As you no doubt are aware, “Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe” is coming out sometime soon for major gaming consoles everywhere.
Now here is what I don’t get. Why the hell is Superman in a goddamned Mortal Kombat game?
I mean, what happens when Superman gets stabbed by Scorpion? “GET OVER HERE – AGH! NO! NO! I TAKE IT BACK! DON’T COME HERE! AGH! OH GOD STOP HURTING ME!”
It’s understood, of course, that DC Comics characters and good videogames go together like Santa Claus and conquering the Martians. Most DC games are terrible. DC fighting games are especially terrible. (Does anybody else remember “Justice League Task Force” for the Super Nintendo? God that was a terrible game.)
And here’s what I don’t get: there’s obviously a fantastic, original DC-themed fighting game out there if some software developer wanted to make it. Stop bullshitting around with all the stupid street-level fighting you get in other games (and including Superman in it, what the fucking fuck is that). These are DC Comics characters.
I want a game where Superman throws Captain Marvel through a fucking planet, then comes out the other side and punches him so hard nearby buildings collapse, goddamnit! I want epic, wrath-of-god-level combat! I want violence so earth-shattering it’s literally earth-shattering! Punching the ground to create earthquakes! Clapping your hands to create sonic wave attacks! Tactical-missile-laser-photon-cannons! Everything in the game, absolutely everything, should go to eleven!
Just imagine this roster:
Superman
Batman (in Bat-Hyper-Armor)
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Captain Marvel
J’onn J’onzz
Supergirl
Dr. Fate
Orion
Big Barda
Doomsday
Lex Luthor (in power armor)
Despero
Maxima
Sinestro
Solomon Grundy
Amazo
The Demon
Kalibak
Darkseid
None of the second-tier hangers on. (Maybe each character can have special attacks where a bunch of second-stringers fly by and attack. Like, Batman’s special attack is having Nightwing fly a Batplane past while Robin shoots the enemy with a Super-Bat-Laser.) Tell me I am wrong and you would not play the shit out of this if they did it properly and had characters throwing, like, big rig trucks at one another.
UPDATE: I think it’s important to note that fighting games need variety, and that we want to shy away from endless Superman-power-set clones (although replacing Supergirl with Power Girl is a good idea). And some suggestions are just good ones (how the hell did I forget Lobo?). Remember also that you want as much gender diversity and racial diversity as possible, for obvious reasons. And finally, although guys like the Flash are powerful, you’re looking for characters who can reasonably throw trucks at each other without breaking a sweat and cheerfully take a truck to the face – this is the heavyweights of the DCU, and specialists need not apply no matter how talented they might be. (I mean, come on, we’re pushing it by including Batman and Lex in power armor, but I’d argue that you have to have Batman in the game, so.)
So, my revised list:
Superman
Batman (in Bat-Hyper-Armor)
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Captain Marvel
J’onn J’onnz
Power Girl
Firestorm (Jason Rusch)
Wildfire (he blows up the trucks with ‘splosions and makes them fly that way!)
Monstress (shut up, I like Monstress)
Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)
Big Barda
Doomsday
Lex Luthor (in power armor)
Maxima
Sinestro
Star Sapphire
Emerald Empress
Black Adam
Lobo
Bizarro
Etrigan
Stompa of the Fatal Furies
Darkseid
Related Articles
53 users responded in this post
I’d play that sumbitch like it was going outta style and I’d get some chick knocked up so my kid could play it as soon as possible.
Truth.
But, your list fails for the omission of Wally Fucking West the muthafucking Flash. He has pants made outta goes fast.
They have some bullshit explanation for how Superman can be in it and not own everybody, but it’s bullshit.
Also, add Emperor Joker to your list, because there needs to be a Bat villain and he’s the only one that can work on that scale.
And have the different GLs as alternate costumes if you can’t get all of them as separate characters.
You forgot Lobo (or Lobo while wearing the Mask).
Replace Big Barda with Power Girl and Orion with Starman and now we’re talking.
One big problem I’m seeing is that not all the antagonists are fliers. The basic model I’m seeing for this game is something like the recent DBZ games, which means everybody needs to be able to fly or the whole game falls apart.
Also, forget this Bat Hyper Armor bullcrap. Just have Warren Ellis write him.
Also also, I’m disappointed that Rex the Wonder Dog isn’t a super-secret hidden character.
“It’s understood, of course, that DC Comics characters and good videogames go together like Santa Claus and conquering the Martians”
That is the greatest analogy in the history of analogies.
