Movies & TV Shows That Deserve Their Own Video Game!

Adaptation, a story as old as time (quite literally if you look at the definition). When it comes to the entertainment industry, adaptations have been an incredibly popular way for creators to tell a story in their own voice with characters not their own, whether it be an adaptation of a novel, a TV show to film (and vice-versa), comic book adaptations, and, over the last several years, a boatload of video game adaptations. For years, video game adaptations to film and television were the brunt of all jokes about how rarely they hit the mark quality-wise. However, that reputation has changed over the past couple of years with projects like "The Last of Us", "Arcane", "Fallout", the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and too many more to count on the leaderboards for high score.

Now that the scales for good video game movies/TV shows have been balanced, let’s play an Uno reverse card and look at it the other way around. What are some movies/TV shows that deserve a really good video game to their name? And let’s make things clear, we’re not talking about the type of game adaptations that are developed under crunch time to make the release of the movie (if they’re lucky, maybe the game is playable… we're looking at you E.T… you know what you did). No, we’re thinking game adaptations on the level of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, the terrifying Alien: Isolation, the beat-em-up inspired Scott Pilgrim game, the iconic Goldeneye, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game from Bethesda. There are a bevy of good movies/TV shows to choose from, so this list will barely scratch the surface of what’s possible here. So let’s turn on the console and press play with our first adaptation in…

1. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

There are times in life when one looks upon someone — in this case, a tiny talking shell voiced by Jenny Slate — and they say to themselves, “Wow, there really are humble kings out there in the world.” Is the world truly ready for a game of such epic wholesomeness? The answer to that question is a deep query, yet the potential of a game based on Marcel the Shell with Shoes On speaks for itself. During scenes in the movie where you see Marcel with his entire Shell community, I kept on thinking back to the Pikmin games, where you control characters at a similar size to Marcel. With that as a point of inspiration, you can have Marcel or an original player character lead a massive group of Shells (I think it would be capitalized since Shell is a species of sort) to complete whatever tasks they have on hand for the day. You could have enemies to face, or you could not. Either way, if I saw this on the shelf, I would pick up and play this game quicker than you can sing “Peaceful, Easy Feeling”.

2. "The Twilight Zone"

The theme song alone would make this a worthwhile game to develop. Even outside of that, the endless possibilities that can come from a game based on "The Twilight Zone" give me goosebumps. For as long as the show’s been around, "The Twilight Zone" has been a textbook reference point for anything out of the ordinary that twists our perception of reality. With that amount of legacy, there’d be a lot of pressure for this game to succeed, but I only see the positives of how this could turn out. You could have either a series of games based on individual scenarios that occur within "The Twilight Zone" or, alternatively, you could have one game embrace the anthology nature of the show with multiple chapters. Each story can be different, the gameplay for each section can be unique — the only negative I see here is not having enough time in the day to play this game it could be that good!

3. Onward

“Long ago, the world was filled with magic!” Those are the opening lines to Pixar’s Onward, a story about two elf brothers going on a quest to bring their dad back to life for one day only. Set in a fantastical world where magical creatures adjusted to contemporary lifestyle, the world of Onward would make for such a fun video game setting. Fantasy is such a beloved genre to gamers across the globe, so to have something that embraces a magical realism world would be an interesting change of pace. On top of that, the dynamic of Ian and Barley going on a literal quest in the movie just lends itself perfectly to the structure of a video game. Since the story of the film already works so well, you could easily make this game a sequel story where Ian and Barley are on a quest throughout the world with an action-adventure flare à la The Legend of Zelda. There’s only one question left to answer: does Chris Pratt voice Barley again? He already voiced a video game character in a movie, but could he voice a movie character in a video game?! Mamma Mia!

