History SpiritualAdaptation / VideoGames

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[[folder:A]]

* ''La Abadía del Crimen'' is commonly assumed to be a LicensedGame based on ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose''. It got around not actually obtaining the license by having the player character be the HistoricalDomainCharacter the novel's protagonist is based on.
* While it's pretty unlikely that anyone would ever make a ''Franchise/PerryMason'' video game, the world will always have the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series.
* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly'' is all but a ''Film/CrocodileDundee'' game, having an obvious CaptainErsatz player character and a plot suspiciously like ''Crocodile Dundee II''.
* ''VideoGame/AfterBurner'', according to Website/HardcoreGaming101, is "undoubtedly inspired by ''Film/TopGun'', just minus Tom Cruise and all of the homoerotic undertones. (Also far better than any of the actual ''Top Gun'' games, of which there are far, far too many.)"
* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' can be considered "''Series/TwinPeaks'' by way of Creator/StephenKing" in many ways.
* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 pinball game ''VideoGame/AlienCrush'' has some graphics that are suspiciously reminiscent of Creator/HRGiger's famous xenomorph designs from the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' films.
* ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' more or less follows the same premise as ''Film/TheThing1982'': one of the members of the crew is impersonating them and is out to kill everyone, instilling fear and distrust among everybody. One of the maps is even an EerieArcticResearchStation, and the theme music has the same iconic "double pulse" as ''The Thing''[='=]s soundtrack, to heighten the comparisons.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: Happy Home Designer'' is essentially a video game version of an HGTV home makeover show, with the PlayerCharacter being a [[AnInteriorDecoratorIsYou home designer]] who is tasked by the villagers to remodel their homes to their specifications.
* ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'', a sci-fi shooter in which players wear PoweredArmor capable of flight and make heavy use of that capability for both navigation and combat, has frequently been described as a better ComicBook/IronMan game than any of the official Iron Man games. The comparisons were frequent in previews and reviews, with even people who didn't like the game often praising the flight mechanics for capturing the feel of [[Film/IronMan the movies]] in particular, and there exist many guides and videos on how players can paint their Javelins to resemble Tony Stark's various Iron Man suits.
* ''VideoGame/ArtemisSpaceshipBridgeSimulator'' tries to replicate being on the bridge of the ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Enterprise]]'' as closely as possible.
* The [[NoExportForYou Famicom Disk System exclusive]] ''Arumana no Kiseki (Miracle of Almana)'' is an obvious SerialNumbersFiledOff adaptation of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', but far superior to the actual NES ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' games.
* Because ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' spans numerous historical events, some of the games tend to be rather reminiscent of other works set around the same time period(s):
** The entire franchise as a whole is heavily influenced by Vladimir Bartol's ''Literature/{{Alamut}}''. Not only do they focus on a secret society of assassins but the Brotherhood mantra "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" is taken verbatim for verbatim from the book's maxim "Nothing is an absolute reality, all is permitted".
** Want a video game that is essentially the Third Crusade flashbacks from ''WesternAnimation/IvanhoeTheKingsKnight'' turned into a video game? If you have played ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', then you probably didn't realize it. It really does feel like you are playing the flashbacks, but not as one of the Crusaders. It also serves as a good followup to ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven''.
*** It also serves as a partial adaptation of Creator/CecilBDeMille 's 1935 film ''The Crusades'', although in the point of view of Muslims rather than the Crusaders.
** The Ezio Trilogy (''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' and ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'') is ''Series/TheBorgias'' meets Creator/DanBrown novels set in UsefulNotes/{{Italy}} because of story-specific elements found within the characters and settings. [[HilariousInHindsight In a rather hilarious twist of fate]], Creator/JeremyIrons who played Rodrigo Borgia in the show would go on to portray Dr. Alan Rikkin in [[Film/AssassinsCreed2016 the 2016 movie of the franchise]].
*** Due to sharing some of the side characters (specifically the Medici and the Pazzi families) and depicting a major event in the main story (the Pazzi conspiracy), ''Series/{{Medici}}'' could also be considered an adaptation of sorts, though more fittingly of ''II'' rather than ''Brotherhood'' or ''Revelations''.
*** Speaking of ''Revelations'', it would make a neat prequel to the Turkish series ''Series/MagnificentCentury'' since one of the secondary characters is Suleiman the Magnificent as a prince and not a sultan yet.
** The naval missions of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' are what many say a game based off ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' should play like.[[note]]Funnily enough, there ''was'' a ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' game adaptation with naval battles in a similar vein that came out on the PC. It wasn't a bad game, per se, but it had two issues: [[InNameOnly its plot bore no resemblance to the movies]], and it was a [[GameBreakingBug bug-ridden]] [[ObviousBeta mess]].[[/note]] Outside of the naval missions, the game is also probably the closest thing we'll ever get to a ''[[Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans Last of the Mohicans]]'' game albeit with the setting shifted to the UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution though there are prominent connections to the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar just like the movie. It also makes for a good adaptation of ''Film/ThePatriot'' as a game since ''ACIII'' also focuses on a protagonist who joins the Patriot war effort after his relatives are killed by the British and a heavily fictionalized version of a real-life historical figure as one of the villains. However, the game is more of a SpiritualAntithesis to ''The Patriot'' in terms of its plot, themes and morality.
** The popularity of the naval elements of ''Assassins Creed III'' has led to the sequel, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'', being even more similar to ''Pirates of the Caribbean''. The game embraces and spoofs the ''Pirates'' connection in-game with fake trailers for ''Devils of the Caribbean'' and ''Pirates of Nightmares'' in addition to deconstructing several aspects of the main series. In terms of setting, locations, and similar cast of characters, ''Black Flag'' is the best video game adaptation of ''Series/BlackSails'' ever made with even the main protagonists of both works being pirate captains that commandeer their own ships and interact with historical figures from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy. It also helps that they're both prequels and came out just a year apart. Indeed, the similarities haven't gone unnoticed amongst the cast of ''Black Sails'' with Toby Stephens (Captain Flint's actor) and Hannah New (the actress who plays Eleanor Guthrie) even commenting on the game and its impact on the show in interviews.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' looks to be a game adaptation of ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' — creatively titled street gangs with themed animal names, sporting hats, populist resentment among slum-areas, all-out street brawls, Fight Clubbing, and roughly the same era, only with the setting [[SettingUpdate transplanted to London]].
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'' is either Creator/{{HBO}}'s ''Series/{{Rome}}'' [[RecycledInSpace told from the perspective of the Ancient Egyptians]] or a retelling of the 1963 biopic ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}'' especially with the game's story focusing on the final years of UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic and AncientEgypt respectively. The ''Origins'' versions of the Romans and UsefulNotes/{{Cleopatra}} have British accents just like both the show and the movie not to mention that one of the protagonists Bayek of Siwa is a warrior who had a wife and children but suffered a traumatic event that resulted in the death of a loved one which makes him a more heroic and noble version of Lucius Vernus. Additionally, Michael Nardone who played Mascius in ''Rome'' also voices Julius Caesar in the game. The assassination of Caesar is also a major plot point in all three works (though in the case of the game, it's Aya/[[spoiler:Amunet]] that ultimately does the deed).
** Given the UsefulNotes/AncientGreece setting, King Leonidas having an important role in the story and the depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' is as close as we can get to an officially licensed game adaptation of ''Film/ThreeHundred'' as [[https://sixburn.blogspot.com/2018/10/assassins-creed-odyssey-review-300-game.html one blogger pointed out in his review of the game]]. Heck, Alexios and Kassandra are the grandchildren of Leonidas and one of the moves that can be performed by the siblings in the game is called Sparta Kick and there is a sidequest called "Dining in Hell" both of which are lifted from specific scenes in the Zack Snyder movie adaptation of Frank Miller's comic.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'':
*** Its time period and setting are identical to ''Series/TheLastKingdom'', which also prominently features King Alfred the Great. The male Eivor is played by the same actor as Cnut, one of the series' villains. However, if the trailer is any indication, its interpretation appears more charitable to the Vikings and less charitable towards Alfred. Of course, this could be a case of MisaimedMarketing, as was the case with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', but only time will tell. Interviews with the development team indicate that they intend to portray Alfred as a nuanced AntiVillain who wants what's best for his kingdom and his people.