Relating to NCallahan’s post:
No one fucks with Batman when he’s wearing a necklace of nipples. Yes, you read that right.
This game just reminds me of how much I want another Marvel VS Capcom. “I’m gonna take you for a ride!”
I was thinking of the Dragon Ball Z games as well. That’s a good way to think about it anyway, like a starting point. At least it wouldn’t be complete shit, like all the other DC games.
“They have some bullshit explanation for how Superman can be in it and not own everybody, but it’s bullshit.”
The explanation is that the game takes place in an alternate dimension with magical properties, magic being one of Superman’s major vulnerabilities.
I did catch a video preview of the game in which Superman bashed into Scorpion and piledrove him through, like, seven or eight buildings. I mean, it’s not smashing through a planet, but it still looked pretty fucking cool. As did the game itself.
The Flash’s moves, in particular, were pretty cool. And speak of, I love “He has pants made outta goes fast.” That was hysterical.
Ed Boon reminded everyone at SDCC that Superman was very vulnerable to magic.
I’m wondering if, when you play as Batman, it will have an exceedingly long loading time. For preparation, you understand.
I’d rather play a game with Big Barda than with Power Girl. It’s way past time Barda got some of the spotlight.
Queen Anthai: What would be the point then? For as we all know, if Batman has prep time he is going to win automatically.
They’re using the whole magic explanation, but that only applies to Superman. They don’t really have an explanation for how Flash, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern aren’t just instantly destroying everyone.
How I’d redo the villain line-up…
Power-armor Lex Luthor
Star Sapphire
Bizarro
Sinestro
Black Adam
Weather Wizard
The Shade
Circe
Neron
Darkseid
One of the scenarios should be Danny The Street.
I’m surprised, MGK. No Legionnaires in your revamped lineup?
Also, how kick-ass would Tommy Monaghan be in this world?
I second Lobo. And if you’re not going to have the Legionnaires in there as playable characters, you should at least have a stage set in Legion World. ALL of Legion World.
so basically you want a dragon ball z game with dc characters?
I’d include Ultra Boy over Wildfire, mainly because I think the ability to shift powers would make for an interesting character. Also, Spectre should at the very least be a hidden character and Firestorm should be in the game.
The good Dr. Light and Jaime Reyes are close to being in the right power range and help with ethnic diversity. Booster Gold’s an obvious choice for a Dan-like joke character (well, either that or Ambush Bug.)
The current version of the Shaggy Man would be a good villain to include.
Blue Beetle is actually a really good idea. So is Firestorm (after all, he’s black now). Revising.
And Ultra Boy’s “shifting powers”, in gameplay terms, make him just another Superman clone. Pass.
And finally, although guys like the Flash are powerful, you’re looking for characters who can reasonably throw trucks at each other without breaking a sweat and cheerfully take a truck to the face – this is the heavyweights of the DCU, and specialists need not apply no matter how talented they might be.
The Flash is only a “specialist” in the sense that he takes one thing and makes it so ballsassedly powerful that it matches anyone else’s multitude of things. Sure he can’t take a truck to the face, he can just vibrate through it and make it explode, or make it stop dead in midair or any of a thousand other utterly retarded applications of his ridiculously overblown superspeed. Besides, every fighting game has a speedy-bitch-who-can’t-take-damage character, not putting him in this is like not having Chun Li in Street Fighter.
I gotta say I like your idea much more than the DC/MK game. I might actually pay more than $10 for yours.
One DC title I am really excited about is the upcoming Batman game Arkham Asylum, featured in this month’s Game Informer magazine (and on the cover). I couldn’t find any actual articles online, but here’s a few screenshots.
From the description, it seems like an action game with RPG elements (a la Bioshock). There is a degree of stealth gameplay, but suiting Batman. The devs call it ‘predatory gameplay’ where you use stealth as an offensive tool, rather than hiding in the shadows because you’re weak.
Also of interest is how they are trying to play up his role of ‘Earth’s Greatest Detective’, using some forensic elements that seem inspired by the first Condemned game.
The article is a good read, and worth picking up at a GameStop store (disclaimer: I currently work for GS) or borrowing from a friend. Along with Lego Batman (a totally different, but no less awesome game), this is a BatGame I can really get excited about. Here’s hoping it lives up to its potential!
All I can think is that DC also has access to the Authority….
Several members of that would also be good fits.
But frankly, I’d rather play a mid-level game. Something that would fit characters like Black Canary and Green Arrow and Batman and the like.
