Fatalities, Hyper-Combos and Ultimate Smash

The school-bell rings and I rush out of school in excitement. I hurry over to my friends house with spare controllers, games and snacks in tow. We would play Super Smash bros. for hours on end contemplating who the best player was and discussed the best superhero teams. Although we have seem many fighting games through the ages, I want to give my list of best fighting crossover games. These games represent an interest in a niche community of players who enjoy a diverse mix of characters from various comics, games, movies and more. This list is purely subjective, not in chronological order and does not have defined metrics of grading. I would recommend you play these games at some point and develop your opinion.

1. Street Fighter Vs. Tekken

Street Fighter Vs Tekken was released in 2012 with somewhat mixed reviews. The game hosted many characters from each universe and was moderate in play speed and simple with button commands. The downside was minimal combos for the Tekken characters. The 3D graphics were best in class at the time and overall a pretty fun time.

2. Super Smash Bros.

Probably the most notable of fighting crossovers is the Smash Bros. franchise. Initially released for Nintendo 64 in 1999, this game took the video game community by storm. There are several gaming conferences and tournaments for this game which hosts thousands of competitors trying to take the top crown. The game has grown to include characters from multiple franchises including, but not limited to: Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, etc. The controls are simple and developers placed great emphasis on character differentiation for moves and attributes. Personally, my favorite characters is Dr. Mario and Captain Falcon. The game has grown from an original roster of 12 characters to over 80 characters in it's latest installment Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo switch. This games is best in class and appropriate for all ages. Hands down one of the most historic games of our era.

3. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2

This is my personal favorite game on the list. I remember logging hundreds of hours perfecting my skill in this game. The game was introduced in 2000 and hosted 32 characters from the Capcom and now acclaimed Marvel cinematic universe. Gameplay was 3 on 3 with moderate button commands, quick gameplay and advanced combo parameters. Developing a strong team that synergize attacks and assists was key in winning. The 2D graphics were great and this was a fan favorite for the niche fighting game community for some years. Unfortunately, access to the game and reselling has become an issue to due to licensing and ownership conflicts on Marvel characters in the game. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was appropriate for all ages with no blood or gore and is still viewed as one of the best fighting games released. For any potential competitor's, my A- team is Captain Commando, Cyclops and Akuma.

4. Capcom Vs. SNK

Released in 2001, this action packed fast paced game hosted characters from King of Fighters and Street Fighter. Such players as Terry, Ryu, Ken, Zangief, Iori and Ryo were some of the playable characters. The game hosted power gauges in which you would charge special moves. Also, most characters had finisher combo's which was a plus as a-lot of other games did not host that in crossovers during that time. The 2D graphics were good at the time and was generally well received less some issues with countering and combo spamming.

5. Jump Force

As a recent release, Jump force hosts characters from several well known Anime and Manga such as Dragonball Z, Naruto, Bleach, etc. The game was taken with bad reviews although the gameplay is easy to use and pretty fun. The graphics were great although the storyline was lacking depth, it is still a great game to play online and verse various players in the gaming community. This is one of the few games in the list that hosted 3D open arena fighting.

6. Dead or Alive

Originally released in 1996, this franchise has grown to several games, hosted a movie production and serious acclaim in the fighting game community. With regards to this franchise and crossover characters, it is different due to exclusive character releases based on the system. Depending on the console you had, you were stuck with a particular character which was not received well by a-lot of the gaming community; Nevertheless, the gameplay was fun, quick paced and technical.

7. Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat has cemented itself in the fighting community over the years. Released in the 1990's, this game was the original mature content fighting game illustrating gore and graphic scenes of brutality. Over the years it has developed several games, movies, shows comics and crossovers. Mortal Kombat Vs. DC universe hosts the universes of Liu Kang and affiliates against the well known Justice League. Seeing Superman pitted against Shao Khan and others was a novel idea at the time. The gameplay is a little rough around the edges although it is fun with developed characters and stages. Fatalities are still hosted but to a lesser scale than compared to the new Mortal Kombat installments. The storyline is vague, but the fun was immersing yourself in the 1 on 1 against friends with these seemingly different character universes.

8. MUGEN

MUGEN is by far the most broadly based character fighting game. As a non traditional fighting game, you can customize and create characters. Originally created in the late 1990's to get various characters under one game, the old gaming engine allowed for limitless customization of characters and stages. It is a fun games with alot of options. Unlike the other games listed, MUGEN needs to be downloaded from the internet to run the base program and there are extensive libraries of characters that have been created over time. You can get characters such as Ronald Mcdonald, Homer Simpson, or Sheldon. The game has mixed reviews as is predisposed to having issues such as crashing; however, it is also viewed as one of the best games ever created.

I hope you enjoyed this brief list of crossover fighting games that I enjoyed as a kid and to this day!