10 Video Game Crossovers That Went Too Far

The mid-2000s were a bad time for the fighting game genre and in particular they were nearly a disaster for Midway. Their flagship franchise Mortal Kombat was treading water and needed to do something big to claw back interest and generate the income needed to save itself. Enter: DC Comics.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was a shocking crossover fighter released in 2008 which, at first glance, seemed quite exciting due to how fresh it was. At this point, Mortal Kombat had never had a crossover but it unfortunately presented several issues which led to a largely negative response.

DC had the mandate that their heroes wouldn’t be disembowelled by the likes of Scorpion and Sub-Zero and nor would Superman, Batman and company take a life as per their moral codes. As such, characters had embarrassing “heroic brutalities” instead of fatalities.

If you’re going to partner with Mortal Kombat, shouldn't you be aware of what the draw of it is?

Of course, what set the franchise apart from its contemporaries was its brutal violence and fatalities. Heck, the first title was instrumental in the mere invention of a video games ratings board. So for Mortal Kombat’s first Xbox 360 and PS3 outing to be rated Teen instead of Mature for the first time ever just felt wrong.