What franchises have the best and worst licensed games?

[sdp]

The whole notion of "Licensed games are bad" didn't really start until the 2000, that's when magazines started being snarky about them and on the internet you'd see people say they were trash. before that people just talked about licensed games as any other games, there weren't any distinctions. I mean I guess the fact that I was also under 10 had to do with it.

I think James bond games in general tend to be "good" even if nothing groundbreaking like Goldeneye.
The Game Boy game was really good, Golden Eye on Wii was good, The one that had the actor of the first few Bond movies was good. Rogue Agent I remember enjoying it even if I didn't play it much. The World is Not Enough is supposed to be great but can't remember if it's the PS1 or N64 version which both play different.

Star Wars has of course had some amazing games. Dragon Ball has some great games, Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2/3. Anime in general tends to have better licensed games so I guess I won't talk about those.

[IMJ]

That PS3 era Ghostbusters game was fantastic.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by IMJ

That PS3 era Ghostbusters game was fantastic.

And that PS4 remaster of it was even better!

A pity they didn't add DLC or anything to it, or keep going with more. Those LAST couple of new Ghostbusters games have been horrific!

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by Prowler

How much did AVGN exaggerate about its negative aspects in his review of it?

He is right about the game being extremely difficult, atleast for anyone who hasn't memorised all the levels on a frame precise level.

What took me weeks to beat as a kid, I can now speedrun in less than an hour since I've memorised the game for almost 20 years.

If you play the game, it's gonna be extremely frustrating but part of the fun is finally getting to finish it. Difficult to learn, but easy to master I guess.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

The whole notion of "Licensed games are bad" didn't really start until the 2000, that's when magazines started being snarky about them.

Video game magazines werew often negative about movie-based videog games by the mid 1990's, usually because they had to be completed in time before the movie was forgotten.

The Turtles were comic and cartoon characters, so their popularity lasted longer, allowing more well-produced video games.

[Barkworm]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

I dunno if this counts, but Pepsi of all companies has a banger of a game on the PS1, appropriately called Pepsiman.

It was such an obscure game back in the day, released only in Japan (but available in various places like the Middle East via pirating). The game itself is alot of fun, functioning kind of like Templerun with the title superhero traversing through the likes of deserts and cities.

Seeing the game become a popular meme nowadays is so cool, because I was one of the OGs who knew about this super obscure game for a long time.

I have never heard of this game before but it made me remember that the 7-Up mascot Cool Spot had a game, too. It was released on 16-bit consoles and was very well-received.

[oldmanwinters]

Yeah, 7-Up's Cool Spot game franchise is surprisingly good overall, and has more games in it that most people realize!

Ironic how fast-food and snack food/drink tie-ins tended to get better video games than big-budget movies back in the day!

[sdp]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Yeah, 7-Up's Cool Spot game franchise is surprisingly good overall, and has more games in it that most people realize!

Ironic how fast-food and snack food/drink tie-ins tended to get better video games than big-budget movies back in the day!

perhaps devs were incentivized with free snacks of the product they were making while making it

[CyberCubed]

Superhero games had the bar raised when the Batman Arkham games came out. I think people forget how awful Batman games were during the PS1 era and the PS2/Gamecube era wasn't much better besides the one based on the cartoon. I remember they made a "Batman Begins" game based on the movie back then and it was mediocre. I can't imagine how dated it would be now after the Batman Arkham series.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Superhero games had the bar raised when the Batman Arkham games came out. I think people forget how awful Batman games were during the PS1 era and the PS2/Gamecube era wasn't much better besides the one based on the cartoon. I remember they made a "Batman Begins" game based on the movie back then and it was mediocre. I can't imagine how dated it would be now after the Batman Arkham series.

I wonder if it's because The Dark Knight was a huge hit and thus DC/Warner decided to let someone competent make good Batman games with high budgets. Batman must have become a lot more profitable since 2008. I don't remember people talking much about Batman in the mid-late 90s when I was a little kid, or in the early-mid 2000s when I was kid/teenager. Even Batman Begins did not get that much attention compared to TDK.