*** Similarly, it's as close as can possibly get to a video game adaptation of History Channel's ''Series/{{Vikings}}''. Also, Music/{{Wardruna}}'s founder, Einar Selvik, participated in the soundtrack of ''AC: Valhalla''. ''Vikings'' has a soundtrack by Wardruna.
* ''VideoGame/AstralChain'' is essentially a {{Cyberpunk}} ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' game, with police troopers that utilize stands and can use them to solve crimes, which ought to appeal to Part 4 fans as well.
* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' is one of the best ''Anime/DragonballZ'' games ever made ([[HilariousInHindsight made all the more funnier]] when [[Creator/CyberConnect2 the developers]] would go on to make their own ''Franchise/DragonBall'' [[VideoGame/DragonBallZKakarot game]]). It's also argued to be a great ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' game, particularly the final part of it.

* Due to being relaxing magical SliceOfLife [[ComingOfAgeStory coming of age stories]] with female leads, the ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series has been described as a video game version of ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService''.
* ''VideoGame/AttackOnTitan: Wings of Freedom'' is one of the best ''Franchise/{{Spiderman}}'' games ever made.
* ''Auto Destruct'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation was an unofficial 3D take on ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'', three years before Midway's own [=PS2=] remake. It also works as a spiritual sequel to the ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' portion of ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', perhaps better than the official sequel, ''Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:B]]

* There are [[VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad many]] [[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice fine]] ''Franchise/SamAndMax'' games, but if {{adventure game}}s aren't your speed, none are better than ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''.
* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** The games are probably the best adaptations of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' there is, even bringing back Creator/KevinConroy and Creator/MarkHamill to reprise their roles as ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/TheJoker.
** According to their respective Laconic Wiki pages, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' is a ''Film/DieHard'' game and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' is an ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' game.
** ''Arkham Asylum'' also bears many similarities to ''Literature/ShutterIsland'', complete with the Scarecrow's gas, the detailed complex setting, and the strong presence of doctors and staff. Incidentally, both game and movie were originally going to come in 2009 with ''Film/ShutterIsland''[='=]s release pushed to 2010 at the last moment.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'' is this to ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'' as a game about multiple warring factions teaming up to fight a race of monsters trying to destroy them all.
* ''VideoGame/BattleBrothers'' is a DarkFantasy strategy game where you command a mercenary company who travel the world, struggling from contract to contract; wealthy and respected at one time, poor and betrayed in the next. In a sense, it is a video game adaptation of Literature/TheBlackCompany. You can also tell that TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} was a massive inspiration for the developers, as the company routinely faces monsters, savage Greenskins, war-loving barbarian giants in the grim north, undead zombies and vampires, [[spoiler:and the skeletal remnants of a forgotten civilization determined to rebuild their long-dead empire]], within a low-tech {{Expy}} of the Holy Roman Empire (with all the same Germanic cultural trappings - they even have [[TheWitchHunter grim witch hunters with nice hats]]).
* The first ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'', with its zany plot about a trio of disenfranchised soldiers running off to steal a whole lot of gold feels like it could either be ''Film/KellysHeroes'' or ''[[Film/ThreeKings Three Kings: The Video Game]]'', depending on your preference.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/{{Action52}} The Cheetahmen]]'' to ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' is by far the greatest ''WesternAnimation/{{Cybersix}}'' game ever made.
* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'' is a great video game adaptation of ''WebOriginal/AbandonedByDisney,'' [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtTreasureIsland perhaps even better than the game directly based on the story]].
* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
** [[VideoGame/BioShock1 The first game]] is a wonderful interactive adaptation of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' and ''Literature/TheFountainhead'', only with the AuthorTract {{deconstruct|ion}}ed and re-examined.
** Its ArtDeco underwater city is eerily similar to the 1981 MiniSeries ''Goliath Awaits'', starring Creator/ChristopherLee as the Chief Engineer of a crashed British ocean liner from 1938 that he converted into an underwater fascist city where generations have grown up only aware of the outer world because of what the Elders have told them.
** ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' comes across at times like a dark Disney movie, which isn't helped by Elizabeth channeling [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Rapunzel]], and just about every other Franchise/DisneyPrincess ever. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Z7IxmXxII [=YouTuber=] Filmento has even pointed out that the plots of ''Tangled'' and the game share remarkable similarities in terms of narrative and characters]].
* ''VideoGame/BladedFury'' is the best video game of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}''
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' Thanks to its ''extremely'' similar setting, art style, tone, and environment, is easily the best adaptation of Guy Davis' ''ComicBook/TheMarquis''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Broforce}}'':
** With its premise of gathering '80s and '90s action heroes to blow bad guys to smithereens, it could be considered a better video game adaptation of ''Film/TheExpendables'' than the film's own video game tie-in. Someone on the dev team apparently agreed, since there's now an officially licensed ''Expendables'' spinoff of ''Broforce'' called ''The Expendabros''.
** A game about a group of (mostly) American heroes[=/=]soldiers fighting against an evil terrorist force, with each character having their own combat specialty? Why, this is a ''Franchise/GIJoe'' game.
* ''VideoGame/BrothersATaleOfTwoSons'' feels like an adaptation of ''Literature/TheBrothersLionheart'' by Creator/AstridLindgren. Given the fact that the game's developer, Starbreeze Studios, is Swedish, it's probably intentional.
* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'' is essentially ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' the video game.
* ''Bug Hunt'' is a World Builder adaptation of the original ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' is considered to be a better ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' game than ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''. The main character, Grayson, is seen as a throwback to protagonists like Duke and his ilk. It's even more ironic now, since the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition]]'' has Duke Nukem as a playable character. There are others that see it as an [=FPS=] version of ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' or ''VideoGame/Wild9'' due to use of TheJoysOfTorturingMooks, VideoGameCrueltyPotential, and a [[YouWillNotEvadeMe electric, leash weapon]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'':
** It is arguably a much better ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' game than most of the ''actual'' games based on the series. It's an action-packed, free-wheeling WideOpenSandbox game set at an AcademyOfAdventure where you can explore the school and the surrounding town at your leisure while snogging attractive classmates and getting caught in the middle of volatile clique rivalries, and you have access to gadgets that are so powerful that they're practically magic spells. If you squint, it's not hard to imagine that the cliques are the Houses of Hogwarts; the Greasers and the Jocks are Gryffindors, the Preps are Slytherins, the Nerds are Ravenclaws, and the unaligned students are Hufflepuffs.
** The protagonist Jimmy Hopkins, a juvenile {{delinquent|s}} whose arsenal includes a skateboard and a slingshot and who causes [[RuleAbidingRebel T-rated merry havoc]] across his school, can easily be seen as a slightly aged-up [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]], making ''Bully'', as with ''Harry Potter'' above, a better ''Simpsons'' game (specifically of the show's Bart-focused episodes) than [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames many of the officially licensed ones]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:C]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'':
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' is sometimes considered a Spiritual Prequel to ''Film/TheRock'', spelling out Gen. Hummel's '60s-era adventures. It even borrows some of the elements of that movie, namely [[spoiler: a plot to attack the USA with face-melting green gas, a reveal of [[WhoShotJFK the truth of the JFK assassination]], and American commandos being "disappeared" or forgotten by the government]].
