The fighting game genre is filled with countless crossovers and guest characters. While series such as the Super Smash Bros. and Marvel Vs. Capcom franchises are built entirely around massive crossovers between properties, franchises like Soul Calibur and Mortal Kombat have become well known for their inclusion of guest characters from other franchises.
However, while there are several iconic fighting game crossovers, there are many that have flown under most players’ radars. Let’s examine ten of the more obscure fighting game cross-overs that have popped up in the history of fighting games that many players may have missed.
10 ClayFighter 63 ⅓
The third installment within the ClayFighter series, ClayFighter 63 ⅓ was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. A comedy-focused fighter like the rest of the ClayFighter series, while the game features numerous returning cast members from previous installments, it also has not one, but two guest characters in the form of Earthworm Jim and Boogerman.
As the game only features twelve playable characters, this meant that a decent percentage of the cast was made up of guests.
9 Divekick
A parody of the fighting game genre as a whole, Divekick is a game that only offers players two buttons: dive and kick. As hilarious as the game is, it is full of not just references to fighting game culture, but several guest characters.
In addition to featuring a playable nod to former Street Fighter developer, Seth Killian, the game features notable guests in the form of the Fencer from Nidhogg and even Johnny Gat from the Saints Row franchise.
8 Digimon Rumble Arena II
Released for the PS2, the Gamecube, and the original Xbox, Digimon Rumble Arena II is a platform fighter with similar gameplay to that of the Super Smash Bros. series. One of the main appeals of the game is its roster, which is made up of characters from the first four Digimon series as well as the Digimon movie.
This allows the game to function as a fighting game crossover of various separate series within the Digimon franchise, including mechanics such as digivolution that directly complement its cast.
7 Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
While the Capcom Vs. series is home to widely popular and cult classic games such as Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and SNK Vs. Capcom respectively, the franchise has also produced much more obscure entries. Perhaps the biggest outlier in the series is Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
Released exclusively for the Wii and in arcades, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is a crossover between a wide variety of Capcom properties and Tatsunoko, a Japanese animation studio. While the game features many Capcom characters that fans in the West would recognize, it features a wide variety of more niche characters from Tatsunoko series that date back as far as the ‘70s such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
6 Blade Strangers
A more recently released example, Blade Strangers is a traditional fighting game that features playable characters from a wide range of games released by smaller and indie developers. Home to a truly unpredictable patchwork of a roster, the game features combatants ranging from Shovel Knight and Quote from Cave Story to Isaac from the Binding of Isaac.
While the core gameplay of Blade Strangers is solid, one of the game’s main appeals is its cast and the various references found within each character’s moveset.
5 Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix is a lesser-known fighting game crossover released by Capcom, utilizing chibi redesigns of many of the publisher’s classic characters. Featuring characters from Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Red Earth, the game is heavily inspired by Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo that uses the same chibi redesigns.
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix is a very lighthearted game, featuring a significantly larger degree of RNG than most Capcom fighters due to its inclusion of items.
4 Battle Stadium D.O.N.
Released for the Gamecube and PS2 exclusively in Japan, Battle Stadium D.O.N. is a fighting game crossover that features characters from numerous Shonen Jump franchises; specifically Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto.
Like the previously mentioned Digimon Rumble Arena II, Battle Stadium D.O.N. is a multiplayer platform fighter that can be experienced by up to four players at once. The game was not released in the West, despite the popularity of the involved franchises.
3 Capcom Fighting Evolution
Capcom Fighting Evolution was released for the PS2 in 2004, utilizing characters from several sprite-based Capcom fighting games. The roster has playable characters from several different Street Fighter games, Darkstalkers, Red Earth, and a single original fighter in the form of Ingrid.
While the game featured characters from several games, repurposing pre-existing sprite work, Capcom Fighting Evolution received poor reception as many characters were seemingly stripped-down versions of themselves, lacking various moves in their arsenals.
2 NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
Effectively SNK’s equivalent to Capcom Fighting Evolution, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum is a crossover fighter that features a roster made up of characters from several SNK series. Originally released for the PS2 in 2005, the cast featured characters from Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Metal Slug, and many more.
As for gameplay, the game utilized a team combat much like one that would be found in Marvel Vs. Capcom.
1 DreamMix TV World Fighters
Released exclusively in Japan for the Gamecube and PS2, DreamMix TV World Fighters is a crossover game with perhaps the most insane playable roster of any video game.
Featuring playable characters from Hudson, Konami, and Takara, the game’s roster is a bizarre mishmash that consists of the likes of Solid Snake, Simon Belmont, Bomberman, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Tyson, the protagonist of the original Beyblades anime. DreamMix TV World Fighters didn’t make it to the West, perhaps because only about half of its characters are well known outside of Japan. Since this crossover fighter was released in 2003, Solid Snake appeared in DreamMix TV World Fighters long before making his Super Smash Bros. debut.