4. Mission: Impossible

Whenever people think of spy movies or any spy story, their minds always drift to Bond, James Bond. As we mentioned earlier, Bond already has quite the legacy in video games with Goldeneye being a revolutionary first-person-shooter for the N64 era. If Bond can see his spotlight in gaming, it only makes sense that the Mission: Impossible franchise could be next in line. The set pieces from the iconic film franchise seem like the perfect type of adrenaline-pumping energy you would want in action video game. The Uncharted series feels like a perfect example for the type of action you could get with a Mission: Impossible game, with an emphasis on some good stealth sequences (akin to Hitman or Metal Gear Solid) here and there to keep the player on their toes. This is a mission I would absolutely choose to accept!

5. Moana

We head back to the realm of animation, this time focusing on Disney Animation proper with Moana. The 2016 movie of the same name has quicjly become one of the most popular Disney Princess stories of the 21st century. It already has a sequel set to release later this year. With a character so beloved and a world that is quite literally an endless ocean to explore, it would be a shame if Disney did not see the potential Moana could have in video game form. The likely genre of choice would be a platformer in the same vein as so many Disney video game adaptations that have come before, albeit with a massive emphasis on sailing. Whether the sailing works more singular like Windwaker or on a grander scale à la Sea of Thieves, getting the chance to explore the seas as Moana herself would make the kid inside anyone burst with joy. Oh, and if you get to play as Maui at any point, his shapeshifting abilities could lend to plenty of gameplay variety. In case Disney didn’t have this idea in mind already, all I can say is… You’re Welcome!

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street

Uhhh, there’s no easy way to transition from the bright and colorful Moana to the dark, horror vibes that A Nightmare on Elm Street entails. With that said, it’s quite surprising that there has not been a modern reimagining of A Nightmare on Elm Street in gaming. There was an NES game released in 1990, and Freddy Krueger is a featured character in the game Dead by Daylight, but there has yet to be a recent entry for the franchise for any of the major gaming systems. Other horror series like Alien and Friday the 13th have gotten their fair shake with a modern horror game, so it only makes sense that the Wes Craven classic could have a game similar to those and other horror games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. The nightmare worlds open the door to so many different possibilities with some inventive game design, making the horror feel so palpable and personal for the player. Above all else, if Robert Englund can reprise his role as Freddy Krueger for "The Goldbergs" of all things, surely he can return for something like this!

7. "Peanuts"/Charlie Brown

Heading back to a much more family-friendly franchise, we’ve got Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and all of your other favorite characters from the world of Charles Schultz’s "Peanuts"! Although there have been games released for the beloved series previously, nearly all of them revolve around Snoopy and most of them likely did not have enough resources to go all out. With a modern developer that has enough funding and creative minds behind it, I imagine A Charlie Brown Video Game (which needs to be the title btw) could be something akin to Animal Crossing and many other life sims. The world of "Peanuts" does not need to have the biggest action or the highest stakes imaginable. It could be something as simple as Charlie Brown needing to garner enough help with a local fundraiser, or Linus forcing Lucy to help him find his blanket which has gone missing. Scenarios like this give you the chance to interact with the characters from "Peanuts" in a way which you never could before. And for when you’re in the mood for more action, there’s always Snoopy and his Red Barron. What could go wrong? (To any Charle Brown types reading this, don’t answer that!)

8. "Daredevil"

Lastly, but certainly not least, is another iconic Marvel superhero who has yet to receive his own video game: the Man Without Fear himself, Daredevil! Of course, Daredevil (like many other Marvel heroes) has been a featured character in plenty of Marvel games over the years — notably the Ultimate Alliance series. And yet, no game has featured Daredevil in the title role. With the success of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham series and Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, the foundation for a Daredevil game is already there and then some. Make combat and exploration similar to the aforementioned superhero games while finding unique ways to incorporate Daredevil’s powers into the gameplay, like his bully sticks or sections where you need to rely on his heightened senses to detect enemies. Narratively, you could have a unique story that pits Matt Murdock against any number of the villains in his rogues gallery, and with the pacing a video game story allows for, there’s no way it wouldn’t be awesome. So come on Marvel, get it done! Every disc you print is just more money out of mine and everyone else’s wallets!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to play Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 for the bajillionth time...