Was MK vs DC a blessing?

[Patrick McCarron]

I wanted your opinions on how much MK vs DC helped or harmed the fabled martial arts tournament.

Its a common thought that DC was the worst thing to happen to MK. But I feel as if it (as Boon said himself) created a bloodlust from fans. I don't think I'd think the fatalities would be as exciting to me if MK8 was a regular violent game. The excitement would still be relatively high because of the 2d gameplay, but I believe its even higher because of them also returning to the gore.

Do you think this game's effect on the Mortal Kombat name was intentional? Kind of like holding a garden hose to stop the flow, but then let it go for a fat ass blast.

If MK8 wasn't MKvsDC, then DC and WB wouldn't have gotten to work with the MK Team and got to see how talented they were. If that didn't happen then there is a good chance that the game we are getting next month could have never come to exist. A lot of good things came because of MKvsDC. Also don't forget they got to learn a lot of lessons with the platforms and engines while making that game, making MK9 become the solid game that is has become.

[Taj Gill]

Dont know if it was their intention to piss us off like that initially, but who gives a damn, it most certainly worked.

[RyanRagnarok]

I really do not understand all of the hate you all have towards MKvsDC. Seems kinda... purist/elitist to me.

[Taj Gill]

I really do not understand all of the hate you all have towards MKvsDC. Seems kinda... purist/elitist to me.

Who said anything about hating it... :S. I for one liked it, but in this case, the lack of MK like features and the lack of features to keep us in the game in general pissed most of us off. Basically, gameplay = wicked. The game as a WHOLE PACKAGE = fail.

[uWillNeverWin]

Not hate, just disappointment. It's like buying the latest installment of GTA and not being able to jack cars.

[Aldo Moreno]

I really do not understand all of the hate you all have towards MKvsDC. Seems kinda... purist/elitist to me.

I don't hate it dude. It just it doesnt have that Mortal Kombat and serious feel to the game. I actually like it but it still didn't have that Mortal Kombat feel, features, and things that make MK Mortal Kombat and that pissed me off. I still like it, but I don't love it.

[Shang_Heihachi]

I see a lot of people absolutely hating on MK v DC around here. I admit, I was originally one of the biggest detractors. When I heard MK v DC was coming I had a Raiders of the Lost Ark melting face reaction. How do you take the series that started it all...the one game series that can probably take the most, if not ALL OF THE CREDIT for the creation of the ESRB, and make it into a T-rated game? Less blood. Subdued fatalities. And DC super heroes. A recipe for utter disaster.

Hardly.

MK v DC was the best MK game since MK2, in my opinion. And as Pat pointed out, probably the best thing to happen to MK as a whole. When I picked it up and gave it a go, I was immediately drawn into the game play. Despite being a 3D game, it had a distinctly 2D feel. It had MK2/MK3 fluidity to it all over again. When MK went 3D it had this certain...static feeling to it. The animations just didn't flow, it felt so cartoonish and rigid. Going 3D was the worst possibly thing for MK. They tried...they were already years behind the competition so they wanted to try their hat in the 3D arena, but they failed miserably. DA was sluggish and choppy, Deception improved the speed but was still Rigid, and ArMEHgeddon was just a rush job version of Deception with a every conceivable character, though the sluggishness of DA seemed to return...obliterating the MK story along with it.

People b**ch and moan about the fatalities. Seriously? They were the BEST fatalities since MK2. The T rating forced them to be creatives. How do you violently kill your opponent within the confines of a T rating? Well, they pulled it off. It was no less violent that any of your other T-rated games...if anythign they pushed the limits as far as they could go for T. If you remember, Boon mentioned a few times that they kept failing to pass a T rating because the fatalities were too violent. They had to do a lot of cutting, and they still came up with some good ones. I liked Raiden's shocker, and both of Scorpion's. Sub-Zero's both completely destroyed the body with vicious ice-based fatalities. And some of those Heroic Brutalities were pretty cool. I liked Captain Marvel's SHAZAM brutality in particular.

Give me ANY of MK v DC's fatalities, even the lamest ones ANY DAY over the following fatalities:
Quan Chi neck stretch (DA), Li Mei Tummy Kick Popcorn Head (DA)....aw heck let's face it. I'll take any MK v DC fatality over ANY fatality from MK3 or MKDA.