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' is one of the best ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' video game adaptations made, and is head and shoulders better than the '''[[{{Irony}} actual]]''' ''GITS'' game that came out in 2015, ''[[VideoGame/GhostInTheShellFirstAssaultOnline First Assault]]'' (which was only an online multiplayer game with no plot). In addition, the game's heavy usage of [[spoiler: journeys into the center of the mind, filled with abstract and disturbing imagery that is [[RuleOfSymbolism drenched in symbolism]] and contains several [[MadnessMantra madness mantras]]]], make it a pretty good example of a Western FPS take on ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare'' is perhaps the greatest video game adaptation of ''Series/TheExpanse'' ever made as well as the best-looking ''{{Franchise/Gundam}}'' game that wasn't developed by Namco-Bandai, and it also bears similarities to ''VideoGame/StrikeSuitZero'' and ''[[VideoGame/RaySeries RayStorm]]'', due to its plot abut rebelling human colonies in outer space attacking and nearly annihilating Earth's forces. Gameplay-wise, it has also been called "''Franchise/MassEffect'' without aliens" due to the similar mechanics, such as a spaceship as a hub for choosing missions and engagements.
* Given its humorous tone, its use of ImprobableAimingSkills and ShowdownAtHighNoon as crucial parts of its mechanics, its BeenThereShapedHistory take on TheWildWest, and the presence of the Dalton brothers (whom their introductory custscene even warns the player to [[ShoutOut not confuse them with their cousins]]), you could argue that ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'' is essentially a slightly DarkerAndEdgier ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' game.
* ''VideoGame/CannonDancer'' was this to ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'', until it got an official sequel.
* ''VideoGame/CarnEvil'' is basically the adaptation/parody of black comedy/horror films like ''Film/CarnivalOfSouls'', ''Film/FridayThe13th'', ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'', ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'', ''Film/ChildsPlay'', and ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' is basically ''Film/DeathRace2000'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff. By the time ''Carmageddon: TDR 2000'' came out, they weren't even bothering with the filing.
* Even though all the monsters are taken from the [[PublicDomainCharacter public domain]], and Simon Belmont looks like something by Creator/FrankFrazetta, the first ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|I}}'' is obviously a take on the [[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal Monsters]], especially with the fake credits at the end of the game.
* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' may be the best Franchise/DisneyPrincess game not licensed by Disney. Princess Aurora, the player character, shares her name with the heroine of ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' and is a FieryRedhead ActionGirl reminiscent of [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Merida]], while the BigBad is a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] {{expy}} of [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Grimhilde]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Lady Tremaine]], and Maleficent, with a ScaledUp transformation similar to the latter.
* When WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}} made his review of the licensed game of ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', a lot of people in the comments pointed out that the game had a lot more in common with ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' than the [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames 2002 game based on the film]].
* Creator/DeepSilver's ''VideoGame/{{Chorus}}'' may be the closest we get to ''VideoGame/FreeSpace 3'' or a modern ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' reboot.
* ''VideoGame/{{Cloudpunk}}'' is likely the best adaptation of either ''Film/BladeRunner'' or ''Film/TheFifthElement'', TheProblemWithLicensedGames notwithstanding.
* The ''VideoGame/ClueFinders'' series could be seen as a LighterAndSofter ''Series/IkMikLoreland'' spin-off aimed at older children, as both are {{Edutainment}} and involve the main characters traveling through bizarre locations collecting plot coupons.
* ''VideoGame/CodeOfPrincess'' was already laid out as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/GuardianHeroes'', but there are some that feels it's a true sequel to the game, than its own sequel, ''Advance Guardian Heroes''.
* ''VisualNovel/CollarXMalice'' has been described as an otome game version of ''Anime/PsychoPass''.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer: [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert Red Alert 2]]'' is basically "''Film/RedDawn1984'': The [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]]". This time, however, the cheesiness is intentional.
* The Creator/{{Sega}} LightGunGame ''Confidential Mission'' is probably what ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' was originally conceived as, an on-rails shooter in the style of ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop''.
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'':
** As WebVideo/ExoParadigmGamer's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBE4vQjNLo0&t=479s review points out]], being a story about someone who seeks to return home, meets a colorful cast juxtaposed by TheEveryman protagonist, involves an antagonist in a monarch that seeks to capture and mutilate the protagonist for selfish reasons, and ending in the protagonist learning to appreciate a mundane life, this is basically a raunchy, gory take on ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
** As an extremely M-rated game that took the trappings of a genre seen as being for kids (a mascot platformer) and injected them with a ton of dark, disgusting, and often sexual and scatological humor, it was also, for a very long time, a better ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' game than [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames that show's actual licensed games]].
** Likewise, as a game about {{Funny Animal}}s in a cartoon-like universe who go on a journey filled with sex, drugs, and debauchery, it's also the best ''ComicBook/FritzTheCat'' video game ever made.
** It's also a Spiritual Precursor to Creator/StudioGainax's ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' predating the anime by nearly a decade with both works set in a brightly colored animated world with a lot of vulgar humor and shout-outs to popular movies and TV shows with even one of the villains being a giant monster made out of feces.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'':
** WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, in [[http://cinemassacre.com/2013/10/22/alien-3-angry-video-game-nerd/ his review]] of the NES adaptation of ''Film/Alien3'', argued that ''Contra'' and the below-mentioned ''Metroid'' made for much better ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' games than [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames the dreck that he had played]]. Ironically, Konami themselves released a [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames surprisingly good]] ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' arcade game in 1990, which unfortunately was never ported to home consoles.
** He also argued that ''Contra'' made for a better ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' game than the actual one.
** ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', with its plot involving a hero sentenced to time as a HumanPopsicle for causing mass destruction with a superweapon, but thawed out early and partnered up with a female to deal with a new-yet-old threat to the world, is spiritually the best ''Film/DemolitionMan'' video game.
* The setting of ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', a GovernmentAgencyOfFiction scouring the world to locate various supernatural objects, contain them, and maintain the {{Masquerade}}, has drawn numerous comparisons to the Wiki/SCPFoundation. The documents found lying around the game world describing various supernatural objects and phenomena are done in a [[ExpospeakGag bureaucratic style]] very similar to that of SCP items, and the unfolding events are called a [[VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach Containment Breach]], and its first ExpansionPack is even called "The Foundation". Mikael Kasurinen, the director of ''Control'', [[https://kotaku.com/the-creepypasta-community-that-influenced-control-1838283594 confirmed]] that the homages were deliberate, and C Pierce, the SCP Foundation's community outreach director, in turn felt flattered that the game drew the inspiration it did.
* The unlicensed NES game ''Cosmos Cop'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY combines]] the graphics art of ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' with the gameplay of ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier''.
* ''VideoGame/CrimzonClover'' is ''VideoGame/{{Ketsui}}'' with ''VideoGame/{{Ray|Series}}Storm'' lasers operating with the radial lock-on radar from ''VideoGame/{{Soukyugurentai}}''. The Arrange Mode featured in its ''World [=EXplosion=]'' re-release has been seen as a modern revival of ''V-V''.
* A [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/23/wot-i-think-crusader-kings-ii/#more-95722 Rock Paper Shotgun review]] of ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'' calls it "the best ''Series/GameOfThrones'' game you will probably ever play." There exists ''Game of Thrones'' {{game mod}}s for both the first and second game.
** ''VideoGame/AfterTheEndAPostApocalypticAmerica'', one of the game's biggest {{game mod}}s, takes these influences and mixes in ''Literature/ACanticleForLeibowitz'': a post-apocalyptic FeudalFuture with the pope setting up shop in St. Louis after a Marian apparation.
* Many people consider ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' the best ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' game ever.
* ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' is very close to being a Creator/StudioGhibli video game, using much of the [[AfterTheEnd setting]] and [[GreenAesop themes]], and conspicuously inserting familiar-looking objects (such as the [[Anime/CastleInTheSky floating castle]]). Most notably, the insect-infested jungle [[Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind seems very familiar]], and the boss ''is'' an Ohmu.
* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is a spiritual sequel to either ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage'' or ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', with the art style of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation.
** Or, since it started life on UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows 10, a [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames 8th-Generation]] VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Cattails}}'' is a LifeSimulationGame where you play as a feral cat in a colony -- made by the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' fan who created the FanGame ''VideoGame/WarriorCatsUntoldTales''.
* It was serendipitous that ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' cast Creator/KeanuReeves as Johnny Silverhand, because the central plot of the game is remarkably similar to ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic''. Both are {{cyberpunk}} stories about a person who has a chip full of valuable information implanted inside their head, which will slowly kill them (physically in ''Johnny Mnemonic'', by [[LossOfIdentity overwriting their personality]] in ''Cyberpunk 2077'') and which makes them a valuable target. Funnily enough, Reeves played the protagonist in ''Johnny Mnemonic'', while in ''Cyberpunk 2077'' he plays the VirtualGhost who's slowly invading your mind.
* ''VideoGame/CyberShadow'' is a {{Retraux}} spiritual sequel/reboot to the NES ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' series, with a side of ''VideoGame/ViceProjectDoom'' and ''VideoGame/{{Shatterhand}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D]]
* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' is essentially the bastard child of ''Film/TheRunningMan'' and ''Film/BattleRoyale'' with a dash of ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' added into the mix. Teens in a killing game? Check. Broadcast on television in order to elicit a specific reaction from the populace? Check. Parody of pop culture, society, politics and television? Check. Trials and investigations? Check.
** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' is Danganronpa [[spoiler:in ''Film/TheMatrix'']]. The Mastermind’s plan is [[spoiler:basically Agent Smith’s takeover of the Matrix, only she seeks to take over the physical bodies of everyone left on Earth.]]
*** It’s also the best adaptation of the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' [[spoiler:VR Theory]], and even utilizes the same intentional story beats that are used to argue for that theory in the plot, specifically [[spoiler:the entire game being a direct parallel to the previous one in an absurd number of ways.]] Both protagonists also have personalities directly in contrast to the previous entry’s protagonist, until in the last [[spoiler:freaky cyberspace looking section [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] and becoming much more like them.]] Both also feature a main villain who is [[spoiler:a copy of a previous BigBad whose goals have significantly warped since the original version and was never foreshadowed before they’re revealed despite the significance of their existence.]] They also feature a white-haired beautiful boy (although Ocelot lost the beauty with age) [[spoiler:with a warped obsession with the original BigBad, although Nagito’s is only caused by the despair brainwashing, but both also have replaced an arm with an arm from a corpse related to the big bad, Ocelot’s from one of Big Boss’s clones (Liquid) and Nagito from the original Junko.]] TheReveal is also handled in shockingly similar ways, particular by being centered around a barrage of MindScrew.. After ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', both would also have a [[spoiler:SuperPoweredEvilSide]], although Raiden’s is much more similar to another character’s in...
** ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' is a DenserAndWackier ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' with robots instead of zombies, evil children, your partner not being able to die (and not fighting unless you swap to her) and way more LesYay ShipTease. As mentioned above, [[DubNameChange Genocide Jack]]/Genocider Syo essentially is Jack the Ripper of Raiden in [=MGR:R=], even having a similar preference in slicing up everything.
** What Kodaka didn’t take from Metal Gear Solid 2 (even even some of what he did) for Danganronpa 2, he put in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony''. [[spoiler:[[DecoyProtagonist Changing]] from a traditional protagonist of the franchise to an insecure emo Bishonen early on, Korekiyo is very similar to Vamp, and the metatextual deconstruction of the tropes of the franchise and the medium ending on the message of being yourself and refusing to be subservient to a system using you using an absolute mindscrew plot twist loathed by the fandom. Kodaka even predicted it would be hated based on the in-universe audience reaction, which probably is based on the reaction to his inspiration.]]
* Many people have bemoaned the fact that ''VideoGame/ActRaiser'' never got a real sequel which featured the combination of town-building sim and real-time action. (''[=ActRaiser=] II'' was a sequel InNameOnly and fully ditched the city-building aspect while making the platforming [[NintendoHard nigh-impossible]].) But it did. It was called ''VideoGame/DarkCloud.''
* ''VideoGame/DanceRush'' is described by many arcade RhythmGame fans as ''VideoGame/{{Chunithm}}'' [-WITH YOUR FEET!-] Or alternatively, [[FanNickname "Shoenithm"]].
* The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series plays a great deal like a 3D ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'', albeit set [[TheDungAges slightly further back in time.]]
* Creator/DataEast made a great many of these.
** ''VideoGame/CrudeBuster'' is the video game equivalent to ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''.
** ''VideoGame/HeavyBarrel'' is ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' without the [[TankGoodness tanks]] and more {{BFG}}s.
** ''VideoGame/SlySpy'' would be a good ''Film/JamesBond'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_Spy#James_Bond_references game]], except that Bond is British and the game's character is blatantly American.
** ''The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy'' (no relation to the film ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}'' or its licensed games) seems like it really wanted to be ''Indiana Jones: The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame''.
* ''VideoGame/DayZ'' plays almost exactly like an MMORPG/FPS hybrid set in the ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' universe.
* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'':
** The first game bears so many similarities to ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'' that the game actually carries [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope a disclaimer explicitly stating that it's not based on the movie]]. At one point, Creator/GeorgeARomero himself ''autographed'' someone's copy of the game without knowing much about it. To wit: both games are about battling a ZombieApocalypse in a [[TheMall shopping mall]], with plots that lean heavily on satire of consumerism, and a boarded-up storeroom serving as the protagonists' safehouse. ''Dead Rising''[='=]s world, while clearly pegged down to the present day (2006) by the presence of the Department of Homeland Security, is also [[RetroUniverse heavily informed by the '70s time period]] that ''Dawn of the Dead'' took place in, in terms of the fashions, vehicles, and some of the technology on display.
** The DLC for [[VideoGame/DeadRising3 the third game]], ''Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition Ex Plus Alpha'', makes a great zombie version of ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' or ''VideoGame/FinalFight''. There is even an unlockable costume of Mike Haggar that Frank West can wear.
* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', owing to its somewhat derivative nature and quality despite that, has been mentioned as evocative of pretty much every notable sci-fi horror movie ever. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv2rZ-PW4WU This video]] goes into more detail on its inspirations.
** However, the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise probably comes up the most in such comparisons. Though that franchise is notable for averting TheProblemWithLicensedGames on various occasions, this series is often cited as one of its best adaptations. In fact, [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2013/02/sage-reviews-acm/ at least one critic]] remarked that ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' was a better ''VideoGame/{{Aliens}}'' game than the much-maligned ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines'', which was released around the same time.
** ''Dead Space'' does feel remarkably like a ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' sequel, as well.
** It could also be taken as basically being ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]] due to the OurZombiesAreDifferent nature of the Necromorphs (such as their being able to mutate themselves into new, more combat-capable forms). It's similar to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' in particular, with its (usually) over-the-shoulder third-person perspective and being more actionized than some other horror games, typically expecting you to kill every enemy in an area before advancing. ''Dead Space 2'' is even more similar to ''Resident Evil 4'' since Isaac now has dialogue which casts him as a serious-yet-snarky protagonist similar to Leon rather than the HeroicMime of the first game, and even some scenes are similar, such as Isaac riding on the drill driven by Ellie while fighting off Necromorphs being ''very'' similar to Leon riding on the bulldozer driven by Ashley while fighting off Ganados.
* ''VideoGame/DeadfallAdventures'' appears to be a FirstPersonShooter version of ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' and ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}''.
