free-Fall Kombat works similarly and occurs when you hurl your opponent off one of the multi-tiered arenas. As both combatants plummet to the depths below, attacks through the face buttons are active, and should your Super gauge rise high enough you'll be able to execute your character's Free-Fall Super, with a chance of dishing out the maximum damage possible. A successful Kounter here switches offensive and defensive positions, striking a good balance between risk and reward.

Test Your Might, meanwhile, takes us back to the board-breaking days of the early Mortal Kombats, and occurs when you slam your opponent into the wall of a flat-planed arena. Both combatants are then required to mash the face buttons, moving a damage counter across a sliding scale. There is no way to for the defending player to counter a Test Your Might, but should your fingers move like The Flash, you can potentially negate all the damage.

MK vs. DC also has a stab at its own Samurai Shodown-style rage gauge, also similar to the one in Tekken 6, which fills up as you receive damage or perform special moves. Half a gauge can be used to perform a Kombo Breaker, which works as advertised, and can be useful for escaping further punishment should Catwoman or Kitana be battering you flat against a wall. When the meter's full, you can squeeze both triggers for Rage Mode, where you take damage but your combos can no longer be interrupted, and every combo is also unblockable after the first hit. Sadly though it's too easy for an inexperienced player to cheese a losing round back by activating Rage Mode and rushing their opponent with cheap three-hit combos, and the only real defence is to back away until it ends or to fly into a Rage yourself.

In the past, not being able to compete directly with the finesse of Street Fighter or the later graphical sophistication of Tekken and Dead or Alive, Mortal Kombat's appeal has largely been down to its violent bouts and graphic Fatalities. The introduction of the DC licence therefore caused concerns about how far Midway would be allowed to beat seven bells out of Wonder Woman or torpedo-dive Batman to a bloody pulp. The end result is a compromise between gratuitous gore and squeaky clean; clothes rip, tights slice and faces break and bruise, with a bit of blood splashing around on most impacts, but even if the round goes the distance most fighters still look alright.

'Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe' Screenshot 3

Beat him about and Scorpion's skin peels back to reveal his flaming skeleton. His Spear attack is still as annoying as ever.

The Fatalities are toned down as well. Each character has two options, with no Brutalities, Animalities or Stage Fatalities to be seen, and compared to the highly inventive methods of the past, Fatalities in MK vs. DC are tame and simplistic, although most of them would still appear to have the desired effect. And before anyone gets excited about Batman murdering Sonya with the Batmobile, be warned that the six superheroes in the 22-strong roster only have Heroic Brutalities - effectively beating the loser to a pulp, but leaving then with a faint pulse and a future in wheelchair-testing.

Taking MK vs. DC online, matches range from just about playable to, "how the hell did Sub- Zero freeze me?!? I fully blocked that stupid ice blast!" Furthermore, most of the games we played with manageable lag turned into bouts comparing cheap special moves and who could Rage for the win quickest. Certain characters, like The Flash, seem to have a repertoire of abuse-able techniques, and it doesn't help that a day after the game's release an infinite combo for Superman came to light, whereby you just spam the pro-move version (uber-cheap specials requiring very tight timing) of his Ground Tremor. Still, if anyone was going to have a surefire winner, it had to be the Man of Steel.

'Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe' Screenshot 4

The story, although pretty far-fetched by even DC standards, does an excellent job of meshing the two worlds.

As it stands then, MK vs. DC probably won't be seeing tournament play in the next Evo Championship Series. That doesn't preclude it from being a solid fighter for dabblers, but when so many other fighters, including Soul Calibur and Smash Bros., offer accessible gameplay for low-level play, while at the same time offering core gamers underlying balance and depth, we can't help feel this is yet another missed opportunity for Midway to craft a worthy Mortal Kombat.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Matt.

About Matt Edwards

Matt describes himself as a player of games, a rider of motorbikes and a wearer of hats. He's also a Fighting Mania master. "Omae wa mo shindeiru!"

Read more articles from Matt by visiting the Matt Edwards archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (63) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Santino #1 3 years ago

    mortal kombat didn't go downhill when it hit the 3rd dimension, it started off about as bad as a fighting game can get.

  • Velios #2 3 years ago

    hmm

  • Thunderbolt #3 3 years ago

    I dont know what it is with Mortal Kombat but its like crack I just cant say no.

  • Dizzy #4 3 years ago

    Finish him!

  • andijames #5 3 years ago

    Toooasssstyyyy!