Also, I still miss MvC as well. No sense of balance, but damn that game was fun.
Jev, you sound like such a shill it’s not even funny.
All I can think is that DC also has access to the Authority….
supergp makes a good point. And reminds me, there’s also the Kingdom Come universe out there. Think this GL could work?
No Captain Atom and Major Disaster?
I love that Green Lantern. It’s the only action figure I own at the moment, and it’s hanging up in my cubicle at work.
Because, seriously, if you were a Green Lantern, you’d ALSO BE FAT. And lazy.
You couldn’t pay me to play a Mortal Kombat vs DC game I would be physically incapable of wrapping my head around why they couldn’t end this fight within 10 minutes of it starting, none of the MK characters meet DC standards, especially when dealing with Justice League grade characters, it would be more accurately described as a DC featuring the MK characters game, at least if they wanted to attempt to think about staying true to the DC characters combat abilities.
No, Ultra Boy is good, just make his powers all better than Superman’s, he just can’t use them at once. He’d be the skilled fighter character.
Agreed on putting a Flash in the game. He can’t pull off the same stunts, but he gives a TON of variety. And that lets you go for Zolomon. Time manipulation? Yes plz.
Braniac instead of Lex Luthor I think.
Big Barda AND Wonder Woman AND Power (Super) Girl feels like more repeat than having Ultra Boy anyway.
Magic user is a must – Dr. Fate on one side, defnitely.
More unconventional straight up brawlers. Even if you have to give them a story to make them more powerful
As much as the concept sucks, I’ve been hearing some not bad things about the actual game.
Midway is going about this completely WRONG.
It’s like this: When Capcom started toying with Marvel-related fighting games, they first tested the waters with two stand-alone Marvel games–X-MEN: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM, and MARVEL SUPERHEROES. This was done at a time when Capcom was already hitting it big in the arcades with the Street Fighter Alpha series and the Darkstalkers/Vampires series. Then, when the demand was high enough for Capcom to do a crossover with the two properties—BLAM–That’s when they hit us with the Versus games.
Meanwhile, Midway gets a hold of the DC property and doesn’t show us that they could make any decent games with them…and they crossover with Mortal Kombat at a time when people could give a fuck less about Mortal Kombat. Joe Lieberman could FINALLY win his 16-year-long mission to ban Mortal Kombat and the people would be like, “Eh—whatever. Where’s my GTA4 game at?”
You’re right—DC’s characters deserve a developement tem that can make a MINDBLOWING game with them…and this looks like everything but.
I recommend Mugen. It’s glitchy as all hell but some people have made a few good DC fighters. Wonder Woman, Lobo, and Ice spring to mind.
And even better, you can make them fight Popeye.
I think everyone here is forgetting Lustice League heroes, a game I have beaten 5 times (and it remains fun). JLH had its obvious flaws (often times you would end up punching the air around villains instead of, you know, them), but it was one hell of a game.
I also think Superman Returns had an ok videogame with a decently rendered city. Of course, it doesn’t match the first two spiderman movie games, but most things don’t.
Lastly, if you’re looking for how to change another DC video game property, IGN had some wicked ideas as to how to put together a good batman stand-alone game.
http://comics.ign.com/articles/899/899026p1.html
Please forgive me, but you’re being tagged. Per a meme from Fortress Keeper and Pillock: What’s your favorite blog post, ever? Oh, and you gotta tag five other bloggers, too.
Please forgive me!
@ karellan – I sound like a shill, for being enthusiastic about a game? Wow. I mean, I could see that if it was a game I had worked on, I’d be worried about bias, but you’re totally off the mark.
Gee, I mentioned a game I think looks good, oh noes! I gave links to screenshots, a crime! And I pointed out where the only article I am aware of can be found and specificially mentioned that I work for the company that sells it to *avoid* conflict of interest.
Maybe if the game didn’t relate to the post, or the interests of the blogger I am responding to I could see your point. Meh, I usually don’t bother responding to personal attacks, don’t really know why I’m bothering.
@ MGK – sorry for cluttering your comments w/ the response.
Okay, this is just lazy nerd pedantry. Lazy in the sense that everyone’s been complaining about the nerfed supes ever since the game was even rumored months ago. GET OVER IT
Also, just wait two years for the DC vs. Marvel Superhero Brawl:
http://www.cracked.com/article_15662_12-awesomest-games-2010.html
Emerald Emperess is a heavy hitter?
