Welcome back to the second part of Crazy Video Game Cameos. Earlier, we covered movies and celebrities which appeared in a multitude of video games. In this issue, we will be taking a look at all the video game characters that have appeared in other video games!
The Duke, and his developers 3D Realms, have pulled no punches when they decide to make fun of other video games, so it’s only fitting that the Duke cops some insults of his own. Play long enough into 90’s shooter, Blood, and you’ll find a secret entrance. Continue down this path and there’s poor, old Duke. Hanging upside down and horribly mutilated but it’s him, no doubt. Hit him enough times and your character will steal Duke’s line, “Shake it baby!”
For another (current), weird cameo, the Duke is appearing as a playable character in cult classic, Bulletstorm: Full Clip. Check out the trailer below!
Mega Man- Dead Rising Series
Capcom love to throw characters from other universes in their games. Evident throughout all the Dead Rising games, every protagonist can eventually find Mega Man’s outfit and become the titular hero himself. Sure, it may just be a costume that you put on but we still get to act like Mega Man, arm rockets and all. Poor guy… it seems he always finds himself in apocalyptic situations. I’m pretty sure you can find a Blanka outfit too (from the Street Fighter series).
Creepers - Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 is a great game full of inside jokes and some very crude humor. With the success and popularity of Minecraft (even so many years later), the developers must have thought, “Ah, f**k it. Let’s throw a creeper in as a bad guy.” Either that or they were running out of enemy creation ideas. While making your way through some of the mines in this game, you will eventually come across a few block built, familiar characters. A nice little touch. A least they didn’t throw griefers in there…
Body snatching sim, Under the Skin, is a novel little piece to play. Similar to Destroy All Humans, this game has you playing as a blue little alien sent to cause as much chaos on earth as possible. At a certain level, you’ll notice that it is called Raccoon City. Well, you get to play as Jill and the Nemesis in this level, set with locales from the first two Resident Evil games. Suffice to say, this was enough to get me to play the game.
Yes, another game that sees cameos from one of the biggest franchise of video game history. Look, it was the 90’s and Resident Evil was a global smash, with everyone talking about Raccoon City and the T-Virus. It only makes sense that not so great games tried to pick up on their success, by including certain characters as unlockable players. Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy reporting for snowboarding duty, dude. The developers even threw a zombie cop from Resident Evil 2 in there, just for good measure.
Doom Marine - Duke Nukem 3D
One of those moments in a Duke Nukem game where 3D Realms just couldn’t help themselves. With Doom being much more successful than Duke Nukem 3D, they decided to take a jab at the shooter that started all shooters. Get far enough into Duke Nukem 3D and you’ll come across a hell-like portal, complete with inverted crosses. At the base of this portal, you’ll find the torso of a mauled Doom marine. Guess he didn’t have the guts…
Chun Li - Breath of Fire
Timeless RPG, Breath of Fire, by Capcom threw in yet another one of their famous characters somewhere they don’t belong. During one of your quests, you meet a master who talks about an amazing fighter. Someone who can kick at the speed of light. Sound familiar? If you thought of Street Fighter alumni, Chun-Li then you’d be correct. Sure, you can’t play as her and it’s only a 10 to 20 second cameo but it still counts!
Doom and Duke Nukem rip-off, Shadow Warrior, is your average cult classic, FPS. Run around, kill some monsters, blow s**t up. Pretty simple, until you come across a cameo from Tomb Raider’s very own, Lara Croft. The protagonist actually mentions that, “She won’t be raiding anymore tombs.” Nice touch but continue further on into the game and you can find another cameo from 90’s sensations, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Dead, but still a cameo.
Spider-Man - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series has always had fun with including random cameos in their games but none stands out more than the web-slinging, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Neversoft could have just used a normal character dressed as the titular hero but I love them for going the extra mile. Definitely the best skater in the game, Spider-Man web slings, flips, and does whatever a spider can while racking up hundreds of thousands of points. I might jump back on after writing this article…
Donkey Kong - Wii Punch Out!
