Jump directly to the content
IT’SA BAD

The top five worst video game adaptations that make you cringe

RECENTLY, video game movies have been killing it. 

From Sonic to Uncharted and the upcoming Mario movie, the latest films have been entertaining romps.

See if you can spot the difference.
1
See if you can spot the difference.Credit: Hollywood Pictures

However, it hasn’t always been this way, as many old film adaptations used to be written by people with no history of gaming.

Check out our list of the five worst video game films of all time, to see if there’s any you’ve enjoyed.

5. Wing Commander (1999) 

Wing Commander is a popular and long-established gaming franchise that was in no way helped by its live-action adaptation.

Stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard would go on to be praised for their partnership in Scooby Doo, but their roles in Wing Commander were more of a ‘Scooby, please don’t’.

More in Gaming

This one is probably further on the bad end of the ‘so bad it’s good’ scale, but we had to include it just to see these stars flop.

One of the bigger budgets, and failures, on the list, it recouped £10million on a £27million investment. Ouch!

4. Resident Evil (2002 - 2016)

This is one everyone has heard of, as there are six films and an unbelievably terrible Netflix TV series in the Resident Evil cinematic universe.

The only thing all these projects have in common is that they are terrible, and have nothing to do with the gaming franchise outside of using the name Umbrella Corp.

Milla Jovovich does a great job in the action sequences, but doesn’t have any plot or dialogue to help anything make sense.

These will likely continue to be made as each film turns a massive profit. The last one alone made a whopping £260million on a tiny £35million budget.

3. Double Dragon: The Movie (1994)

Early Double Dragon games aren’t known for their story, and the 1994 film may have tried to stay too true to the material.

Speed boat chases and explosions galore make for a fun romp, but the only plot to be found is Double Dragons good, the Terminator bad.

The developer dreamed of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris taking the starring role, but we were left with two twerps in bedazzled karate gi.

Despite pulling in Alyssa Milano to play the love interest, the film only made £3.5million on its £6million investment.

2. Street Fighter (1994)

Street Fighter movies have a terrible reputation, in particular 2009’s Legend of Chun Li, which includes directing and dialogue so terrible it entered into meme culture.

The 1994 Street Fighter is hard to tear your eyes from, in particular due to the film’s beyond baffling casting choices.

We have a Belgian Jean-Claude Van Damme as all-American hero Guille, Aussie Kylie Minogue playing the British Cammy, and a very sick Raul Julia giving the performance of his life as M. Bison.

This one made a surprisingly hefty profit, making almost £90million, on a tiny £31million investment.

1. Super Mario Bros. (1993)

While the upcoming film features an all-star cast, including Chris Pratt and Jack Black, Nintendo certainly wants us to forget the early 90s version ever existed.

Bob Hoskins starred as our portly plumber, and it was very much set in the real-world, rather than the video games’ vibrant Mushroom Kingdom.

Read More on The Sun

The whole movie’s visuals are a dark gray, and it’s set in a dystopian future.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

Super Mario Bros. was a box office flop, making £30million on its £40million investment, though the baffling directional choices make this one fun to watch.


Written by Georgina Young on behalf of .

All the latest Gaming tips and tricks

Looking for tips and tricks across your favourite consoles and games? We have you covered...

Get all of the latest PS5, Xbox and other video game news here

 

Topics