It's Time For Mortal Kombat vs. Everyone Else

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

It's Time For Mortal Kombat vs. Everyone Else

Yahtzee thinks that Mortal Kombat needs to team up with more unique franchises than just the DC Universe.

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[remnant_phoenix]

This edition of XP made me laugh harder than any I can remember. Bravo, Yahtzee. I would totally play MK vs. David Bowie, so long as Jareth was the final boss and the crotch bulge functioned in the manner that you describe.

 

[thomaskattus]

Excellent article. I would play any one of those games. Although I am definitely leaning towards the Game of Thrones fighter, mainly for the same reasons Yahtzee is (that whiny, little tosser needs to die).

 

[FloodOne]

Capcom needs to get the stick out of their ass and crossover with Mortal Kombat. Think of the Fatality potential...

 

[Eric Morales]

Wait wait wait, looking at that Les Miserables fighting game screenshots. Is that Mecha-Jean Valjean firing eye lasers at Eponine? I'd say it was the most surreal thing I've ever seen, but it's not even the most surreal thing on that webpage. Oh Japan, shine on you crazy diamond.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I think the focus on "triple A" is fundementally wrong.


"Triple A" is just games with a lot of money thrown in. That's ALL. You don't need a lot of money to make a fighting game good cause what it flourishes on is things that can be cheaply provided. This is why the original ST2 Turbo is STIL being played in tournaments.



Fighting games are mainly a Japanese genre. In Japan the smaller, more niche-driven model is alive and well. You can NOT expect these games to have triple A budgets and to merely ignore them because of their not being triple A or to even look at the genre from a triple A perspective is utterly ignorant and shortsighted.



If you want a "new" fighting game, give Blazblue a chance. It's not "triple A" but it has beautiful HD sprites and a ton of single player content as well as good online play. It also has an ACTUAL storymode. Not the token story you mention in the article. (it has that too, it's aptly called "arcade mode", a mode different from "story mode" which is 20+ hours of content)

 

[Falseprophet]

I would play the shit out of a DC Vertigo fighting game. I lost it at this line though:

Personally I'd like to play as John Constantine, whose fatality would presumably just entail making friends with his opponent.

And every time Death kills you, you get her catchphrase:

 

[kailus13]

This edition of XP made me laugh harder than any I can remember. Bravo, Yahtzee. I would totally play MK vs. David Bowie, so long as Jareth was the final boss and the crotch bulge functioned in the manner that you describe.

I feel that Jareth is more suited to a 3d plane. Just imagine it, the non-euclidean, impossible to navigate staircase room brought to life.

The mor I think anout it, the more a Les Mis figting game makes sense. Jean Valjean would be a slow moving heavyweight, there's the drunken master in Thenardier, etc etc.

 

[Zer0Saber]

Now You're just being silly.........But David Bowie would be awesome.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, to be honest there was a boom of attempts to create differant fighting game franchises out there for a while but most of them wound up dying, despite having some interesting ideas. In the game "Pray For Death", Death (in this case the Grim Reaper) is the final boss, the idea of that one being a bunch of beings fighting in a once in however long it ticke's Death's fancy tournament for a chance to come back to life. The cast included everything from a Bruce Lee clone to Great Cthulhu (yes, really) as playable fighters. The problem was that most of them were dialed in and the guys doing it, didn't put the love, polish, and attention to detail into them that Capcom, SNK, and Midway did.

There is room for new fighting franchises, but it would take a surprising amount of work to do right, and that's something most game companies and developers don't want to get involved in.

That said just in terms of crossovers, there is still a lot of potential to be had in the "fanboy dream" of Street Fighter Vs. Mortal Kombat, which it still surprises me has not happened yet.

Also as far as fighting games go, I've always thought it would be kind of cool to do something like "Mortal Kombat Vs. The Real World", liscencing would be difficult though I suppose. Back in the day you had relatively normal guys fighting in this tournament (and I guess you still do). It would be amusing if you dragged up the usual cast of baddies and then had a team of real fighters, the guys who might be sent to represent earth if this actually happened, as the rest. Pick a few of the more long running and dominant UFC guys, a couple of Chinese or Japanese tournament champions, maybe a Pro-Wrestler or two for Lulz ("he's for real, but has to pay the bills you see... like Johnny Cage"), maybe the current heavyweight champion of the world (but the person doing that would likely expect such a huge payday it would be doubtful). To me that would be a really amusing idea if done like a fighting game, rather than a sports game. I mean in theory if some kung-fu guy from a temple was the dominant force in Mortal Kombat, I suppose with the current reality fighting obsession you could probably sell some of the guys out there now in a similar role (purely for fun).

