It was a collision of worlds celebrated by some but regarded with disdain by most when Midway's Ed Boon announced that the newest addition to the Mortal Kombat franchise would feature a selection of characters from DC Comics. Eyebrows shot up with superhuman speed, chins were rubbed until they were raw and, for a short time, the console-playing community held its collective breath, awaiting the much-anticipated line-up. Unfortunately, once said line-up was announced, the hype degenerated into a more restrained "Meh" and the doubts began to solidify before most magazines had even received preview code.

The problem wasn't necessarily the marrying of universes (I mean, who wasn't looking forward to Superman vs. Scorpion?) but rather the unavoidable question of how? How would Midway come up with a credible storyline to explain the intertwining of two such radically different worlds? How could they persuade us to suspend our disbelief and accept that the Man of Steel could be effectively bitch-slapped by any of Mortal Kombat's eccentric hardcases? I mean, he's Superman, for goodness' sake! The answer, we discovered, was that - without beating around the bush - they couldn't. Instead we got what we feared; some ham-fisted, throwaway plot about Outworld portals and DC "Boom Tubes" reacting with one another - and Superman's weakness? Magic, apparently, with nary a nugget of Kryptonite in sight.

At a crucial moment, the DC characters - Superman, Batman, The Flash and Wonder Woman, amongst others - defeated nemesis Darkseid and destabilised his Boom Tube, whilst in the Mortal Kombat universe, Emperor Shao Kahn was beaten by Liu Kang, Raiden and Sonya Blade et al and his Portal was damaged in the process. This caused both worlds to begin merging, with Darkseid and Shao Kahn combining into super-badass Dark Kahn. Another side effect of the anomaly is the magical Combat Rage that leaks out of the portals and effects characters on both sides of the fight, handily giving Midway an excuse to have everybody fight anybody regardless of their respective universe or moral alignment and at the same time making it plausible (if such a word can ever be applied to a Mortal Kombat game) for Sonya Blade to last three rounds against Wonder Woman. Ironically, it's at this world-colliding moment that the rest of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe tragically falls apart.

Mortal Kombat games have always been guilty of a style-over-substance, quantity-over-quality approach, but because it's always been the kind of guilt admitted to and accepted by Midway with their tongues firmly in their cheeks, gamers have warmed to the "it does what it says on the tin" style development. Want a hardcore fighting system? Buy Virtua Fighter. Want an intricate backstory? Try Tekken. Lightning fast animation and jaw-dropping visuals? Go pick up Soulcalibur IV or Dead or Alive 4. Even in terms of coin-op, Mortal Kombat never managed to draw level with the beat 'em up daddy that is Street Fighter. What you get instead is over the top gore, tongue in cheek violence and a nonsensical (albeit colourful and multi-branching) fantasy backstory. What MK vs. DC lacks is the faux-credibility of the other games in the franchise; because it wasn't developed to fit into the main story arc of the previous seven games (not counting the several spin-off titles), the narrative, such as it is, immediately loses the dumb charm of the recognised canon.

But that's enough about the story; there's as much point criticising an MK game for its lack of story as there is criticising it for its gore content, though, with that said, MK vs. DC has been dumbed down considerably in terms of bloodshed. You still get the cartoony spray when punches and kicks land but the Fatalities we've come to expect from the series have been tamed down, much to the chagrin of many long-standing fans. This is owed in part to the merging of franchises, as DC probably wouldn't be happy with Scorpion ripping out Superman's spine at the end of a bout. The good DC characters (i.e Supes, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash) don't get fatalities at all; they get Heroic Brutalities instead but such is the touchy-feely nature of this incarnation's fatalities that there isn't actually much difference between the two, as they almost all end with someone being slammed aggressively into a concrete floor.

The character roster is hardly slim, boasting ten fighters from each universe and two characters unlocked upon completion of each side's unexpectedly long story mode, though there are some surprising omissions from the MK camp with firm favourites like Goro, Kintaro, Kung Lao and Quan Chi missing from the line-up. In contrast, the DC side seemed to scrape the bottom of the barrel after the initial Batman, Superman, Catwoman grouping, shoehorning in Captain Marvel and a suited-up Lex Luthor. Interestingly though, Quan Chi has a character model in many of the cut scenes and at one point Wonder Woman mentions the Martian Manhunter, possibly hinting at future DLC.

