I was very disheartened to find out recently that Mortal Kombat 9 will be featuring Kratos from the God of War series. Now, I have to say that of all the characters in existence, Kratos has got to be the best possible choices for a Mortal Kombat crossover. He’s brutal, he’s violent, he has his own plethora of ‘fatalities’. Ripping off the head of Helios, impaling the hydra onto a ship’s mast, forcing a guillotine blade through Clotho of the Three Fates, the list goes on and on. However, to put it plainly, he just doesn’t belong in a Mortal Kombat game.
Firstly, didn’t Midway learn from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe that Mortal Kombat shouldn’t venture outside its own franchise? That had to be the worst crossover series I’ve ever seen. Liu Kang vs. Superman? Shang Tsung vs. Batman? Lex Luther? Wonder Woman? The Flash? Why are these spandex clad superpeople sparring with Scorpion and Sub-Zero? I mean really, was that a joke? Because not even the Joker thought that was funny. In fact, the Joker was probably the only character that could have worked in that game, but the sheer idea of those two worlds crossing over was nothing short of ridiculous.
Now, as I said, Kratos, if anyone, would mix well in the Mortal Kombat universe considering his already violent nature. But you can’t come out with seven, count them, SEVEN titles in a series that stands on its own, and then just start doing crossovers because you’ve run out of ideas. MK1-4, DA, D, & A were all defined by their own lineup of ninjas, warriors, and otherwise bloodthirsty characters. So there’s really no place for any other series to be intruding upon them. Soul Calibur, for example, has always worked because aside from the original Soul Edge, every title has had a guest character. Yoshimitsu (Tekken) permanently made his mark in SC1. Link (Legend of Zelda), Heihachi Mishima (Tekken), and Spawn (Spawn) were in the Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox versions of SC2, respectively. There were no guest characters in SC3, with the exception of Yoshimitsu. And then Yoda, Darth Vader and the Apprentice from various Star Wars titles joined the fray in SC4, in addition to five original characters contributed by various guest artists. Finally Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny featured Kratos from the God of War series. Yes, Kratos has already been featured as a bonus fighting character, so what makes his appearance in MK9 so special?
Point being that Soul Calibur initially defined itself as a game with its own original roster of characters, with each game presenting a couple of game-specific characters joining the fray. Mortal Kombat did not. Mortal Kombat started running out of good character ideas after Mortal Kombat 3, and now feels the need to compensate by borrowing already-established characters like Kratos. And this is especially a shame, because although their past few titles have been pretty dismal, the new Mortal Kombat coming out was actually looking really good. I mean so far, only characters from the original three titles have been announced, plus tag team gameplay, returning classic stages, three [great] fatalities per character, I mean what were they worried about?
Collaborative fighting games need to be careful when making a crossover. The two (or more) clashing franchises need to clash together well. Recently, Tekken vs. Street Fighter was announced. I don’t know much about either, but physically they seem to work well because of similar visual styles, and they’re also arguably two of the most popular series out there. Marvel vs. Capcom is a series that you’d think would be as unsuccessful as MK vs. DC. However, I believe this worked because it was established as neither a Marvel game nor a Capcom game, but it’s own series entirely, unlike MK vs DC, which was really established as Mortal Kombat 8. Also, MVC characters match pretty well in terms of visual style. Marvel is gritty, and fewer of their characters fit the spandex and cape appeal like many of DC’s characters do. And just like Super Smash Bros, another phenomenal crossover series, there’s a huge variety in characters. Be it anywhere from X-men, to Megaman, to Resident Evil, to the Avengers, to Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom makes for a very broad range of character choices. Just as Super Smash Bros takes from Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, etc.
Now, with Mortal Kombat 9 slated for release in Spring of 2011, I’m not too worried about it. Kratos in no way belongs in Mortal Kombat, and he really does pull away from the focus of what Mortal Kombat is. However, Mortal Kombat 9 has a lot more going for it, and one poor character choice isn’t going to ruin it. It just baffles me when a company makes a mistake like MK vs DC Universe, and instead of avoiding making that same mistake again, they openly try again just with an altered perspective. DC didn’t work because it was a terrible choice, but it shouldn’t have been a crossover to begin with. Now, that being said, I’m not saying MK can never enter another franchise fray. On the contrary, I think a Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter STANDALONE title could be great. After all, MK draws a lot of inspiration from the Street Fighter series, they’d clash well in terms of visual style, and they were rival series back in the day. But when making a crossover series, it must be its own new series. Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter =/= Mortal Kombat 10.
But can you just picture it? Chun Li versus Sonya? I’m there.
0 comments:
Post a Comment