The most famous films inspired by video games: 5 titles
Video games have fascinated young people for decades, not only because of the opportunity to control specific characters who are supposed to complete specific missions, but also because of the stories surrounding them, which in the long run become real gamer favorites. Of course, not all virtual games offer well-crafted and defined storylines: even in some more modern attractions such as: Slots available online, comparable in many ways to real video games, the goal is simply to press the buttons to play. Regardless of whether it is a platform game or a fighting game, the protagonists of the video game worlds also hide particularly interesting and impressive backgrounds. Over time, cinema has become more and more interested in this strange sector of the huge entertainment industry and, as early as the 1980s, began to show on the big screen not only the characters of the most famous titles, but also the relationship between them and gamers Meat and bones.
An iconic feature film is undoubtedly represented by “The little big wizard of video games“, released in 1989. Jimmy Woods, a 9-year-old American boy, suffers from mutism and, after running away from home with his brother, reveals an incredible talent for video games. At this point, the idea of having Jimmy enter a tournament that offers a large prize pool automatically comes to mind. There are several titles of the time that are actually promoted during the film, from “Mega Man 2” to “Super Mario Bros. 3”, a game not yet released by Nintendo that became internationally known through this film.
When we think of products intended for the big screen that instead tell the adventures of video game characters, this is what inevitably comes to mind.Street Fighter – Final Challenge“, inspired by the famous fighting game series that often appeared in arcade cabinets. Here too, M. Bison is the main opponent who wants to enrich himself and rule over the people as a true dictator. The one who opposes him is primarily Guile, the commander of the Allied Nations, who is joined in the continuation of the story by the other well-known faces of the video game such as Ryu and Ken, initially presented as a pair of experienced con artists.
Much newer is “Super Mario Bros. – The Movie“, was released in cinemas worldwide in April 2023. In fact, Nintendo’s mustached plumber had already been the protagonist of the cinema 30 years earlier heavily criticized live action “Super Mario Bros.” This time Mario is back on the big screen with an animated film that makes extensive use of computer graphics. By trying to include as many characters as possible in these years, the story continually winks at fans of the “big N” and inserts numerous Easter eggs that are reminiscent of many of the titles that remained in the memory of players who the Witnessed the beginnings of the “console wars”.
In fact, Nintendo has long been a rival to SEGA, whose mascot was Sonic The Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog with immeasurable speed designed specifically to create a gap between Mario and make the most of the Mega Drive’s potential to steal market share the NES and SNES. “Sonic – The Movie“, which was released in 2020 and had a sequel two years later, gave the public a much more lighthearted image of the classic Sonic, who was described in the first video games as a little guy with a strong and sometimes angular character. His background was also rewritten, but the writers still found a way to include many other characters in the plot who were always close to the character of the hedgehog.
Finally, we could not miss Pokémon, which actually revolutionized the video game medium from the mid-90s, appearing on the Game Boy with a game divided into two almost completely identical versions, differing only in a few types of catchable monsters. It was released in cinemas in 2019.”Detective Pikachu“, a mixed media film that allowed people to beautifully interact with different types of Pokémon. The plot revolves around the character Pikachu, undoubtedly the most famous pocket monster, who, together with the protagonist Tim Goodman, tries to solve a mystery that ultimately affects both of them personally…
The article The most famous films inspired by video games: 5 titles published for the first time in VIGAMUS Magazine – The magazine about the world of video games.