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Super Smash Bros. Brawl has landed on the Wii and Nintendo fans across the country are rejoicing, and for good reason.  Brawl is chock full of Nintendo content, with virtually every Nintendo property in history being represented in some form.  However, beneath all of this, there is something bigger at hand.  Not only does Brawl reach deep into the depths of Nintendo lore, but also outside of Nintendo, a first for the series.

This comes in the form of  two third-party characters, Solid Snake from the Metal Gear franchise and Sonic the Hedgehog.   Unfortunately, Brawl did not go any further in courting the favor of third-party characters. However, why stop with Brawl? Why not have other Nintendo games incorporate third-party characters as well?  When it comes to third-party content, there is a vast reservoir of potential just waiting to be tapped.

Now, I would consider myself to be an ardent Nintendo fan. I have owned every console (sans the Virtual Boy) and many Game Boys. I waited in line for over 14 hours for my Wii and own both a Nintendo DS and a Nintendo DS Lite. To say that I grew up on Nintendo would be an understatement. However, despite how much love I have for Nintendo characters and their respective franchises, after witnessing the incredible reception to the inclusion of Sonic and Solid Snake in Brawl, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to see more games that bridge the franchise divide and bring in characters from other series. This type of relationship has been hinted at in earlier games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where you can see images of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Bowser through the windows of Zelda’s castle.

The first Smash Bros. game was like a dream come true for many Nintendo fans. Having a game with characters from so many different Nintendo franchises was unheard of until Super Smash Bros. came out. However, this combination of characters doesn’t just have to be confined to Nintendo franchises. Just look at Brawl. While many gamers were thrilled to see Sonic and Solid Snake appear in the lineup, many also asked why the developers didn’t go further and include other memorable characters, like Bomberman or someone from the Final Fantasy franchise. The fact that so many gamers would have liked to see more third party characters is indicative of the growing desire to see more inter-franchise combinations in games.

We saw how successful the unlikely matchup of Square and Disney characters was in the form of Kingdom Hearts, a game which took two well-known, well-respected properties and paired them together in an engaging and unforgettable way. Kingdom Hearts has even gone on to spawn a franchise of its own.

Another example is Soul Caliber II for the Gamecube, which also bridged the franchise divide by introducing Link as a playable character. Of course, one cannot forget the recent Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which paired up the two rival mascots, each bringing along with them a host of Sega and Nintendo characters.

This is not to say that I would like to see Master Chief running through the fields of Hyrule. Nor would I want every Nintendo game to introduce third-party characters. Nintendo’s characters have become so well-known and established for a reason; time and time again they have proven that they can deliver fun and engaging experiences. However, this does not mean that these characters should be inevitably locked into their respective franchises. Opening up games to other franchises could prove to be an exciting challenge to developers and an equally exciting experience for players. Just look at Kingdom Hearts. In that game, it did not feel as though characters from one franchise were being injected into another, but rather, a powerful story was crafted that seamlessly combined the two franchises. Through this type of combination, franchises are able to build off of one another and offer the player something which neither franchise alone would be capable of. While there will always be a place for first-party franchises, as gaming continues to evolve, the idea of blended games grows more and more appealing. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl have served merely to whet gamers’ appetites; hopefully the main dish is still on its way.

Filed under: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Technology, Video Games, Wii Tagged: | Bomberman, Bowser, Disney, Final Fantasy, Game Boy, Gamecube, Hyrule, Kingdom Hearts, Luigi, Mario, Master Chief, Metal Gear, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite, Peach, Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog, Soul Caliber II, Square, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Virtual Boy, Wii, Yoshi, Zelda