Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Preview

VideoGamer.com: The Mortal Kombat characters look quite similar to their representation in the first game... although they look a lot better, obviously.

HL: That's part of the technology. As we move forward, there are things we can do that we couldn't do in the past - and the includes these models, and the details and material. One of the cool things we have in this game is a model viewer - these are the actual models used in-game, and you can zoom in and see the actual texture of the cloth on their outfits.

VideoGamer.com: But in terms of the actual designs you've gone for with the MK characters, they look fairly traditional - as opposed to the ones you used in some of the later games.

HL: Definitely! Again, it kind of goes back to the story Some people have been asking about where this fits into the MK storyline... it kinda does and it doesn't! It's an alternate universe, an Elseworlds story if you're going to take the DC side of things, and it takes place in the time frame of MK2 - so that's why the characters have that look. We definitely looked back at previous games and took inspiration from that. Even the gameplay is very much in the 2D fighting style.

VideoGamer.com: That's certainly true! Do you think there will always be a place for 2D fighters?

HL: Oh yeah. We get feedback all the time, and MK2 is still one of people's all-time favourite games. If it wasn't, that would kind of prove that people didn't want a 2D game. And Street Fighter - that's a 2D game and very popular in its own right.

VideoGamer.com: Do you have a favourite game in the series? Mine was always MK2...

HL: For me, I'd say MK2. And the reason I'd say that is that I was at Nintendo at the time, back in the day when they started doing MK games through Acclaim. When they first started talking about it, some of the guys at the company in upper management were like, "What is this Mortal Kombat thing?" So they were like, "Ok, we're going to send you an arcade machine!" So we got an actual MK2 machine and started playing it, and my boss - who is now actually a VP now, over at Nintendo - he'd come by desk and go [stern voice] "Ok, now come with me." "Where are we going?" And then next thing I know it'd be, "Pick a character. We're going to play for a bit". So I'd get to play MK! It was cool, a lot of fun.

VideoGamer.com: Did you have to let him win, or was he up for a fair challenge?

HL: Every once in a while I'd have to let him win. He's the boss - I want to keep my job! I was just a tester back then... I like MK3 as well - or UMK3, I should say - but MK2 was a lot of fun. It was the game that got me into playing MK.

VideoGamer.com: Getting back to this game...What was the thinking behind the Test Your Might and Klose Kombat sections? How did they come about? You mentioned wanting to bring back the old button-mashing thing...

HL: Like I said, it's a twist on something old. But the thing that's different is that instead of just one person, this is something you can do against a buddy - it's an interaction between the two of you. The FreeFall and the the Klose Kombat - that kind of thing would have been a cinematic in the past. And then Ed (Boon) said: "What if we gave control to the players at that point?" We worked on ideas, and in the end that's what we came up with. That was the kind of thing. What have we seen in the past games, and what can we improve upon or innovate?

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe will punch your face on November 21... if you have a PS3 or an Xbox 360