Top 10 Worst Video Games Based on Movies
Number 10: Iron Man (Xbox 360, PS3)
Starting off our list is the superhero who seems perfectly suited to become an icon of gaming. Sadly, Sega seemed unwilling to put out more than an insanely repetitive action game, with copy and paste levels, inconsistent difficulty, and tedious button mashing.
Number 9: Jaws (NES)
This game bears no resemblance to the film, outside of the name and involvement of a shark. In fact, this game had you riding a boat and aimlessly, diving into the ocean. There, you must collect shells and fish for no apparent reason. Eventually, you run into the shark himself, who swims around in a straight line while you drop depth charges at him. Lame.
Number 8: Friday the 13th (NES)
Let’s put it this way, most gamers would rather have Jason stab them in real life than play this game. Tedious, insanely difficult and not scary at all, players experienced a broken horror adventure that made you face down a slow moving Jason Vorhees in broad daylight.
Number 7: Tomorrow Never Dies (PlayStation)
This shovel-ware appeared two years after Rare' released GoldenEye, a game that revolutionized the first person shooter genre. Developed by Black Ops and EA for the original PlayStation, this game tried to ride the coat-tales of Rare’s previous success with James Bond. Shockingly, they ditched everything that had registered with gamers, focusing on a third person perspective, eliminating multiplayer, and sporting clunky graphics that left many shaken, not stirred.
Number 6: Enter The Matrix (PC, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox)
There’s nothing cooler than the concept of a game set within the Matrix. Sadly, even this game, which was written by the filmmakers, failed to deliver. Sure, the story line was alright, but what’s the point if you only want to skip levels to see the cut scenes? Overall, this was an extremely shoddy Max Payne clone, and you didn’t even get to play as Neo! If you had to design a Matrix game around one character, he’s the one!
Number 5: Catwoman (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube)
A true Hollywood stinker got an equally abysmal Prince of Persia knock off back in 2004. What made it so bad aside from having to be inspired by its film counterpart? Well that’s simple, bad controls, weak level design, a vomit inducing in-game camera and silly voice work by Halle Berry.
Number 4: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (SNES/Genesis)
With so many lame adaptations of this terrific movie riddling multiple platforms, we’re taking pop shots at the worst offender. That’s right, we’re talking about the side-scrolling beat ‘em up that was so brutal and confusing that most players couldn’t even defeat the first boss. And those that did couldn’t pass its vehicle driving level that was based entirely on trial and error! Forget the T-1000, this game must have been sent back by Skynet to inflict major pain on the human race.
Number 3: Charlie’s Angels (PS2/Gamecube)
Sure, it wasn’t exactly a memorable movie adaptation of a hit TV show, but we expected more from the game. This one is defined by extremely low quality graphics for the time, bland beat ‘em up gameplay, and a score of 1/10 from PlayStation Magazine. Yeesh, there’s a reason you never see Charlie, he’s hiding in shame.
Number 2: Back To The Future (NES)
The best time travel adventure should lend itself to an entertaining video game concept, right? Wrong! In fact, we’d be surprised if the folks over at LJN even watched the movie beforehand.
The result is an interpretation that has Marty McFly collecting clocks in a blatant rip off of “Paperboy,” minus the responsive gameplay or his signature clothing.
Why are you dodging wasps and oil slicks while firing bowling balls? Why does everything look the same, could they not have included more then one level or song?
Unplayable end of stage mini games aside, its shocking that the DeLorean only appears at the end. Even worse, it has to dodge lightning bolts! Come on, in the movie the Delorean was trying to get hit by one!
Number 1: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Atari 2600)
Rounding out our list of the worst is the game that quickly came to fill garbage dumps, following its release during the Christmas of 1982. In short, this game served as the prime example of atrocious and shameless game making.
E.T. suffered from primitive graphics, terrible controls, and pits that would cause you to get stuck.
This is all due to a rushed six-week development cycle and the expectation that gamers would be sold on Atari’s reputation alone. Sure, that worked at first, until people started complaining and returning it in droves.
The response was so bad that it helped trigger Atari’s crash as a gaming giant. Sadly, this incident didn’t stop other companies from taking the same approach toward quick and dirty movie-tie ins, as this list has unfortunately proven.