    I loved MK2 on the SNES but after 3 it seemed to die a death little by little.

  • Vistrix #6 3 years ago

    I really wanted this game to be pretty good being a huge fan of DC comics but it looks like another let down.

  • menage #7 3 years ago

    Wasn't a good idea to start with.

  • Garulon #8 3 years ago

    Remember kids: [my beat-em-up] is a deceptively complex masterpeice with incredible depth to the combos. [your-beat-em-up] is a "masher's game" with at least one cheap character.

    Go!

    /popcorn
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/08 @ 11:24

  • Darren #9 3 years ago

    Well I don't know about the Mortal Kombat series going downhill particularly as I've never considered them good games anyway... their sole selling point in the early days was the ridiculously gory fatality moves and the digitised sprites. I believe they only sold because of controversy and the 18-rating not because they were good games.

    Although the series got a little better with the move to 3D, it's always been a mediocre fighting game IMO, far too reliant on gimmicks to disguise the paper thin gameplay. It would come last by a long, long way in a list behind the superior Virtua Fighters, Tekkens, Soulcaliburs and Dead or Alives for example.

  • MrChuckles #10 3 years ago

    MK for me always used to be drunken hilarity on my Amiga at Uni. I don't think anyone took it seriously. Might pick it up in a bargain bin.

  • Steroyd #11 3 years ago

    I like the Joker fatality.

  • mingster #12 3 years ago

    very much doubt its as good as Mavel v Capcom

  • LazyDan #13 3 years ago

    Street Fighter = Mario
    Mortal Kombat = Sonic

  • DB2k #14 3 years ago

    this needs to go back to a 3D 2d fighter style like SF4.

  • andywilkie35 #15 3 years ago

    as soon as I heard about this game I thought "this will be terrible". Not trying to judge it or anything but that's exactly what I did. Superman vs Scorpion? fuck oooooff!

  • rudedudejude #16 3 years ago

    I loved sub zeros finishing from the original - pull off their head and spine! We need a return to form!

  • Krelle #17 3 years ago

    the whole mortal kombat franchise feels so..unsexy

  • firm3d #18 3 years ago

    I've enjoyed this game, having done both the MK and DC story modes and nearly half the arcade endings.

    I find the Kombo Challenges a little frustrating though, and I wish the Falalities/Brutalities were listed in the game somewhere (as well as DC not having imposed that the game needed to be a T/15).

    You might consider these large caveats but the adjective that comes to mind whenever playing is "fun" ... which is good right?
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/08 @ 12:13

  • HappyTreeFriend #19 3 years ago

    MOOOOORRRRRTTTTTAAAALLLLL CCCCOOOOOOMMMMBATTTTTTT!!!

    Sorry......\returns to therapy..

  • consignia #20 3 years ago

    So... no beastialities in this game?

  • Pulsar_t #21 3 years ago

    Street Fighter = Mario
    Mortal Kombat = Sonic

    Er.. No.

  • robg #22 3 years ago

    Why doesn't Batman have a properly fatality, he's meant to be a violent weirdo...

  • illusiondance #23 3 years ago

    i was thinking more "cynical".

    i would like to draw everyones attention to the claim by Midways rep (or maybe it was ed boon) trash talking capcom AND telling us that this was going to wipe out SF4 at E3 or one of the conventions.
    poor judgement.
    hopefully DC got their fingers well and truly burnt by this little episode.
    Edited by 2 at 19/04/10 @ 11:57

  • BBIAJ #24 3 years ago

    Bought this online from GAME on Sunday for £21.85, as I had £7.50 of points spare on my account.

    However, despite being available for immediate dispatch, they didn't actually manage to even start processing the order until yesterday, getting it sent out finally in the early evening, so I don't know when it will be turning up, but at that price, I can't really complain.

    On a similar note though, Play.com really do suck. They've only just started packing PoP, and given that The Last Remnant sat packing for over 24 hours, as has Midnight Club: LA Remix and Manhunt 2 on PSP, there is no way that PoP will turn up on or before release day, despite play having it listed as in-stock, usually dispatched within 24 hours since yesterday. What a crock of sh*t!

    /rant over...

  • Triggerhappytel #25 3 years ago

    Yeah, I agree with your mini-rant over Play, BBIAJ - I've bought loads from them recently and some of the stuff has taken a goddamn age to be posted and arrive.

    "Street Fighter = Mario
    Mortal Kombat = Sonic"

    I very much agree with the second part of that - both series have really struggled since going 3D, and have never really hit their stride like back in the 2D days. Going by initial reports of SFIV, you're probably correct about the former comment, too.

