When worlds collide, the results can be unusual and exceptional. Not all gaming crossovers work, but these ones are incredible to witness.
The world of video games is often wild and strange. Plumbers leap through the air, soldiers heft blades larger than themselves, and alien races live on ring-shaped worlds. The possibilities seem endless on their own, and sometimes this creativity can extend beyond worlds to bypass the ultimate barrier: copyright law.
Every so often, companies collaborate to allow their creative properties to interact. Sometimes this manifests as a simple cameo, other times entire worlds can meet. Not every crossover is a good match — when two properties are poorly handled or too dissimilar, their combination can feel unsatisfying. When everything goes well, however, the result can be a legendary gaming experience. Here are a few times when an unusual combination ended up making a great game.
Perhaps the most famous video game crossover of all time, Smash Bros. started out on the N64 as a battle between Nintendo's most famous characters. Even in its original form, it included lesser-known characters like Ness and Captain Falcon, but future entries added more and more bizarre choices, both in terms of fighting games and Nintendo franchises. Melee added Mr. Game and Watch, from a time when "phone game" meant something different. Brawl added Solid Snake, whose games tend to be much more serious than usual Nintendo titles.
None of the series' titles, however, compare to aptly-named Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This latest installment includes everyone from all previous games while adding even more ridiculous characters, from N64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie to indie sensation Steve from Minecraft.
Fighting games, in recent years especially, have been adding unusual characters to their rosters to generate hype. The SoulCalibur series was a pioneer in this area. Soulcalibur 2 featured Link, Tekken's Heihachi, and Spawn. On the more bizarre side, SoulCalibur 4 included Star Wars veterans Yoda and Darth Vader. Although cool, they didn't quite fit the game, if only because players must continually ignore how lightsabers cannot clash against metal weapons.
A better example came in SoulCalibur 6, which included Geralt from the Witcher series as part of the base roster. Despite being a western-style character in a Japanese game, his down-to-earth swordplay combined with a touch of magic made him a solid fit.
A lesser-known but still significant crossover, Mario Hoops is a Mario-themed basketball game for the DS. The game was published by Square Enix, best known for Final Fantasy. For whatever reason, Square decided that their fantasy characters were a good fit for a Mario basketball game, and added several as playable: Black Mage, White Mage, Ninja, and Moogle.
Surprisingly, these characters could ball with the best of them. They used mystic powers for special shots, and they were popular enough to make a return in the follow-up for Wii, Mario Sports Mix.
This massive MMO has included a wide variety of cameo appearances from different games. References to other Final Fantasies are common, but there are occasional events featuring unrelated series as well, including Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, and even Yo-Kai Watch. These events usually include a few fights and the opportunity to earn some cosmetic pets.
One crossover, however, stands head and shoulders above the others: the inclusion of Nier: Automata. Led by Nier creator Yoko Taro, this crossover added three massive raids to the game, including a full series of storyline cutscenes that tie into the plot of both games.
This crossover makes sense in some ways, and is totally bizarre in some others. The two series are somewhat similar in that they're both narrative-heavy with a focus on nonviolent puzzle solving, but their actual gameplay is quite different. Layton is a series of largely independent riddles and brainteasers, while Ace Attorney is built around identifying logical inconsistencies in text.
The crossover itself is fairly simple, alternating between puzzle-solving Layton sections and Ace Attorney courtroom sequences. The game is an enjoyable take on both series, and it's fun for the characters to hang out together, but it ends up being a bit simpler than an individual Layton or Ace Attorney. Still, that doesn't detract from the fun.
The Mortal Kombat series began adding cameo characters with the ninth game in the series, including God of War's Kratos and Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Mortal Kombat X took it even further, with horror icons Jason Voorhees, Alien, Predator, and Leatherface. But neither can compare with Mortal Kombat 11.
The latest game's DLC packs include the Terminator, Robocop, Rambo, and the Joker — the theme seems to be 80s action movie characters. The cameo appearances here are set apart by the customization options included in-game: each of these icons has a massive variety of outfits, weapons, and most importantly, finishing moves, making the guests full-fledged members of the Mortal Kombat cast.
Now known the world over, this team defense turned battle royale gradually evolved into one of the most unbelievable video game crossovers ever made. The first collaboration was the Infinity Gauntlet, which would allow the player who finds it to become Marvel's Thanos.
After that, the floodgates were open. Many more Marvel characters would appear, along with plenty of others including DC's Batman and Superman, John Wick, Rick & Morty, and even Naruto, just to name a few. On the gaming side alone, cameos from Street Fighter, God of War and Halo make Fortnite a video game crossover to rival Smash Bros.
Marvel vs. Capcom has been a staple of the fighting game community for so long, it's easy to forget that it represents a truly unusual crossover: an American comic book company and a Japanese video game company. The first inklings of the epic crossover were seen in Capcom's licensed fighting game X-Men: Children of the Atom, which included Street Fighter's Akuma as a playable character.
From there, Capcom released X-Men vs. Street Fighter, fully embracing the crossover, which of course led into the follow-up, the original Marvel vs. Capcom. Since then, Capcom has been known for its high-quality crossovers, including Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Namco X Capcom. However, it all started with Marvel.
Famously conceived by Disney and Square Enix executives during a drunk conversation in an elevator, this definitive bizarre gaming crossover takes a Final Fantasy style RPG and sets it against a backdrop of classic Disney movies.
The game was an immediate hit, thanks to the crossover as well as the fast-paced action combat. Since then, the series has expanded greatly, taking on a life of its own beyond either half of the crossover. It is loved the world over, even if its story can get a little out of control.
Despite not being released yet, the sheer scope of this crossover is enough to make it stand out. While it's not the first Smash Bros-alike of its kind, Multiversus spans the entirety of WB-owned properties. In its current form, that means fights between Bugs Bunny, Batman, Steven Universe, Arya Stark, Finn and Jake, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, and that's just for starters.
The developers have even said, in reference to non-WB characters, that there was a reason the game isn't called "WB All-Stars." If the game keeps expanding in this way, it will undoubtedly end up as one of the most bizarre gaming crossovers ever.
Epic Games Store’s upcoming March 10 release is a fine game, but interestingly, it has a controversial history on another service, PS Plus.
Michael is a writer who loves to game. He also loves to talk about games, which is a real risk for anyone who approaches him. Fortunately, writing is a safe, healthy release of game information.