In the Wii remake to Super Nintendo’s, Super Punch Out!, there’s a new boss character that you have to take on and boy, is he one of the most difficult! In Wii Super Punch Out!, you don’t have to take on Mike Tyson anymore. Now you have to take on a 900 pound gorilla with boxing gloves. Don’t be fooled as Donkey Kong is the hardest character to fight in the game. Good luck, it was nice knowing you…
Mega cameos are starring in Capcom’s sci-fi, 3rd person action-shooter, Lost Planet 2. An average game when it was released and unfortunately lost the test of time, this entry had a few cool cameos as unlockable players. Up to four different universe characters appeared to play with, being Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago from the Gears of War series, Albert Wesker from the Resident Evil series, and Frank West from the Dead Rising series. The game didn’t change much but being one of these bad-asses sure made me think so.
Not content with throwing in one of the most powerful, political couples of the time (Bill and Hillary Clinton), Midway decided that they wanted to see what b-ball skills some of the Mortal Kombat roster has. Including Raiden, Reptile, Sub-Zero and Scorpion into the fold made for some pretty awesome basketball games. The only problem was arguing with your friends over who would play as Team Netherealm.
Tanner - GTA III
One of the biggest franchises of the time, Grand Theft Auto, decides to take the mickey out of another large franchise of the time. Everyone remembers Driver, one of the best driving games to ever come out on the original PlayStation. Well so do the developers at Rockstar, when one of your missions has you dealing with a detective who ‘runs funny’ and also drives a muscle car. Now they don’t ever say his name but the running funny and muscle car part? Definitely a rip on Tanner and his later installments when he has the ability to get out of his cars.
Heihachi has appeared numerous times in a number of different games but who knew the billionaire CEO could use a racket? It seems that when he isn’t planning on killing his son and ruling the world in Tekken, he’s working on his serves. First time cameo for Ling however, which makes me wonder why they included her and not, say, Kazuya or Jin? The Mishimas could put their rivalry to the side for a few doubles games…
Solid Snake - Evolution Skateboarding
One of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater imitation rip-offs, Evolution Skateboarding was pretty much a simple, skateboarding game. Complete with challenges, time limits, decent graphics, and an amalgam of different tricks to pull off, this game wasn’t so bad when you got into it. Unfortunately, the THPS franchise completely overshadowed any skateboarding game that tried to release. One way to put your game on the map is to include a cameo as a playable character. None other than 90’s stealth-hero, Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid.
In the 90’s, RPG attempt at putting Mario in a genre he definitely didn’t belong, Super Mario RPG was a surprisingly great game. Taking on RPG roots, a level-up system, and turn-based battles, this game happened to also include some cameos from other Nintendo icons. In one part of the tavern/inn, Link can be found sleeping in one of the beds. Approach him to try and talk and he will just sing one of the iconic Legend of Zelda songs. Samus from Metroid is also sleeping in a bed but this time it’s in the Royal Mushroom Castle, where she lets you know that she is “Resting for Mother Brain.” We’ll just leave you both there until your game time comes around.
Altair Ibn-La’AHad - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
You wouldn’t expect to see it in a serious RPG like The Witcher 2, but it does give you a small hint in the game’s title Assassins of Kings. Approaching one of the destroyed barns in one of the towns will have you come across a broken hale bay cart. You even notice a dead person in a white, hooded outfit, so you move in for a closer look. At this point, it’s 100% clear who the developers are trying to mock. It seems Altair (from Assassin’s Creed) was attempting to assassinate one of the kings in the game but failed to land one of his famous eagle drops correctly. Oh yeah, you know he’s dead.
Proving that video games and cameos are a fantastic mix, even when it doesn’t make sense at all, cameos are the stuff of much conversation. I hope you enjoyed and probably even learned about some cameos you didn’t know where there. Thanks for reading our latest listicle!
So what did you think? Did I miss any major video game character cameos you think should have been included? Don’t forget to leave a comment below!