  • Madafunkola #26 3 years ago

    "Why doesn't Batman have a properly fatality, he's meant to be a violent weirdo... "
    But Batman is never supposed to actually KILL anyone.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #27 3 years ago

    Dear god, Mortal Kombat was something I played to death when I was younger and for the life in me, I cannot understand why now.

    The games were and will probably always be crap.

    The main selling point of bloody endings to matches wears thin very quickly, leaving only a very patching game mechanic behind.

    Bring on Street Fighter 4.

  • Darren #28 3 years ago

    @BBIAJ - Play.com have always been slow for me - I've ordered literally hundreds of things from them over the years - which is why I only use them for DVDs, BDs, CDs and cheap older PC games not for major console releases. Typically my orders take over a day, sometimes two, alternating between "Processing", "Packing" then "Processing" again before being finally despatched. Then the delivery usually takes three or more days, sometimes as long as a week, with new releases sometimes arriving Saturday but more often than not Monday or Tuesday of the following week. Not a site I'd recommend using if you want something quickly really.

    They're based in Jersey and, like HMV who are based there too, are both slow with orders. Amazon, GAME and Gameplay are much better IMO but they're based on the mainland.

  • bad09 #29 3 years ago

    Please Midway bring a HD version of Trilogy to live/psn and stop these useless 3D ones.

  • Garulon #30 3 years ago

    "Yeah, I agree with your mini-rant over Play, BBIAJ "

    Play screwed me over so many times I'd rather eat my big toes than preorder from that joint. Anecdotally when I ordered Rock Band 2 from Shopto.net I got it Wednesday night, which amazed me. Play.com shouldn't even let you preorder stuff from them they screw it up so badly so consistently.

  • Thunderbolt #31 3 years ago

    BBIAJ,

    'On a similar note though, Play.com really do suck. They've only just started packing PoP'

    I'm in the same boat as you, I only bought POP from Play because of the Special Edition and soundtrack.

    I've cleared up my schedule for the weekend for a full on POP love-in

    And will be mighty pissed if it doesnt arrive!

    I will be getting GH:WT from gamestation as a back-up though

  • Triggerhappytel #32 3 years ago

    I agree with your comments, Darren - if you want something quickly or on its release day don't buy from Play, but if there's something you're after and there's no rush then they're fine, and usually have some pretty good prices.

    I've just created an account with ShopTo last week who I've heard good things about - I've pre-ordered Killzone 2 with them (great price) and I think they'll be receiving all of my pre-orders for the forseeable future.

    What's that? - we're meant to be discussing some game? DC Combat what?

  • JohnnyCage85 #33 3 years ago

    God damn it MK, I want you to produce a decent game so I'm not ashamed to like you.

  • 4thVariety #34 3 years ago

    It's safe to say that anybody remembering the 2D Mortal Kombat games should leave the new one to the demographic of its rating: Teens.

    Anything but a 1080p remake of MK1 causing a major political and media controversy just wouldn't be MK to the fans of old.

  • iokthemonkey #35 3 years ago

    I've NEVER had any problems with play.com. Every time I've pre-ordered anything it's arrived on the day of release or earlier. The closest "problem" I ever had was once something went missing in-transit but they replaced it free of charge, no questions asked.

    As for MKvDC, this is a shame, as I don't think Midway can afford to be releasing a game that's not exceptional right now. I hope it does well for them and is a hit with players, but I think there's too much riding on this for it to be an also-ran.

  • vegard #36 3 years ago

    hey, leave powerman 5000 back in the nineties, ok?

  • Sir_TimAlot #37 3 years ago

    pfffff Being a big MK fan ever since Mortal Monday, MK4 is still my favourite

  • Anasui #38 3 years ago

    Mortal Kombat wasn't a very good game to start with. In fact, it sucked a bit even in its first incarnation

  • Krelle #39 3 years ago

    About PLAY:

    If you live outside of the UK (like Sweden for example), Play is amazing. Cheap and very fast shipping. Like 3 days afaik.
    See, if you order something from overseas, you dony expect to get it on release-day anyway, which seems to be the main complaint here*.

    (*Its been almost 2 years since I bought anything from PLAY, so it might have gone downhill since then.)

  • JohnnyCage85 #40 3 years ago

    This review of PLAY reads like a 4/10, yet its given a 6/10

  • Rirekon #41 3 years ago

    Awww, I really enjoy beating Batman's stupid smug face :)

  • SeesThroughAll #42 3 years ago

    Midway... Finish it.

