Top 5 Game Crossovers

With Lost Planet 2's release date only a few months away, many gamers have already heard about the cameo appearances in the game. For multiplayer, players who are sick of the LP2 characters can opt instead to play as Albert Wesker, the mastermind from Resident Evil. Owners of the Xbox 360 version can also play as Marcus and Dom from the Gears of War series.

There's been a lot of 'discussion' on the internet over the inclusion of the characters. Some find their inclusion to be ridiculous or unbelievable, or a shallow marketing scam. Others, like myself, don't mind the extra fan service of having characters from other games appear.

But love it or hate it, cameo crossovers have been around for almost as long as gaming itself. So I decided to look back at some of my favorite games that had cool cameo crossovers, and these were my top 5:

1. Soul Calibur 2 - Link
This is an easy choice for the top spot. Each console's version of Soul Calibur 2 had its own exlcusive character, but the GameCube version was a no-brainer. Link looked better than ever before, and played just as well. Many considered his mix of short and longe range attacks 'cheap,' which just means they were too lame to put down the Hyrulian. Soul Calibur IV almost toppled this cameo by including the almighty Darth Vader, but the widespread appeal of the green-clad hero still wins out.

2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - Darth Maul
The highlight of the Tony Hawk series. After a skateboarding game includes Darth Maul, where else can it possibly go? Sure the game also featured Wolverine and a cast of crazy characters (like a magical hobo?), but the Sith Lord slaughtered the competition (literally, with his lightsaber). And the acrobatic badass wasn't just a new skin: he had his own force-powered special moves, a hovering wheel-less board, and of course his dual-bladed saber.

3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Solid Snake & Sonic
Super Smash Bros. was a series founded on crossovers, as its earliest ad campaigns showed (remember the big stuffed Pikachu & Mario in the field of flowers, skipping along and then suddenly pummeling each other?). But the first two iterations of the game featured Nintendo-only characters, which for a fighting game isn't much of a crossover. In Brawl Nintendo stunned the world with its inclusion of Solid Snake (from Metal Gear Solid) and the blue hedgehog. We don't know how the contract deals got approved for this, but we praise the gods of gaming. For Snake at least.

4. Dead or Alive 4 - Spartan 458
While DoA4 may not be the ultimate fighting game that its designer claims it to be, the game was good. And the best part came late in the game as an unlock: a playable Spartan II, dubbed Nicole, pulled straight from the Halo universe. Nicole looked intimidating in 7 costume variations, was the only character in the game to speak English, and was the best chick to fight as. Fast and powerful, this crossover character went the Link route of being overpowered fun. Nicole was the #1 reason to get DoA4.

5. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - George Lucas' Car
Ok, so technically this isn't a crossover game character, as I don't believe Lucas' car had a game of its own, but I really didn't want to include Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe on this list. And nobody can deny how sexy George's vintage convertible looks in space. It even had fully-functioning Star Wars weaponry, making it more than just eye candy. The only thing lacking was a custom soundtrack while you cruised in the car, like the snazzy jazz ensemble from the cantina scene.


So that's the best 5 I can come up with, but I'm sure there are a lot more out there. Any of mine that you disagree with? Any cool ones I missed? Think Marcus and Dom belong in Lost Planet 2?

- Scott