Top Fighting Games Packed with Surprising Guest Characters

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Summary

  • Fighting games focus on adding guest characters for hype and varied rosters.
  • Street Fighter X Tekken featured 5 guest characters, including Megaman and Pac-Man.
  • Brawlhalla notably features over 80 guest characters, mainly as palette swaps.

As the genre evolves and broadens, fighting games increasingly rely on the number of characters they offer. To attract players and generate excitement about the game, developers frequently introduce characters from other games, known as guest characters. These are well-known figures outside the game’s universe.

In this context, if a fighting game features characters who aren’t part of its primary series or franchise, they are considered “guest” characters. These guest characters may not be associated with the game’s unifying platform or corporation. It’s interesting to note that these guest characters usually appear only once in a series and don’t typically become regular fighters. However, it’s possible for them to recur. This article will explore fighting games with the highest number of guest characters.

7. Street Fighter X Tekken

Five Guest Fighters On PSVita & PS3

Street Fighter X Tekken is a unique fighting game that brings together characters from both series for two-on-two battles. This cross-over game was launched on various platforms, but the version boasting the most content at release was designed for the PlayStation Vita. Alongside the downloadable characters from each franchise, this portable version included five special guests, one representative from each company involved in the game, and three more tied to the PlayStation brand.

In this gaming scenario, Capcom introduced a humorous take on MegaMan, resembling an unconventional grown man with a gun, inspired by a well-known box art design. On the other hand, Namco presented Pac-Man riding a mech modeled after Mokujin, a training dummy frequently seen in Tekken. In the PlayStation universe, Toro Inoue and Kuro from Doko Demo Issyo made guest appearances. Toro, a white cat and Sony’s Japanese mascot, is often accompanied by his friend, Kuro, a black cat who sometimes acts as a counterpoint. Since they aren’t natural fighters, their moves primarily mimic those of Ryu and Kazuya respectively. For a Western representative from Sony, the final guest character is Cole MacGrath from Infamous, known for his electrokinetic skills that form the basis of many of his moves. Interestingly, Heihachi Mishima from Tekken joined forces with Toro and Cole in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale at a later stage. As downloadable content (DLC), all five characters could be acquired on the PS3.

6. Mortal Kombat 11

Five Guest Characters

Ever since the revival of the Mortal Kombat series, they’ve been consistently incorporating characters from various pop culture spheres into their roster. These characters often hail from movies and comics. For instance, Mortal Kombat 11 introduced The Joker, Spawn, The Terminator, Robocop, and John Rambo. Notably, actors who previously played these characters lent their voices to these new roles, with varying levels of involvement for each character.

In different roles, Richard Epcar voiced The Joker, a character he previously brought to life in the well-known game “Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe”. Similarly, Keith David provided Spawn’s voice, having played him before in Todd McFarlane’s “Spawn” series on HBO, which he particularly enjoyed voicing. Arnold Schwarzenegger served as the inspiration for the Terminator, while Chris Cox handled his vocal performances. Lastly, both Sylvester Stallone (as Rambo) and Peter Weller (as Robocop) were both the voices and models for the characters they initially created.

5. Dead Or Alive 5 Last Round

Six Guest Characters

Before digital content became commonplace, many fighting games would release updated versions of their older editions, adding extra features as a reason for fans to buy the new game. For instance, the initial launch of Dead or Alive 5 featured three characters from the Virtua Fighter series: Akira Yuki, Pai Chan, and Sarah Bryant. In a later version, titled Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, the character Jacky (Sarah’s brother), was introduced as additional content.

In the last round, they featured four characters from Virtua Fighter and introduced two guests from different series. One of them was Mai Shiranui, a character from Fatal Fury and King of Fighters, while the fourth character hailed from a non-fighting game by Tecmo Koei; Naotora Li from Samurai Warriors.

