Post by Nester the Lark on Sept 30, 2017 15:36:48 GMT -5
With Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle having come out recently, I was thinking about how a lot of Nintendo crossover games seem a little strange and random. Looking back, there are actually more than I realized, and they go back quite a ways.
I'm referring specifically to full franchise crossovers between Nintendo and a third-party. I'm not talking about Nintendo doing crossovers with their own franchises (Smash Bros), or simple cameos of third-party characters in Nintendo games (Sonic in Smash Bros) or Nintendo characters in third-party games (Link in Soul Calibur II). I'm also not counting third-party games with a Nintendo theme (Fire Emblem Warriors, Kirby's Avalanche).
Here are the ones I'm aware of:
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch)
Crossover: Mario x Rabbids (Ubisoft)
Mario charactes with Ubisoft's Rabbids in an Xcom-style turn-based strategy game.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U)
Crossover: Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei (Atlus)
Basically, Fire Emblem characters in a Shin Megami Tensei-style RPG, but with pop idols.
Pokémon Conquest (DS)
Crossover: Pokémon x Nobunaga's Ambition (Koei Tecmo)
A turn-based strategy game that I'm guessing leans more towards the Nobunaga's Ambition style than Pokémon, but I don't really know much about this one. Frankly, I'm a little surprised it got localized.
Fortune Street (Wii)
Crossover: Mario x Dragon Quest (Square Enix)
Part of the Itadaki Street series, this is the only one to feature both Mario and Dragon Quest characters, and the first to be released outside of Japan. It's a video board game somewhat like a mix of Mario Party and Monopoly - exactly what you would think of in a crossover between Mario and Dragon Quest.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, Wii U, DS, 3DS)
Crossover: Mario x Sonic (Sega)
Now this is a crossover that makes some sense, although the involvement of the Olympics still seems like Sega just had the license sitting around and wanted to use it for something.
Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES)
Crossover: Dr. Mario x Tetris (licensed from ELORG at the time)
Another one that makes sense being that Dr. Mario is one of a million Tetris clones. Now I'm waiting for Puyo Puyo Dr. Mario just to complete the triangle.
Wario Blast (Game Boy)
Crossover: Wario x Bomberman (Hudson Soft)
Despite his name in the title, this one really is more of a glorified cameo of Wario in a Bomberman game.
Anyway, I'm not sure there's much of a discussion to be had here, unless there are more I'm not aware of. It just seemed interesting to me how strange some of these crossovers are. You would think there would be more obvious ideas, like a racing game that mixes F-Zero and Wipeout, or Fire Emblem mixed with another turn-based strategy RPG.
I'm referring specifically to full franchise crossovers between Nintendo and a third-party. I'm not talking about Nintendo doing crossovers with their own franchises (Smash Bros), or simple cameos of third-party characters in Nintendo games (Sonic in Smash Bros) or Nintendo characters in third-party games (Link in Soul Calibur II). I'm also not counting third-party games with a Nintendo theme (Fire Emblem Warriors, Kirby's Avalanche).
Here are the ones I'm aware of:
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch)
Crossover: Mario x Rabbids (Ubisoft)
Mario charactes with Ubisoft's Rabbids in an Xcom-style turn-based strategy game.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U)
Crossover: Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei (Atlus)
Basically, Fire Emblem characters in a Shin Megami Tensei-style RPG, but with pop idols.
Pokémon Conquest (DS)
Crossover: Pokémon x Nobunaga's Ambition (Koei Tecmo)
A turn-based strategy game that I'm guessing leans more towards the Nobunaga's Ambition style than Pokémon, but I don't really know much about this one. Frankly, I'm a little surprised it got localized.
Fortune Street (Wii)
Crossover: Mario x Dragon Quest (Square Enix)
Part of the Itadaki Street series, this is the only one to feature both Mario and Dragon Quest characters, and the first to be released outside of Japan. It's a video board game somewhat like a mix of Mario Party and Monopoly - exactly what you would think of in a crossover between Mario and Dragon Quest.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, Wii U, DS, 3DS)
Crossover: Mario x Sonic (Sega)
Now this is a crossover that makes some sense, although the involvement of the Olympics still seems like Sega just had the license sitting around and wanted to use it for something.
Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES)
Crossover: Dr. Mario x Tetris (licensed from ELORG at the time)
Another one that makes sense being that Dr. Mario is one of a million Tetris clones. Now I'm waiting for Puyo Puyo Dr. Mario just to complete the triangle.
Wario Blast (Game Boy)
Crossover: Wario x Bomberman (Hudson Soft)
Despite his name in the title, this one really is more of a glorified cameo of Wario in a Bomberman game.
Anyway, I'm not sure there's much of a discussion to be had here, unless there are more I'm not aware of. It just seemed interesting to me how strange some of these crossovers are. You would think there would be more obvious ideas, like a racing game that mixes F-Zero and Wipeout, or Fire Emblem mixed with another turn-based strategy RPG.