Sharing might seem like an inherently disastrous idea to any gamer who ever lost precious games as a child through lending to friends. However, when it comes to game development, IP loaning between companies is just what some franchisees might need. In fact, such collaborations between studios have led to some of the most beloved and beautiful titles in video game history.
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It’s easy and reassuring to imagine that only one studio can captain the ship of a beloved series, but sometimes fresh blood is exactly what it takes to drive innovation, put an interesting spin on things, and create something truly special for fans to enjoy for years to come.
10The Legend Of Zelda: Seasons & Ages (Nintendo x Capcom)
Following the success ofLink’s Awakening, Nintendo reached out to theMegamancreators at Capcom and offered them a chance at theLegend of Zeldaseries. What originally began as a remake of the originalgame for the Gameboy Color soon became a shockingly aspirational plan to release six titles under theZeldaflag on the handheld, one every four months.
This plan was quickly changed to accommodate three games and, finally, two (Seasons & Ages), which could be linked together using a series of passwords unlocked at the end of each game. Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the director of the linked games, would later directBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom.
9Metal Gear Revengeance (Konami x Platinum)
When the fabled game developer Hideo Kojima handed over the keys to theMetal Gearfranchise to Platinum Studios, the absolute masters of video game action, the result was a blistering, bombastic, and belligerent game with blades, ‘borgs, and big-time button bashing:Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Kojima was busy with the fifth game in theMetal Gear Solidcannon and so asked the creators ofBayonettato help develop cutting-edge tech for the game.
And by cutting-edge, he meant a mechanic in which the player could slide ‘n’ dice just about anything with their atomically sharpened katana: melons, stone pillars, or bad guys. While the game leans more on the sillier side of theMetal Gearuniverse,Metal Gear Rising: Revengeancestill hit all the core themes the series was known for and delivered all the twists and turns expected. In other words: it ripped.
8Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Nintendo x Ubisoft)
This unlikely pair-up is the result of Nintendo loaning their money-making main mascot, Mario, to Ubisoft. It’s entirely possible that Nintendo did so because they found theRabbidsso funny (something that they apparently believed theMarioseries lacked).
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Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battlecertainly wasn’t what anyone was expecting.The highly-unlikely crossoverwas conceived as a turn-based strategy game because of how disparate the IPs were from one another. In this case, the clashing mish-mash produced a highly-entertaining and competent battler with some surprisingly streamlined (but always delightful) level design.
7Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo x Rare)
After a long dormancy in the 80s, theDonkey KongIP was entrusted to brothers Tim and Chris, founders of the now-legendary Rare. While it may not lookall that graphically impressiveto modern gamers now,Donkey Kong Country’s visuals were considered miraculous at the time, thanks to Rare’s genius bit-rate compression tech.
WhileDKcreator Shigeru Miyamoto had some input on the game,Donkey Kong Countrywas the first he did not directly produce. Rare saw so much success that Nintendo was more than happy to commission several more projects starring the iconic gorilla throughout the years, as well as buy up a slice of their company.
6Gears of War: Judgment (Epic Games x People Can Fly)
It’s hard to keep a series fresh after three titles, and sometimes what’s best is a fresh pair of eyes. When Epic Games handed the Polish games studio People Can Fly a chance to develop a prequel toGears of War, the result could have been anyone’s guess. Thankfully, the developers were big fans of the series and wanted to do it justice.
By rethinking some ofGearsof War’s fundamental combat mechanics, adding a little color to the art direction, and tuning up the writing,Judgmentmanaged to capture the best elements of the franchise while thrilling and chilling fans with some new tricks, no doubt tiding over the fans’ appetite.
5Pokemon Colosseum (The Pokemon Company x Genius Sonority)
It’s a little-known fact that the team behind 2003’sPokemon Colosseumknew very little about the series before taking on the series' first 3d console adventure. It’s possible that Genius Sonority’s lack of experience with thePokemongames helped them come up with a new way to appeal to fans.
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When considering their audience, the studio knew that fans of the originalPokemongames had grown up in the years sinceRed and Blue. They developedPokemon Colosseumwith a more mature audience in mind, with a rougher environment, the ability to “snag” shadow Pokemon, and a slightly edgier protagonist design.
Many fans contend thatSonicgames peaked during their run in the 2D era, with a fewrare exceptions, such asSonic Frontiers. This theory was tested when Christian Whitehead and Headcannon “put their heads together” to produce one of the finestSonicgames in recent history: an unabashed love letter to the Genesis and Saga Saturn classics.
Whitehead was widely known for his contributions to the Sonic fan-games space before being picked up to remake the original two entries in the Sonic series along with Headcannon.Sonic Maniaproved that fans are hungry for some old-school Sonic action. However, despite its triumphant debut, Saga has sadly yet to have followed up on its success with anotherSonic Maniatitle.
3Metroid Prime (Nintendo x Retro)
Fans have often described Nintendo as the “Disney of video games.” However, it’s hard to imagine Disney loaning as many IPs as freely as Nintendo did to another company (Kingdom Heartsaside). Retro Studios took on the momentous task of turning the beloved 2D platformer into a first-person shooter, all while retaining all the elements that made the firstMetroidgames special. Thus,Metroid Primewas born.
If thesales of the Metroid Prime Remasterwere anything to go by, it’s fair to say that they were successful; in fact, it’s hard to imagine the series as being confined only to the 2D space.Metroid Primeis a great example that a classic concept can be supercharged and taken successfully into the next dimension.
2Alien: Isolation (Saga X Creative Assembly)
Having been painstakingly constructed using terabytes of material from the original film’s production,Alien: Isolationperfectly captures the essenceof the original 1979Alien’satmosphere. The game was only possible thanks to Saga loaning their rights toAliento Creative Assembly.
As the player might expect, despite an arsenal of weapons available throughout the course of the game,Alien: Isolationperfectly and convincingly conveys the experience of being trapped in space with a monster faster, more cunning, and with blood splash about a billion times more acidic and deadly than the average lemon.
1Fallout New Vegas (Bethesda x Obsidian)
Although it was reviewed as a “buggy” at release,Fallout: New Vegashas since become what many game enjoyers consider one of theall-timeFalloutgreats, thanks to some week-one patches. Although Bethesda had bought the rights to theFalloutseries in 2007 forFallout 3, which turned out to be a huge financial win for the company, they were busy working on the nextElder Scrollsgame to continue working on the franchise.
Bethesda reached out to Obsidian, a company that housed many ofFalloutandFallout 2’s developers from Interplay. At a time when deep RPGs seemed to be drying up,New Vegasstood out as a story-rich, character-driven masterwork that pointed the way to a glorious future for the genre and theFalloutfranchise at large.
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