Video games being adapted for the silver screen is often a flip of a coin with the unlucky side always up first. The same can be said for when companies attempt to take some Hollywood blockbuster and turn it into a video game. It’s usually an underdeveloped mess that was only meant to make more money.
But every now and then, through the piles of awful licensed games come some surprising diamonds in the rough that showcase genuine effort. After SpongeBob: Battle For Bikini Bottom got a successful remake, perhaps the same can be done for other titles.
10 Remake: The Harry Potter Trilogy
This was a rare case when not one, not two, but three games in a row based on movies were all good. The first three games in the long series could best be described as The Legend Of Zelda: Hogwarts Edition and that’s far from a bad thing.
A wide map to explore with a multitude of fun minigames, tons of spells to unlock for different challenges and puzzles, beans to collect (rupees essentially), and a loyalty to both the movies and the books. With the new Wizarding World RPG in development, it would be a perfect time to remake these games to prepare gamers for it.
9 Forget: Jaws Unleashed
The Jaws films began with the strongest one of them all then continued to gradually descend into B-movie schlock fests. Therefore, it is fitting that the games would suffer the same fate. The NES game was lackluster but at least it wasn’t Jaws Unleashed.
Jaws Unleashed has impressive graphics for a PS2 game and Bruce the Shark’s free-roaming gameplay is genuinely exciting; however, while there are a lot of great concepts in play, they are ruined by a laughably silly story that presents Bruce as the hero and broken controls. This concept was better pulled off in this year’s Maneater.
8 Remake: Star Wars: Republic Commando
Not only could it be a much-needed return to the prequel era but this is a case where an already brilliant game could be improved. Republic Commando is beloved for its squad system and unique visor HUD, but the common complaint about the game is that it is way too short.
With a remake, the developers could add more content and levels to make it a proper campaign length. Also, the Commando is now a canon class of Clone Trooper, so it shouldn’t interfere with the newer Star Wars material.
7 Forget: Star Trek (2013)
Another game that had a great concept, Star Trek is in the style of BioWare’s Mass Effect and allows fans to play as Captain Kirk or Spock from the J.J. Abrams movies. Awesome in theory, but this game, unfortunately, reeks of being a rushed product.
Glitches, repetitive gameplay, and performances from the movie actors that are obviously last second with little effort. Star Trek has yet to have a decent single-player game and this was probably the straw that ruined the chances of that for good.
6 Remake: Peter Jackson’s King Kong
This is one of the most ambitious movie licensed games. Peter Jackson’s King Kong is a great length, brings back the whole movie cast, has impressive visuals (for the time), and an adrenaline-fueled campaign that showcases some great monsters to fight.
Oddly enough, one could argue that the game is more fun than the actual movie seeing how it doesn’t spend a decade on a boat. With a remake, battles with the V-Rex, the stampede, and other sequences could make for one of the best shooters of the year.
5 Forget: Thor: God Of Thunder
Simply put, this is a very poor man’s version of the original God Of War titles. That somehow still feels too much like a compliment to Thor: God Of Thunder.
Graphics are not everything but even for 2011, Thor: God Of Thunder was just ugly and looked more like a PlayStation 2 game. Much like Star Trek, Thor’s gameplay is just clunky and repetitive, none of the locations are interesting, and the titular hero feels even less like a god in the game than he does without his hammer in the first movie.
4 Remake: Star Wars Episode I: Racer
If there was anything truly jaw-dropping to come out of The Phantom Menace, it was the pod race with Anakin Skywalker. It was a visceral and intense race that kept viewers on the edge of their seats despite them knowing that Skywalker was not going to perish.
This feeling of intensity was brought over nearly perfectly to the Nintendo 64 with Star Wars Episode I: Racer, an entire game dedicated to multiple circuits of pod racing with many pods and racers to choose from. It is also a very difficult game which could lead to a lot of fun online matches if given the option in a remake. Star Wars Episode I: Racer has been remastered for current systems, but a full remake would be amazing.
3 Forget: Saw II: Flesh & Blood
The first Saw game was far from perfect but it was a decent title that followed the structure and style of the movie franchise. It incorporated tons of puzzles, a fan-favorite character from the first movie, and plenty of gory combat.
Now, remove everything positive that was just said about the first game and that’s the sequel. Everything about Saw II: Flesh & Blood is just so boring; nothing is interesting which makes it a failure of an action/puzzle game.
2 Remake: X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition
This game starring Hugh Jackman is not only eons better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which is not saying much) but it is one of the most surprising Marvel games ever made that basically fixes all but one major complaint about the movie. An error that can easily be fixed.
Logan’s combat is fast, bloody, and brutal, the story is actually darker and more epic than the movie, and the added story pieces fit well within the game. The only issue is that the developers still followed the movie with the terrible mouthless Deadpool. With a remake, the game wouldn’t have to follow a movie anymore and could be the start of a new series of X-Men games.
1 Forget: The Fifth Element
Yes, there was a game based on the amazing movie starring Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman. The Die Hard games of that era were good so that should carry over here, right? Especially since it’s made by the same people that brought Nightmare Creatures. Wrong!
There are not enough words in the English language to convey the awfulness of The Fifth Element. The draw distance is practically two feet, the enemies are nearly impossible to kill on top of broken controls, and the game does not follow the movie well at all. It’s a shame because it could have been something great.
NEXT: 5 PS1 Games That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time (& 5 That Were Just Too Generic)
