Nobody makes crazy crossover games quite like Japan. With everything from Smash Brothers and Street Fighter X Tekken to unexpected collaborations like Pokémon Conquest and the recently announced Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, the Japanese love to cram different casts of characters together and see what comes out. What would happen if we added a bunch of Western titles into the mix? Here are some of the possible results:
Rayman Invades The Sims
The main thing Rayman and The Sims have in common is the funny gibberish language their characters (at least in recent Rayman outings) speak. This crossover could be a bit like Dungeon Keeper in the suburbs, with Rayman characters and Rabbids doing their best to bring jolly chaos into the tidy world of the Sims before being cleaned or fixed out of existence.
Grand Theft Mako
Once the Reapers are defeated, you don’t think everyone in the universe is going to start holding hands and singing songs, do you? Let’s take the open world experts from Rockstar and lend them the writers from BioWare to create a tale of crime in the Mass Effect universe. A GTA game would be awfully fun with spaceship chases and a drug-running, contract-killing underworld composed of various alien races, wouldn’t it? Plus, a customizable main character à la BioWare would finally give us ladies the chance to play a female lead in a GTA game.
God Hand of War
This one is for all you fans of the controversial PlayStation 2 classic, God Hand. Having killed all the gods, Kratos finds the world beset by demons, who steal his powers and render him incapable of touching metal. Armed only with the power of his own fists, Kratos must punch, punch, punch his way to victory.
Tomb Raider: Uncharted
Who doesn’t want to see Lara Croft and Nathan Drake kick ass and exchange witty banter? These two series were tailor-made for a crossover full of impressive set-pieces and archaeological puzzles. Playing Lara and Nathan co-op would be a blast, too.
StarCraft: Netherworld
StarCraft’s story is generally extremely serious. This is why we’re looking to cross it over with Disgaea, possibly the least serious game world ever concocted. Can you fight off a Zerg rush with tanks that shoot explosive Prinnies? Who will win as a scrappy army of humans and demons faces off against the might of the Protoss and angels, who seek to bring boring orderly lawfulness to the delightfully chaotic Netherworld? The concept is entirely ridiculous, which is why it’s perfect for a crossover game.
Band Hero X Rock Band: Battle of the Bands
Since the plastic instrument genre has basically been run into the ground, why not take some chances? It’d be great to have access to the entire library of licensed songs from both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in one game. In addition, the one thing that karaoke has that these games lack is the opportunity for mass public humiliation. Why not allow players to film their real-life performances with Kinect and post their own music videos to a social network-style site? Players could gain points toward unlocking band accessories by voting on head-to-head performances, encouraging bands to dress up and really rock out.
Sly Cooper & Star Fox: Black Ops
This anthropomorphic animal crossover would keep Star Fox in the air and Sly Cooper on the ground, where both of them belong. These two fluffy-tailed lads would surely be bros for life, both working outside the law in order to bring down an intergalactic threat. Star Fox would run the initial mission, clearing areas of massive defenses and threats from the sky. Then Sly and his gang could do the infiltration work to shut down the bad guys for good.
The Elder Scrolls: Minecraft
Why can’t Mojang and Bethesda just get along? Instead of fighting in court over “Scrolls,” let’s have the two companies create an exploration and building game set in the gorgeous HD world of the Elder Scrolls series. It’d probably take more processing power than current PCs can muster, but the beauty of the scenery and the frightening experience of being chased by a pack of HD Creepers tamed by Argonian bandits would add up to sandbox gaming that nobody would ever forget.
PerXona
The X-Men could really use a game series that does for them what the Arkham games did for Batman. X-Games have so far focused largely on action combat, missing the core interpersonal aspects of the series. Instead of starring in an action game, the X-Men are perfectly suited for an RPG/social simulator a la Persona 3 and 4. Sinister forces are behind demonic activity in the United States, and talented young mutants must save the world, discover their inner strength in order to manifest their powers, and balance their social and love lives. It’s perfect!
Pokémon Vs. Predator
The Pokémon franchise has a dark side, as anybody who has read the in-game descriptions of ghost-type Pokémon can attest, and there are more than a few Poké-fans who would love to play a more action-packed game with their favorite pocket monsters. How about replacing the Colonial Marines in Aliens Vs. Predator (after the PC classic, not the mediocre console follow-up) with Pokémon masters for some beast-filled FPS fun? Imagine being able to pull an Alien off the ceiling with a Tentacruel’s tentacles or use your Charizard to charbroil a pesky Predator. Good times.