Playable Cinema: 20 Good Movie-Based Games

Hello, and welcome back to Silver Linings where I'm ready to roll the maligned and forgotten.

One of the oldest truths in the games industry is that games based on movies suck. In fact, it was a game based on a movie that gets all the blame for nearly collapsing the whole industry in 1983, that being E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial on the Atari 2600 (though I found its reputation to be worse than the game itself, as seen in my review). The reason for that is simple: games based on movies are designed more to be marketing tools for the movies in question than as enjoyable games in their own right.

However, there are exceptions to every rule, and I found twenty such exceptions that I had a blast with. Now, for this list, I have a few guidelines. First, the games either have to be based on a specific movie or a franchise that started as a movie. Second, I immediately disqualified the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and James Bond franchises since they had enough good games to get lists all to themselves. Finally, the games must still be enjoyable now without rose-tinted nostalgia goggles. In alphabetical order, here are the games that belong on a theater marquee.

'Alien Trilogy' - PC, Playstation, Saturn

I reviewed this one a couple Halloweens ago, and it still stands as an excellent, if hard, Doom-clone. Even though the controls can be a little cumbersome for newer players, the action and atmosphere still match the first three movies amazingly well. Alien: Isolation is fantastic, too, but I already talked about that one.

'Blazing Lazers' - TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, PSP, Playstation 3, Wii U

While NEC's 16-bit machine had no shortage of great shmups, Blazing Lazers still stands as one of the best. Its soundtrack is awesome, the visuals just explode with color, and the action is intense with a near-endless number of power-up combinations. What many Western audiences at the time didn't realize was that it was based on the Japanese sci-fi movie Gunhed, one of the rare non-Godzilla-related movies from Toho.

'Brave' - PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii

Though not one of Pixar's most popular films, I actually enjoyed Brave, and the action-RPG based on it captured the film very well. Merida has plenty of attacks at her disposal, the puzzles with her bear brothers aren't annoying, and the points where you control Elinor's bear form are crazy fun. It even looks as good as the film.

'Casper' - 3DO, Playstation, Saturn, Game Boy Color

There were several different games made based on the live-action film about the famous Friendly Ghost, but Interplay's game for the fifth-gen consoles was the best. This adventure game revolves around finding the Lazarus Machine and getting it working. Its visuals match the movie great for the time, and it's one of those relaxed paced games I should've mentioned last time.

'The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay' - PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

This playable prequel to Pitch Black (#36 on my favorite movies list) is so legit that Vin Diesel got his own video game company Tigon to help make it! This mix of survival horror, stealth, and first-person shooter puts players in the shoes of the Furyan anti-hero flawlessly. Assault on Dark Athena is pretty good, too, but Escape from Butcher Bay is the better Riddick game.

'Die Hard Arcade' - Saturn

Beat-em-ups had a hard time transitioning to 3D in the fifth-generation, but the Saturn-exclusive Die Hard Arcade showed how they can be done right. John McClane's mission to rescue the President's daughter from terrorists provides all the insane fighting you can want from the genre with good use of quick-time-events years before Shenmue made them popular.

'Disney's Aladdin' - Genesis/MegaDrive

Games for the Genesis and Super Nintendo tended to be almost entirely different from each other, and Aladdin really showed the contrast. While the Super Nintendo version showed off some impressive graphics for the time, the Genesis version had the smoother gameplay. I'd much rather play this than watch the recent remake; that's for damn sure.

'Fantasia: Music Evolved' - Xbox 360, Xbox One

This is the reason I still have a Kinect hooked up. Fantasia is my favorite animated film (and #6 on my favorite movies list), and this game captured the wonder and joy of the movie perfectly. Using your body, you essentially become Leopold Stokowski conducting the visuals and music. Harmonix can certainly do more than Rock Band, you know.

