I don't know about you, but I love spotting cameos in games and movies. Some guest appearances and cross-series references are absurd, distracting, or obvious marketing stunts, but I still get a kick out of them. How else could we enjoy watching Solid Snake grope Samus Aran while Sonic and Pikachu fap in the corner?

Here are a few cameos you might have missed.

Doom marine, Shrek, and Darth Maul in Tony Hawk games.

A long time ago, there was an awesome skateboarding franchise called Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Besides crazy environments to skate in, Neversoft always threw in some mondo hidden characters, like Star Wars' Darth Maul and Jango Fett; Marvel’s Wolverine, Iron Man, and Spider-Man; Doom’s space marine; Shrek; and Benjamin Franklin.

Out Run arcade machine in Alex Kidd: High-Tech World.

High-Tech World is one bizarre Alex Kidd game. The big-eared prince’s main objective is to get to an arcade to play Sega games. In the ending sequence, you can see Alex playing Out Run in one of those cool cabinets where you can sit down. Cute.

Sonic in Daytona USA.

I never played Daytona USA, but every time I think about that game, I remember the giant Sonic carving on the side of a mountain. It’s impossible to miss.

Sonic in Beach Spikers.

Here's another Sonic cameo. In Beach Spikers, there's a huge Sonic statue (maybe he's inflatable?) creepily watching female volleyball players fondle each other while he squeezes his giant ball. Who can blame him?

Star Fox’s Arwing in Animal Crossing.

Tom Nook’s store in Animal Crossing sells all sorts of garbage, including demonic skulls, poisonous insects, and video-game swag. Among the crap you can buy or find by shaking trees is the Arwing used by Fox McCloud in Star Fox. Other Nintendo items include Link’s Master Sword and Mario’s 1UP Mushroom.

Cole MacGrath in Street Fighter X Tekken.

I don’t think anyone was expecting InFamous’ Cole MacGrath to appear as a bonus character in the PS3 and Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken. Mortal Kombat got Kratos, so I guess anything is possible.

Simon Belmont reference in Contra: Hard Corps.

A Castlevania reference in a Contra game doesn't seem odd, since both franchises are made by Konami. But what if I tell you there’s a secret character in Hard Corps called Simondo Belmont? It gets better. Simondo is a secret robot boss with a morning star for an arm, and is an expert of the boomerang fish technique...a technique that doesn’t exist. This madness takes place while a very fast-tempo version of "Vampire Killer" plays in the background. Stop thinking about it and play the video above already.

Michael Jackson in Space Channel 5.

Michael Jackson lured little kids into his van with video games. I’m kidding...MJ had no van. Besides starring in Sega’s brain-scarring Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, the King of Pop lent his likeness and voice to create Space Michael in Space Channel 5. Supēsu Maikeru helped Ulala defeat square robots by singing and dancing...obviously.

Michael Jackson reference in Battle Arena Toshinden 3.

It seems Japan couldn’t get enough of Michael Jackson. There’s a fighter in Battle Arena Toshinden 3 called Ten Count that resembles MJ in his Smooth Criminal 1940s gangster outfit. Some of Ten Count’s moves include the moonwalk and a thrilling zombie-like dance.

Donkey Kong reference in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

Someone at Konami is clearly a fan of Nintendo’s tie-wearing primate and included a little tribute for him in Dawn of Sorrow. On his way to defeat Dracula, Soma Cruz encounters skeleton apes that throw wooden kegs at him. Sadly, jumping over the barrels does not give you 100 points.

Assassin’s Creed parody in The Witcher 2.

During Geralt’s monster-hunting journey in The Witcher 2, he comes across a church with a corpse lying next to a haystack. The dead body clearly belongs to either Altaïr from Assassin’s Creed or another hitman from the Assassin Order. While contemplating the cadaver, Geralt says: "Guess they’ll never learn."

Check out more cameos and guest appearances here.