If there’s one thing gamers can count on, it’s thatNintendo gameshave a higher than average chance of having a cameo featuring a character from an unrelated franchise. These cameos are normally a simple wink-and-nod to fans and are commonly nothing more than an appearance in the background - or a figurine sitting on a desk.
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Occasionally, these cameos are quite baffling and leave the player with a ton of lingering questions about what they just witnessed. TheNintendocameos listed below are the oddest of the odd, but also raise the possibility of something interesting in the future - like the cameo in entry nine.
10Portraits In The Castle
Mario and Link do not cross paths- except for that one time at the Rose Town. Excluding games in theSmash Bros.orMario Cartseries, it’s uncommon to see characters from theMarioandThe Legend of Zeldafranchises in the same game. Nintendowilloccasionally give a nod to the fans with one of these cameos.
One of these cameos can be found inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. At one point in the game, the player will have to sneak into the castle courtyard with Link to meet Zelda. She can be found eavesdropping at a window, but if the player searches around they will find another window to peer through that reveals framed portraits of the main characters in theMariogames.
9Pikmin In The Flowers
In thePikmingames, the player uses small plant-like creatures to overcome obstacles. Different color Pikmin reflected different abilities - red Pikmin are immune to fire, blue Pikmin cannot drown, etc. They are incredibly fun games, and Nintendo keeps assuring us thatPikmin 4is in development.
Players ofMario Golf: Toadstool Tour, for the GameCube, who land their ball in a flower bed while playing in the Mushroom Kingdom might notice that the flowers that fly through the air as the ball hits the flowerbed are actually Pikmin. Could this be a hint about the setting ofPikmin 4? How much better would aPikmingame be if it was open-world and set on a golf course in the Mushroom Kingdom? Yeah.
8Chain Chomp In Link’s Awakening
This entry is another example of a character from theMarioseries appearing in one ofThe Legend of Zeldaseries of games. The Chain Chomp is a familiar enemy to players of theMariogames. They are large spherical sets of animated jaws held back by being chained to a post; they are almost indestructible and typically guard valuables.
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InThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, the GameBoy original, and the 2019 remake, there is a hut guarded by a very feisty Chain Chomp. This one is friendlier than the Chain Chomps encountered by Mario in the Mushroom Kingdom, and even assists Link. Why are the Chain Chomps in theMariogames so angry? And why isn’t there aChain Chomp Pokemonyet?
7Donkey Kong In The Crowd
The originalPunch-Out!!game, notMike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, but the 1984 arcade game had some interesting, and somewhat baffling, cameos in the audience. The most noticeable cameos are Donkey Kong and Donkey KongJr. However, Mario is also in the crowd.
Donkey Kongcame out in 1981. In that game, Mario was the antagonist. This game is only a few years newer. So, is Mario hunting Donkey Kong, and his son, through the audience of a boxing match? Maybe they’re all just there to watch a boxing match. Baffling.
6Mario In Marbles
SeeingSonic the Hedgehog in Nintendo gamesis nothing new. That wasn’t always the case; back in the 8-bit and 16-bit days, the two would never, ever, appear in each other’s games. Nintendo and Sega were the two big dogs competing for market share. Characters from aMariogame had as much of a chance of appearing in aSonicgame as Master Chief does appearing in the nextZeldagame.
Mario, unbeknownst to Nintendo, made a cameo in the 1991Sonic the Hedgehoggame - the first in the series. Well, he sort of made a cameo. The temple in the background of the Marble Zone has some tiles with a familiar face on them. Was it a coincidence, or a shot across the bow?
5Virtual Cameo
Not many gamers remember the Virtual Boy, and even fewer have fond memories of the thing. Having to stare at a bright red display inches away from your eyes is not part of any recipe for a good time. This is one game console that Nintendo wants us all to forget.
It’s a little baffling that Nintendo chose to remind gamers of the failed console by having Luigi use one inLuigi’s Mansion 3for the Switch. In this excellent game, it is called the Virtual Boo, and it’s used as the games mapping system. It’s almost as painful to look at as an actual Virtual Boy.
4Killer Fur Day
Conker’s Bad Fur Dayhas gone from an obscure game to a must-have N64 game. It is known for being one of the few games on the system that was developed for adult players, rather than kids. It has a lot of mature content and is a game any true gamer should play once.
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This game was made by Rare; who, back in the 16-bit and N64 years, was a leading developer for Nintendo consoles. Another of their popular games wasKiller Instinct. This isa fighting gamethat recently got remastered. One of the idle animations inConker’s Bad Fur Dayshows him playingKiller Instincton a GameBoy Color. This raises so many questions.
3Metroid In Dreamland
Talk about a weird cameo. TheKirbygames arecolorful, cartoon-like gamesstarring a cute flying puffball. Then there are theMetroidgames; which are dark and filled with suspenseful, almost frightening, moments. This would be the last two Nintendo franchises one would figure would feature crossover cameos. It exists though.
InKirby’s Dreamland 3for the SNES,there are two cameoson the second stage of the Iceberg. First, Kirby encounters the alien life forms known as Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all, the protagonist of theMetroidseries, Samus, will appear and give Kirby a Heart Star.
2Mario In The Ring
This one still baffles gamers. In the twoPunch Out!!variants for the NES, the referee for Little Mac’s matches is Mario. Mario cameos were not too uncommon for NES games; they usually were just Mario standing in the background though. In thePunch-Out!!games Mario is actually participating by being the referee.
So now Mario has gone from being a member of the audience to being the referee. Is he there in case Donkey Kong shows ups to another boxing match? Why is Mario not the referee in everyPunch-Out!!game? Yeah. He’s there for Donkey Kong.
1Metroid: Wings Of Liberty
Here’s a cameo that is not only really cool but also very baffling.InStarCraft: Wings of Libertya Metroid, the alien creature, can be seen in a containment tube. This can be found on the player-vs-player map titled “High Orbit”. It makes one wonder what’s in the other containment tubes.
This cameo spawns a thousand questions. Are Metroids a member of the Zerg? Perhaps they are the larva form of the Zerg leaders known as Cerebrates. Does Samus ever come into contact with the Protoss or Terran forces? Most importantly, will there ever be a true crossover between theStarcraftandMetroidgames.
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