Full disclosure: I am the Toasty Boy
According to legends,the originalMortal Kombatwas made by just four people, not counting the actors who served as the game’s playable characters. That’s more people than you see on the development team of your average modern indie game. ThoughMortal Kombathas gone on to become a cultural institution in gaming, it all started off with just a few friends goofing off, dreaming that if they were lucky, they might get Jean Claude Van Damme to star in their game.
While their hopes for Van-damage were never fully realized, I think it’s fair to say that the franchise did just fine without him. Despite it’s massive success, we haven’t seen many attempts to imitate the development plan of the originalMortal Kombat. My guess is that the idea of using “digitized live-action fighters” in a modern game feels too risky for most. As Richard Cook showed us in hisfilms with Devolver, it takes real blood, sweat and tearsto make a game from your own skin and bones.
NowSuper Combat Fighter, the game in question, is on Kickstarter, and it’s following inMortal Kombat‘s footsteps in more ways than one. It even promises an appearance fromlegendary Hollywood Action star Ernie Reyes Jr, as a playable fighter. There is also a tier thatallows backers to become in-game combatants as well. While the game has a lot of rarely seen ideas going for it, like the ability to fight as aTatsunoko Vs. Capcom-style giant, my guess is its fate will be determined largely by how much people actually lovethe originalKombattrilogy exactly as they are.
Guest characters could also make a big difference. I’ve already proposed to the developer thatSterdustandKung-Fu Chicken Noodlemake an appearance, but what about a clay-mation version of Meatboy, or an actor playing the crazed chef fromPizza Tower? I know indie crossovers are seen as played out by a lot of people these days, but just like FMV fueled fighting games, they can still be a great time if done the right way.
