MKs relation with other franchises

Mortal Kombat Series General

Pages: 1

MKs relation with other franchises

posted03/31/2012 10:12 AM (UTC)by

DG1OA

@DG1OA

Member Since

06/15/2011 08:07 PM (UTC)

This has to do with Kratos and the DC universe.

I've noticed that these two seem to have a somewhat uneasy relationship with MK. There's Kratos' special treatment, which went with too far when Johnny and Mileena uncharacteristically choose not to shove an oscar in his split head/chew on his head, and when he even gets to break the laws of physics during Rain's inflating fatality and Stryker's "time served" one (no tongue flapping around), among other things. This showed that Sony was a bit unconfortable with certain aspects of the MK franchise when it came to Kratos' image.

Funnily though, this was the complete opposite with DC comics. They didn't mind letting their own characters die in goofy manners, or lose in the case of heroic brutalities (which themselves were a case of differential treatment), so long as they didn't die gruesomely. They went as far as censoring Joker's bang bang fatality (and one of Deathstroke's) even though it wasn't that gory (I did find the uncensored version more brutal than Tsung's from MK9 however, but that's another story).

Freddy was pretty much the only one not to get special treatment. He didn't look tougher than the MK characters when dying, nor was he spared from any humilation. Then again, he's a horror icon, and the horror genre has never been respected the way the DC universe or someone like Kratos have. That, plus Freddy has never been the toughest character in the waking world, so him displaying Kratos' fearlessness and toughness would be out of character.

It's just an observation I made and wanted to share. And just out of curiousity, which other non-MK characters/franchises could you see get special treatment if they either crossed over with MK or were represented through a guest (or many)? And which ones wouldn't?

Chryo_Spyder

@Chryo_Spyder

About Me

Real All The Damn Time

•03/30/2012 03:22 PM (UTC) •

I felt as if the DC characters flowed smoothly with the storyline, but it was rated T.
So, while having all of the fun of a regular DC game, it toned down what made MK the game that it is.

As far as Kratos, I feel as if he was a last resort because traditional fighting game players were giving MK9 up because they were slowly being converted to the FPS genre with all of the anticipation of both MW3 and B3.
So, Warner Bros. threw in a DLC character that they knew for a fact would keep the fans in their seats having balls-out tournaments everyday, all day.

DistraughtOverlord

@DistraughtOverlord

About Me

•03/30/2012 06:34 PM (UTC) •

I think kratos was well thought before last minute since many fans of other franchises spend time dropping names for guests in fighting games. Resulting in star wars chars in SC for instance. He was also more than DLC. He was in the roster for the original release.

That being said. Interesting point saying he had that kind of treatment. I can't see any other character having that kind of treatment but who knows? Another franchise hero from Sony or any gaming company could have benefited from the same. I think Freddy's from new Line but Warner must have parts into this one. Horror villains, mostly the ones from the eighties have become goofy and joky anyway.

RazorsEdge701

@RazorsEdge701

About Me

•03/30/2012 08:09 PM (UTC) •

Warner bought New Line.

DG1OA

@DG1OA

•03/31/2012 10:12 AM (UTC) •

When it comes to which characters would be getting differential treatment, Nintendo characters are one example that comes to mind. The likelihood of any appearing in a M-rated MK game as guests is overwhelmingly low, but a T-rated one, like MKVDCU or a potential sequel to it might be a different story if it came out on a Nintendo console. After all, Ganondorf in LOZ: Ocarina of time actually bled, and I believe the little gore we saw in that game was much more brutal than MKVDCU as a whole. On the other hand, I wonder if Nintendo would be fine with any of it's characters having slash marks, in reference to the bruisings and cuts that the characters in current MK games get during fighting. That, and chances are that only more mature Nintendo characters, such as LOZ, Metroid and/or F-Zero ones, would make guest appearances.

The same would likely be true of other characters from E/T-rated series such as Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, Destroy All Humans, etc. Though Capcom probably wouldn't have any problems with Street Fighters getting cuts.

I also believe that the Joker is actually one character that should have had differential treatment but didn't get it. Current portrayals of the character show him as someone who can not only take physical abuse but completely laugh it off. He makes Kratos' special treatment seem like a joke (pun intended).

It seems that the MK series can cause discomfort when it comes to crossovers. Kratos is proof that even other M-rated franchises/characters might not have an easy time co-existing with MK within the same game. But I wouldn't want to exagerate, since Kratos is only one of two non-MK characters from equally violent series to make a guest appearance in a MK game so far.

Pages: 1

Reply to Thread

Mortal Kombat, the dragon logo and all character names are trademarks and copyright of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.