10 Surprising Crossovers No One Saw Coming

Game News 10 Surprising Crossovers No One Saw Coming

10 unlikely crossovers in the video game

Dead Cells x Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, Skul…

Motion Twin’s game was noticed when it was released and continues to arouse the interest of players. True lesson in metroidvania, the game continues to add new content, whether through DLC or free updates. It is via one of the latter, rather equivocally titled Everyone is Here (Everybody is here for non-English speakers), that Dead Cells paid a fine homage to indie games of the same genre. Released at the end of last year, this giant metroidvania/roguelite crossover was presented as a small Christmas present for the fans. But concretely, what does this update allow? Well apart from small improvements here and there, this update introduces skins to unlock by solving puzzles. We can thus find The Knight from Hollow Knight, The Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter, the Penitent from Blasphemous, Juan de Guacamelee, the protagonist of the eponymous game Skul or that of Curse of the Dead Gods. Their various weapons can also be found in-game.

Everybody’s Golf: World Tour x God of War

This one is pretty well known. And for good reason, it is particularly surprising. Who could have imagined one day seeing Kratos indulge in a frenzied game of golf, with his famous Blades of Chaos as a club? Well, as incongruous as it may seem, Everybody’s Golf: World Tour did it. Fifth opus of the Japanese Everybody’s Golf license, it was released on July 26, 2007 in Japan. In Europe, it took until March 26, 2008 to get it. Quite well received, it was a fairly classic and fun golf game, but it didn’t really make an impression. If this episode has remained in the annals it is above all for this astonishing crossover. Both teams (Clap Hanz and Santa Monica) have worked closely together to produce a Kratos similar to the original one (both in terms of animations and dubbing). The result was shown in broad daylight from August 21, 2008. And the least we can say is that it changes from the dark universe of God of War. Note that another crossover, certainly less striking but nevertheless at least as impromptu, was unveiled in March 2009. This time, it’s Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet who tried his hand at the joys of golf. Like what everyone can really golf.

Fall Guys x Doom

Free games have understood this well: to last, it’s time for collabs. There is also a Battle Royale which has particularly stood out at this level, making crossovers its watchword: Fortnite. Kratos was also invited to the latter, as were Naruto, Star Wars characters, Wolverine, Captain America, Thanos… As you probably know, the list is long. But today, it’s another Battle Royale that interests us: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. Very popular when it was released, the game tried somehow to maintain its number of players by inflating the game with updates and collaborations of all kinds. If we can note the collaboration with the small nugget Kena: Bridge of Spirits, there is a crossover, more distant, which no one expected: Fall Guys and Doom. It must be said that it is difficult to see the two worlds coexist. And yet the Doom Slayer and his gang burst into the colorful world of Fall Guys well through three skins (Doom Guy, Cacodemon and Tyrant) and a temporary level.

GTA V x Mortal Kombat

This one is a bit special. This is not an official crossover, but an amazing mix introduced using a mod. These modifications made by the players have the wind in their sails and have made the good days of many titles. This is particularly the case of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, title holder of the most modded game, but also Resident Evil 2, Garry’s Mod or, GTA V. It is the latter, recording a significant number of mods, which interests us today. Some of the most popular mods include adding Battle Royale or Gang War mechanics (a la GTA: San Andreas), improvements of all kinds, new missions… and also improbable crossovers. Do you remember the scene where Michael discovers that his wife is cheating on him with the tennis teacher? Well a modder had fun at replace the two male characters with others from Mortal Kombat (Scorpion and Sub Zero respectively). A small modification which greatly amused one of the creators of the Mortal Kombat license and which you can discover below.

Jump Force

In June 2018 was held, as every year, Microsoft’s E3 conference. It was in particular the occasion for the publisher to unveil two major exclusives (Halo Infinite and Ori and the Will of the Wisps), to say a little more about the games then expected (in particular Forza Horizon 4) and to make some surprise announcements. This is the case of Jump Force that we did not see coming. Ultimate Shonen Jump manga crossover, this fighting game intended to fulfill the dream of many fans: have your favorite characters fight (from Naruto to Luffy, including Ryuk and Goku). Unfortunately, theory and practice sometimes do not mix. If the concept seemed interesting, the game was a big disappointment when it was released. Bandai Namco has tried somehow to update the game and add more and more new characters to revive the interest of players… but in vain. This is why the game will be withdrawn from sales from February 8th… Sad end for an unexpected and yet so promising crossover in the idea.