I know Deception had some pretty good ones, but at the same time they were all super goofy. You can tell that they really tried, but either ran out of ideas or just didn't have time to make them really extra brutal. I appreciated a lot of the Death Traps but I prefer pits rather than gory ring-outs, since they get old quick. Sometimes you don't need excessive amounts of blood to have a really good fatality. I admit, Jax and Kano had terrible fatalities but you know what? In every MK game, there's always a few characters that have terrible fatalities.

Furthermore, I got the most longevity out of MKvDC. Deception had Konquest mode but it got so monotonous that after a while you jsut want to finish it and hope that it ends soon. MKvDC kept me playing. I attribute a lot of that to the kombo challenges (some of which were ridiculously hard) and getting achievements.

And overall, the reason why MKvDC SAVED Mortal Kombat is that it had huge sales, it partnered the MK team with Warner Bros., and it definitely influenced WB's bid to acquire the MK team. And now look what we have? The BEST Mortal Kombat ever. Back to 2D. Ultra violent. TONS and TONS of content. Why all the great stuff now?

Simple.

Midway SUCKS. They were quantity over quality. How many games can they get out before the quarter number crunch? That's all they cared about...getting out half-assed games as quickly as possible. Midway was one of the original arcade kings that failed miserably when they forgot how to market their games and support their teams. The MK team was forever rushed, never able to implement their ideas because Midway told them "GET IT OUT THE DOOR, NOW".

WB is BETTER. They have money. They are patient. They gave NRS all the time, resources and leeway that they needed. If Midway were still around, this game that is coming one month from now would never be. Either it would be yet another 3D MK that is forgotten in less than a month when its replay runs out, or it just never would've existed and went the way of the dinosaur when Midway filed for bankruptcy. Instead, we have a game that we can clearly see has financial backing and a lot of love and care put into it.

So yes. MK v DC was a blessing. Maybe it didn't satisfy your bloodlust, but by teasing the myriad MK fans it got the blood rage flowing. I can guarantee you that every single person who said "THIS IS IT! I AM NEVER PLAYING MK AGAIN BECAUSE OF THIS!" are currently the new game's biggest supporters.

I will always cherish MK v DC for marrying the MK development team to WB. The greatest thing that ever happened.

Cheers.

[uWillNeverWin]

Well stated Shang.

If The Karate Kid movie got the same treatment from WB, it may have ended like this:



But instead, we got the T rated version. But anyway we all win in 45 days.

[RyanRagnarok]

I thoroughly enjoy this .gif.

[Commander]

Who said anything about hating it... :S. I for one liked it, but in this case, the lack of MK like features and the lack of features to keep us in the game in general pissed most of us off. Basically, gameplay = wicked. The game as a WHOLE PACKAGE = fail.

Agreed.
This x 100

Offline gameplay was awesome and a lot of fun.
Online gameplay was SUPER-spammed with Scorpion, The Flash and Superman, and totally sucked.




EDIT:

Even with a T-Rating and lack of REAL Fatalities, I did give the game a chance.
Truth of the matter is that within less than a year, it lost it's appeal to me.
It had little replay value once you beat the arcade tower with all combatants, did all the Fatalities / Brutalities, and beat "Story Mode."

[mkfanfrever]

Loved the game play but the presentation defiantly did not have a MK feel to it, which was a bit disappointing. Some of the fatalities were clever, considering they put them in late in production but could of been better.

[Neo Gunloc]

IMO, MK vs. DC is definetly not the series' best. The tamed-down fatalities and several gameplay elements such as Klose-Kombat were more of a step sideways instead of a step-up.
Still, I must admit that I like to play the game every now and then. It does have several good features such as the torn clothing, and the fact that you can beat up Superman.

[gtrplyr515]

This is just a response to the other posts, not exactly the thread topic... I've been around for all of MK.. I was there when it was cool to play MK I because everyone's mom tried to hide the game from their kid and the blood code. I remember playing MK II on snes just doing reptiles head lick fatality over and over with my friends and laughing (cage nut puncher on women in MK ii anyone?? haha). I remember walking into the arcade and seeing robot smoke for the first time and witnessing him absolutely DESTROY the competition. All of the arcade action with random people who just step up and challenge you, that is my mortal kombat, that's how I remember it. I love the franchise because it's just so damn fun to play.

