What if Konami acquired Capcom?/Atari vs. DC

Atari vs. DC is a crossover fighting game developed and published by Bally Atari and released in November 2008 for the Arcades, in April 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, in March 2010 for the PlayStation Portable, iOS and Android and as a launch title for the iGame. The game features characters from series owned by both Atari and DC. In the game, each player selects two characters respectively and face other as duos in tag team fighting matches, with the objective to knock out one of the members from the opposing team (deplete the opponent's health).

Gameplay
Principal gameplay involves two-on-two 2.5D-style fighting. Atari vs. DC uses a single two-dimensional fighting plane (at 60 frames per second), although characters are rendered in three-dimensional fashion, intended to give depth and range to portrayals of various projectiles.

New feature is the "Rage Meter", which can be charged by various actions during battle such as performing special moves, getting blocked by the opponent, or getting hit by them. The rage meter can be charged to three levels, each of them enabling a different action to be performed. At the first level, it can be used to deliver an enhanced version of one of the character's special attacks; two levels can be used to interrupt a combo attack, and the full three levels allow for the delivery of a special attack called an "X-ray move". The X-ray move unleashes a series of attacks during which the game provides an internal view of the character being attacked, which shows their bones and organs being broken or ruptured.

Arcade Tower
the player chooses 2 characters and goes through 8 stages in which the player goes through the chosen character's story. the 1st 6 are against random opponents, the 7th is against a secret random opponent and the 8th is against Darkseid.

Score Tower
the player chooses 2 characters and goes through 8 stages in which the player needs to get the highest score possible. the 1st 6 are against random opponents, the 7th is against a secret random opponent and the 8th is against Darkseid.

Time Tower
the player chooses 2 characters and goes through 8 stages that the player needs to finish in the shortest time possible. the 1st 6 are against random opponents, the 7th is against a secret random opponent and the 8th is against Darkseid.

Survival Tower
the player chooses 2 characters and goes through 32 stages in which the player fights as much characters as possible.

Versus Mode
the players choose 4 characters and fight each other.

Development and Marketing
In April 2007, Bally Atari announced they were planning a new fighting game, inspired by seeing a showcase of Gears of War. Eventually, during the planning process, a deal with DC Comics was made. An announcement in July 2007 confirmed the game as a crossover, and a trailer was released in February 2008, with the game using Unreal Engine 3, also used in Gears of War. Soo Kim, CEO of Bally Atari, has stated the game's aim at being an immersive experience for both arcade and console players.

Atari vs. DC's musical score was primarily composed by Dan Forden, Jason C. Miller and Zac Zinger. The game runs on the Bally System 357 arcade board.

Characters

 * Bold detonates secret character
 * Italic detonates DLC

Stages

 * Bold detonates unlockable stage

English Voice Cast

 * Patrick Seitz as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and Arthur Curry/Aquaman
 * Sean Schemmel as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Tom Choi as Liu Kang
 * Yuri Lowenthal as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman and Bren McGuire
 * Karen Strassman as Kitana
 * Tara Platt as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
 * Greg Abbey as Thor
 * Steve Blum as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern and Kuai-Liang/Sub-Zero
 * Luci Christian as Thyra
 * Jennifer Hale as Shiera Sanders Hall/Hawkgirl
 * Vic Mignogna as Bubsy the Bobcat
 * Taliesin Jaffe as Barry Allen/Flash
 * Kirk Thornton as George
 * Shannon McCormick as Billy Batson/Shazam
 * Linda Young as Lizzie
 * Laura Bailey as Selina Kyle/Catwoman
 * Travis Willingham as Alec Sects
 * David Matranga as Victor Stone/Cyborg
 * Keith Silverstein as Duke Nukem and Sinjin
 * Christopher Corey Smith as Lex Luthor
 * Nolan North as Edward Carnby
 * Richard Epcar as Arthur Fleck/Joker
 * Cassandra Lee Morris as Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
 * Dan Green as Oinker P. Hamm
 * David Wills as Doomsday
 * Dave Mallow as Diablo
 * Shelley Calene-Black as Taria de Castillo
 * Matthew Mercer as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
 * Bob Carter as Shao Kahn
 * Greg Eagles as Darkseid
 * Vanessa Marshall as Sonya Blade
 * Troy Baker as Dick Grayson/Nightwing
 * Jamieson Price as Questor
 * Liam O'Brien as General Zod

