Crossovers, in general, happen because of * Whispers* Money.
But when they’re done right, they can produce fun and exciting ideas that bring multiple
audiences together.
A crossover can make you interested in something new and exciting.
Adding new gameplay to a game you love and make a lasting impression of a fun time.
It can also be… bad.
So I’ve created a little guy to help measure how good a crossover can be.
Introducing the FISCH machine!!
It grades crossovers based on five criteria.
Fighting?: Fighting games settle those character battles that used to happen in the CBR Forums.
If it’s a fighting game, it will get bonus points!!
Integration: Does the crossover incident bring fun and exciting changes to its new environment?
Or is it yet another cosmetic skin?
Surprise!: Mountain Dew working with a first-person shooter isn’t surprising.
Mountain Dew working with Sea of Thieves to make a Dew-themed tall tale would be the essence
of “What?
Hell yeah!
What?
Corporate: Does this smell like someone in a business suit heard about it on Clubhouse
and wants to get a piece of the metaverse?
Corporate-y crossovers feel like synergistic moves from the shareholders rather than wish
fulfillment for the fans.
If it feels like John Business is telling me to do it, it’s losing points.
History: Crossovers can change the course of history in the best of ways... and the
worst of ways.
Now that the FISCH machine has analyzed the crossovers, we can put them in a tiered list,
which is the Internet’s favorite way of process information.
D-Tier Crossovers This tier feels like getting a Pepsi when
you ask for Coke and you ask multiple times.
Case in point: Subway X Uncharted
This crossover from 2011 tried to make Uncharted 3 fans go to a Subway for early access to
multiplayer.
The surprise factor was pretty high because, really, nobody saw this crossover coming.
But why would they?
The only brand integration was Nathan Drake doing a 5 dollar foot-long taunt in-game.
They could have at least had him climb a rickety ladder made of Italian herb and cheese rolls.
Extra points were gained for this being the first and last time Subway worked with Uncharted.
Bruce Lee X UFC Mario Vs. Link, Naruto Vs. Goku.
Martial arts legend Bruce Lee vs. noted asshole Conner MacGregor????
WHO WANTS This???
An EA suit wanted this!
I don’t know.
Businessman!!
Usually, these crossovers use fictional characters.
But in 2014, EA decided to take...a different approach:
Bruce Lee never did MMA, but he’s an ultimate fighter, so this scores points for fighting
and integration.
Too bad this crossover just can’t escape the soul-crushing corporate-ness of licensing
a dead person’s likeness for branded content.
C-Tier The C Tier is primarily surface-level crossovers
that have little to no memorability.
Sure, maybe they might have missed the mark – but at least they don’t feel like a
desperate attempt to sell sandwiches.
Fall Guys X Everything Sweet, sweet skins are the most common type
of crossover in video games.
As much as I love the beanification of characters like 2B and Alyx, the surprise wears off after
a while.
It feels like someone is wearing their favorite T-shirt every time I see it.
I get it, you like Mr. Beast.
They’re typically integrated pretty well — the Tron guy skin dropped during the ’80s
inspired season 4.
Skins from indie games such as Gato Roboto, Untitled Goose Game, and My Friend Pedro decrease
the corporate-ness levels a bit.
Fortnite X Everything Fortnite crossover skins are all over the
place, from Sarah Conner to Travis Scott, but all characters in the game still have
the same base skeleton.
Each part of the skin, such as the body, head, and backpack, has to work within those limits.
Batman and a werewolf have the same walk.
You can’t have an Air Bud skin because he doesn’t walk on two legs.
The dog can shoot from the mid-court and still can’t play Fortnite.
Points docked.
Sony X Sony Sony’s attempt at a Smash-like brought in
beloved characters from PlayStation IP to beat the living shit out of each other.
I don’t think anyone was asking if Killzone guy could beat Dante, but we got it anyway.
While the game felt like a crass corporate amalgamation of Sony’s greatest hits, each
character had a unique feel.
Kratos takes big meaty swings with the Blades of Chaos, PaRappa has music-based attacks,
and that kid from Ape Escape hits fools with his net.
As far as brand integration goes, this was pretty thoughtful.
But alas, it wasn’t enough to leave any sort of impact on gaming culture at large.
While many C-tier crossovers may be forgotten as time goes on, the next set will probably
stick around a little bit more.
B-Tier The B-Tier is composed of really cool crossovers
that didn’t really set the gaming world on fire but may have provided some great memories
for you and your friends.
Halo X Forza Halo’s notorious Warthog was added to Forza
Horizon 4’s Autovista feature, where you can hear a car pervert describe it with excruciating
detail.
The Halo-mobile was in the previous Forza games, but in Forza Horizon 4, you can drive
across virtual England as the Chief, with Halo sound effects and Banshees chasing you
to a landing zone.
