Most Wanted Capcom Crossovers

After entering the console space in 2001, Microsoft quickly established themselves as a major player in the industry. Although they haven’t been crowned the de facto “winner” of any generation, they have a loyal fanbase and have sold more consoles than industry giants like Atari and Sega. Despite their success, Microsoft hasn’t spawned many iconic characters. Master Chief is an obvious exception, Minecraft Steve has become one of gaming’s most recognizable figures, and it would be fun to see Marcus Fenix outside of his usual environment, but there are other characters beneath the surface that deserve more attention. Microsoft obviously has no idea what to do with Banjo or Conker, so maybe Capcom could breathe new life into them. The Battletoads have also been poorly managed. Blinx wasn’t the mascot Microsoft was looking for, but his ability to control time might be interesting in a fighting game. Microsoft has been trying to reboot Phantom Dust for years with little progress, so the added exposure in a Capcom crossover title might rile up the fans. On a similar note, the inclusion of B. Orchid or Fulgore could get more eyeballs on Killer Instinct. Without question, the character I’d most like to see is the Abominable Snow Monster from SkiFree. Any revision of the character should obviously retain his stick limbs, and his near-invincibility would make him an ideal final boss.

Vanillaware is the new kid on the block as far as this list is concerned, and they don’t have as many franchises to their name as the other companies on this list. That being said, their dedication to 2D games is admirable. The fantasy-inspired art style employed by their games is unmistakable, and their character designs are so distinct that you could tell they were from a Vanillaware game even if you had never seen them before. Video game characters are often idealized to a certain extent, but you rarely see designs that are as exaggerated as the ones found in Vanillaware games. Chun-Li’s powerful thighs have nothing on the Amazon from Dragon’s Crown, and the Sorceress’ bustline makes Rose look woefully inadequate. It would be interesting to see Capcom’s characters drawn in a similar style, and it could be equally fascinating to see toned-down versions of Vanillaware characters. Kisuke and Momohime from Muramasa would be right at home in a combo-centric fighting game, and Gwendolyn and Velvet from Odin Sphere would be obvious choices as well. I reckon that nearly any Vanillaware character would work well in a Capcom fighting game. Vanillaware isn’t as well-known as the other companies on this list, but a Capcom crossover title could give them the exposure they deserve.

I remember playing Darkstalkers and Street Fighter Alpha in the mid ’90s and being blown away by the anime style they adopted. Capcom took a step forward with games like Street Fighter III and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but I didn’t see the evolution I was hoping for in the decades that followed. Capcom’s fighting games still looked great, but they didn’t challenge themselves in the same way that Arc System Works did. (If you compare Sailor Moon on the SNES to Dragon Ball FighterZ, you’ll understand the extent of their progress.) Guilty Gear and BlazBlue are frequently mentioned on this site, and you could easily fill the ASW side of the roster from these two franchises alone. There would be so many match-ups I’d like to see – like Rachel vs. Morrigan or I-No vs. Juri – and it would be wonderful to see Capcom return to an anime art style. It should be noted that Arc System Works and Capcom have a history. ASW developed Sengoku Basara X for them in 2008, and one of their first games was Code Name: Viper on the NES. The prospect of the companies teaming up again in the future isn’t entirely unrealistic.

Between Kingdom Hearts, Brave Exvius, and Dissidia Square Enix is no stranger to the crossover concept. They mostly focus on the Final Fantasy series in this regard, but I’d like to see a game that showcases the entire Square Enix pantheon. The match-ups would pretty much write themselves. Could Sabin keep up with Ken and Ryu? How would Terra’s Magitek armor hold up against Tron Bonne’s Gustaf? Would Dante’s experience hunting demons prepare him for an opponent like Magus? On the other side of the coin, I think Mike Haggar from Final Fight and Pankraz from Dragon Quest V would make excellent tag team partners. The eponymous heroes from Thexder and Brave Fencer Musashi would be obvious choices to include in the game, as would Aya Brea from Parasite Eve. There would also be an opportunity to draw from IPs like Deus Ex and NieR. I’d like to imagine that Cammy and 2B would join forces to form Team Leotard.

Sony has already given the crossover fighting genre the ol’ college try, but PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was pretty disappointing. The game had a number of issues – it’s disappointing roster not being the least of which. Sony has been the market leader through multiple generations, and they have a wide varieties of IPs to draw from. On one hand, they have violent characters like Kratos and Sweet Tooth. On the other, comical characters like PaRappa the Rapper and Fat Princess appeal to completely different audiences. This range of Sony-owned franchises is almost unparalleled, and this variety would lend itself well to a crossover title. Most of the characters from PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale deserved to be on the roster, and it would be hard to take issue with the inclusion of Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Sackboy, Nariko, or Kat. At the same time, there were a number of glaring omissions. You’d expect at least one Team Ico character to make the cut, and the PlayStation 1 era was basically snubbed. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro were noticeably absent, and poor Robbit from Jumping Flash! was overlooked as well. The character I’d most like to see in a Capcom crossover is obviously Tomba. How fun would it be to see Tomba square off against Blanka? As the brainchild of Tokuro Fujiwara, Tomba! was created by one of Capcom’s most influential designers. As such, it would feel like a homecoming if the pink-haired wildman showed up in a Capcom game.

