Last week gamers worldwide collectively lost their minds when Epic Games announced Thanos would enter Fortnite’s Battle Royale arena in a limited-time event. While taking command of the Infinity Gauntlet to crush other players was certainly a blast, this was far from the first, or even most exciting licensed overlap games have given us. From bitter rivalries to unexpected lightsabers, here are seven gaming crossovers more ambitious than Fortnite’s Infinity War mashup.
Mario & Sonic
A long time ago in a galaxy uncannily similar this one (read: 25 years ago), Sega and Nintendo were bitter rivals. The spiky blue blur’s games regularly faced off against our favorite plumber’s efforts, and every kid in the schoolyard knew which side they were on. The collapse of Sega’s console production and subsequent years of abysmal Sonic titles gave plenty of time for tempers to cool, but it still came as a surprise when Nintendo revealed the two would finally share a screen in 2007’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Granted the game itself was rather lacklustre, but the partnership was far from over, with Sonic cropping up the next year in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then returning in the WiiU title. At last, gamers could act out their rivalries in-game by having Mario headbutt Sonic into the stratosphere.
Snake & Super Smash Bros.
Speaking of Super Smash Bros., if Sonic’s addition came as a surprise, then the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid’s Snake in Brawl was like Christmas had come twice, only a heck of a lot more fun. Snake was an unlikely choice given Nintendo (and lead Smash Bros. designer Sakurai) had an aversion to putting realistic guns in the series. Incredibly, by swapping out pistols and rifles for grenades, missile launchers and yes, even his famous cardboard box, Snake fit the scene perfectly.
Arriving with his own Shadow Moses Island level, Snake was voiced by none other than David Hayter and included brilliant easter egg codec voice lines for every single fighter in the game. Well played, Ninty. Sadly Snake didn’t make the return trip in Super Smash Bros. WiiU, but we feel blessed enough that such a bizarre mashup came to fruition in the first place.
Soul Calibur & Star Wars
Super Smash Bros. isn’t the only fighting series to add unusual characters to its roster. The Soul Calibur games have always played themselves in a fairly po-faced manner (despite having characters like Voldo and the worryingly bouncy Taki), but that hasn’t stopped Bandai Namco Entertainment from throwing in a selection of out-of-place figures from time to time. The Legend of Zelda’s Link, Tekken’s Heihachi and Spawn’s, well, Spawn, have all tested their mettle in the arena of souls. However, by far the strangest crossover came in the form of Soul Calibur 4’s Yoda and Darth Vader as timed exclusives for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively.
Bringing lightsabers and force powers to a sword fight might seem a little unfair, but we’re sure the writers came up with some excuse to do with souls, destiny and some such nonsense to explain why Mitsurugi wasn’t carved into Darth Maul 2.0 each round. The tie-in arrived as a promotion for LucasArts’ The Force Unleashed, meaning we also got access to the very forgettable “Apprentice” character. But let’s be real, who picked him over Yoda or Vader?
Marvel vs. Capcom
While we’re on the topic of fighters, it would be rude not to mention one of the fighting game community’s oldest crossover series. Long before the Battle Royale genre was even a vague notion in Mr PlayerUnknown’s brainmatter, the Marvel vs. Capcom games were powerhouses in the competitive world of video games, popular across arcades in the US and Japan. MvC may be a staple of the team fighter genre now, but it’s worth giving credit where it’s due. The chance to have Spider-Man duff up Ryu and Mega Man was a huge draw back in the day. Everyone may have gone nuts over Thanos cropping up in Fortnite, but MvC has been rocking the big bad and more since 2000’s MvC2: A New Age of Heroes. Step up your game, Fortnite!
Professor Layton & Phoenix Wright
The ultimate detective joining forces with the finest Attorney? To be honest, we’re not really sure if Layton can claim to be the ultimate detective, but he does have a lovely hat. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was an unexpected crossover melding the exploration and puzzles from Layton’s games with the dramatic trial accusations of Phoenix Wright. As with any good fanservice crossover, the real delight was in seeing each franchise’s characters interact with one another.
Kingdom Hearts
A long and often quite melancholy tale of clones, dreamworlds and lost friendship, Kingdom Hearts is a series that really shouldn’t work. Inserting Goofy and Donald Duck to any scene ought to have made it ridiculous enough, but to then sincerely mix that universe with the somber, spiky-haired likes of Final Fantasy’s Cloud Strife seemed like a recipe for disaster. Despite this, fans took wholeheartedly to the game and its myriad spin-offs/sequels. As a testament to its appeal, Kingdom Hearts 3 (around the fifteenth game to be released in the series) is one of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year and adds the likes of Toy Story and Monsters Inc. to the unholy punch bowl of characters.
Rocket League & Every franchise ever.
Fortnite’s appeal being large enough to pull a licensed Infinity War event might seem impressive, but one popular indie game has been quietly pumping out superb licensed DLC packs for over three years now. Psyonix’s successful rocket-car soccer game started small in terms of expansions, adding vehicles from its awkwardly named predecessor, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (that’s SARPBC for short). But in October 2015, Rocket League surprised everyone by releasing the Back to the Future Car Park which included none other than the film’s iconic Delorean, complete with unique boost sound effects and flaming tyre tracks (time travelling powers were understandably absent).
Since then Rocket League has proven itself the champion of mashup packs. Filled to the brim with cosmetics from other games, later updates introduced the Batmobile, vehicles from The Fast and the Furious, and toys cars from Hot Wheels. Even Rick & Morty got in on the action, adding cosmetic toppers and boost effects from the show. Play on the Switch and you’ll also have access to Mario and Luigi skins alongside Samus Aran’s gunship in car form. It’s one thing for a behemoth like Fortnite to pull in these kind of connections, another entirely for a smaller studio like Psyonix. Rocket League's marketing team deserves a solid pat on the back, and we can only hope the crossovers will continue for some time to come.