Now Mk vs DC was cool, as were all the 3d games... but these MK's just don't compare to the first three games. I love the fact that NRS listened to us fans and what we wanted... and you can see it in everything in this game. I'm getting the total MK 1 2 3 vibe all over again.. which is so awesome... I just can't wait to feel like I'm playing an actual mk game again... it's been 15 years.

[[sek]]

It never fails to amuse me to see people were disappointed at MK vs DC because of the T rating. Yeah it was tame, but did anyone really think DC was going to let Superman and company get Fatality-ed? Of course not. It was good for what it was considering the restrictions placed on it, and as Pat stated it gave the MK team a chance to play with a new engine that probably helped make MK9 the vat of awesome sauce it looks like it's going to be.

Having said that, I still have a working theory that (given their Chicago ties) the whole game was secretly an homage to the late great Wesley Willis. After all, it allowed everyone to say they whupped Batman's ass.

[Commander]

If MK8 wasn't MKvsDC, then DC and WB wouldn't have gotten to work with the MK Team and got to see how talented they were. If that didn't happen then there is a good chance that the game we are getting next month could have never come to exist. A lot of good things came because of MKvsDC. Also don't forget they got to learn a lot of lessons with the platforms and engines while making that game, making MK9 become the solid game that is has become.

^^
Pretty much this, in a nut-shell.

If it wasn't for that game, NetherRealm studios might not be in existance at this moment.
Remember, Midway was going bankrupt, which is why they couldn't release the Quan Chi and Harley Quinn DLC.

[TheNeutralGamer555]

to be honest mk vs dc has not bad but not good the gameplay has good but it doesnt have the mk feling

[Sleegmar]

I'm not so sure that MKvsDC is a direct cause for the shift in awesomeness for the MK franchise. I think that Warner Bros is more of a direct cause for the upcoming games quality. It's not like NRS just forgot how to make good games from MKDA-MKvsDC, and then suddenly just "got their groove back". I think if Midway was still calling the shots, and still hurting for money, they would have whored out MK in whatever way they could to make a few bucks. Right now we'd have A Rain/Aquaman DLC pack available for $20.
So yea, I think we should all be thankful that WB bought them, not so much that MKvsDC was shit.

[buffduffdan]

Well it often takes a bad title to give a series a kick up the ass that it majorly needs. Look at Tomb Raider, they brought out Angel of Darkness which everybody hated and then came back with Legend which was a big improvement! Personally I didn't hate MK vs DC as much as a lot of people on here seem to but it still wasn't great! I think it definitely made everybody think about what MK is and needs to be brilliant (blood, gore, fatalities). People seem to have been wanting 2D ever since MK4/DA though so I'd say this game is probably well over due for a lot of fans and looks set to possibly be the best one so far!

[Kenshi kang]

MKvsDC= a good thing. Actually more of a place holder. Hardcore Mk fans hated it because you couldn't see past the blood and gore. But look at some of the exposure it brought the franchise. People saying it's a flop it sold pretty good, almost good enough to save a entire company. It also brought in more people, comic book fans and people tired of fighting spiderman vs ryu. I can't go as far as SHang and say it was the best since MK2, but gamplay wise it felt much better then the 3dMKs. And stop with this no other world fits with MK. How would you know if it never happen. People love MVC1-3 those worlds aren't the same but I bet someone is going to say they fit how? Iron Man takes the time out to go to street fighter's world to fight Ryu. Come on. Also it gave the MK team a chance to get their hands on the unreal engine and look at how great this game is looking. Now matter how you look at MKvsDC needed to happen to bring 1st the thirst back from not only fans but also the team to bring MK to it's glory. Get those creative juices flowing again. Second allow enough time to put together one of the best MK to date.

[Kamal]

Lots of stuff...

Exactly, I agree wholeheartedly! I couldn't have said it better myself! I've never really understood the vs DCU hate, it ultimately led to what this new MK is!