Movie-based video games are the game industry's equivalent of garbage. More often than not, they are hastily cobbled together lines of code that only vaguely resemble the movie, much less any playable representation of said movie. It is even said by some that the E.T. game for the Atari 2600 was a big factor in the video game crash of 1983; even if that is untrue, it is confirmed that somewhere in the New Mexico desert there are more E.T. cartridges than should ever be in one place, lest it summons some terrible force from beyond our dimension. However, amid these abominations there are a few gems, diamonds in the rough if you will; these are 5 movie games that don’t suck.
5. Spiderman 2 – The first Spiderman movie and game were pretty decent in their own right, but the second installment was really where it was at. The game was one of the first games to digitally recreate every inch of New York city; not only that, but Spiderman could be maneuvered across this city uninhibited, free to swing about like a complete idiot for hours upon hours with no goal other than to stay off the ground. As you would zip across the city, you would encounter random situations in which to save citizens from a mugging or a purse snatcher. The story managed to stay true to the movie and also introduced some comic book favorites such as Black Cat. This is, without a doubt, the defining game in the Spiderman franchise.
4. Goldeneye 007 – Yeah, this game recently got a remake on the Wii, but the original is far superior in every conceivable way. All 2 of you out there who have no idea what Goldeneye is, just need to go buy an N64 and get yourself a history lesson. Based on the movie of the same name, the game blew it out of the water and endured long after the movie was forgotten. Goldeneye sported some of the first 4 player multiplayer available on a console, and you and all your friends played long into the night. There aren’t many gamers who would turn down an invitation to a deathmatch to this day. If you ever want to play, I’m ready, but you better not pick Oddjob or I will kick you squarely in the crotch.
3. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay – It seems that a lot of games tend to fail because of their disconnection from the original source material; they also tend to have terrible voice acting as well. Chronicles of Riddick, one of the defining titles on the Xbox, managed to snag Vin Diesel to reprise his role. This coupled with fantastic graphics, smooth controls, and basically beating everything to death with your bare hands, made this a title that really helped the Xbox establish itself as a dominant player in the market.
2. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade – There are precious few of these arcade machines around anymore, and it is because no one will give up their cabinet. This title was an instant attention grabber at any arcade with beautiful side art and an innovative control scheme that featured a simply joystick with two buttons on it. With this joystick you were taken through the major scenes from the original trilogy, from the assault on the death star to the final battle with Darth Vader. The simplicity and immersion made this one of the best arcade titles and one of the best movie based titles ever.
1. X-men Origins: Wolverine – This is not the type of game that will ever win any awards, but what it does is prove that a title can grow beyond a simple movie tie-in. The story’s execution in Origins is very weak, changing most of the key plot points in order to hype up the action sequences and create a little more drama. The formula works in a sense, only making the story mildly incomprehensible. It clicks on a fundamental level with awesome controls and throwbacks to Wolverine’s more formative years. Brilliant action and easily making pulled pork out of your enemies never seems to get old. This is a movie level done correctly focusing more on gameplay than complete story continuity. Plus you got to fight a sentinel, which is something that cannot be said for most games.