'Ghostbusters: The Video Game' - PC, Playstation 2, PSP, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

This is what the third Ghostbusters movie should've been. You join the original quartet (all voiced by the original actors) as a new recruit and take on a mix of classic villains like Mr. Stay-Puft as well as threats that were only alluded to before like the Giant Slor. On top of that, it's just fun destroying everything with the proton streams.

'The Godfather' - PC, Playstation 2, PSP, Playstation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii

Making an open-world game based on the definitive gangster movie should've been a total disaster, but EA got it right big time. The era was recreated perfectly, your customizable character has tons of options for the perfect look, and both the melee and shooting combat are excellent. I got a kick out of just trying all the finishing moves. It even found creative ways for the missions to tie into the movie, like racing Don Vito Corleone to the hospital after the hit from the Tattaglia family.

'Gremlins 2: The New Batch' - NES

I was amazed at how well both Gremlins movies got translated into games. I covered this isometric action game a couple years ago and am still amazed at how well it holds up. I can't say that about a lot of NES games.

'The Mummy Demastered' - PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch

This was the only good thing to come out of the failed "Dark Universe." Yes, this is a blatant clone of Super Metroid. However, Super Metroid is one of the greatest games ever made; so, what's the problem? You take control of Prodigium soldiers led by Dr. Jekyll on a mission to take down Ahmanet, gaining plenty of new weapons and abilities along the way. Awesome!

'Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts!' - Game Boy Advance

This was the most pleasant surprise I've had for the final round of my golf marathons at defunctgames.com. A mini-golf game based on a Dreamworks animated movie that I was enjoying? How does that happen? Click here to read my full thoughts on this one.

'Rambo: First Blood - Part 2' - Sega Master System

Can you believe that this relic is the only good game based on the Rambo franchise? What's more, this shooter that's a blatant rip-off of Ikari Warriors is better than the ACTUAL Ikari Warriors games! This is one of the most enjoyable old-school co-op shooters ever and a perfect match for the iconic Razzie-winning action movie.

'Spider-Man 2' - Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox

Until the wallcrawler's PS4 debut from Insomniac, this was the definitive Spider-Man game. It expanded on the movie with additional villains like The Rhino, Shocker, and Mysterio, and it gave you all of New York City to explore. I lost countless hours just swinging around. It was one of the best superhero games ever made, let alone a movie tie-in.

'The Thing' - PC, Playstation 2, Xbox

This mostly forgotten survival horror gem is actually a playable sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 movie. A team goes to investigate what's left of the Antarctic research station and is trapped with the shape-shifting aliens. The trust system which dictates your team's AI behavior was a genius way to tie into the themes from the movie, and the atmosphere is still fantastic even now.

'TMNT' - PC, Playstation 2, GameCube, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii

While most Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games are simple beat-em-ups, this one based on the first CG movie tried something enjoyably different. Made by Ubisoft, it actually took cues from the Prince of Persia games. The combat was fun, but I got the most enjoyment from the wall-running and parkour that made the Prince famous.

'Tron' - Arcade, Xbox 360

This arcade gem from 1982 is STILL the best game based on the Tron franchise. The four minigames based on scenes from the original movie are simple and straightforward but still addictive, especially the light cycles. It's amazing that, despite its classic status, the only way to play it at home is on the Xbox 360... or buy the arcade machine.

'WarGames: DEFCON 1' - Playstation

Who decided to make a game based on the Matthew Broderick movie WarGames 15 years after the movie came out? Whoever did, thank you. While the PC and PS1 versions have the same plot of NORAD versus the malfunctioning WOPR computer (making it feel more like a Terminator story), the latter is a tactical shooter with campaigns on both sides complete with split-screen co-op and versus modes. It's one of the best strategy games on the system.

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine - The Uncaged Edition' - PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

While Logan's first solo movie was crap, the God of War clone based on it was friggin' awesome! For the first time, Wolverine's abilities and adamantium rage become yours to control, and the game holds nothing back. Tons of people and mutants end up tasting Logan's claws before the end, and it never stops being cool watching him heal from his injuries in real time.

What do you think? Any other movie games worth loading up? Let me know, and game on!