7 gaming crossovers more ambitious than Thanos in Fortnite

Mashups more powerful than all the Infinity Stones combined.

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.

Associate Editor

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video games stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry@moonrock.biz, or catch him on Twitter.

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