Japanese Voice Cast

 * Wataru Takagi as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion
 * Tessho Genda as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Kuai-Liang/Sub-Zero
 * Takahiro Sakurai as Liu Kang
 * Jin Yamanoi as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman
 * Mimami Takayama as Kitana
 * Akiko Yajima as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
 * Hiroshi Iwasaki as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama as Barry Allen/Flash
 * Takako Honda as Selina Kyle/Catwoman
 * Kenji Nomura as Lex Luthor
 * Takeshi Aono as Arthur Fleck/Joker
 * Miki Ito as Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
 * Mugihito as Shao Kahn
 * Katsuhisa Hoki as Darkseid

Cheats

 * Unlock secret characters (Arcade Version):
 * Sub-Zero - Highlight Scorpion and Press: Down, Start, Left, Start, Hold Left, Start.
 * Harley Quinn - Highlight Joker and Press: Start, Down, Start, Start, Down, Up.
 * Doomsday - Hold HP at the Title Screen, then Highlight Superman and Press: Down, Start, Down.
 * Oinker - Highlight Bubsy and Press: Left, Hold Start, Right, Left, Left, Release Start.
 * Shao Kahn - Highlight Kitana and Press: Down, Up, Hold Up, Start, Start, Release Up, Up.
 * Time Release for Characters/Stages (Arcade Version):
 * Sub-Zero - coming soon on launch day, playable after 7 days.
 * Harley Quinn - coming soon after 7 days, playable after 14 days.
 * Doomsday - coming soon after 14 days, playable after 21 days.
 * Oinker - coming soon after 21 days, playable after 28 days.
 * Lin Kuei Palace - coming soon after 28 days, selectable after 35 days.
 * Sinjin - first sighted after 35 days, playable after 42 days.
 * Aquaman - first sighted after 42 days, playable after 49 days.
 * Green Arrow - first sighted after 49 days, playable after 56 days.
 * Taria - first sighted after 56 days, playable after 63 days.
 * Apokolips - coming soon after 63 days, selectable after 70 days.
 * Shao Kahn - coming soon after 70 days, playable after 77 days.
 * Darkseid - coming soon after 77 days, playable after 84 days.
 * Unlock secret characters (Home and Handheld Versions):
 * Sub-Zero - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower once with any character.
 * Harley Quinn - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower twice with different characters.
 * Doomsday - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower thrice with different characters.
 * Oinker - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 4 times with different characters.
 * Sinjin - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 5 times with different characters.
 * Aquaman - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 6 times with different characters.
 * Green Arrow - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 7 times with different characters.
 * Taria - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 8 times with different characters.
 * Shao Kahn - Defeat Arcade/Score/Time Tower 9 times with different characters.
 * Darkseid - Complete Story Mode.
 * Unlock stages (Home and Handheld Versions):
 * Lin Kuei Palace
 * Apokolips

Success and Reception
All 3 home versions of Atari vs. DC have received an aggregate rating of "universal acclaim" from Metacritic based on the reviews of critics. The game received an aggregated score of 94 out of 100 from Metacritic for its PlayStation 3 version, 93 out of 100 for its Xbox 360 version, and 91 out of 100 for its Microsoft Windows version.

The arcade version of Atari vs. DC was voted Best Game of 2008 in Japan by the editorial staff of Arcadia magazine in the February 2009 issue of the publication. The game also won in the categories of "Best Graphics", "Best Production", and the "Reader's Choice Award". The character Liu Kang took the No. 1 spot in the magazine's "Top 20 Characters of 2008" in the same issue. The April 2009 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine has rated the game 5/5, while the April 2009 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine has given Atari vs. DC a score of 9.5/10. IGN gave the game a 9.3/10, calling it an "irrevocably deep fighting game", but said that the story presentation within the cutscenes aren't "indicative of the narrative that developers have tried to write to the audience" GameSpot gave it the best Fighting Game of 2009 in the Editor's Choice and Reader's Choice areas. Additionally, GameTrailers named the title as the Best Fighting Game of 2009. Atari vs. DC also won "Fighting Game of the Year" at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards.

Giant Bomb gave the game 5 out of 5 stars stating that "Atari vs. DC combines old and new in powerful ways, resulting in a game familiar enough to bring retired fans back into the fold while being different enough to appeal to the players who have stuck with the genre since day one."Eurogamer gave the game 10/10 stating that "after over a month of playing Atari vs. DC almost daily, what has become quite clear is that it manages to appeal to a huge range of abilities and tastes without ever compromising its fidelity".

All 4 handheld versions have been critically acclaimed as well. Gameplayershub.com gave the game a 97% score, indicating that the game had such polish it should lead the way for future games on the platform. GamePro's Julian Rignall meanwhile found it to be "everything you could want from a mobile Atari vs DC".