While this may not be a fighter, but thanks to Capcom’s versus series, as the years passed, the notion of crossovers just expanded. Project X Zone (with the X being read as “cross”) is a spiritual follow-up to Namco X Capcom from 2005, and this game features various characters from Capcom, Sega, and Namco to become something of a mix between a fighter and a tactical RPG, similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. While the characters in tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics are separated individually, many of the characters come in pair units such as Jin and Kazuya from Tekken, Reiji and Xiaomu from Namco X Capcom, Chris and Jill from Resident Evil, and so on.

The game features other numerous characters that are obscure to Western gamers such as Sakura Taisen, which was a hit in Japan between the 1990s and 2000s. Though Project X Zone 2 is rather simple, it is mostly a fan service game to those who love the featured franchises or a great gateway to Tactical RPGs. Many of the moves the characters use from their original games are utilized and easy to pull off in conjunction with the functions of this game. A majority of its novelty is how these characters from the various franchises interact with each other for some novel comedy. Is Phoenix Wright being hired to represent Heihachi from Tekken? What’s there not to love? While some fans may think it’s absurd to try such a thing, this game embraces its absurdity for more fun! Last, we highly recommend the intro that makes you believe it could work as an anime.

Initially debuting in the late 90s for the Nintendo 64, Nintendo’s Smash Bros initially started as a game where characters of Nintendo’s hit games got together and duked it out. As the series progressed, it started to include characters from series outside of Nintendo’s established franchises. Eventually, the series started to include characters such as Sonic, Bayonetta, Megaman, Pac-Man, Ryu from Street Fighter, and Cloud from Final Fantasy VII. You can’t get any bigger crossover than this! Like previous Smash Bros installments, fights can be one-on-one, two-on-two, or you can have four-player brawl where it’s every man and woman fo themselves!

While some fighting games can be complex, Smash Bros is easy to get into and the controls aren’t that complicated. In some instances, it plays like a Royal Rumble that you’d see in the WWE where the goal is to get your opponent out of the ring and requires an unorthodox sense of strategy where floating and hyper jumping can come into play. And due to the layouts of the stages, how you use them also can factor in both for you and against you. Even with these features, anybody can play! So if you want Mario and Sonic to go toe-to-toe, this is your chance!

Serving as an installment to Guilty Gear’s XX series, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus gives fighting game players the intense gameplay they are looking for that matches that of Marvel vs. Capcom. While it has some of that intensity, it artistically brings something more dynamic with its anime quality graphics and designs.

If you want high-strung combos and can jump into the air by defying gravity, this game can offer that while still giving players something different. While this game has its own unique system, its training mode and tutorial give newbies opportunities to familiarize themselves with the game before they play the story mode or play against other players. And to top things off, its PSP release has 3-on-3 tag battles just like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and 3!

Shortly after Capcom popularized tag-team fighting, Namco broke into that feature by releasing Tekken Tag Tournament, a crossover of every character featured from the first three Tekken games. For the most part, try to imagine playing Tekken 3 but with tag-team fighting. While it isn’t as gimmicky as Marvel vs. Capcom, having the novelty of a father/son rivalry like Jin and Kazuya as a team fighting against Heihachi was something fresh for its time. Though it is tag-team, it does have some distinct differences beyond one being 2D and the other being 3D. While Capcom’s versus series has the gimmick of “fight to the last man standing”, Tekken Tag takes a different approach by using a rounded system.

Unfortunately, when one person is knocked out (and still have another man to use), it’s game over. For some players, it could be rather frustrating but requires a different mindset. In addition, it doesn’t really emphasize that much on double teams in the way Marvel vs. Capcom does but once you understand the flow of the game, the double team grapples can be pretty useful though they are not that flashy as Marvel vs. Capcom’s super double teams.

For the longest time, while Marvel vs. Capcom was gaining popularity, many fans discussed and joked about the possibility of a Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game. And in 2008, that just happened. Even though this game is officially a crossover, Midway still considers this game to be an official installment of the Mortal Kombat franchise. While X-Men vs. Street Fighter, the inaugural installment of Marvel vs. Capcom, takes its influence from Street Fighter Alpha and X-Men: Children of the Atom, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a game that takes solely from Mortal Kombat’s pre-existing engine of being combo and violent oriented, and functions more like a 3D fighter as opposed to a 2D fighter.

Considering Mortal Kombat’s notorious controversy, some thought the idea of having such a mash-up was ridiculous. But in some ways, the game does embrace it. And out of respect for DC’s policies that heroes don’t kill their villains, as opposed to fatalities, the DC heroes have finishers called heroic brutalities where they can savagely dish some damage without having to kill, but its cast of villains are not subjected to this rule. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t really emphasize on tag battle and if that’s your thing, this may not be for you. But if you still enjoy one-on-one battles, this may work for you. Thanks to this game, it paved way for Midway to make their acclaimed Injustice games.

While Marvel vs. Capcom was gaining traction, dedicated fans of both SNK and Capcom’s fighters badly wanted a versus of these two fighting game giants. While there was an SNK vs. Capcom released by SNK on the Neo Geo Pocket prior to the release of Capcom vs. SNK, it only became a cult hit due to the handheld not gaining any traction outside of Japan. But finally, in 2000, players got their wish when Capcom vs. SNK was released. While the first game uses the four button layout of SNK games as opposed to the six button layout in Capcom fighters (though six buttons would be introduced in the second game), it still allows veterans and newbies to choose between the gameplay mechanics of SNK fighters and/or Capcom fighters. Some options include the choice to charge up your super combo meter like in King of Fighters ’94, while there are others that have a three-layer meter that is built up by dishing or delivering damage like in Street Fighter Alpha.

Since both King of Fighters and Marvel vs. Capcom are famous for team battles, Capcom vs. SNK uses a rating system ranging from 1 to 4 for team building. So depending on the ranking, a player could use 4 fighters ranked 1, or 2 fighters ranked 2. Due to being more grounded with the original Street Fighter and King of Fighters series, the game does not use hyper-gravitational mid-air fighting mechanics and does not use tag battles. Instead, it’s a fight to the end kind of system like in King of Fighters. So if you’re more of a King of Fighters and Street Fighter fan, this may be the game for you.