4. Mortal Kombat 1

Six Guest Characters

In the second revival of “Mortal Kombat”, they’ve increased the number of guest characters compared to the last installment of the initial reboot series. The majority of these characters were comic book characters tailored for television, including Homelander, Omni-Man, and Peacemaker. Additionally, there was Conan the Barbarian, the Ghostface character from “Scream”, and the T-1000 from “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”. Once more, they made an effort to secure well-known actors for reprisals of their roles.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris Cox performed the character modeling and voiceovers for Conan respectively, while Jake Green provided the voice for Homelander with Anthony Starr’s appearance serving as a reference for his face. The majority of other prominent guest stars, including John Cena (Peacemaker), J.K. Simmons (Omni-Man), and Robert Patrick (T-1000) both voiced and modeled their characters. Roger L. Jackson continued to voice Ghostface as he did in the original Scream, with Skeet Ulrich’s likeness being used as a reference for the character when his mask is removed, suggesting this version of Ghostface represents Billy Loomis from the original film.

3. Super Smash Bros. For Wii U And 3DS

Six Guest Characters

As a dedicated gamer, I remember the thrill when the Super Smash Bros. series boldly stepped into uncharted territory with the introduction of guest characters in Brawl. Characters like Solid Snake from Metal Gear and Sonic the Hedgehog, longtime adversary to my beloved Mario in console wars, made their grand entrance and were warmly received. However, due to certain constraints, a few characters were dropped from the roster post-Brawl, which was a bummer since Snake didn’t make a comeback. Nevertheless, the subsequent release—Super Smash Bros. for Wii U—didn’t disappoint as it continued to host Sonic and even brought on board other guest characters. Pac-Man was among them, which isn’t too shocking given that Bandai Namco played a role in the game’s development.

Among the notable characters added were Ryu from Street Fighter, Megaman (both belonging to Capcom), Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy 7 (belonging to Square Enix), and Bayonetta (owned by Sega). This move indicated a shift towards incorporating games from various companies rather than just Nintendo in the Super Smash Bros. series.

2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

18 Guest Characters

If we count each character with a different color scheme as a distinct guest, the total rises to 24 guests.

In true fashion to its name and the slogan, “Everyone is Here!”, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate did not disappoint. The game brought together a multitude of Nintendo characters, as well as every previous guest character from the series. Moreover, this latest installment saw many third-party characters accompanied by one or more companions from their respective companies.

Among the initial characters announced for the game were Simon and Richter Belmont from Konami’s Castlevania series, as well as Ken from Street Fighter. Additional DLC characters later joined the roster. Joker from Persona 5 was the first guest character added via DLC. Four distinct male protagonists from Dragon Quest (Luminary, Erdrick, Solo, and Eight) were combined into a single character called Hero, with each individual’s appearance serving as the basis for different color schemes. The duo Banjo and Kazooie, who gained popularity on the Nintendo 64, returned for Smash Bros. Ultimate, teaming up as usual. Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury was also included, with The King of Fighters, a series featuring him prominently, being cited as an influence on Smash due to its focus on several original SNK protagonists joining forces to battle.

In addition to Alex, Steve (a character from Minecraft) was introduced with great applause, both being different color variations of the same character. Similarly, the Zombie and Enderman creatures in the game are just colored versions of each other, known as palette swaps. Sephiroth, a significant adversary from Final Fantasy 7, was made available earlier if players managed to defeat him in combat. Kazuya Mishima, a character created by Namco and known for his roles as both hero and villain in the Tekken series, was one of the last guest characters added. The final guest character introduced was Sora from Kingdom Hearts, a combined creation between Square Enix and Disney.

1. Brawlhalla

Over 80 Guest Characters*

Brawlhalla, in essence, is a fighting game on a platform where it boasts a notable number of guest characters among all individual fighting games. From Street Fighter to Star Wars, Brawlhalla offers a wide variety of guest characters. However, the presence of these legendary figures is largely based on one truth: only two guests from Ubisoft (the current owner of Blue Mammoth Games) are unique entities. The rest of the characters share similar appearances and abilities, which can be referred to as palette swaps.

In the games Assassin’s Creed 2 up to Revelations and Rayman’s self-titled series, only Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Rayman were crafted as fully realized playable characters, unlike others who are essentially promotional skins for their respective franchises. These additional characters share moves with the game’s 64 original characters, but their impact on gameplay is minimal due to this approach. This methodology is reminiscent of Fortnite, where cosmetic changes make it simpler to include numerous characters in the game without having to create unique abilities for each one. Interestingly, even as simple color variations, these skins are intentionally presented as representing the characters themselves, not just alternate outfits for existing characters with a vague resemblance.

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2025-02-21 09:05