Metal Gear Solid and Dragon Ball Were Nearly Part of a Nintendo Sports Game

A producer who worked on the crossover title Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has revealed a slew of other crossovers that were planned before the series came to an end. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was released in 2019 as a crossover sports game developed and published by Sega, and was initially released on the original Nintendo Switch. Based on the 2020 Summer Olympics event, the title starred Sonic the Hedgehog and friends from Sega’s flagship IP alongside Mario and other characters from Nintendo’s Super Mario franchise, and the game also saw a release in arcades in the same year.

The Mario & Sonic series has released a catalog of games, including favorites Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Vancouver 2010), Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Beginning in 2007 with the self-titled debut, the crossover series delivered further sequels catering to the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games, concluding with the Tokyo 2020 entry, which served as the sixth and final game in the series.

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Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Review

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has some interesting new ideas that are dragged down by painfully dull gameplay.

Posting on Twitter, producer Lee Cocker answered a question asking why the Olympic series only featured Mario & Sonic. Cocker confirmed, “Lots of the deals / agreements couldn’t be agreed, which was a shame, so it went back to just being Mario and Sonic,” but the producer went on to reveal which characters could have been added. A slew of IPs that were once considered to be the next Mario & Sonic crossover included Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Metal Gear Solid, Mega Man, Zelda, and Street Fighter. “It was a very big idea that didn’t happen. Certain characters could only be used for certain events,” Cocker concluded. The Mario & Sonic series was confirmed to be dead back in 2024, when Cocker updated the community on the status of the crossover.

Despite the plumber and hedgehog’s successful working relationship within the crossover, a Sonic lead recently threw shade at Mario Kart, dipping back into Nintendo and Sega’s old beef. However, fans of the crossover believed adding other IPs would have been very interesting, noting the addition of a Dragon Ball crossover would have presented a Smash Bros.-styled Olympics.

Even though it’s been six years since the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 title, the Sonic and Super Mario franchises could meet in the middle once again, thanks to the Nintendo Switch 2 launch title. Mario Kart World inadvertently proposed another crossover with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which could hypothetically see characters from both IPs meet for the ultimate racing union. Considering Nintendo and Sega’s competitive history in the industry, a future crossover between racers would be a chance to delight both fandoms.