One of the coolest things about Capcom, as a developer and publisher, is their willingness to crossover their franchises into others both externally and internally. Some companies are more precious with their properties which is a shame. Marvel vs Capcom, for example, is one of the wildest concepts in fighting games and each new iteration gets wackier than the last.
Who would have ever thought Jill from Resident Evil could square off against Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy? Street Fighter characters in particular have crossed over into too many games to count from more fighting experiences to other genres. So, in celebration of Street Fighter 6, let’s go through the best examples.
8 Asura’s Wrath
Asura’s Wrath was like God of War that featured Eastern gods and goddesses instead of Greek ones. Asura is betrayed by his fellow gods and must fight his way through them to save his daughter. It’s a wild, over-the-top action game from the PS3 and Xbox 360 era that still kicks butt.
Thankfully, the game is still backwards compatible with the Xbox family of consoles, for those interested. There was DLC released that allowed players to fight Ryu and Akuma, separately, from the Street Fighter series.
7 Breath Of Fire
Breath of Fire is a forgotten RPG series that was Capcom’s pride and joy for at least a decade. Street Fighter characters have appeared off and on throughout the series.
Chun-Li can appear twice in the first game with two different costumes. In the third game, both Chun-Li and Sakura can be seen in a crowd overlooking a gladiator-like battle. Finally, Breath of Fire 6, which is a mobile game exclusive to Japan, released costumes for Ryu, Chun-Li, Cammy, and Guile in a collaboration event.
6 Cannon Spike
Capcom is the king of gaming developers who like to crossover their characters into other genres. For example, Cannon Spike is an odd arcade and later Dreamcast game that crossed over Capcom characters for a top-down shooter.
Cammy and Charlie appear as playable characters in the game and other Steer Fighter characters appear as bosses, like Vega. Other Capcom characters include Mega Man from his titular series along with Arthur from the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. It, unfortunately, cannot be played anywhere except through online emulation.
5 Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is based on the Adult Swim cartoon of the same name. It was a spoof that turned this once classic superhero into a lawyer who helped solve cases involving Hanna-Barbera characters like Fred Flintstone, Scooby-Doo, and Secret Squirrel.
The game plays similarly to the Ace Attorney games wherein players could investigate crime scenes and then present evidence in court. A ton of Street Fighter characters appear in the game such as Guile, Dhalsim, Chun-Li, Ryu, and Zangief. Guile has the best cameo when Birdman accidentally lights his hair on fire in court.
4 Street Fighter X Mega Man
Street Fighter x Mega Man began as a fan game that later turned into an officially sanctioned title by Capcom. Mega Man faced classic characters like Dhalsim and Blanka as boss characters and he could even steal their powers. This is not so much a cameo example for Street Fighter so much as it is a crossover game.
A better example would be in Mega Man X where players could learn and master Ryu’s Hadouken as a special move. Also, in sadder news, it is worth mentioning Mega Man Universe as a what-if. It was going to be like Super Mario Maker and was set to include Ryu in there as well as a playable character, but it was ultimately canceled.
3 Project X Zone
Project X Zone is one of the wildest tactical RPGs on the 3DS. It not only included Capcom characters from Street Fighter, but Sega and Bandai Namco characters too. In the first game, Ryu and Ken were partnered together as a playable team along with Chun-Li and Morrigan from the Darkstalkers series. Juri also appeared in the game but as a solo character.
In the sequel, Ryu and Ken appeared again as did Chun-Li although this time she was partnered with Ling from the Tekken series. These two games were like spiritual successors to Namco × Capcom, a PS2 game that never left Japan. Chun-Li and Cammy along with Sakura and Karin were partnered up for that. Ryu, Rose, and Ken instead were all solo characters.
2 Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Wii U
Capcom may have some great crossover games under their belt but so does Nintendo via the Super Smash Bros. Series. Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Wii U were the first two games to include Ryu as a playable character. It’s amazing that it took that long to get a Street Fighter character in there. He even got an Amiibo for getting into the game.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ken was included as an alternate Echo Fighter for Ryu. It’s also worth bringing up a clone of this fighting series, Brawlhala, which has included Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and more in their roster for years.
1 Tekken 7
Tekken 7 included Akuma, one of the series’ biggest villains, in the game. It made sense to include him above other Street Fighter characters. A majority of the main Tekken characters get possessed by devils and Akuma is basically a devil himself.
Akuma’s inclusion was kind of like a consolation prize for fans waiting for the collaboration game, Tekken X Street Fighter, which never came out. Both it and Street Fighter X Tekken were announced at the same time but only Street Fighter X Tekken was ever released.
Street Fighter 6 was released on June 2, 2023, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.