Crossovers That Should (But Don't) Exist
A Link Between Worlds
Video game crossovers can be very cool. Marvel vs. Capcom, Battletoads/Double Dragon, Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright, it’s just really fun to see similar games from different companies interacting with one another. But when crossovers don’t happen, it can be confusing. Some of the most obvious money makers in the world of video games are staring developers right in the face, but they have yet to come to fruition.
Now, I’m well aware this is a considerably more complicated process than just wishing they existed. It’s not like these folks can just press a button and crank out crossovers when there are various deals and rights involved, which is to say nothing of creating a game that actually incorporates elements of what makes each individual one special in the first place. But for the purposes of fun and of course a legitimate degree of incredulousness at the fact that nobody smarter than me has figured out how to actually make these games a reality, let’s talk about some video game crossovers that I can’t believe haven’t happened yet.
Twinbee x Fantasy Zone
This was actually something I posted on social media last week and got me thinking down this path, and really, how haven’t these two games done a crossover yet? Opa-Opa and Twinbee are very similar “creatures” and while the gameplay between the two isn’t a perfect match, that’s kind of what makes this potential crossover so enticing. The Twinbee games are remarkably varied, so there’s a number of options to pull from there, but there hasn’t been a legitimate new Fantasy Zone game in ages. This would be a great way to put that series back on the map. Imagine all the wacky weapon combinations! Twinbee visiting the Fantasy Zone shops! Adding bases to the traditional scrolling stages, or swap between styles in Twinbee. Konami and Sega both seem like companies who are more than willing to work together, and I can’t believe these crossovers haven’t made this happen.
Double Dragon x Streets of Rage
Honestly you could swap Final Fight in for either one of these, but Streets of Rage and Double Dragon are both currently active, and Double Dragon has had crossovers before, so this seems like a no brainer for me. Double Dragon has been so many things over the years, but it’s been a while since it’s fit in with the more “serious” tone of Streets of Rage that it would be a really cool and welcome change.
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Both Streets of Rage 4 and Double Dragon Gaiden are among the best beat em ups in decades too, so combining their trademark styles would make for a heck of an awesome game. And can you imagine the soundtrack??? Both of these series are well known for having absolutely killer music, so yeah. This would rule for sure.
Pokemon x Monster Hunter
I’m not going to lie, I don’t actually know a ton about either one of these franchises. But I do know that they’re both insanely popular, and they both involve tracking down various monsters. Of course, Monster Hunter involves killing said monsters, but that’s an easy thing to work around. Basically what I’m suggesting is that you take the creatures from Monster Hunter and rejigger the art to make them fit in the Pokemon world. Then basically make a Monster Hunter game set there, and instead of killing monsters, you have to wear them down until you can catch them in Pokeballs. Pokemon crossed over with Nobunaga’s Ambition from crying out loud. That series is malleable as heck. And Monster Hunter is always involved in some sort of collaboration. Capcom and Nintendo have a great relationship, and this just seems like money in the bank! Let’s make it happen!
Street Fighter x Mortal Kombat
Yes, these two are very different kinds of fighting games. No, Street Fighter has never been “Rated M” before. No, I don’t think it matters!
Look, these two are absolute icons of fighting games, and if they can skirt the whole “fatality” thing for the DC universe, they can make something work for Street Fighter as well. What’s more, there are so many fun ways to tackle a game like this. You could go back and have all the digitized fighters from Street Fighter: The Movie go up against the old digitized fighters from the first 3 MK games (okay, that’s actually a terrible idea, but it would be fun!). You could keep things all modern and polygonal and just pit the most recent iterations of everyone against one another. But my personal favorite option would be to make the whole thing look like Street Fighter Alpha 3. Can you imagine how cool the MK crew would look in that art style? I can!
Joking aside, I do recognize that this is a very difficult proposition. SNK and Tekken were a much easier fit because their gameplay wasn’t directly at odds with Street Fighter’s, but Mortal Kombat is a very different feeling game no matter which iteration you’re playing. And would MK really be MK without all the blood? Would Street Fighter still be Street Fighter with all that blood? I don’t know, but I believe in my heart of hearts that this game would sell like gangbusters, and I’m sure there’s someone smart enough between these two companies to make this work.
Mario x Sonic
This is the ultimate crossover that I can not believe doesn’t exist. Sega goes 3rd party and announces a Mario and Sonic crossover and it’s… the freaking OLYMPICS??? Sure, we got Smash Bros. after that, but come on. Where’s the platforming crossover?
Like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, I recognize that there’s a pretty big difference between a Mario platformer and a Sonic platformer, (especially in terms of quality, amirite???) but unlike those two this one could potentially work incredibly well with some clever level design and some sort of character swapping mechanic. Picture this:
The entire game is designed around a tag team element, with each team consisting of one Mario character and one Sonic character. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Daisy, Rosalina, Wario, etc. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Blaze, Shadow, etc. As you get to different areas in the stage, you have to swap between characters to maximize efficiency in level traversal. Sure, Mario could run through a corkscrew, but Sonic will do it faster. Sonic could try and jump over a pit of Spinys, but Mario with fireballs can take it out instantly. That kind of stuff.
The problem here would be, once again joking aside, quality. Mario games don’t come out all that often, and when they do they’re pretty meticulously designed. Even the blander stuff like the New Super Mario Bros. games have a level of polish that’s almost always absent in Sonic’s games, so that level of quality parity would need to happen in order to bring something like this to life. But boy, can you imagine a Sonic game with Nintendo’s level of polish? That would be spectacular.
No shade at Sonic games either. I adore most of Sonic's 2D adventures. But seeing these two cross over in 2D platforming gloriousness would be a heck of a thing to see.
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And that about does it for me, but I’m sure I’m missing something. Do you want to see Metroid x Halo? What about a Legend of Zelda/Final Fantasy crossover? As long as they’re fun, I’m game for anything. What about you?
