Multi-franchise games

I have been playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl and it got me thinking how multi-franchise gaming cross-overs evolved over the years. There have been an increasing number of them since the original N64 Super Smash Bros. in 1999, everything from Dream Mix TV World Fighters, Itadaki Street, Namco x Capcom to Pac-Man appearing in Mario Kart Arcade GP.

Pac-Man himself was the first popular video game character so I think he could considered the first step. This lead to other companies creating their own cartoony characters in the 'early 80s.

Pac-Man was also significant for (as far as I can tell) pioneering the cross-franchise cameo. The Galaxian flagship appears in the game, and in other Namco games like Dig Dug.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...20Galaxian.gif

Also worth mentioning is the cartoon show Saturday Supercade which first aired in 1983. While not a game, it did sort of bring together video game characters from different companies: Konami's Frogger, Gottlieb's Q*bert, Nintendo's Donkey Kong, Activision's Pitfall Harry, etc.


It wasn't long until various companies had their own "stables" of heroes and villians from several games and genres. The number of cameos increased throughout the '80s.

A 1987 example of several franchise cameos from a single company in a game (Sega's Quartet for SMS) -
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...t%20hidden.gif

I can't think of cross gaming franchise cameos involving multiple companies from back then except for Pac-Man's appearance in 1987's International Karate + which I assume System 3 put in without Namco's permission. Given its iconic nature, it wouldn't surprise me if Pac-Man appeared in an earlier non-Namco game.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/.../ik+%20pac.bmp

1988 was hugely important in the evolution of multi-franchise games because of Konami Wai Wai World for the Famicom. It was a platform game which included playable characters, worlds, and music from several earlier Konami creations (Castlevania, Gradius, Antarctic Adventure, Goemon, etc.) and from movie-licensed games (King Kong, The Goonies).
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...worldcover.jpg
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...nami%20wai.gif

It's too bad the game and its sequel were stuck in Japan. Western 8-bit consoles didn't get exposed to games with the same degree of multi-franchising, only stuff like Alex Kidd in Shinobi World which combined two game universes.

I might be forgetting something but the earliest example I can think of combining franchises from different companies is Battletoads & Double Dragon, a 1993 beat 'em up originally for the NES but with Genesis, SNES, and Game Boy versions released soon afterwards. It was developed by Rare, the makers of Battletoads. Technos (the original Double Dragon creator) wasn't involved in its development.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...ble%20snes.bmp

The earliest Nintendo example that comes to mind is Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! for the Game Boy which mixes Wario with Hudson's Bomberman franchise.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/..._bomberman.jpg

Seeing that it's in the fighting genre, Sega's 1996 Saturn game Fighters Megamix was the closest thing to Smash Bros. at the time in many ways. It was mostly a mix of Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers but also had unlockable characters from Sonic The Fighters (which included Dynamite Dux dudes), Virtua Cop 2, Rent a Hero, and Daytona USA.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/hosted/...%20Megamix.jpg

Nintendo had been putting various Mario universe characters together in games for years (Super Mario Kart, Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, Mario's Tennis on VB, etc.) so the logical progression was to expand to other Nintendo franchise characters and then to include "museum" aspects like had been becoming more common in compilations like Namco Museum. I'm surprised Super Smash Bros. wasn't made sooner.
http://www.enregistrersous.com/image...e93978d49a.jpg

Anyway, it's something I think could be interesting to discuss. Did I overlook any important games in the evolution of pre-Smash Bros. titles that involve combining multiple franchises? I probably did. Talk about anything related to the topic.

You forgot King of Fighters.

I would have loved a Smash Bros. on the SNES. Never played the N64 rev, and the gameplay hasn't "clicked" for me, no matter how obsessed with it everyone seems to be.

I remembered KOF last night when I started the topic but forgot to add it in today. Good call.

Capcom has been mashing up franchises since the dawn of time. MvC2 is my favorite :)

I got a kick out of Arthur and Son Son among others being in it.

I left out the original Marvel vs. Street Fighter because I was avoiding comic and other non-gaming crossovers but there have been some great ones for Robocop vs. Terminator and Alien vs. Predator.

Tons of games have little cameos, like Mario popping up in everything or Chun Li and Guile in the bg of Final Fight 2.

As far as "playable" crossover characters from multiple franchises, Parodius (and the sequels!) should get a mention, as well as Space Invaders '95.

On that shooter note, Star Parodier (Star Soldier with Bomberman) is another great one although it's not as old as Parodius.

It occurs that Killer Instinct really missed out by not having a playable Samus in there as a secret character.

i was wondering about killer instinct. one of my favorite characters, saberwulf looked similar to the blue monster from the rare developed games of the same name, would he count?

Cameos:
Chun li in breath of fire 2.
Link in Supermario RPG.