 

[TheBlueRabbit]

I know I'm going to catch SO much shit for this, but I'd actually play a MK vs. Iron Chef, just for the sheer fucking absurdity of it. Well, being formerly addicted to the show doesn't hurt either.

 

[Therumancer]

Now You're just being silly.........But David Bowie would be awesome.

Not as awesome as a fighting game featuring nothing but characters from ultra-sweet 80s and 90s family sitcoms. I mean I'm sure I'm not the only one who wondered who would live if the entire cast of Full House was freaked out on psycho-drugs and locked in a steel cage while starving... or what would happen if you put a timed exploding collar around the necks of Tracy Gold from "Growing Pains" (Mike's sister), and Jessie from "Saved By The Bell", tied their arms together with barbed wire and then revealed that the disarm key for their respective collars with in the stomach of the other girl... I mean truthfully I suspect we'd wind up with Bob Sagat wearing a patchwork mask made out of the faces of DJ and Mario Lopez when all the fights were done... but it would be entertaining.

... oh what was this about again... oh yeah... fighting games... they should make a fighting game out of this. It's not like I've put a lot of thought into it or anything (but still if some game company exec wants to call me....).

 

[The Great JT]

Hey, MK vs. Iron Chef might work. I mean, have you seen Cooking With Scorpion?

 

[Tombsite]

You had me in stitches. Well done sir. Well done.

 

[SlothfulCobra]

There have been fighting games with all-new characters lately, like Skullgirls. Fighting games just tend to be a bit of a niche market, so as long as older series keep staying alive, there's less room for newcomers.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I would LOVE to see Jesse Custer throw down with Sub-Zero. Or Cassidy, hell, he's a vampire already, he's practically meant for a Mortal Kombat game.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I actually announced very loudly (probably too loudly) "WHAT? I MEA... WAIT, WHAT?" when I saw the Les Miserables fighting game. I thought you were joking, Yahtzee! I THOUHGT YOU WERE JOKING!!!

OT: Yeah, sadly there's not a lot of room for more 2D fighters, but this does give me an opportunity to bring up my latest addiction, even though it is kind of what Yahtzee was talking about with sticking to characters that everybody knows:

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"There have been no fighting games with all-new characters (in triple-A releases, at least) for quite some time..."

What about Blazblue? The first game in that series came out 2008, so it's not exactly brand new, but it's an original fighting game IP that was made in this generation. I daresay that Blazblue: Calamity Trigger and Street Fighter 4 are responsible for fighting games coming back for this gen.

Spoiler: Shameless plug

Speaking of which, maybe you should review Blazeblue: Chronophantasma when it comes out on consoles. I know one-on-one fighters aren't your thing, but the Blazeblue series has mechanics that are fairly simple and easy to get into for a fighter, and the story and characters are a bit complex but still really well done, espicially for a genre that often barely has a story beyond "beat up EVERYONE".

 

[Big_Boss_Mantis]

I just want to point out that David Bowie played Nikola-fucking-TESLA on Christoper Nolan's "The Prestige".

So yeah, I really wanted him to kick Raiden's ass, and then use him as an generator of free wireless electricity for the world.
"Thunder God? I am the man of the future!"

 

[Grahav]

Well, I wasn't expecting Yahtzee saying good things about a genre that isn't his cup of tea. Still, I am glad. Points for him since that is not an easy thing to do for most people.

I specially liked this: "While I personally am not particularly lubed up by the gameplay of 1v1 fighters, one thing I do appreciate about them is that they are essentially a celebration of characters."

"There have been no fighting games with all-new characters (in triple-A releases, at least) for quite some time..."

What about Blazblue? The first game in that series came out 2008, so it's not exactly brand new, but it's an original fighting game IP that was made in this generation. I daresay that Blazblue: Calamity Trigger and Street Fighter 4 are responsible for fighting games coming back for this gen.

Well, technically, Blazblue is in its third sequel. But it still is a fairly new fighting game and each edition continues a big plot so it is a must see.

I am curious abou of what he would say about Skullgirls. I am afraid too since I am a fan of the game.