* Despite the creator's efforts to give it a more unique art style, ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' -- while SoBadItsGood -- remains a closest thing we have that can be considered a ''Series/TwinPeaks'' game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Deathbots}}'' is an unlicensed NES knockoff of ''Film/TheTerminator'', which had its share of subpar official games.
* The ancient arcade game ''Death Race'' is an unofficial adaptation of ''Death Race 2000'', as well as a spiritual precursor to ''Carmageddon''.
* A number of reviews of ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' have noted that it's basically ''Film/ThePostman'' as a video game.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' has had a couple of [[VideoGame/BerserkMillenniumFalconHenSeimaSenkiNoSho decent games]] to its name, but by far the best ones are ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''.
* For all practical purposes, ''VideoGame/{{Defcon}} is'' a playable version of the finale of ''Film/WarGames''.
* Due to the rather disappointing quality of most recent ''Franchise/StarWars'' games, many fans of the series have been pointing to ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' as a worthy successor to the franchise in terms of style, tone, and character archetypes. It's even got a lot of plot and tone similarities to the popular ''Star Wars'' comic ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}''. It's also, gameplay-wise, a less cartoony, MMO version of VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}. Story wise and gameplay wise destiny is also the closest we will get to the return of VideoGame/{{Tabula Rasa}}. With you as a mostly a blank slate ancient soldier with no backstory (outside of being long dead) fighting a strange alien threat/empire while following the commands/having the help of an AI, it also feels like a strong successor to Bungie’s own ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}''. Your ghost however would be upstaged brutally by Durandal.
* ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'':
** The influence of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is readily apparent, down to having the same tone, humor, and even Richard Horvitz voicing your ExpositionFairy.
** It also owes its visual style to '50s AlienInvasion [[BMovie B-Movies]], complete with having ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' and ''Film/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' viewable in full as extras.
** The game also shares the same tone and feel as ''Film/MarsAttacks'' minus the Martians.
* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'':
** The game's story focuses on a clean-cut, polite RidiculouslyHumanRobot android and his middle-aged cantankerous, grouchy KnightInSourArmor human detective partner who become FireForgedFriends. Basically, it's a video game adaptation of R. Daneel Olivaw and Elijah Baley from Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Robot'' novels ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'', ''Literature/TheNakedSun'' and and ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn''.
** It's also an unofficial adaptation of the Creator/WillSmith film ''Film/IRobot'' in game form. ''Detroit'' has the exact same premise and setting of a detective in a futuristic version of a Midwestern city who gets caught up in a conspiracy where some robots are engaged in an open rebellion against their human masters just like the film.
** The game is heavily inspired by ''Film/BladeRunner'' and especially its [[Film/BladeRunner2049 then-recently released sequel]], particularly with the Connor storyline. Connor is a top-of-the-line android police officer HunterOfHisOwnKind who discovers that he has human thinking and can potentially defy his programming, much like K. Meanwhile his partner Hank is an experienced, jaded older protagonist who has a conflicted opinion about androids, much like Rick Deckard. Meanwhile, Elijah Kamski is very clearly inspired by Niander Wallace, having a similar appearance as well as being the head of an android-creating company with an obsession with robot potential.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** The [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first]] game is often regarded as the best 3D ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game that Capcom ever made. It helps that the first game's director, Creator/HidekiKamiya, ''loves'' [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI the first Castlevania]].
** Because of Dante's [[OutOfCharacter shift]] [[TheQuietOne in]] [[TheStoic personality]], most fans consider ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' an okayish ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' game.
** The [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening third]] game is either in the same league or surpasses ''[=DMC1=]'' in this regard. The majority of ''Dante's Awakening'' may takes place in a Gothic tower, but it has the trappings of a ''Castlevania'' game. The NintendoHard difficulty of the classics (''[=CV1=]'', ''[=CV3=]'', ''[=CV4=]'') and the exploration/backtracking of the {{Metroidvania}}s with a white haired HalfHumanHybrid hero (''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'').
** The PC version of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' (and the ''Special Edition'' on both consoles and PC) on Legendary Dark Knight is the best ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' game ever made. The ''Special Edition'' of ''5'' can be added to the list too now. ''[=DMC4=]'' makes a good ''Jojo's Bizzare Adventure'' game. Nero's DT functions similary to a Stand. There is RapidFireFisticuffs, the focus of a new and younger protagonist, and [[spoiler: said protagonist is son of the game's previous villain, and being related to the hero from past games as well]].
** Dante, with his wise cracks, his (near-)breaking of the fourth wall, and his massive arsenal, has been compared to ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.
** Due to V's play style, some fans had noticed that ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' is as close as we're gonna get to a ''VideoGame/ChaosLegion'' sequel. Storywise, 5 is the closest we are ever going to get to a ''[[Anime/DragonBallZTheTreeOfMight Tree of Might]]'' game. The plot and story structure are very similar. The hero's evil counterpart eating a supernatural fruit from a WorldTree that takes the lives of living things or humans to gain strength.
** ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' is often described as ''Film/TheyLive'' crossed with ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' and ''Film/Blade1998''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dex}}'' makes a better remake of ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}'' than the actual remake released in 2013.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' is ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'' with better graphics.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' was also originally set to be based on ''Film/{{Alien}}'', but the developers scrapped the idea as soon as they heard the movie producers' strict demands for such a game. The game was then reimagined as a combination between ''Alien'' and ''Franchise/EvilDead''.
* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' has several:
** The [=SnapMap=] feature enabling players to not only create new levels from scratch but also new game modes, this could very well be the closest we'll ever get to ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters 4'', and to ''VideoGame/GarrysMod 2''.
** With its map screen, exploration with hidden items, platforming elements, storytelling via logs, and similar looking environments, others have called it an actionized ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''.
** Some also think this is the closest we might get to a true ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' sequel, as the game borrows heavily from its usage of combat arenas, boss fights, and runes enhancements that are similar to Painkiller's Tarot cards. Fittingly, Painkiller was already [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation considered the unofficial Doom 3.]]
** There are some others that pointed that the reboot feels like an unofficial sequel to ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' and ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', as it's story and plot line is very similar to those games. What with the UAC acting very similar to the Unitologists, just with demons instead of aliens. And audio or hologram logs found through out the Mars facility/Hell that give further background details in the game's lore.
** As both are [=AAA=] games set in worlds full of demons with metal soundtracks, and with both having the developers and publishers emphasizing separate parts (developers with the care and attention they utilized, and publishers with the marketing), this is like the second coming of ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''. [[labelnote:*]]Granted, they are polar opposites in that second way. As opposed to Doublefine and [=EA=] emphasizing the multiplayer and singleplayer respectively in ''Brutal Legend'', Bethesda emphasized the tacked on multiplayer for the primarily single player Doom 2016[[/labelnote]]
* More so than even the previous game, ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' is probably the best ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' FirstPersonShooter ever made. In particular;
** The revelations of how Argent Energy and the [[DemonOfHumanOrigin demons came to be]] makes the version of Hell in ''Doom'' very close to the Warp and its daemons (it helps that, like the Warp, Hell can also be used for FTL travel), Hell has plenty of human agents/worshippers in this dimension supporting their efforts and the Icon of Sin resembles a greater daemon prince (including only being killable with a special artifact and otherwise reconstituting elsewhere when he's killed conventionally).
** The Night Sentinels may as well be a Space Marine chapter, down to referring to their military expeditions as "Crusades" and the Marauders - their defected, corrupted, [[HornsOfVillainy horn-sporting]] brethren - being the deadliest soldiers of the demons.
** The Maykrs are a pretty good match for the Dark Eldar, a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien species living in a world outside of normal time and space which, while once-dominant over the galaxy, has been reduced to a depraved DyingRace that profits and perpetuates their world off of the suffering of others in Hell.
