Video game adaptations, if you haven’t been paying attention, have essentially replaced the comic book adaptation. While those slowly fade out (despite the efforts of Kevin Feige and James Gunn) a little bit, video game adaptations are rising fast and furious.
In the next two years, there are eight movies and three television shows for video game adaptations, both new and existing. There are 36 movies or TV shows announced without a date, but they will probably be done within the next five years. So in that time frame, 47 video game adaptations are going to come out, and that doesn’t count the unannounced ones.
If you’re not watching a video game adapted to the screen, you’re probably living under a rock. But if you haven’t, these five are the most worth your time.
The 5 Greatest Video Game Adaptations Ever Made
5. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
As a wider adaptation of the Pokémon series, Detective Pikachu brings very little to the table. However, as a video game movie that uses Pokémon, it works quite well. The acting is pretty bad (which is disappointing because Justice Smith is good in other things), but the story is engaging, and the Pokémon are brought to life incredibly well. It works so well on that level that we can forgive the problems with the rest of the movie.
4. The Last of Us
This one needs a caveat. The Last of Us Season 1 is nearly flawless. It works as a faithful adaptation to the game, but it also expands and retracts from the original story in very meaningful ways (see: the Bill and Frank episode). It’s a great adaptation and a perfect season of TV. Season 2 misses the mark a bit. The highs remain incredibly high, but the lows are pretty low, and it’s uneven from start to finish. If Season 1 is five stars, Season 2 is 3 at best, making the overall show good but not quite great.
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie works so well in a lot of ways. As an adaptation, it doesn’t take any specific narrative from the games, which is good because those are mostly half-baked excuses for the gameplay anyway. It takes elements of the games and brings them all together, which makes for a really good connection between everything in the franchise. Plus, it’s unadulterated joy in movie form, and even if you’re not a gamer, you’re more than familiar with Mario, which helps the enjoyment level.
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Really, the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise could be on here because all three movies are quite good. But the third entry really takes it up a notch. It finally strikes a much better balance between the cringy humor designed for the younger audience and strong storytelling and narrative. Shadow’s inclusion, mostly thanks to his dark origin, does a lot of the heavy lifting, but it works as both an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2 and another movie that features characters and settings from the games, so that non-players can enjoy.
1. Fallout
Fallout is the absolute best video game adaptation because it is so perfectly what an adaptation should be. It exists alongside the games, allowing fans of the games and those who’ve never touched a controller the ability to enjoy it. You’ll glean more from it as a gamer, but you won’t be lost and missing the lore if you aren’t. Season 1 was absolute perfection, and Season 2 has been pretty exceptional with two episodes to go.
Conclusion
The above five are, so far, the best video game adaptations we’ve been given. I’m holding out hope that The Legend of Zelda and BioShock will one day join this list. While I haven’t seen everything (Arcane, especially), I have seen more than enough to get a good feel for the better projects in this genre.
