Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe / YMMV

See also the franchise-wide pages for:

Awesome Art: The one and only Alex Ross on promo art.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Baraka is considered this in this game, not so much because he's considered a bad character, but because some felt he took a spot that should have gone to a more popular MK character (e.g. Reptile, Kung Lao, Mileena).
- Dark Kahn: For some, he was well received either for his Hammy speeches and/or his unique design. Detractors consider him the embodiment of all that is wrong with MK vs DC.
Contested Sequel: Technically this is the eight main Mortal Kombat game; some fans consider it ridiculously awesome, while others think it's just plain ridiculous.
Critical Dissonance: This game was well received by the critics earning scores in 70%s and higher on Metacritic and Gamerankings. Players, and especially devoted Mortal Kombat fans, were not as pleased.
Game-Breaker: There's broken, and then there's "punishes you for successfully attacking him" broken: Green Lantern is considered to be the best character in the game thanks to his ability to perform a full combo after a Combo Breaker. His hand grab move can catch an opponent after a Breaker, which can then be followed up with other attacks. In other words, if Green Lantern has one bar of Rage, you can't attack him without him turning it around and attacking you. There's nothing you can do about it once he has that one bar, you HAVE to take whatever damage your opponent is able to inflict off that combo.
Good Bad Bugs: If Superman is able to chain his final hit into the Pro Move variant of his breath attack, the animation for the move is so long that it prevents the opponent from recovering their life in time for the next round, instantly scoring Supes a second win.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- The Liu Kang vs Raiden fight late in the MK-side story mode now comes off a little bit darker in light of Mortal Kombat 9 in which Raiden unwittingly fatally wounded Liu Kang and was cursed by him with his dying breath. Doubly so when Mortal Kombat 11 reveals that Kronika manipulated them into fighting each other in the countless timelines that she destroyed, with the fight they initially have in that game being similar to this one (which might have even been seen as part of said timelines).
- Deathstroke telling The Joker to shut up or he'll gut him is basically how Superman kills The Joker in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
- Likewise, Lex Luthor calling out Superman in Supes' chapter, in lieu of the events of Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The entire game can be considered this now that Warner Bros owns both the Mortal Kombat and DC franchises.
I Am Not Shazam: Literal example, as the game's official website, labeled Captain Marvel as "Shazam", and unlike similar examples of a game's official website not being accurate, the announcer actually said "Shazam" when you clicked on Captain Marvel's bio.
Narm:
- Kano's infamous "Goomba Stomp" fatality.
- During a time of crisis in the MK side of the story mode during Shang Tsung’s chapter, Kano is overcome by rage and attacks Shang as everyone… just watches the fight. Especially hilarious since Sonya says there are bigger things to worry about only after the fight has ended.
- In the beginning of the MK crew's story mode, Raiden tells Shao Kahn "Your Tarkatan horde has been routed by the forces of light". However, he doesn't put much emphasis on the "d" sound in "horde", making him sound like he's saying "Tarkatan WHORE". You could be forgiven for initially thinking Raiden was referring to Mileena.
- Batman just knocked out Scorpion, so what does he do when he's needed elsewhere? Take the unconscious Scorpion with him in the Batmobile, put him in the passenger seat, and just drive with the hungover-looking ninja sleeping next to him.
  SonicHaXD: The posters, the commercials, and the menu all make it look like Batman and Scorpion are gonna have this epic rivalry. But all it devolved into was Papa Batman taking sleepy Scorpion home from an amusement park.
- "Kombat Rage" is the name of the Hate Plague in this story. It sounds like something a kid comes up with, which becomes unintentionally brilliant and even more hilarious when you realize Captain Marvel coined the phrase.
- Just when you think the two sides are going to realize neither are the bad guy, Raiden tells the DC characters "We have come to challenge you in Mortal Kombat!" The way he just lights the proverbial olive branch on fire and chucks it out of a window walks a fine line between frustrating and hilarious.
- Superman's response, "You'll find my friends and I are up to the challenge." would be badass and kinda sweet to hear, but the group he's gesturing to includes Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, Catwoman, and the Joker. For crying out loud, Deathstroke is standing right next to him.
  SonicHaXD: Glad to know Superman is friends with psychotic killers.
- Dark Kahn's defeat animation doesn't just have him explode, he inflates like a balloon.
- Some of the endings lose their epic weight for just how goofy the visuals are. Highlights include Sub-Zero donning a Batman cape and standing on a rooftop; Shang Tsung making SHAZAM Tarkatans; Catwoman getting an Animality, with an in-between transformation that makes her look like an anthro-cat furry; and Kano becoming the Joker, declaring war on society...oh, and Shang Tsung.
Narm Charm: The story mode and its cutscenes are so dumb that they can be fun to riff.
- Quite a few Heroic Brutalities ended up being more well received than the fatalities due to having more creative usage of the heroes powers and some of them looking significantly more lethal than a lot of the fatalities despite leaving the opponent alive and seemingly conscious after.
Older Than They Think:
- Way back in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, there was the Aggressor Meter, which, like the Rage meter, involved filling it and being so angry that you get more powerful. However, the Rage meter is filled by taking hits and allows you to use a section of the meter to do a Combo Breaker, while the Aggressor Meter was filled by dishing out damage and simply turned you into a Lightning Bruiser for a few seconds once you filled it.
- This game was also the debut of the series' signature character-episodic Story Mode storytelling, which was refined and became a Genre Turning Point in Mortal Kombat 9 and became the template for all future NRS Story Modes. It also marked the first time several recurring voice actors in those game played their respective roles, such as Patrick Seitz as Scorpion and Richard Epcar handling double duty for both the Joker and Raiden.
So Okay, It's Average: While the premise did have a lot of potential, it didn't truly live up to the hype it was generating. The game was, at best, underwhelming. It didn't help that the game was sorely lacking in content. DLC was planned, but canceled.
Spiritual Successor: The game received one in Injustice: Gods Among Us, which is basically Mortal Kombat vs. DCU with the Mortal Kombat characters removed (except Scorpion, who is playable as a DLC character and Sub-Zero and Raiden, who also became DLC characters in the sequel).
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A major complaint about the game is that it changed from a violent, gore-fest filled series to a T-Rated crossover with mediocre finishing moves. Thankfully, it didn't stay that way for long.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- The Flash could've had a larger role within the plot. He's given the first chapter on the DC side which ends with him switching places with Scorpion in Batman's chapter. Liu Kang defeats him in the first chapter of the MK side and he vanishes from the story following this chapter's end, although Jax gives an offhand comment that he found Flash at the Wu Shi Academy in a coma and took him to the SF HQ. The next time he's seen is in Lex Luthor's chapter, which is the penultimate chapter of the DC side, where he's defeated by Lex and joins everyone for the final battle.
- Despite his role in the story mode, Quan Chi disappears from the plot right before the final confrontation at Apokolips, nor is he playable in the game proper.

YMMV / Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

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