Just like movie adaptations of video games can be, video game adaptations of movies can be pretty hit and miss, especially tie-in video games that are released concurrently with movies, which often serve as nothing more as another marketing tool to promote the movie.
However, every now then, game developers look to older movies to see if they can somehow transform them into an exciting and interactive experience. Between decades old gangster movies, slow-burning war dramas, and the most famous spy in the world, here are some of the video games based on movies that weren’t made until years or decades later, and some of them are incredible.
Jurassic Park (2011)
Telltale Games is one of the most creative game studios working today, as it designs surprisingly incredible narrative based point and click games, such as The Walking Dead and Batman: The Telltale Series.
And Jurassic Park is no different. Though it’s a little rough around the edges, the game sees the developer honing in on it’s unique gameplay, all while focusing on non-canon characters during the events of the first movie.
The Great Escape (2003)
Being one of the classic movies that Hollywood will inevitably remake, The Great Escape has already seen somewhat of a remake with this video game.
The movie is one of the strangest films to turn in to a fun, entertaining video game, as it’s a three hour film where the first two hours are about a group of prisoners of a German POW camp digging a hole. However, the game is full of tasks that don’t actually happen in the movie, and they are surprisingly fun stealth missions.
GoldenEye 007 (2010)
GoldenEye 007 holds quite a legacy amongst gamers and the video game industry, as it was originally released in 1997, which was already two years after the movie, for the Nintendo 64.
The game is considered one of the greatest video games ever made and it was highly influential on first person shooters released today. However, a reimagining of the game and the film was released in 2010, and it didn’t exactly receive the same reception. The game received generally positive reviews, but it was basically nothing more than a simple port.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)
25 years after the release of Ghostbusters, which is full of surprisingly legitimately scary scenes, Atari tried to transform those in to a video game.
The game adaptation didn’t disappoint, as it was actually full of the classic Bill Murray humor and the memorable settings from the movie. In 2019, the game was even remastered on its 10 year anniversary, but it didn’t change any of the game’s outdated gameplay and it remained slow and sluggish as players frustratingly try to trap ghosts.
The Godfather II (2009)
Though the first Godfather game was awarded with great reviews upon its release, the same can’t be said for the sequel.
Similarly to the original, most of the game sees players attack and defend businesses in order to collect protection money, and there’s very little to do with the narrative of the 1974 classic. The game is totally inconsistent in its gameplay, and the locations of Florida and Cuba are completely lifeless.
The Godfather (2006)
Being the greatest gangster movie of all time, it was only a matter of time until The Godfather was turned in to an open world third person shooter. Though the movie would look a lot different if it was recast today, interestingly enough, the game sees gamers play as a non-canon character instead of any of the interesting characters from the movie.
However, several of the actors from the classic movie reprise their roles to voice the old characters, even though director Francis Ford Coppola famously hates the game.
Reservoir Dogs (2006)
As Reservoir Dogs, arguably Tarantino’s best movie, is about a heist that goes terribly wrong, the game is about that very heist, and several others.
With Reservoir Dogs having one of the best movie soundtracks ever, the game features every track, which is sadly the best thing about the game. The cover of the video game is literally the movie poster, and it’s great marketing, as it hides how distinctly different the game looks to the movie. Reservoir Dogs (the game) is nothing more than a sloppy and cartoonish top-down shooter that actually has nothing to do with Reservoir Dogs at all.
Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)
Scarface is full of badass scenes, and as the game perfectly captures the tone of the movie, those scenes are incredibly replicated in the game, including the infamous final climax.
However, that scene actually comes at the beginning of the game, and instead of Tony Montana getting murdered, he survives the shoot-out and the game plays on from there. Being influenced by the open world Grand Theft Auto games, Scarface allows players to freely drive around Miami and perform similarly extreme stuff as seen in the movie, including buying a tiger.
James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (2005)
As the movie was released in 1963, From Russia With Love marks the longest gap in time between the movie and the game, being 42 years.
GoldenEye 007 isn’t the only great James Bond movie-to-game adaptation, as FRWL perfectly makes the player feel like Sean Connery’s Bond as it brilliantly renders scenes from the original movie. The game even has Connery return to the series to voice new lines of dialogue.
The Warriors (2005)
Being based on the 1979 cult movie of the same name, The Warriors, which came out 26 years later, remains massively faithful to the look of the original movie. The aesthetic of The Warriors, as it’s about gangs dressed in absurd get-ups in New York as they plot to take control of the city over the cops, is rendered incredibly by Rockstar.
The game expands on the world of the movie, as it’s set 90 days before the events of the film when the gang is framed for Cyrus’ murder. A director’s cut of the movie was even released concurrently with the game, but it’s one of the director’s cuts that's worse than the theatrical version.