Brawlhalla and Street Fighter collide today in one of the biggest free platformer crossovers to date. Ryu, Chun-Li, and Akuma join the cast of Brawlhalla as Epic Crossovers at a special event, and they bring their best moves – including Ryu’s Hadoken and Chun-Li’s Spinning Bird Kick – to battle . The event also adds a new game mode: Street Brawl, which adds health bars for Street Fighter-style head-to-head combat. Players can fight in a new map based on Suzaku Castle (Classic Ryu Stadium), or get their hands on a Kapukon Yu inspired podium (E. Honda Stadium), as well as grab a new KO style effect. Street Fighter, an emote based on Akuma’s Satsui no Hado victory pose and avatars featuring Zangief, the Shadaloo emblem, a Hadoken, and an animated quarter circle punch.
Of course, crossovers like this don’t just happen – they’re the result of careful planning and collaboration between companies, as well as a deep affection and respect for a company. franchise that the developers of Brawlhalla grew up with. To learn more about how it all turned out, we chatted with Josh Kenneth, Global Product Manager at Brawlhalla developer Blue Mammoth Games.
How did this crossing start? Was this something the fans were clamoring for?
Josh Kenneth: Like every Crossover we do, it started because we love the property and its characters. For this one, we thought, “We grew up with Street Fighter, and it’s awesome. Can we crossover with them? Fans also have a lot of Crossovers they want in Brawlhalla. This is usually this person’s favorite IP x Brawlhalla, and we started to see a lot of Street Fighter suggestions. Brawlhalla is a fighting game, so it makes sense that fans would want us to cross paths with another fighting game. It’s a perfect fit.
While Brawlhalla and Street Fighter are both fighting games, they have very different playstyles – Brawlhalla lets you take on multiple opponents at once and focuses more on free-to-play fights, while Street Fighter focuses on 1v1 matches and offers combos. Why does it make sense to bring them together?
Kenneth: This Brawlhalla x Street Fighter Crossover is our first Crossover with another fighting game. We’ve made leaps to crossovers with TV franchises, like Adventure Time, TMNT, and WWE, and other genres of video games, like Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Tomb Raider. So while it makes sense to bring them together in a fighting game, all of the style differences are also what make it so much fun. We were able to bridge the gap between traditional 2D fighters and platform fighters with this Crossover, and it’s awesome.
Epic crossover for Petra
Ryu is always trying to find the next strongest opponent to improve. Many of his iconic techniques have transferred to Brawlhalla, such as Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, Shoryuken, and Hadoken.
Street Fighter characters have a familiar feel and combat rhythms; what was it like adapting these characters to Brawlhalla? What made Petra, Wu Shang, and Val the right characters for these Epic Crossovers?
Kenneth: We knew we wanted to have the most iconic attacks for each character. For Ryu, for example, it meant the Hadoken, Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, and the Shoryuken. Petra, Wu Shang, and Val had all the right weapons and attack styles to suit these Street Fighter characters and their iconic attacks. Once we had these attacks in the game, it all fell into place. It was so good so fast! Chun-Li has his Spinning Bird Kick, Akuma has his Zanku Hadoken – it’s all there.
In Brawlhalla, each character has two types of weapons. What are Street Fighter characters armed with?
Kenneth: Each of the two weapons the character uses changes their fighting style, so we took this opportunity to split the iconic attacks between the weapons. Ryu uses Gauntlets and Orb, with the Orb based on the fighter’s willpower (like a Hadoken). Chun-Li uses a spear and gauntlets, so she uses her spear to balance herself while she kicks. Akuma uses the sword and gauntlets, the sword being based on his exclamations of erasure and annihilation. Basically, he’s going to use this thing to wipe everything out, like he likes to do.
Epic crossover for Wu Shang
The strongest woman in the world is sure to teach her opponents a thing or two about how to take a kick. She brings her own techniques to Brawlhalla, like the Spinning Bird Kick and the Kikosho.
How did the collaboration with Capcom go for this crossover? Were they involved in the character setting, for example?
Kenneth: It was great working with Capcom. Their team had creative input and final decision making on the appearance of Street Fighter characters in Brawlhalla. We would contribute our ideas and expertise on how Brawlhalla looked and worked, and they would give ideas on what to integrate and what it all looked like. They were all really cool and fun to collaborate with!
What can you tell us about the new Street Brawl mode?
Kenneth: Imagine taking the legends, moves, and weapon system of Brawlhalla, then putting the rules of Street Fighter around it all. Health bars, best of three, small 1v1 – it’s so much fun. There are also walls and a ceiling on the map to really bring the fight closer. I “tested” it a lot during development just to play it as much as I could; also to give my opinion, of course, but whenever I could play it I would take that chance!
Ryu, Chun-Li, and Akuma are arguably the three most iconic characters in the Street Fighter franchise. Were there other people on the table at some point?
Kenneth: Oh sure. Street Fighter has dozens of iconic characters, like Zangief, Dhalsim, Mr. Bison, Sakura; the list goes on. We’d be hard-pressed not to put Zangief somewhere in this crossover, so we brought him in as the Avatar; he’s easily one of my favorite Street Fighter characters, and we know how much of a fan favorite he is. We’ve really done our best to incorporate as much of the fan favorite (and our favorite) Street Fighter stuff into this crossover as possible.
Epic crossover for Val
Focused on defeating the gods, the Master of the Fist is ready to make them truly tremble. He will achieve ultimate power with his Tatsumaki Zankukyaku and Zanku Hadoken techniques, among others..
How does the art team translate the characters into the Brawlhalla art style while maintaining their identity?
Kenneth: I can’t sing the praises of the Brawlhalla art team enough. Each of them is amazing. Since they are familiar with the iconic art style of Brawlhalla and are still huge fans of the crossover characters we bring into the game, they have a great foundation to start with. This means that they can identify the most important aspects of character designs and integrate them into the Brawlhalla style. They also work closely with our partners, like Capcom, to make sure everything translates well and each character feels good. Honestly, I’m sure the art team could fit any character into Brawlhalla in one way or another.
How did Suzaku Castle make it the obvious choice for the map? Have you thought about any other classic Street Fighter locations?
Kenneth: There were so many options, like Battle Harbor and the Casino, but Suzaku Castle just screams “Welcome to Street Fighter!” whenever you see it. It’s Ryu’s stadium in the Street Fighter games, so it felt right. We also liked the public bathhouse scene, Kapukon Yu, from Street Fighter II, so we made it a Podium – which is another example of putting great Street Fighter stuff where we could! Like Zangief, we just couldn’t have a Street Fighter Crossover without him. Which also means E. Honda is here in spirit. We hope everyone enjoys the Brawlhalla x Street Fighter Crossover as much as we got to making it!
Street Brawl mode is available now in Brawlhalla on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (via backward compatibility), and Ryu, Chun-Li, and Akuma are available for purchase as Epic Crossovers. All Street Fighter content will be purchasable and playable after the event ends.