  • Robyrt #43 3 years ago

    Love the shoutout to the Evo Championship Series!

    The comparison between MK vs DC and Street Fighter 2 HD Remix couldn't be more striking. One franchise is bringing in new blood through shrewd marketing while toning down the reasons people liked it in the first place, while the other is sticking with the unforgiving but classic gameplay it always had. Oh, and one costs four times as much.

  • Gnort #44 3 years ago

    Good review, Mr Edwards, told me all that I wanted to know.

    In a way, I'm almost glad this isn't the game that sees the MK team finally figure out how to make a decent 3D fighting game, as the idea of pitting Scorpion against Batman is pants and just reeks of trying to ape Marvel vs Capcom.

  • EffEmmGee #45 3 years ago

    @ Triggerhappytel "I've just created an account with ShopTo last week who I've heard good things about"

    Ummm...yeah...about ShopTo...
    1) We had ordered Ridge Racer from them for the Xbox 360 and when we got it, it looked like it must have been left on a radiator or something, the clear plastic on the box (not the factory wrap, the actual box) was all warped and wrinkled.

    2) We ordered a Basketball game and they sent us the wrong one, the one they sent wasn't even listed on their website. When I rang them they were confused as to why we were complaining as "it was a basketball game", plus it was one we already had.

    3) When fixing the above basketball game they credited our ShopTo account with the refund when they got the game back from us (because they couldn't refund our card for some reason), we spent most of this refund on another game only to find a few days later that they had wiped the remaining funds from our account with no explanation!

    4) There's no guarantee that you will get a UK copy of the game if it is region free (in some cases this doesn't matter but UK DLC wont work and you can't trade or sell said game to a shop). If they have both UK and EU versions of a game and you specify that you want a UK version you have to be willing to wait a few extra days.


    The only good feature they have was that they send you a text message when they've posted your order and that you can order up to about 5.30pm for next day recorded delivery. That's not enough for us to order from them again.

  • mainaman #46 3 years ago

    Subpar fighting engine again,toned down gore and fatalities,laggy online...

    I dream for the day they make a MK game with DOA fighting engine and multitiered stages,SC level of character modelling,toned down magical moves(just one Scorpion spear per round),bumped up gore and fatalities,comprehensive character customization...


    Will never happen(sign)...

  • MrChallacombe #47 3 years ago

    This game is a lot of fun, but i was already a bit bored after a few hours play. luckily it was a rental!

  • Steroyd #48 3 years ago

    Did I pre-order from the same PLAY?

    Usually get my pre-orders a day early from release date process and deliver very quickly as well, although saying that I ordered Odin Sphere yesterday (for £8) and they haven't processed my order yet just like what Darren says.

    Shopto is awesome you get money off the next order if you pre-order with then, they're super cheap and all my orders bar the LBP release day tits up have been 2 days earlier than their respective launch dates.

  • chrisola #49 3 years ago

    its ok!

    The Joker is awesome.. in the cutscene..

    Captain Marvel - his name is Dark Khan
    Joker (screaming): "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
    Deathstroke: shut up!

  • Thunderbolt #50 3 years ago

    Play has just emailed me to say that the POP has been posted so it should arrive by Friday.

    TBH I dont traditionally buy games on release so I cant complain. But Play in general do have a good delivery policy whereas Amazon...

    Anyway I will be getting this when its in the £20 region.

  • creepylizard #51 3 years ago

    this game just seems about 5 years out of date..
    and Deathstroke? Deathstroke!?

  • smelly #52 3 years ago

    I'd buy a Marvel vs DC game...

  • RobotRocker #53 3 years ago

    Creepy Lizard: "Deathstroke? Deathstroke!?"

    Hush you. Deathstroke can take out the JLA if he feels like it (He nearly took down 7 of the bastards at the same time during Idenity Crisis), hes not the worlds greatest assasin for nothing y'know.

    Anyway, two points on the review. Good on you mentioning Supes Broken Ground Pound Infinite, though you forgot that Green Lantern's kombo breaker launches the opponent into a juggle also, which is fairly cheap (Jax has an infinite as well but nobody cares about Jax). Midway patched out infinites and abusable techniques in Deception and Armageddon on the Xbox when it issued a netcode patch for both. So the cheap stuff wont last very long.

