10 Most Baffling Crossovers In Video Game History

6. Lego Rock Band

Lego Rock Band
TT Fusion

In the long, sordid history of the great Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero war, at one point the battle stopped being about who could release the best main-series games, but who could create the most appealing spin-offs tailored to specific music tastes.

It kicked off in 2008 when Guitar Hero released an Aerosmith-flavoured game, with Rock Band responding by dropping a Beatles-themed title a year later. Upping the ante, Guitar Hero released the double whammy of Van Halen and Metallica in retaliation, a one-two-punch which Rock Band tried to counter with... Lego Rock Band?

Aimed at a much younger audience, the 45-song tracklist was surprising decent, even though it included more family-friendly tunes that parents wouldn't mind their kids moshing out to. Obviously the entire game got a visual overhaul to fit the style of the other franchise as well, with even the notes being replaced with lego bricks. Very imaginative.

During the twilight years of music rhythm games the developers of the two main series threw just about every idea at the wall in the hopes that something would stick, but it's still unclear why anybody thought cross-brand synergy with the similarly dime-a-dozen Lego games would be enough to save a floundering genre.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.