Oa would have to be one level with Mogo in the background.
What about Mongul?
There really aren’t any heavy hitters in the JSA, now that
I think of it.
Throw Geo-Force in there just for a little difference in attacks.
I pointed out where the only article I am aware of can be found and specificially mentioned that I work for the company that sells it
That’s the part where you sound like a shill, and your response seems like one of those “doth protest too much” ones.
You forgot Mxyzptlk in your villains roster.
I’ll counter with praise: You had me at Maxima.
I have to agree: I don’t want to see a fighting game with Superman in it, unless the end of every fight looks like ground zero for the apocalypse, well unless you are using some of the lower tier characters, even then it has to look like a tornado, hurricane, earthquake and a small meteor hit the area. There are no big name characters, more specifically villains, who don’t leave an area looking like anything less than a war broke out in said area.
“I also think Superman Returns had an ok videogame with a decently rendered city. Of course, it doesn’t match the first two spiderman movie games, but most things don’t.”
Don’t know if anyone else is familiar with the game, but for those who haven’t the developers came up with the perfect “life bar” mechanic for a Superman game: it measures the health of Metropolis rather than Superman.
Has anyone ever played Freedom Force? It’s not a fighting game, it’s more of an RPG. But it’s still the best superhero game ever created. It uses a bunch of fake superhereos based on popular comic book characters and it managed to have you play with a group of superheroes and work effectively.
Super strong characters could throw cars, lamposts, etc. Flying characters had effective advantages over ground enemies. It was awesome, and I can’t believe Marvel or DC haven’t just picked this up and put their characters in it. Ultimate Alliance was sort of like it but still didn’t capture the scale FF did
The game needs some Transformers.
I would just like to point out that Justice League Task Force, the SNES game that MGK mentioned was utter crap, was made by none other than Blizzard Entertainment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_Task_Force_(video_game)
–Rawr
I have a humble suggestion for how to handle the power levels of the various characters… Just have three different “weight classes” (or call them threat levels or something…).
Tier I could be Green Arrow, etc, and put all the heavy hitters in Tier III. The main solo campaign would be mostly you own tier, with a few of the higher ones near the end. Beating someone at one tier higher should be fairly doable if you play well, and could even be worth an achievement/trophy/etc. You could even make armor Batman an unlockable character for Tier III
Of course, the problem with this solution is that it means a lot more work. Five heroes/villains per tier means 30 characters to make animations for (not to mention hidden characters, costumes, etc.
Apokolips as a playable stage.
Barda opening boom tubes and throwing her opponents through them, into, like, stars.
John Constantine as an unlockable character, with the special ability to deflect attacks by throwing Chas Chandler in the way.
Animal Man as an unlockable character, with the special ability of being able to talk to the game designer and convince him to just kill the other character.
AMAZO.
Hawkman with the special ability of being able to call on the Atom to just jump in his opponents ear and give him an aneurysm. (Seriously, I have this image in my head of a special cutscene. Hawkman’s enemy stands triumphant, Hawkman totally vanquished. Abruptly, the enemy gets a call on his cell phone. The camera zooms in on the enemy’s ear and a special picture-in-picture magnification shows Ray Palmer jumping into the ear canal. The enemy puts away his cellphone and looks back at Hawkman, then his nose starts bleeding and he collapses in a heap. FATALITY.)
How about Starro as an unlockable character? I would buy that game.
Amazo could be a combined character, OR they could do what soul calibur did with Inferno, Edgemaster, Charade etc. and have him be random each time he’s selected/fought against (matching your tier, of course). Parasite would be whoever you fought him as, obviously, plus a weakening move (only if you’re playing against a computer).
Not to be an uber nerd, but Superman gets owned by magic, the Obsidian age proved that over and over again. Given the bits and peices released, if Earth and Otherworld have been merged then Superman isn’t a happy camper. Considering most of the MK characters are quite magical, especially Scorpion, it would be a match in an environment hostile to the Kryptonian.
Man, now I want to see Superman vs. Constantine…. The one fight destined to end with the last son of Krypton waking up in a boarding house in Soho wearing a dress with the phone number of a man named Raul written across his forehead in crayon.
Hate to go back and beat a (relatively) dead horse, MGK, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the Joker’s fatality (at the end of the clip). I’m a bit creeped out, and not for the ‘in-game’ reasons.
make a dbz game that allows me to fly the saiyan spacepod
[…] a few years ago I pointed out that Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was a terrible and stupid idea, and that if you […]