    As for the Flash, he has insane move start-up priority (Of course, He is the Flash) and can rock people if the other guy is good, but he has to do a lot of specials to kickstart his chains and he is totally vunerable when a special whiffs or is blocked. Play as Scorpion and use the Hell Fire summon move to really piss Flash players off (OrJokers Boxing glove if you really, really want to piss them off).Real fighters play with Captain Marvel though. The Kingdom Come style bearhug is awesome.

    Finally, Interesting you bought up Evo as well. Some of the tourney players at SRK reckon that if Midway gets rid of the two mentioned glitches and nerfs the Flash a little. It could do good as a Brawl style tourney game as the rest of the game is much more balanced than previous MK's and a lot of characters have a good amount of Combo potential. Might be an intersting side game.



  • schnide #54 3 years ago

    If the human race hasn't evolved far enough to have predicted that this was always going to be a lukewarm turd then we are absolutely fucked when it comes to solving global warming.

  • el_pollo_diablo #55 3 years ago

    Mortal Kombat 2 is better than any other game on the planet ever, and that's including Street Fighter 2.

    Anyone who disagrees with me is, quite frankly, an imbecile.

  • Ryze #56 3 years ago

    UMK3 is still the one, and it's 400 pts on XBLA.

    I'm sorted. This is for the bargain bin.

  • muscleblade #57 3 years ago

    MK VS DCU hasnt been relased in Europe exept for the UK because of some issues between the developer and the publisher.

    New release date is 21.12.08

  • Hangman #58 3 years ago

    this game is brill. 6/10 is still a good score for a dying genre. i've never had so much fun as breaking catwoman's arms with scorpion, the silly bint.

    great endings and artwork, music is top and the characters look ace. considering how bad this could (and probably should) have been, Midway have really delivered the goods on this one for me.

  • metalangel #59 3 years ago

    Play shipped my 360 and wireless adaptor (same order number) seperately, so my 360 was all but worthless until the wifi arrived. When it did arrive, it wasnt a wifi adaptor but a PSP charging dock. I sent it back (after calling Play to obtain the RMA needed) having to sort the postage myself, and a month later still had not been refunded. Useless idiots, never using them again no matter how good the deal.

  • creepylizard #60 3 years ago

    @Robot Rocker
    admittedly, i do only have a vague memory of buying a deathstroke miniseries many moons ago and all I can recal is that he was some kind of zombie cyborg or something...?

  • iokthemonkey #61 3 years ago

    RE: PLAY

    You know, I've never had any problems with play.com but I'm beginning to wonder if people are buying from Play Traders and this is the root of the problem. Are you buying from play.com themselves or using the "Buy It New or Used" option? Because if it's the latter, then you're buying through the site, not from them and using an independent seller...

  • Stardusted #62 3 years ago

    Actually, mortal kombat 2 was a great beat em up. And MK vs DC is a seriously good game, something I frankly was surprised to find out upon buying it and playing it yesterday. Let me tell you why is that...

    First, there is a great deal of balancing that has been done, and it shows. I found no seriously overpowered characters. Yes there are a few exceptions, actually a couple of em. But it is not something we can hold against, since every beat em up I have ever played had at least a few imbalancies.

    Second, the story, the endings, are well done and provide a nice comic feel to the whole experience (I havent seen all of them yet, since we mainly spent time with friends playing versus).

    As for the third... that is one I would love to know what others think about... mortal kombat vs dc retains one critical quality that defines -according to my tastes at least- how good or bad a beat em up is. I am talking about button mashing. It was something that made mortal kombat 2 one of the absolute best games of its genre. It required skill, and you could not bash out combinations without knowing what you are doing, and still sometimes win. That's also the case with street fighter 2. I am personally a ken-only player in sf2, and almost always sub-zero ine MK2. In both games I always knew that If I faced an opponent who was not up to my skill level, he would lose. No matter how many random key sequences he would unleash.

    That is rare in 3D fighters. MK vs DC though manages to keep this feeling of actually achieving a skill level that won't be leveled to the ground by a trigger happy first-time player.

    PS : Eurogamer, maybe you should do your homework better before you ask questions like "was it the fatalities, or was there actually a good game in Mortal Kombat?". Just like you know there is a good game in street fighter 2, send some reviewers to play MK II. Apparently they havent done so yet.

    PS2 : I never thought I would defend a game called MK vs DC...

    PS3 : +1000 for a HD remake of MK Trilogy.
    Edited by 1 at 07/12/08 @ 13:45

  • rommy667 #63 2 years ago

    Bit late to the party here picked this up new today for 10 its a fantastic game and should have got a 9 :)