Points for surprise!
And points for Integration because of excellent Warthog handling.
Halo X DOA Another Halo-flavored crossover is Spartan-458’s
appearance in Dead or Alive 4.
It’s the first time that Microsoft added a character based on the Halo series to a
fighting game.
Spartan-458 looks precisely like Master Chief but isn’t because Bungie and some nerds
are very protective of Halo’s lore.
So instead, they called an audible and created a character who was never seen again.
It’s very corporate, but it’s sort of surprising and answers the question: Can a
Spartan fight without a gun?
I know that B-tier was pretty short but from here on out its just straight bangers.
A-Tier A-Tiers crossovers understand the power of
a crossover.
They know that a good relationship takes work and mutual respect.
These typically score majorly high in integration, history, and surprise.
Corporate points are typically very low.
But exceptions can happen — like with our first entry, Marvel vs. Capcom.
Marvel X Capcom The Marvel / Capcom partnership was created
to keep Marvel Comics from going bankrupt by allowing it to license its characters to
Capcom.
It started in 1994 with X-Men: Children of the Atom then evolved into the Marvel vs Capcom
series, which continued to escalate as the two companies engaged in synergy….
The games have had a huge historical impact.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is one of the progenitors of the three-on-three battle we see in games
such as Skullgirls and Dragon Ball Fighterz.
But when Disney bought Marvel in 2009, it brought a more corporate edge to character
selection.
They removed the stable of X-men characters and brought in more heroes from the Marvel
Cinematic Universe.
Listen you just gotta bring back Storm and I’m right in the saddle.
Right there.
Dead by Daylight X Everything Dead by Daylight brought in a bunch of iconic
villains from both horror games and films.
And they weren’t just skins — they were fully developed characters with their own
unique abilities.
Let’s look at how Resident Evil’s Tyrant was integrated.
The big guy doesn’t have a rocket launcher, but you can use his gross tentacle to whip
survivors and infect them with blue goo.
You can also get your Ghostface on in the Racoon City police station, which the developer
tried to make as accurate as possible.
Unfortunately, IP rights are limited, so some of these characters could disappear as time
goes on.
Points are taken off due to the fluctuation of playable characters over time.
Monster Hunter X Final Fantasy Monster Hunter World’s Final Fantasy update
included the Cactuar, Dragoon armor, and a Moogle skin for your Palico.
This crossover scored points for thoughtful integration: The Behemoth feels like a completely
different fight than what Monster Hunter players are used to; more akin to an actual raid boss
in an MMO.
Monster Hunter World’s monsters telegraph attacks through tell animations.
The Behemoth covers Elder’s Recess with magic attacks like meteor and Car?
Char?
Charybdis….
The Behemoth covers Elder’s Recess with magical attacks like Meteor and Charybdis
bringing it more in line with its Final Fantasy counterpart.
The attacks require coordination to avoid specific moves like the ecliptic meteor.
Meanwhile, in Final Fantasy 14, Rathalos becomes a boss monster with Raid Boss tendencies,
including different phases of the fight and some Monster Hunter-like tells for when the
fireball is coming.
Also, pelting a Rathalos with ranged magic is hella satisfying.
Both crossovers were a huge surprise to fans.
The games aren’t similar, but they mesh perfectly.
S-Tier S-Tier crossovers fundamentally changed gaming
forever and should be the blueprint for all crossovers to come, WARNER.
Smash X Snake Snake showing up in Brawl was the beginning
of S-tier crossovers in Smash.
After the original Super Smash Brothers broke down barriers between Nintendo’s worlds,
the conversation turned to who would be next to smash.
Fans speculated about third-party characters, but nobody was ready for Snake.
Snake’s appearance thoughtfully integrated his canonical skills and tools and opened
the door for future guests.
Disney X Square Mixing Disney and JRPG elements seemed suspect,
but it turned out to be simple and clean.
Disney has a long history of flip-flopping in games.
In a matter of years, they went from Epic Mickey to just making branded candy crush
games.
But the Kingdom Hearts series has never wavered.
From its inception in the early aughts, every game has felt like a surprise.
And all of Disney’s acquisitions over the years — from Marvel to Star Wars to Pixar
— have laid new ground for even more worlds to explore in Kingdom Hearts.
If there’s a Kingdom Hearts 4, we could finally duel a shirtless Kylo Ren.
Outro Crossovers are at their best when they bring
new gameplay to a series you love.
One of the main reasons I got into Capcom fighting games was seeing Cyclops shoot Captain
Commando with his laser beams in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.
I’m kind of getting those same feelings when I look at Nicktoon All-Star Brawl.
A bunch of characters I do know and don’t know but they all come together to remind
me I really don’t have cable anymore.
So here’s hoping for another S-Tier Crossover.
Nigel Thornbrry mains, please rise for the national anthem.