** ''The Ancient Gods'' further deepens the similarities with the revelation that Hell was originally a peaceful place that was ruined by a cosmic war between precursor deities, much like the ancient war between the C'tan and the Old Ones being the cause for much of the [[CrapsackWorld crapsack state]] of the 40k universe, which was then reflected into the Warp. [[spoiler: The Dark Lord himself also makes a personal appearance here, wearing an ''enormous'' suit of power armor that wouldn't look out of place on Horus himself. Disturbingly, he's more or less what the GodEmperor would be if he turned to Chaos.]]
* Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto had originally wanted to make a ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' arcade game in the early 1980s, but Nintendo's right to the character were revoked midway through production. Miyamoto then took the idea of [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros a scrappy hero]] rescuing [[DamselInDistress a helpless damsel]] from [[KillerGorilla a hulking brute]] and made video game history with ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''. Ironically, Nintendo did eventually produce an official ''VideoGame/{{Popeye}}'' game, which was unfortunately released in the middle of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 and thus languished in obscurity.
* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' have been cited as being a great Creator/TimBurton game, especially with its whimsical, heavily {{steampunk}}-flavored art design.
* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' is a story about two martial-artist brothers fighting punks in post-apocalyptic 199X to save the girl, and who ultimately become each other's direst enemies. In other words, it's an adaptation of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''. It also borrows elements from Creator/BruceLee's ''Film/EnterTheDragon'', such as the Lee brothers' surname and the {{mook}}s named Williams, Roper, and Linda, the latter being named after Bruce's widow Linda Lee Cadwell.
** ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon'' is considered the best modern Arcade beat'em up, Creator/{{Konami}} never made. Considering all of the refrences to Konami's games, you would think [[Creator/WayForwardTechnologies Way Forward]] were trying to make a Konami game, instead of a ''Double Dragon'' game.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** The series is in many ways similar to ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', having a similar tone, overall setting (of sorts), and some smaller things such as the use of the title "Ser".
** It could also be thought of as yet another ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game, possessing not only the classes but certain concepts that are idiosyncratic to ''[=DnD=]'', like the Grease spell and the idea of a Bard as a spy that picks up a variety of talents. That the [[Creator/BioWare developer]] worked on official ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' games in the past helps.
** Last, but certainly not least, it is also arguably the best ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' CRPG ever made. The Fade is pretty identical with the Aethyr/Warp, and the dangers of wielding magic are pretty identical to those of being a Psyker. The mainstream CrystalDragonJesus religion reveres an ascended barbarian warrior monarch, a description that not only fits Andraste, but also [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Sigmar]]. The Templars, like the Inquisition and Witch Hunters, control magic users, and like Unsanctioned Psykers, mages outside the Circle are hunted down. And those are only a few of the most directly visible similarities.
* Being a game where you play as a time cop, and SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong through creating {{Close Enough Timeline}}s, ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'' is one of the closest there is to ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': The Video Game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dungeons}}'' by Kalypso Media is basically a remake of ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' in all but name.
* A subversion: ''[[VideoGame/DynamiteCop Dynamite Deka]]'', a [=3D=] [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] for the arcades and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn released in Japan, was heavily inspired by the ''Film/DieHard'' films to the point that the game's main character, Bruno Delinger, [[ComicBookFantasyCasting bore more than a passing resemblance]] to Creator/BruceWillis. When Sega worked on the game's international version, they [[DolledUpInstallment tacked on]] the ''Die Hard'' license, renamed Bruno Delinger into John [=McClane=], and modified the main villain into Hans Gruber.
** The sequel ''Dynamite Cop'', the international version of ''Dynamite Deka 2'', did not retain the ''Die Hard'' license. It ''is'', however, the best game adaption of ''Film/UnderSiege'' or ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'' we will ever see in our lifetime.
* ''VideoGame/DarkFall the Journal'' is essentially a point-and-click reimagining of ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'''s "Assignment 2", albeit with more puzzles and fewer cliffhangers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:E]]
* '''80s Overdrive'' is a throwback to sprite-based open-road arcade racers such as ''VideoGame/OutRun'', ''VideoGame/RadRacer'', ''VideoGame/RadMobile'', and ''VideoGame/ChaseHQ''.
* ''Franchise/TheElerScrolls'' pretty much comes to playing 'TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' as an accurate solo player experience as one can hope. Especially with the first two games ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall'' with an entre world mp to travel around, guilds to work for, side freelance quest, and dungeons all over to explore. Daggerall n partcular even has a character creaton system that parallels DND manuals so much that it bars striking parallels to the recent DND Beyond Virtual Tabletop officilly endorsed by the makes. Even a lot of the in-game assets for both games look very much like something easly taken out of campaign books.
* 'VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'' is basically ''VideoGame/SmashTV'' [-AS A {{ROGUELIKE}}!-]
* ''The Eternal Castle'', a {{Retraux}} cinematic platformer with 80s IBM PC-style graphics, is a good modern reimagining of ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'' or ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}''.
* ''VideoGame/EscapeFromBugIsland'''s bizarre setting and enemies make a whole lot more sense if you believe the rumor it was originally supposed to be a King Kong video game before the licensing rights fell through.
* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' is sometimes considered an impressive adaptation of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. The game used inspiration from the stories and even the books can be found, but you can't read them, only observe them. It's also somewhat of a spiritual sucessor to the ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' series, which was also heavily influenced by the Mythos.
* ''Eternal City'', also known as ''7 Days Eternal Capital'', is basically ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' as an ActionRPG slash VisualNovel with different characters.
* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' is one of the more straightforward adaptations of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', with [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkienesque]] fantasy tropes, fantasy races with detailed cultures described in the sourcebooks, fire beetles from the Monster Manual, a variety of deities from settings like ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'', and elemental planes for high level adventurers to go exploring.
* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' series is either the best video game adaption of [[spoiler:''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' or ''Film/TheCell''. Ruvik, being a clear expy of Freddy Kruger certainly helps, and is even voiced by Creator/JackieEarleHaley; who played as Kruger in the remake. The first game in particular has you in the mind of a serial killer]] The series is also seen as the psychological horror equivalent of [[spoiler: ''Film/{{Inception}}'']].
* ''VideoGame/{{eXceed}} 2nd'' can be seen as one to ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'' due to its use of the polarity system.
* ''[[https://youtu.be/at3PuBKiA4M Ex-Zodiac]]'' is the best sequel to the original ''VideoGame/StarFox'' Nintendo never made.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F]]
* ''VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout'' is a take on gameshows such as ''Series/NinjaWarrior'', ''Series/TakeshisCastle'', and ''Series/{{Wipeout}}'' as an online Battle Royale game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. It's ''Film/MadMax'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets]] ''Film/ABoyAndHisDog''. It's ''Literature/ACanticleForLeibowitz'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets]] ''Film/ThePostman''. It's the ''Film/DoctorStrangelove'' sequel you never knew you wanted. That's not even touching the individual stories and subquests of the games, which go in all kinds of directions.
* The ''Franchise/FarCry'' series generally is the best ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' games ever made, with special mentions as noted:
** ''VideoGame/FarCryInstincts'' is often described as the best FPS ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}[=/=]Weapon X game ever made. Jack Carver shares many abilities to Wolverine such as HealingFactor, TheNoseKnows, and clawing at their enemies. Granted, with the last one Jack lacks WolverineClaws, but has a powerful melee attack that sends bad guys flying high into the air. Jack, like Wolverine, is also a GoodIsNotNice, [[DeadPanSnarker snarky]] AntiHero.
** ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' is essentially ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' (which is, in turn, and adaptation of ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness''), only set in a war-torn country in Africa (the original setting of ''Heart of Darkness'').
** ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', in addition to being an amalgam of pretty much every action movie from the [[TheEighties '80s]] and [[TheNineties early '90s]], can also be considered a much better modern ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' game than the actual ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'', with its over the top weapons, cheesy one liners, and retro-futuristic visuals.
** ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'' is a pretty good ''Film/TheBeastmaster'' game, with the protagonist [[RedBaron even being called that]]. He is able to tame the predators of his prehistoric land, one of his abilities being able to see through the eyes of his owl like Dar does through his hawk's. It also could be considered a ''Tarzan'' game considering the grappling and swinging Takkar does as well as riding mammoths, or for any license that is set in prehistoric times.
** ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' is set in almost every social critique of America's vision of America, from Film/EscapeFromLA to [[Music/MarilynManson Holy Wood]].
** ''VideoGame/FarCryNewDawn'', set in the aftermath of ''5'''s nuclear apocalypse, looks to be a vastly better ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' game than the [[ObviousBeta radioactive dumpster fire]] that was ''VideoGame/Fallout76''.
* With the glaring absence of ''VideoGame/FZero'' since the discontinuation of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance and [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]], ''VideoGame/FASTRacingLeague'' and especially its sequel ''FAST Racing NEO'' are widely considered to be the best ''F-Zero'' games not named ''F-Zero''. The "is this ''F-Zero''?" reaction among Creator/{{Nintendo}} fans to the latter at [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3 2015]] is practically {{memetic|Mutation}} and the game quickly [[FanNickname became known as]] "F-Neo." [[Creator/ShinenMultimedia Shin'en]] is, in fact, aware of the comparisons and openly invites them, [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/646665055807868929 seeing as they hired Jack Merluzzi, the race announcer in F-Zero GX, to announce for NEO.]] The third installment, ''FAST RMX'', went another step by not only [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/827541687367036929 bringing back Merluzzi]] as the LargeHamAnnouncer but also changing the livery of the [[http://images.nintendolife.com/news/2015/12/feature_a_glimpse_behind_the_scenes_of_fast_racing_neo_-_part_three/attachment/1/original.jpg previously green]] Fulcon Capital vehicle [[http://imgur.com/a/hAkvI to better resemble the Blue Falcon.]]
* Ever wondered how ''Manga/ElfenLied'' would look and feel as a video game, and [[MookHorrorShow from the viewpoint of the victims of Lucy]]? Look no further than ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]''
** Some people call this the best fps version of ''Max Payne'', ''Literature/TheRing'', and ''Film/TheGrudge'' ever made. Especially since ''The Ring'' had a [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames horrible game adaption]] on the Dreamcast.
* ''VideoGame/FightingVipers'' may be the best unofficial {{Toku}} fighting game that does not contain any {{Toku}} licenses.
** Especially with the Advertising/{{Pepsiman}} guest character in the Japanese UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn version of the first game speaks for itself!
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' essentially ''was'' a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is the closest thing to a video game adaption of Creator/TerryGilliam's Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen you'll ever be able to play. The story comes complete with being attacked by a giant sea monster, going to a volcanic-underworld and going to the moon, not to mention the main city of the game, Baron, which is what Terry Gilliam's movie was released as in Japan. The movie is also attributed with the honour of giving the Death spell the esthetic of summoning a grim reaper that removes the target's soul.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' might be the closest players will get to playing ''Chrono Break'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' (and ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', sort of) that is still in limbo.
** The character dynamics in ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' (an engaged woman whose family is currently RetGone and who is separated from her fiance, a repentant and youthful messiah from another world who's the LastOfHisKind with a mysterious past and a dark side, a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} with time-sensitive senses who knows more than they let on, and a flamboyant time traveler with ulterior motives with an ambiguous relationship to the youthful messiah and who meets him out of order), the episodic plot that's strung together with {{Temporal Paradox}}es caused by the TimeCrash at the climax, and even [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong similar musical cues]] and the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading loading screen wormholes]] combine to make it feel more than a little like ''Series/DoctorWho'', Series 5, with Serah as Amy Pond, Caius as a GenderFlipped River Song, and the Eleventh Doctor split into Mog and Noel. The Yuel subplot also has a parallel in ''Series/DoctorWho'', but the Impossible Girl arc had yet to be written.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' is a video game adaption of ''Film/StreetsOfFire''. Both share a similar DamselInDistress plot (though the latter is more of a {{Deconstruction}}), rescuing a city from a violent gang by a ragtag group of vigilante misfits, the shout-outs to rock and roll, and with Cody Travers and Jessica Haggar being expies of Tom Cody and Ellen Aim respectively. ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' gets this too with the Western title being a big inspiration, but with shout-outs to techno, club, and dance music instead. There's no lady in distress throughout the series, but the second game has a DistressedDude to make up for it.
* Jaleco's ''Formation Z/Aeroboto'' may be considered an early game adaptation of ''Anime/{{Macross}}[=/=]Anime/{{Robotech}}''.
* ''VideoGame/FormulaRetroRacing'' is a spiritual reimagining of Sega's ''VideoGame/VirtuaRacing''.
* ''VideoGame/ForzaHorizon 3'''s Hot Wheels expansion pack is the closest we get to a ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush'' reboot.
* In addition to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', ''VideoGame/FranBow'' is probably the closest thing there is to a video game of ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', right down to being set in the same year.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters2003''. One of [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] favorites, this game has apparently so ''much'' of ''Film/RedDawn1984'' in it (albeit set in [[BigApplesauce New York]] rather than Colorado) that it might be as well '''the''' ''Red Dawn'' game.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is a spiritual adaptation of the [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]]-era ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games (among other things, according to the game's original creator). It even started out as ''Sonic'' fan game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}''/''VideoGame/{{Starlancer}}''
** Fans often joke about the similarities to the ''VideoGame/WingCommander''/''Privateer'' games. All four projects being helmed by the same guy (Chris Roberts) didn't hurt. ''Starlancer'' and the ''Wing Commander'' movie also shared a number of digital effects credits.
** ''Starlancer'' is also noteworthy for having a backstory that's basically the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' [[SerialNumbersFiledOff thinly disguised]] by having DirtyCommunists instead of [[RobotWar Cylons]]. It's also rather better than the officially licensed ''BSG'' game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} despite being made by ''the same studio''.
* Subversion: the makers of ''VideoGame/FridayThe13thTheGame'' were originally developing it as an original title called ''Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp'', which boasted the involvement of several people who had worked on the ''Friday'' films, including Creator/TomSavini and Creator/KaneHodder. Then Sean S. Cunningham, creator of [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the first film]], saw what they were working on, liked it, and convinced them to turn it into an officially licensed video game adaptation of ''Friday the 13th''.
* ''VideoGame/{{FTL}}'' can best be described as ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] the {{roguelike}} genre.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fuel}}'' if Eutechnyx's original vision of ''[[VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution Ride to Hell]]'' done right.
** It is also considered the unofficial ''Film/MadMax'' WideOpenSandbox {{racing game}}.
* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' may as well be an unofficial {{Manga/Bokurano}} game, just with a giant, soul-sucking tank as opposed to a giant, soul-sucking mecha.
* ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'', with its fusion of HackAndSlash and BulletHell gameplay, makes a good sequel to ''VideoGame/TheRedStar''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G]]
* ''VideoGame/GalGun'' is a RailShooter take of ''Manga/DNA2'', but with angels and demons instead of time-travelers.
* The UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game ''Gekka Mugentan Torico'' (known as ''Lunacy'' in the U.S) feels like ''Series/{{The Prisoner|1967}}'' with a liberal dash of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' thrown in. The City of Mists even has architecture reminiscent of Portmerion, Wales, which was used for The Village of ''The Prisoner''. The show has an eerie atmosphere and several characters who play headgames with our mysterious player character, who is known only as Fred.
