DC Heroes Adapt To Kombat

Paulo Garcia, senior designer on Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe video game, told SCI FI Wire that the DC heroes' superpowers lend themselves to MK-style fighting moves. In the game, a cosmic event brings the two worlds together and renders the Kombat fighters equal in power to even the most super of heroes so that the fights are even. "Superman was a lot of fun [to adapt]," Garcia said in an e-mail interview on Oct. 30. "We were able to take the abilities he's used in the past and come up with creative ways to use these to be effective in a fight. For example, using his cold breath to encase your opponent in a block of ice allow[s] Superman to get a free hit on them. Using his heat vision as a full-screen-projectile type attack can be extended for more damage." This story continues below the image. The Flash's super speed also offered opportunities for Kombat-style stun attacks. "He has a move where he runs by you really fast," Garcia said. "If he hits you with it, he keeps going and runs around the screen three times leaving you spinning dizzy, allowing Flash to get a free hit. We were also able to give the Flash some teleport type of attacks, since with his speed he can run to other side of the screen in the same instant." Batman's array of gadgets, meanwhile, were easily adapted to Kombat-style projectiles. But not every Kombat tactic suited every superhero. The designers tweaked each character's move set through trial and error. "Joker's initial magic-trick move was a simple smoke cloud, then he would drop from the air with a drop kick," Garcia said. "Drop-kicking from that high wouldn't be something you would expect the Joker to do. This later evolved into the current magic-trick move that is the smoke cloud where you can perform several actions out of it, like the pistol whip, bomb popup, drop kick, slide, run out or simply just do nothing." This story continues below the image. Garcia's personal pick for the best Mortal Kombat vs. DC matchup is Batman vs. Sub-Zero. "They are both ... dark mysterious fighters who are skilled in various ninjitsus and martial arts," he said. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe drops Nov. 16 in stores for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. --Fred Topel