Step right up and come on in, here’s where the fun begins! Disney owns Marvel, so we technically have already seen a Capcom crossover featuring Disney characters. For the purpose of this list, I’ll focus only on Disney’s animation studios rather than including other Disney owned IPs. It would feel like I was cheating if I mentioned Marvel, Star Wars, and the Muppets here. Capcom has a history of making fantastic games based on Disney properties, and it would be nice to see this relationship revisited. Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Aladdin, the Little Mermaid, and Mickey Mouse are just a handful of Disney characters who have been playable in past Capcom games. There’s nearly a century’s worth of characters to draw from, however, and I’d love to see them get the Capcom treatment. Peter Pan, the Beast, Hercules, Stitch, and Pinocchio would be interesting to play as, and it would be fun to see villains like Maleficent, Jafar, Hades, and Captain Hook interacting with Capcom’s all-stars. Disney’s not likely to endorse a traditional fighting game, so I’d imagine the final product would be more comical and lighthearted than most games in the genre.

Sega is another company that has embraced the spirit of crossovers. Sega All-Stars Racing, Sega Superstars, and Segagaga feature characters from various Sega games, and they’ve even released their own fighting game crossover with Fighters Megamix. I’d love to see Capcom’s take on well-known characters like Alex Kidd and Wonder Boy, and it would be great if overlooked characters like Kid Chameleon and Chakan were given another chance to shine. It would be relatively easy for Capcom to adopt characters from fighting games like Virtua Fighter and Eternal Champions, but I’d be more interested to see how they deal with off-the-wall characters like Toejam and Earl. There are so many showdowns I’d love to see. NiGHTS and Red Arremer could take to their fight to the skies, Shinobi and Strider could have epic ninja battles, and the transforming warriors from Altered Beast would be the perfect foil for the Darkstalkers roster. Who wouldn’t want a front row seat to a dance battle between Vanessa from P.N.03 and Ulala from Space Channel 5?

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is an anthology magazine that features serialized manga series. Anyone who has the slightest interest in manga or anime will likely be familiar with Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto, but SHONEN JUMP dates back to the 1960s and has featured hundreds of series. Jump Ultimate Stars (released for the Nintendo DS in 2006) had over 300 characters, and its roster wasn’t exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination. It would be difficult to limit the SHONEN side of the roster down to a reasonable number, but there are a number of interesting matches I’d like to see take place in a theoretical Capcom crossover. Do Vergil’s sword skills stack up against Roronoa Zoro? Could Zangief out-wrestle Kinnikuman? Does Goku have any hope of defeating the great Dan Hibiki? A SHONEN crossover would be a great opportunity for Capcom to explore lesser-known characters. I didn’t recognize half of the characters in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but this only made the game more intriguing. In contrast, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite came across as a thinly-veiled attempt to promote the Marvel cinematic universe. I’d much rather see a healthy mix of the iconic and the obscure.

I know Nintendo already has their own crossover fighting franchise, and Super Smash Bros. is arguably more popular than Capcom’s Vs. line. At the same time, Nintendo’s take on the genre was so unique that some people argue that Smash isn’t even a real fighting game. Although it can be highly competitive, it also lends itself to a party atmosphere and is designed with casual audiences in mind. It would be interesting to see Nintendo characters in a traditional fighting game with traditional play mechanics. Just imagine how different if would feel if you had to perform a quarter-circle motion in order for Mario to throw a fireball. One of the most interesting things about a potential crossover between Capcom and Nintendo would be the prospect of Nintendo characters being drawn in a new art style. With respect to the roster, Capcom could pretty much take inspiration from Smash for the most part. That said, it could be a great opportunity to highlight characters that haven’t yet been featured in a fighting game.

Western publishers like EA, Activision, Valve, and Ubisoft are industry juggernauts, but Capcom and Konami are the first companies that spring to mind when I think third-party developers. The companies started making games at around the same time, and it has been amazing to watch them evolve in lockstep with each other from the 8-bit era and beyond. Konami has been responsible for legendary franchises like Castlevania, Contra, and Metal Gear, so it wouldn’t take long to fill their side of a roster in a crossover fighting game. When you compare characters like Pyramid Head and Goemon, you start to understand the range that Konami has as a company. I’d love to see Sir Arthur square off against Sparkster, it would be great to see classic characters like Frogger and Pentarou again, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Ebisumaru and Poison would be best of friends. A crossover title could also be the perfect venue to highlight the Hudson characters that Konami now owns. The inclusion of Bonk, Master Higgins, and Bomberman would be the perfect gift for TurboGrafx fanboys. Capcom and Konami have both made their fair share of mistakes, but it would be incredible if a single game could come along and remind us of why we love them in the first place.