Madden NFL 21 x Spongebob

It was in January 2021 that Madden NFL 21, an American football simulation, unveiled a collaboration for the less surprising with the cartoon Spongebob. EA and Nickelodeon have thus signed a partnership to offer in-game decorative elements from the series. In the program : SpongeBob’s iconic pineapple house, Crispy Crab and an orange Nickelodeon airship. Of course, this crossover is not limited to mere decorations. Skins of all kinds and new modes with very specific physics are also included. Perhaps you dreamed of playing American football wearing Patrick l’Etoile de Mer’s colorful underpants. Well, thanks to this improbable crossover, it was possible to make this incongruous dream come true. Who would’ve believed that.

Monster Hunter x Metal Gear Solid

This one is a bit dated and yet it still sounds surprising today. In April 2010, Hideo Kojima first confirmed to us a collaboration between Metal Gear Solid and Assassin’s Creed (originally presented as an April Fool’s Day joke)…to outbid with an appearance of Big Boss and The Boss in Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. Responding to the sweet name of MHP3 x Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, this crossover also allowed players to discover new missions mixing, in an astonishing way, the two universes. Note that this is not the only improbable crossover of the Monster Hunter license. In 2017, Mega Man was invited to Monster Hunter World. A visibly winning combination since a new collaboration, this time with Monster Hunter Rise, saw the light of day last September.

• Monster Hunter Portable 3rd – December 1, 2010 (Japan) PS3 PSP

MultiVersus

We could have told you about an iconic game, gaming world’s biggest crossover: Super Smash Bros. . Well, that would have been too easy. Instead, we decided to look at a similar game that was announced last November by Warner Bros Games: MultiVersus. This unexpected Smash-like, scheduled for 2022, should feature epic battles between characters stamped Warner. As much as they promise to be numerous in view of all the franchises held by the American company. We should thus find characters from‘Adventure Time, Looney Tunes, DC Comics or Game of Thrones, while passing by Scooby-Doo. An improbable and five-star cast that has something to arouse curiosity. It remains to be seen if this game will finally succeed in challenging the great Super Smash Bros.

• MultiVersus – 2022 computer PS5 Xbox Series PS4 ONE

Sonic x The Legend of Zelda

In the 90s, video games revolved around two major manufacturers: Nintendo and Sega. The two Japanese companies have long pulled the plug with consoles and franchises to become the number one firm. As you probably know, Nintendo will win this long battle since Sega withdraws from the console market at the time of the explosion of Sony (very quickly followed by Microsoft). But despite everything the firm is far from resentful. Brought to develop games on Nintendo consoles, Sega began to work hand in hand with its former rival to develop some of its exclusives. It all started with F-Zero GX and then a surprising and predictable crossover: the meeting of the two mascots in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (which will become a full license). But a few years later, it’s another license from Nintendo that lands in the game Sonic Lost World for a surprise DLC: Zelda Zone. For the occasion, the blue hedgehog has put on his best Link costume to cross new levels in the colors of Hyrule.

Tekken x Final Fantasy

This has over time become standard for any fighting game: Season Passes and other DLCs gradually adding new characters to the game. And that, the big names in the genre have understood. In 2017, Tekken 7 was already going down this path by offering new fighters to embody in exchange for a few pennies. Hostilities began with Geese Howard from Fatal Fury. For a series of games centered on the martial arts, it is not surprising to see a character like him, who likes to talk his fists. But a swordsman, that’s rather unusual. Apart from Yoshimitsu, there are few swordsmen in the series. So when said swordsman comes from a license of another genre (Final Fantasy), it’s even more surprising. And yet, that’s what happened with the announcement of a second character DLC centered on Noctis Lucis Caelum, protagonist of Final Fantasy XV. And if we would have seen him more in a Sould Calibur, it is clear that the young prince defends himself rather well in Tekken 7.

And you ? Which crossovers surprised you the most?