There's nothing like a good guilty pleasure. Cheesy reality shows, schlocky horror movies and bubblegum pop all scratch itches we'd like to pretend don't even exist. For fighting games, the Mortal Kombat series has always been that guilty pleasure. No MK game's ever had the depth of the fighting engines that power the Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive franchises -- but the combination of egregious gore, stilted kung-fu movie dialogue and ultraviolent finishing moves has won the series an audience that keeps showing up.

From the look on Shang Tsung's face, we're guessing Green Lantern's giving him a bad touch.

Stlll, when Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was announced more than a year ago, fans all over the world sniggered. Had the once-venerable series jumped the shark? Was DC selling out some of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world just to pad its coffers?

It can safely be said that all such concerns cease to matter once you start playing MK vs. DC. Don't bother trying to figure out whether it's Barry Allen or Wally West in the Flash suit; all you need to know is that it's a guy that runs really, really fast. Likewise, trying to fit the game's events into a larger MK continuity doesn't increase the level of enjoyment. You're here to beat people up.

Are you really the Fastest Man Alive if you can't dodge a flying kick?

However, it bears noting that comics writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray worked with the MK dev team on the story, which is split into two threads, one for each side. On the DC side, the game opens with Superman putting the coup de gr?ce on big, bad Darkseid after the cosmic despot's failed invasion of Earth. As Darkseid tries to make his escape through a dimension-bridging Boom Tube, the Man of Steel zaps him with a blast of heat vision that causes some sort of malfunction. Soon thereafter, DC characters start succumbing to violent fits of mind-clouding rage, fighting each other as well as the displaced warriors of Outworld. (When playing through the MK side, it's Raiden electrifying Shao Kahn's teleport rift that tips the interdimensional dominoes.) Each side's narrative is structured like a mosaic, where characters hand off the plot to each other like a baton -- so all the characters get a nice chunk of screen time. You don't get the whole picture unless you play through Story mode with both sets of characters.

The game's story simply sets up the action, but does make a point of trying to address the more glaring plot holes. As the two universes start to fuse, powers and personalities go haywire. So, Superman's nigh-omnipotence gets scaled back by all the magic floating around, Green Lantern says his ring's acting up, and normally heroic Kombatants like Liu Kang and Kitana suffer from homicidal flare-ups.

Sub-Zero's efforts to wipe the smile off the Clown Prince of Crime's face will ultimately prove futile.

At its core, this game's all about fan service, so there will be moments where your inner fanboy rolls his eyes. Case in point: The orbiting satellite base looks just like the Legion of Doom headquarters from the "Super Friends" cartoon. Still, certain signature moves are just too entertaining to feel jaded about, like Joker's joy buzzer attack, Flash's around-the-world dash, or Deathstroke's gunshots. The same goes for certain match-ups, like perpetual sourpusses Scorpion and Batman working out their vengeance issues on each other or Captain Marvel and Raiden brutalizing each other in a lightning vs. thunder showdown. (Regarding DC's mythologically empowered champion -- the Big Red Cheese is one of the most powerfully imbalanced characters in the game. He's a favorite of MK co-creator Ed Boon, and it shows.) When playing in Arcade mode, you can choose to play opponents from only one side or a mix of characters from each.

MK vs. DC introduces a few new gameplay elements -- Klose Kombat and Freefall Kombat -- to the standard arena-based formula. In Freefall Kombat, you can break through certain hotspots in the stages, punching and kicking your opponent as both of you plummet to a lower level. Whoever gets the most hits in on the way down can execute a devastating super-move, but that build-up of power can be usurped with a well-timed reversal. Klose Kombat, triggered by hitting the top-right bumper, allows the initiator to wail on his opponent in an up-close thrashing. For the latter, matching the prompts of your aggressor's button-press allows you to dodge and counter-attack.

The rage that overpowers the characters also becomes a gameplay mechanic, building up as you absorb more damage. Pulling the two lower triggers on the controller activates Rage, which renders players temporarily faster, stronger and invulnerable.

The secret to becoming the World's Deadliest Mercenary? Stretching.

Overall, the game's aesthetic is polished, with smart details popping up in character and level designs. Character models take damage, shown through bruises and ripped uniforms. However, some animations and moves do get blatantly recycled for multiple characters, and that feels like a slight cop-out. The voice work and dialogue both make the DC characters "feel" as they should, though Superman does sound a little weird at first.

To my eyes and ears, the PlayStation 3 visuals look sharper than the Xbox 360's, and the sound design on Sony's platform is crisper. The action on this version also feels more responsive, thanks to the better quality of the d-pad on the Sixaxis controller. MK vs. DC on the PS3 also includes Trophy support. Online play on the PS3 uses the GameSpy infrastructure, delivering an experience that's commensurate with what's common nowadays: stat tracking, leaderboards and room hosting.

MK vs. DC's biggest accomplishment comes from stoking the urge to fight "just one more match" over and over again. The infusion of DC characters and new gameplay tweaks makes for a fresher-feeling MK game than we've had in the last few years. It's also a better implementation of entertainment-brand crossover than this summer's Soulcalibur IV, in which three lightsaber wielders from Star Wars made a weird pit stop on Soulcalibur's Earth. MK vs. DC may not be at the vanguard of narrative or visual innovation, but it's a great-looking, great-playing title that you'll have a hard time putting down.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.