Gallery: These Pokémon x Super Mario Crossover Designs Are Wonderfully Weird To Behold

Plenty of Nintendo franchises are known for their adorable cast of cute, cuddly and colourful characters, many of which stay with us through our childhood and beyond. Super Mario and Pokémon are prime examples of this; with literally hundreds of character designs between them, both franchises have somehow created a plethora of now-iconic heroes and monsters.

But what happens if you plonk both of those famous series into one big blender, mixing your Warios and your Wartortles to make a Nintendo art explosion? Well, that's just what the talented mind behind Instagram account @Mariokemon has done, and there are some amazing results to be seen.

We've gathered just a few of our favourites for you to examine below.

Wartortle x Ludwig Von Koopa

Weedle x Pokey

Kakuna x Shy Guy

Arbok x Chain Chomp

Pikachu x Star Bunny

Vulpix x Ms Mowz

Oddish x Bob-omb

Speaking to Nintendo Life, @Mariokemon creator Michael Crisp has shared some insight into his inspirations and aspirations for the project. A familiar story for many of you reading this, we're sure, Michael's love for both franchises began at a young age. "I had everything 'Mario' when I was a kid," he says. "As soon as Pokémon was released I was instantly hooked... Games, cards, cartoons, I couldn’t get enough".

He's actually been working on Nintendo mashups for a while, with another project called 'Nintendoh' seeing The Simpsons be added to the mix. It was playing Pokémon Let's Go on Nintendo Switch which kickstarted the idea of creating more Pokémon-focused designs; combining those characters with Super Mario's huge selection of games made it seem like "the obvious choice" for a new adventure.

As for where Michael hopes to take the project? Expect to (hopefully) see all 151 original Pokémon be added eventually.

I’d say my initial goal is to get through all 151 original Pokemon, which in itself seems like an impossible task. Making it to that point, I don’t think I’ll work on any other Gen, mainly due to Mario characters to choose from, however I’d love to create more with the 151 as I love some of the characters, maybe a set of Mariokemon cards, prints, pin badges, and to continue to draw the characters in more scenes together.

You can check out the full Mariokemon project on Instagram right here, and you'll find Michael's Etsy store here, too - it might be worth keeping an eye out for those cards and prints in the future!

Do you like the work on show here? Do you feel inspired to start your own artistic journey with your favourite Nintendo characters? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.