There are many, many series and movies that have become video games. Many of these adaptations come from a time when any movie or series was a pretext for launching a game, most of questionable quality. But today there are examples of excellent quality. Here we list 11 of them; but there’s a lot more to play with.
11 video games inspired from series and movies
The following 11 games based on movies and series, without order of quality or preference.
1. Street Fighter: The Movie and Street Fighter II Movie (1995)
There are very few games that were based on movies that were already game adaptations, but the Street Fighter series does the trick of holding TWO of those titles.
The first and best known is the infamous Street Fighter: The Movie (1995), based on the film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia, and was released for Arcade and desktop consoles, being very similar to Mortal Kombat. The second, the also weak Street Fighter II Movie (1995) came out only for PlayStation, and is an adaptation of the 1994 animated feature, which is much more faithful to Street Fighter II.
2. Game of Thrones: The Telltale Games Series (2014)
The Game of Thrones series, based on George RR Martins’ books has yielded several platalform games over the years, but if you choose a title, this is the Telltale Games series, released for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows.
The plot follows events between the third and fifth seasons of the series and is centered on the Forrester family, which at the time had only been mentioned in the series. Unfortunately, with Telltale’s bankruptcy, this game is out of print.
3. The Walking Dead: The Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead, based on the AMC series and the comic. Following Telltale’s bankruptcy, the brand and team were acquired by Skybound Games, Robert Kirkman’s studio (author of HQ), to complete the fourth chapter and end the story.
The series received several awards and was praised for originality (with an unpublished story), charismatic characters and a cohesive storyline that can shock the player.
4. Batman: The Video Game (1989)
The Dark Knight had several versions of its films converted into games, but Batman: The Movie (1989) strangely had three different games from different studios. The most popular is Batman: The Video Gams, developed by Sunsoft for NES.
Like the platform games of the time, such as Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man, this one is quite difficult and brings a story that just reminds of passing the movie starring Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and Jack Nickolson.
5. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009, 2019)
In 2009, the Ghostbusters franchise was adapted into a game with realistic graphics, released for Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360 (and in cartoonish versions for PS2, PSP and Nintendo Wii), featuring the original cast of actors, featuring a story after the second movie, in which the player controlled a new fifth member of the group.
Taking advantage of the upcoming release of a new movie, Ghosbusters: The Video Game has been remastered and re-released, now also for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows (yes, again).
6. Alien: Isolation (2014)
Alien: Isolation (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS3, Xbox 360, Windows, macOS, Linux) was the first game on a long list of adaptations from the Alien franchise in which the action element was set aside, giving way to Survival Horror.
Here, Amanda Ripley (daughter of Ellen Ripley, protagonist of the franchise lived by Sigourney Weaver) has to turn to avoid being caught by a single xenomorph loose on her ship, similar to the creature that made Ripley and company hell in Alien: The Eighth Passenger.
7. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
The Star Wars franchise has yielded many, but MANY games over the course of four decades, some good, some bad, and some that have aged very badly to the point where they are no longer decently playable.
The latest is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4, Xbox One, Windows), which tells a story between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope. The protagonist enters Cal Kestis, a surviving Order 66 padawan on a journey to complete his Jedi training, while fleeing the Empire’s inquisitors.
8. Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017)
The franchise Star Trek also yielded numerous games based on the series and movies, but one of the most interesting is the latest. Star Trek: Bridge Crew (PS4, Windows, Oculus) allows player and friends to take over the USS Enterprise bridge in the first person, both original Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura and cia, and Picard NCC-1701-D , Riker, Data, Troi, and La Forge of The New Generation (DLC).
Originally compatible with RV devices only, the game has been updated and today everyone can play with or without glasses or HMDs.
9. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (2019)
Power Rangers has had games of various genres, from beat ’em up to racing games (!). The latest, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Google Stadia) focuses on the good old fighting genre, bringing several incarnations of the American version of the Japanese Super Sentals since the first Mighty Morhpin until the 2017 movie.
10. The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game (2019)
The two films in the LEGO One Adventure series yielded very well (the first more than the second), and as usual, both won games based on them.
The latest, The LEGO Movie 2 Video Game (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, macOS) brings both movie and original worlds and characters, with the same mechanics as many LEGO games: use the plastic little pieces to solve puzzles and reach new areas.
11. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mistery (2018)
The most famous little wizard of recent decades has also made its own in several games, but the latest title is not starring the boy who survived. The Harry Potter Story: Hogwarts Mystery (iOS, Android) is years before its arrival at Hogwarts, with its original character interacting with the previous generation of students.
Much of the original cast of the movies dubbed the game, which is free with microtransactions; Unfortunately, progress limiters are very poorly balanced in an attempt to force the player to spend money.