There was a time where every major movie that came out had to have a game that tied into it. I don’t mean that in the metaphorical sense, I mean that in the “it was damn near a requirement” sense. Or at least it felt that way.
Games like Bad Boys: Miami Takedown and Catwoman (which was somehow worse than the film) are some of the worst examples of the insistence that a Hollywood movie come with a game. There were some good ones like the classic EA Lord of the Rings games that melded movie scenes with the game’s cutscenes. But by and large, this era of gaming was a mess.
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LET’S JUST GO SEE A MOVIE
Part of the problem here was the games were beholden to the marketing and release schedule of the movie. So, if you were tapped to make the game, you had a very clear and obvious endpoint for development. Meaning even the most talented of developers are going to end up throwing up some bricks.
The other problem is the games had to closely follow the plot of the movie. And if your movie’s plot wasn’t particularly game friendly or even good on its own, the game was almost assuredly heading towards stinker status.
These games were so offensively bad that when you got a decent one, it felt like the next Mario game. EA’s Batman Begins game was a perfect example of that. I love that game. And it was good, but it feels like Arkham Asylum compared to some of the other stuff we got. And quiet as it’s kept, it kind of was. But that’s a conversation for another day.
END OF AN ERA
It’s weird, for an era of gaming that I remember so vividly, I don’t remember the end of movie tie-ins. It just felt like everything stopped one day. I know that I played a number of these games. Way more than I should admit if I’m being honest. The Blockbuster days were a big help here. I never used them for a movie, but when I wanted to torture myself with a tie-in game, they were my go-to.
I’m glad it’s over though. There are some really talented devs who got sucked up in that cycle. The aforementioned Catwoman game? Developed by Argonaut Games. The same company that gave us Star Fox and the Super FX chip. To take it a step further, former employees of Argonaut left and joined Rocksteady, of Arkham series fame. There were some beasts making these horrible movie games, they just didn’t have the chance to show it. In any case, we should all rejoice that this era is done with.
This post was originally published on here
