Top 10 Games Based On Movies

Disney’s Aladdin

Developer: Virgin Interactive
Platform: Retro, Amiga, PC, Gameboy
Year: 1993

Disney’s Aladdin might seem out of place in this list, especially since it follows on from Dune and Blade Runner, but trust us. Disney’s Aladdin was as pixel-perfect as platform gaming can possibly get.

Unsurprisingly, Aladdin pretty much follows the plot of the film. Opening with an escape scene based around the ‘One Jump’ sequence of the film, Aladdin later progresses through the cave of wonders and the Sultan’s dungeon before finally defeating Jafar in the palace and declaring victory.

It’s not the plot that makes Aladdin such a memorable highpoint in the world of film-based games though – it’s the gorgeous art, catchy music and finely tuned gameplay. Aladdin is a fantastically difficult game (especially for the audience it was pitched to), but it never really feels unfair. It just feels fun – much of which probably comes from the fact that you can run and jump so freely.


There’s almost no delay in the thought-keypress-action chain, which makes Aladdin deliciously fastpaced, even if it does borrow heavily from the likes of Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. Virtually everything in the game from collecting apples for extra lives to the bonus rounds that you can trigger by getting certain power-ups had appeared in earlier games – but Disney still used them to create one of the best old-school platformers ever.

Alien versus Predator

Developer: Rebellion Developments
Platform: PC, Mac
Year: 1999

Again, we’re cheating a bit. Alien versus Predator isn’t really based on a single film, though it does share a title with one. Instead, Rebellion’s seminal and super-scary stealth shooter traces it’s lineage back to the Alien versus Predator comic crossover, which in turn is based on the previously separate Alien and Predator films.

So, really we’re not cheating. In fact, because AvP is actually based on two films then we’re being doubly-good. Alright then.

Incorporating three entirely different campaigns, Alien versus Predator gives players a chance to play as both an alien, predator and human marine – which really means that the title is a classic under-sell. Those marketing people are devious.

Though there are a few areas of overlap in the original game, the three campaigns really stand apart as separate adventures with entirely different mechanics. As the alien you’re a stealthy melee warrior who climbs ceilings and noms skulls, while as the predator you’re a juggernaut of technology and gadgets perfectly suited to combat. It’s the marine campaign that most people remember though, for the simple reason that it’s the possibly the single scariest experience you can have with a computer without visiting the demotivational thread in the bit-tech forums.

Seriously. The thought of moving down those dimly lit corridors and a limited field of vision, spinning on the spot constantly and listening for the tell-tale blip of your motion tracker telling you that you’re about to be buried in acidic blood…No wonder we still have nightmares!