Although in recent times the film and TV series adaptations of video games have proliferated more and more — let’s think of the film Uncharted with Tom Holland and the recent HBO series on The Last of Us —, their story dates back to the now distant 1993, with the feature film Super Mario Bros. In these 30 years, products of all kinds have come out, e.g the experiments were not always successful.
There have indeed been a lot of tumbles and poor results, but in this article we want to focus on the ones adaptations that have worked instead, and that they managed to do justice to the video games they were inspired by. So take your watchlist, and get ready to add these movies and TV series!
Tomb Raiders (2018)
Lara Croft is played by Alicia Vikander in the 2018 reboot of Tomb Raider, where the protagonist finds herself exploring an unknown island in the Pacific in search of the treasure of a legendary Japanese empress. While the movie wasn’t a huge box office hit, if you enjoyed the 2013 reboot game series, then this adaptation will be for you too.
The Swedish actress was seen as one unconventional choice for a character who, as in the previous films with Angelina Jolie, had been considered more for his physical appearance than for his skills. A sequel is currently in the works, with Misha Green (series creator Lovecraft) as director.
Mortal Kombat (1995 and 2021)
Director Paul WS Anderson grew up playing Mortal Kombat in cabinets, so the first of his video game adaptations had to be about the franchise. In the lively 1995 film there is actually a fighting tournament, and the atmosphere of the game is recreated perfectly.
The 1995 film was followed by several failures, but in 2021 came another adaptation that hit the bull’s-eye: former pro MMA hero Cole Young must join special forces soldiers Jax and Sonya Blade and mercenary Kano, with the goal to reach the temple of the earth kingdom; here they will find the superpowers needed to defeat the Outworld. This film does not hold back from showing the blood and violence typical of Mortal Kombat, e the fight scene between Sub-Zero and Scorpion is pure art.
Like a Dragon (2007)
Director Takashi Miike has produced several video game adaptations, including one on the Yakuza franchise, the story of which is loosely based on that of the original title. The events take place over the course of a summer night, which begins with a bank robbery by a duo manzai disguised and with the disappearance of ten billion yen from the deposit of the Tojo clan. Former yazuka Kazuma Kiryu and young Haruka Sawamura are searching for the latter’s mother, with the former’s rival band hot on their heels.
The director in this adaptation decided to take advantage all comic material available in video games, and has recreated the rules in a credible and at the same time goliardic live-action setting. The film is available entirely on YouTube, so you have no excuse not to miss it.
Werewolves Within (2021)
We stay in the comedy genre with Werewolver Within, one of the best-selling video game adaptations precisely because of the freedom with which director Josh Ruben and writer Mishna Wolff treated the source material. The film is loosely inspired by the 2016 VR title of the same name, and Sam Richardson plays Finn, a kind but very down on her luck forest ranger who moves to the small town of Beaverfield in search of a fresh start.
However, nothing goes as it should, and the protagonist finds himself in the middle of a city crisis, when the inhabitants suspect that a murderous werewolf is hiding in the fog. Even if the video game it’s inspired by isn’t as famous as others mentioned in this list, Werevolves Within is worth seeing for the ironic dialogues, the horror twists and the charismatic chemistry between the actors.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Anyone who watched the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog will remember Sonic’s hideous appearance, looking like an imitation halfway between an animal and a human. Luckily, following massive fan reviews, director Jeff Fowler and Paramount Pictures decided to retouch the character, delaying the film’s release by a few months. The result was one of the best video game adaptations in years.
The film is faithful to the source, Sonic is both fast and funny, and there is no shortage of hilarious jokes. Although he was released during the pandemic, Sonic the Hedgehog represented one of the highest grossing films of 2020so much so as to push for the production of a sequel, released in April 2022.
Warcraft (2016)
The film adaptation of Warcraft was announced in the early 2000s, and it took almost a decade for it to come to light. The film represents a prequel to the Blizzard franchise, telling its origins from the perspective of humans, and the result is a story that would be enough to fill at least three feature films — although there will probably never be sequels.
Warcraft is mainly based on CGI, with entire cities and environments created with computer graphics and half of the actors transformed into orcs. It’s no surprise that post-production alone took two years to complete, but every second was worth it: the visual effects are so well done that you won’t think for a second you’re looking at something fictitious, and even enemies are rendered with depth thanks to ultra-detailed expressions. In short, it will not be the best adaptation in terms of plot, but it is definitely a feast for the eyes.
Silent Hill (2006)
Like most video game adaptations, the movie Silent Hill doesn’t look for an exact coincidence either. The work follows the story of Rose (played by Radha Mitchell), who is looking for her daughter in a terrifying ghost town; at the same time, her husband Christopher (Sean Bean) in turn does not find the woman when he goes to look for her.
What is most successful about this adaptation is the recreation of the eerie tone of the video gameand instead of bland horror you can find elements that are truly worthy of the genre, such as scales of giant insects, mutilated bodies and corpses hanging around.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Detective Pikachu had fans of the popular franchise freaking out even before its 2019 release; on the other hand, how can you resist a CGI Pikachu with a hat on Sherlock Holmes? This live-action Pokémon movie surpassed all expectations, becoming the second highest-grossing adaptation in historysurpassed only by Warcraft.
What comes to mind when we think of the little monsters created by Game Freak are the battles between trainers, but Detective Pikachu managed to hit the bull’s-eye thanks to its interesting story full of action and a convincing world-building. Justice Smith and Pikachu, voiced in the original version by Ryan Reynolds (you surely know him from Deadpool) are the perfect duo, but let’s face it, the yellow furball is enough to conquer everyone.
Arcane (2021)
We conclude the list with one of the few TV series among video game adaptations that is noteworthy; we are talking about Arcane, the animated series that chronicles the origins of the League of Legends champions Vi, Jinx, Caitlyn, Jayce and Viktor. In fact, the story focuses on two narrative lines: the first follows Jinx’s path towards madness following a tragic accident and Vi’s to save her little sister from herself, while the second focuses on Viktor’s invention of the ‘Hextech, fusing magic and technology.
In addition to having superb characters and writing, the first season of Arcane — available on Netflix — is among the most visually unique and successful animated series of recent yearsand is accessible even to those who are not fans of League of Legends.
The Last of Us (2023)
We could not finish the list with the tv series about The Last of Us, released over the last few months and created by HBO. The show, which in the first season consists of 9 episodes, was a real boom, convincing both fans of Naughty Dog’s work and those who did not know it, thus generating a new wave of popularity for the 2013 video game ( you can find our review at this link).
In the series we find Pedro Pascalbest known for The Mandalorian, as Joel, and Bella Ramsey in Ellie’s; the narration slavishly follows that of the video game, recounting the journey of the two protagonists across the United States and offering viewers a sensational mix of direction and photography.
Our recommendations for the best video game adaptations end here; obviously there would be other noteworthy titles, including the TV series on The Witcher, which we have deliberately not included since, although the settings and characters are inspired by the video game, it is based on the novel by Andrzej Sapkowsk.