I'd say Spider-Man got more mainstream attention and popularity than Batman back in the early-mid 2000s with its movie trilogy and a PS2 game that was pretty well-regarded by most people who played it at the time. I remember being 14 or so and hearing my classmates talk about how much they liked the new PS2 Spider-Man game around 2004 or 2005.

Anyway, I might be way off, but I've never been into Marvel or DC. I've only watched a few movies and played a couple of games.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

I just now saw this thread and it appears that all of my thoughts and suggestions have already been said. Most Terminator games were pretty terrible, but the new one is supposedly pretty good. I am waiting for a sale before I buy it.

[Andrew NDB]

Have there been bad Terminator games? I know the first T3 game was bad, but then they made Terminator 3: The Redemption, which everybody seemed to like. In the 90s there was Terminator: Future Shock and its sequel, SkyNET on PC, which I both enjoyed. Nowadays yeah, Terminator: Resistance looks great and is in my queue.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Have there been bad Terminator games? I know the first T3 game was bad, but then they made Terminator 3: The Redemption, which everybody seemed to like. In the 90s there was Terminator: Future Shock and its sequel, SkyNET on PC, which I both enjoyed. Nowadays yeah, Terminator: Resistance looks great and is in my queue.

Your mileage on the early home console ports of the T1 and T2 games may vary depending on platform. Would love to play the new T2 inspired game!

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Have there been bad Terminator games? I know the first T3 game was bad, but then they made Terminator 3: The Redemption, which everybody seemed to like. In the 90s there was Terminator: Future Shock and its sequel, SkyNET on PC, which I both enjoyed. Nowadays yeah, Terminator: Resistance looks great and is in my queue.

Almost every Terminator game is bad. There are only a couple of ok ones apparently. However, No Fate seems to be rated pretty good, but I know you aren't a fan of modern retro inspired games.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

The Lord of the Rings have some pretty good games. Even the GBA games are pretty good. From what I know about 50% of the LOTR games are bad and 50% are good. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have some pretty good games out there too. I can't speak on any of the Rangers outside of the Mighty Morphin ones though. Even the movie gameboy game that the Angry Video Game Nerd shat on is pretty good. Biker Mice From Mars had the best racing game on the Snes in my opinion, but the PS 2 game wasn't very well received.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

However, No Fate seems to be rated pretty good, but I know you aren't a fan of modern retro inspired games.

Yeahhh... "we CAN do something cutting edge and revolutionary... but here you go, instead how about some 16-bit pixels from 1991?"

Though have you seen the TMNT 1 (NES) stuff floating around online "if it was rendered in Unreal Engine 5"? It doesn't change the mechanics of the game or anything and it remains a side-scroller but really looks incredible. Imagine that, while adding some additional control functionality? I'd be down with something like that.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Yeahhh... "we CAN do something cutting edge and revolutionary... but here you go, instead how about some 16-bit pixels from 1991?"

Though have you seen the TMNT 1 (NES) stuff floating around online "if it was rendered in Unreal Engine 5"? It doesn't change the mechanics of the game or anything and it remains a side-scroller but really looks incredible. Imagine that, while adding some additional control functionality? I'd be down with something like that.

I'll have to check that out. That game is super difficult once you get to the Technodrome. I have only beaten it with save states.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

The Lord of the Rings have some pretty good games. Even the GBA games are pretty good. From what I know about 50% of the LOTR games are bad and 50% are good. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have some pretty good games out there too. I can't speak on any of the Rangers outside of the Mighty Morphin ones though. Even the movie gameboy game that the Angry Video Game Nerd shat on is pretty good. Biker Mice From Mars had the best racing game on the Snes in my opinion, but the PS 2 game wasn't very well received.

I remember when some of the TLOTR games came out. I never played any, though.

[Powder]

The Matrix, TMNT, Batman, Spiderman, a few that come to mind.

[CyberCubed]

I guess The Witcher should count since its based on a book series. I don't read so I don't know anything about it till the games came out.