Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is an unexpected experiment by Midway Chicago, which in 2008 pitted two completely different fighting mythologies against each other – the bloody world of Mortal Kombat and the superhero universe of DC Comics. Instead of the expected bloodbath, the result was a game with a Teen rating, which fundamentally changed the tone and content of the fights themselves, making it the most accessible entry in the series for younger audiences and for comic fans who had until then preferred to avoid Mortal Kombat's brutality. It was precisely this milder rating that opened doors to stores a bloodier entry with classic Fatalities would never have reached, making it an unusually accessible entry point into an otherwise notoriously violent series.

To fit Scorpion, Sub-Zero, or Kano into the same ring as Batman, Superman, or Joker, the developers had to replace the classic bloody Fatalities with so-called Klose Kombat sequences – still brutal, but without severed heads and blood geysers, more in the style of cinematic comic-book fights. Compensating for this is a new system of interactive arenas, where characters smash through walls between two connected battlegrounds (Free Fall Kombat), continuing to batter their opponent against the surrounding environment along the way, plus a hybrid combat system combining the classic MK style with elements of a more direct combat system to better suit superhero characters like Superman or Green Lantern. The story mode also offers two parallel storylines – from the perspective of both the MK fighters and the DC heroes – which gradually intersect due to the connection between the two universes and explain why such a mismatched clash happens at all. The game's roster is fairly balanced, with ten fighters on each side, so neither brand significantly dominates the lineup.

Why play: Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will be appreciated mainly by fans of both universes who want to see impossible matchups like Sub-Zero versus Batman without having to think about how it would look in a bloody version. It's an interesting detour from the traditional series, shows how the developers handled the rating's limitations, and offers a solid story mode that makes the game work as an introduction to MK mythology for players who are put off by the extreme violence of the classic entries but are drawn in by the comic-book characters.