There was much ballyhoo about the battling between the Kast [sic] from the notorious Mortal Kombat series and the heroes from the Justice League. "What? This doesn't make sense!" Fanboys of the DC Universe cried, "How could Superman possibly be beaten by Sub-Zero? I refuse to accept!" When it was announced that the game would be getting a T-rating, marking the first time the series was not rated M, "MK" purists wailed "But what about our tried-and-true Fatalities!? How can you have a 'Mortal Kombat' game without Fatalities?" Geekdom as we knew it, was turned on its head.
When the dust settled, gamers realized that stranger mash-ups had occurred ("Marvel vs. Capcom"). As for Fatalities, reassurance that Fatalities would make its way into the game, but toned down for the T-rating, helped settle some. "But Batman doesn't kill!" a nerdier minority shouted. Fine, fine, the publisher responded: 'Mortal Kombat' characters and villains from the DC Universe will have fatalities, superheroes from the DC Universe will have new 'Brutalities'- non-lethal signature endings that, if done in real life, would probably be fatal anyways.
It seemed that all nerds were silenced in satisfaction. But what about the gamers that realized a good 'Mortal Kombat' game hadn't been released in a long, long while?
Thankfully Midway assuaged that fear as well: "MK v. DC" is a fun, satisfying surprising return-to-form for the sixteen-year-old series. What could have been the... ahem... final fatality for the series, has actually rejuvenated it.
No, this is not a tournament-quality fighter, but this is a game that you'll bring out when you have non-gaming friends over who can memorize just enough special moves to enjoy beating the crud out of each other. It's not an Oscar-caliber movie, it's a holiday/summer popcorn flick- colorful with quality production values; mindless, but an amusing diversion.
It's too bad that this is a full-priced game. With so many other top-tier titles available right now, I can't imagine that "MK v. DC" is going to be in hot-demand. At $30 this would be a fantastic stocking-stuffer for the fanboy in your life, and likely would have sold like hotcakes; but at full price it's a bit of a stretch. Still, given the softer T-rating, and the option to turn off blood-effects in the game, parents who are comfortable with cartoon violence would do well to pick this title over the gorier M-rated titles that their teenagers are probably asking for.
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