Graphically, the game is okay; the Unreal Engine has been put to good use here and the male character models benefit greatly from the ridiculous muscle effects. The female characters are proportioned according to the Stupidly Provocative Female Beat 'Em Up Character Template™, making you wonder how on Earth they manage to fight with enormous jiggling breasts constantly thumping against their chins. Sonya Blade seems particularly gratuitous, as the artists at Midway felt the need to decorate her already-impressive washboard stomach with bikini-thong tan lines. The arenas are less impressive, however; bland throughout, the fact that they are multi-tiered (with lower levels reached via a quick time event minigame called Freefall Kombat) does little to get the adrenaline flowing, since every tier is as boring to look at as every other. In Metropolis you can smash opponents through several consecutive walls of a nearby building in a play on the Test Your Might button-mashing minigame of old but, unfortunately, the lacklustre level design make this just as dull as everything else. It's not helped by the fact that it seems somehow perverse to see Kitana smashing Superman through wall after wall when he's the one with super-strength and the ability to fly.

If it seems as though I'm being unfair to Midway here, I'm really not; it's just that games like this only serve to highlight exactly how far behind the genre leaders the Mortal Kombat franchise is trailing. It's never been a series for the hardcore fight fan, granted, but MK vs. DC seems almost amateur when compared to some of the fighters on the market. The controls are unresponsive, at times to the point where it all becomes an exercise in button mashing, and linking moves together is next to impossible. The animation during bouts still has the slidey, jerky problems that have always been evident in Midway's fighting titles and frankly it's just not good enough on this generation of consoles. You might argue that they're paying lip service to long standing fans by keeping in the little quirks that made the series loveable in the first place but at the end of the day that's not really true; it's just that to correct all the problems with the controls, animations and lack of true 3D environments, Midway would have to take it all the way back to the drawing board and risk the collapse of the entire franchise - which is ironic, because it doesn't appear to have the legs to hold itself up for many more sequels.

The lack of modes is frustrating, too; no Chess Kombat, no Krypt, Konquest Mode, Karting or Koins - no unlockables beyond the two extra characters, no artwork or secret arenas. You pretty much get the story mode, which - whilst quite long - can only be played from the perspectives of either universe as a whole, rather than allowing you to experience each character's unique story, limiting replay value to two play-throughs before it becomes boring. The Arcade mode is exactly what you'd expect, then you get Practice and Kombo Challenge, a chance to show off your prowess with the game's more intricate combos. Frankly, these paltry modes don't excuse the lack of variety and originality you might expect from a Mortal Kombat game; the closest you get to innovation is the Klose Kombat (yes, I'm tired of all the unnecessary Ks too) whereby a tap of the right shoulder button grabs your opponent and pulls them in close for some quick time face-breaking. A diagram of the YBAX setup appears in the bottom corners of the screen (the same as during Freefall Kombat) and the objective is to press the same button as your opponent, thus Kountering their attack. In reverse, when defending, the idea is to avoid them doing the same, so repetitive attacks is a sure way to give them the upper hand and see your own blood spray across the screen as they kounter your blow.

Unfortunately, the whole experience just feels a bit pointless. It's a game that was dreamed up, developed and marketed purely on the concept of uniting DC with MK and whilst playing it I was forced to ask aloud: "Why?". Sluggish controls, unbalanced characters (pit The Flash against Shang Tsung or Wonder Woman and you'll soon realise that fighting fair isn't something that Midway is concerned with), the urge to simply button mash your way to victory by spamming the same move over and over for two rounds at a time, a poor story, underdeveloped arenas, bad voice acting and an overall air of things not quite gelling together the way should rob this potentially interesting game of anything resembling charm or fun. This isn't a dig at the Mortal Kombat series in general, although even the standard canonised franchise could use a fresh lick of paint, but rather a frustrated stab at Midway itself. It's almost as though the publisher thought that the inclusion of a property like DC would gloss over their lackadaisical development. Fans of MK will warm to this game more than fans of DC, but fans of neither might as well steer clear, as there's nothing here to entice anyone but diehards. An online versus mode might keep people interested for a few weeks and possible DLC will add a little extra to those who can be arsed to pay for it but, on the whole, you're better off waiting for the next game in the main series, as at least Midway might put a bit more spit and polish on it. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe isn't the worst game in the world, but it's definitely no Klassic either.

Reviewed by Mick Fraser for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).