Battles allow classic heroes, villains to face off

By Jahshua Smith

Created:
07/31/08 9:40pm

Last updated:
07/31/08 9:40pm

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Despite my job as entertainment reporter requiring that I moonlight as an expert on what’s cool in the East Lansing area, I still enjoy being a video game geek in my spare time.

Although the post-graduation realities of the real world put quite a damper on my “go into the local mall and leave with at least two games” days, I’m quite happy with the few games I do play on my XBox 360.

That said, whenever my ex-roommate brings his Nintendo Wii along for the occasional visit to East Lansing, I can spend a good hour or two — or three — playing “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.”

It reminds me of how popular the concept always was — match up your favorite video game superheroes (and villains) and argue with your friends about who’d take who if given a chance.

The crossover genre is nothing new, as we’ve had the Smash Bros. series, “Marvel vs. Capcom,” and the latest attempt — “Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.”

I’m not too fond of the direction in which MK vs. DCU seems to be headed based on the screenshots, trailers, and E3 coverage I’ve seen of it so far. Once again though, the true intrigue comes from the fantasy showdowns.

The promotional poster features Sub-Zero and Batman, who by my account pose the most believable matchup for video game pundits to argue over. The way Midway Games Inc. positions Sub-Zero as a world class warrior puts him on level plane with the most mortal superhero DC has to offer. I’m not implying that makes Batman weak, but it seems much more feasible in the video game realm.

In most other instances, I don’t believe you can put characters from Mortal Kombat on the same plane as DC — you couldn’t make me believe a character like Sonya Blade could hang with Superman unless the battlefield is entirely Kryptonite.

Then again, the geek present in me is simply overthinking and not taking the game for what it is — an obvious attempt to cash in on the popularity of the franchises and offer multiplayer “you lose you pass the controller” opportunities.

After all, it is an opportunity to bully around Aquaman — possibly the worst superhero any comic has to offer.

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