From blockbusters to lacklusters, if there was a movie released at the time there’s a good chance Nintendo made a game out of it.
Beginning with Raiders of the Lost Ark for the Atari 2600, adaptations of films have been a huge part of gaming. Nintendo took Atari’s idea and ran with it, releasing over 50 movie-based games for the NES including some classics (Willow, Goonies II) and some clunkers (Home Alone, Predator).
Whether because of the timing of their release, the number of copies produced, or the success of the film they’re based on, these are 10 movies you probably didn’t realize were made into NES games.
10 Darkman
Imagine just having watched Darkman, Sam Raimi’s “super-hero” film about a scientist who replicates skin tissue to impersonate and gruesomely murder his enemies. Would your first thought be “Man, my kid’s gonna love playing the video game version of this!” Well, someone at Ocean Software did and in 1991 Darkman arrived on the NES.
Despite being plagued by slippery controls and a rock-paper-scissors style of combat, Darkman is probably one of the best-looking titles on the system. It’s also a rare instance of a game staying true the film it’s based on. This includes the stage designs, the mid-level cutscenes, and the Game Over screen of Liam Neeson’s face crying tadpole sized tears.
9 Hudson Hawk
While R rated films like Rambo could be effectively marketed to children, they weren’t the only attempts at pushing adult oriented movies on kids. Both critically panned and commercially unviable, 1991’s Hudson Hawk starring Bruce Willis seems like an unlikely choice for an NES game.
Hudson Hawk is yet another bland side-scrolling platformer. While the 8-bit version of Hudson does resemble ol’ Bruce, it’s more like if a Die Hard action figure got stuck in the microwave. What the game lacks in graphics, controls, and gameplay it more than makes up for in boredom and frustration. Luckily the developers were aware of this and if you pause the game you’re given the rare suicide option “A+B = Quit”. Take it quick!
8 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The last film in the trilogy, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was a huge hit with both audiences and critics. It should then be no surprise that it received ports for many video game systems including the NES. Bizarrely, there are TWO separate versions of this game with virtually identical titles and cover art.
Despite their copycat appearance, these two games were made by separate game companies. The Taito version is the more faithful to the film, incorporating plot elements and some cool pixel portraits of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. The Ubisoft version…is a three color mess that feels more like a Gameboy title than an NES one.
7 The Untouchables
1987’s The Untouchables, starring Robert De Niro and Kevin Costner, was a beautiful, suspenseful, and bloody film. Naturally it was a great choice for the kid-friendly NES which is why a video game version appeared two years later.
The Untouchables is a 3rd person gallery shooter executed very poorly. Never has a mouse or Zapper been more needed and using the D-Pad to target is excruciating. Punctuating this poor mechanic even more is the fact that this game is timed meaning you need to be almost perfect in your shots or its game over.
6 Gotcha! The Sport!
The NES Zapper was a huge part of what made the NES so successful and early releases like Duck Hunt and Hogan’s Alley featured prominently in Nintendo’s marketing. After the initial enthusiasm wore off, few titles were released for the light-gun and the ones that did come out were widely ignored.
One such Zapper game was the awkwardly titled Gotcha! The Sport!, a clunky paintball simulator that requires the player to shoot with one hand and move the screen with the second controller. Even more bizarre is that this game is somehow based on the relatively obscure 1985 film Gotcha! starring Anthony Edwards of ER fame.
5 Dirty Harry
Released in 1971, Dirty Harry waited 19 years for its first video game adaptation. Not only does Harry looks more like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, but this barely 8-bit side-scroller has some of the most awkward controls on the NES. Having to press A & B together in order to jump should be punishable as a war crime.
One amazing thing about Dirty Harry is the opening screen has a rendering of Clint Eastwood’s face accompanied by a pitch perfect voice over of his signature catchphrase “Go ahead, make my day.”
4 Batman Returns
One of the best movie to game adaptations of all time is Batman for the NES, which Sunsoft followed up with the good but not great spinoff: Batman Return of the Joker. Released late in the life of the NES, a third Batman game arrived in 1993: Batman Returns.
Konami’s adaptation of Tim Burton’s dark sequel went mostly unnoticed by the millions of gamers who’d already moved on to the Super Nintendo. While the graphics are a bit scaled down compared to its SNES counterpart, it’s still classic Konami, filled with fun gameplay and amazing music.
3 The Rocketeer
In one of Hollywood’s many attempts to revamp an old intellectual property, The Rocketeer was a commercial failure when it was released. In spite of this, a game adaptation appeared on the NES that same year.
The first thing one might ask when playing this game is “Hey! I thought the Rocketeer could fly?” Even though he’s wearing his famous jetpack, this Rocketeer puzzlingly refuses to lift off. Only in the later stages can you utilize his rocket and the odds that you stayed with it that long are slim to none.
2 Cool World
When released in 1992, Cool World was touted as the more adult answer to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Famous for films like Fritz the Cat and Wizards, Ralph Bashki dumbed it down with this raunchy and ultimately uneven R Rated film. Well, sounds like perfect territory for an NES game!
Another terrible platformer, Cool World features some awful graphics and monotonous level design. Its greatest strength, the music, is also its greatest weakness. For some reason the gameplay interferes with the audio track and every time you jump the backing music pauses for a second. It’s like listening to the world’s worst dub-step DJ test out his effects buttons.
1 Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers, the classic SNL sketch turned real life band, starred John Belushi and Dan Akroyd as the eponymous brothers of blue: Jake and Elwood. Coming 12 years after the release of the feature length film, Blues Brothers for the NES doesn’t quite live up to their legacy.
Developed by Titus Games (of Superman 64 fame), Blues Brothers takes all the frustration and aimless gameplay of Cool World and adds vertical level designs with impossible jumps. If perpetually climbing and then falling back to the beginning of the stage sounds like your cup of tea, then Blue Brothers is for you!
NEXT: 10 Lesser-Known NES Games That Need More Love