* Creator/ParadoxInteractive's ''Gettysburg: Armored Warfare'' shares the same plot as ''Literature/TheGunsOfTheSouth'' (a time traveler from the 21st century brings advanced weapons and tactics back to the Civil War to try and help the Confederacy win), albeit with less philosophizing.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' is A Norse mythology setting with an OlderAndWiser god on a journey together with [[spoiler:younger version of Loki]]? It's easy to see this game as a video game adaptation of the 2011 run of Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen'', with Kratos in place of ComicBook/{{Thor}}. In general, ''God of War ([=PS4=])'' is seen as a better ''Thor'' game than the movie licensed game, and ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers''. Ironic, because the combat designer of ''God of War ([=PS4=])'' worked on ''Avengers''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'' is a much better follow-up to the modern ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games than the critically-panned ''Ninja Gaiden 3'' and ''Yaiba Ninja Gaiden Z''.
* ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' has already been declared the best ''Assassin's Creed'' game not made by Ubisoft. What works even better is that ''Ghost of Tsushima'' is set in Feudal Japan, a setting that the ''Assassin's Creed'' games have yet to touch.
** There is another group that feels this game is Sony & Sucker Punch's answer to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''.
** There are others that consider it to be a video game adaption of ''Manga/{{Angolmois}}''. A story about a samurai that must throw away his code of Bushido and adapt to asymmetrical tactics. It also helps that it takes place during the first Mongol invasion.
** Many have regarded this as a video game adaptation of ''Series/MarcoPolo'' given that it takes place around the same time period and it features a Khan.
** It's also a fantastic game homage to Creator/AkiraKurosawa movies with even a black and white filter for players to emulate the style of his 1950s samurai films.
* ''VideoGame/GodHand'':
** It's no exaggeration to say that it looks like one of the best ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' games ever made, considering that [[NoExportForYou we didn't get any good ones at all]] until ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage''.
** ''God Hand'' is also said to be a better 3D version of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' than either of the actual 3D ''Final Fight'' games (one which was a competitive fighting game, and the other a ''GTA'' clone).
* Among ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' fanbase, there's a discussion on what ''Gradius V'' being a spiritual adaptation to. Some fans went for ''both'' the ''Salamander'' games due to similar gameplay structures, while others root for the MSX-exclusive entries (''[[MarketBasedTitle Nemesis]]'' series in Europe) for having similar story presentation styles.
* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series as a whole is essentially [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]]' love letter to generations of classic crime dramas, the stories and settings of each of them heavily informed by the Hollywood movies and TV shows that Sam and Dan Houser grew up on.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'':
*** It and especially its prequel, ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories Liberty City Stories]]'', borrow liberally from [[TheMafia Mafia]] movies and TV shows like ''Film/GoodFellas'' and ''Film/TheGodfather'', even featuring a number of character actors from those movies and shows and others like them.
*** It's also been described as a better [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames sixth-generation]] ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' game (albeit with the PlayerCharacter being [[VillainProtagonist a criminal]] rather than a cop) than the actual third ''Driver'' game (titled ''[=Driv3r=]'') that came out on [=PlayStation=] 2 and Xbox, which was a notorious ObviousBeta. (The ''GTA'' games, of course, gleefully took multiple shots at the ''Driver'' series, particularly for its lousy on-foot controls in the second and third games. By the time that series got its act together with the fourth game ''Parallel Lines'', it was ''them'' who came off looking like [[FollowTheLeader Johnny-come-latelies]], despite the first game having [[OlderThanTheyThink beaten Rockstar to the punch]] by two years in terms of providing a 3D WideOpenSandbox city.)
** ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories Vice City Stories]]'', meanwhile, proudly wear their inspiration from ''Series/MiamiVice'', ''Film/Scarface1983'', and ''Film/CarlitosWay'' on their pastel sleeves, to the point where, when [[VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours an officially licensed video game sequel]] to ''Scarface'' was made, it felt quite derivative of ''Vice City'' itself.
** ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'', meanwhile, draws heavily on early '90s {{Hood Film}}s like ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'', ''Film/MenaceIISociety'', and ''Film/SouthCentral'' with its GangstaRap-era Los Angeles setting. It's also inspired by ''Film/{{Colors}}'' with an {{Expy}} of CRASH involved in the main story albeit as the antagonists.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'':
*** The main story bears striking similarities with the Russian movie duology ''Film/{{Brother}}'', sharing the premise of two siblings from Eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States to escape their traumatic pasts as war veterans only to get caught up in the criminal underworld. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyqOA4h_lZI This video]] by Russian [=YouTuber=] NFKRZ further highlights the similarities between the two works.
*** The Pegorino Crime Family is a superior adaptation of ''Series/TheSopranos'' than its official licensed game ''[[VideoGame/TheSopranosRoadToRespect Road to Respect]]''. The Pegorinos even have a similar sounding name as well as using the waste management business and strip club for their criminal activities.
*** The [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker-themed]] expansion ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned The Lost and Damned]]'' is probably the best ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' video game ever made. The characters and story are similar, the clothing and bikes are an almost exact match, the tone and setting are if anything even darker, and the game pretty much plays like it's centered on the New Jersey charter of SAMCRO rather than Charming's. One fan even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naP9uIVxIak mashed up]] the ''Sons of Anarchy'' opening theme with moments from the game, the two going together almost perfectly.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'':
*** The early missions with Trevor, an unhinged drug lord running a meth empire in the desert, have frequently drawn comparisons to ''Series/BreakingBad''.
*** In the online mode, the Stunt Races, which send drivers around exotic tracks often filled with various traps in similarly exotic cars (including some of the game's more outlandish ones, like the FlyingCar, the [[AmphibiousAutomobile submarine car]], and cars with rocket boosters and jump pads), make for the best Toys/HotWheels game since the ''Stunt Track Driver'' games in TheNineties, albeit with life-sized cars. Alternatively, the Stunt Races are the best ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' game ever made, making it rather appropriate that the ''After Hours'' update added a new car, the Scramjet, that's based on the Mach 5, complete with jump jacks.
*** ''GTA Online'' overall has also become this to ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'', not just in terms of story and themes but also on a meta level. Like the ''F&F'' films, it started out as an action game about street criminals in fast cars but slowly evolved into something much more exotic, with later updates adding military vehicles and weapons (up to and including a nuclear-powered submarine and a KillSat), government bunkers as player hideouts, and even a heist series, the Doomsday Heist, that revolves around foreign espionage and stopping a plot to destroy the world.
* The 1986 computer game ''The Great Escape'' was not licensed from [[Film/TheGreatEscape the movie of the same name]], but merely inspired by it. Oddly enough, the film did later receive an official video game adaptation in 2003, complete with voice clips of Creator/SteveMcQueen lifted from the movie.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_H0UKocTm0 GRIDD: Retroenhanced]]'', a cyberspace hacking rail shooter with ''Franchise/{{TRON}}''-esque graphics and UsefulNotes/{{synthwave}} music, is essentially an [[TheEighties '80s]] {{retraux}} take on ''VideoGame/{{Rez}}''.
* ''VideoGame/GundamBreaker'' is essentially a ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' game in everything except name; the second game seemingly lampshades this by including the Iori Hobby Shop as one of the challenge maps.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:H]]
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', with its drop pods, is quite possibly the best adaptation of ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' outside of ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
** The series as a whole reads very similarly to ''Aliens'', with its space marines, flying dropships, kinetic weapons, battles with parasitic aliens, and Sergeant Johnson, who is basically just Apone with a different name.
** It also has one of the best depictions of the architecture and technical power of Literature/TheCulture.
* ''[[VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA Hatsune Miku Project mirai]]'' has more than a passing resemblence to ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'', namely the "icon moves along a twisting track and you have to hit notes on it" concept.
* If you're an ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' fan but also exclusively a PC gamer whose machine can't properly handle [=PS2=] emulation, ''VideoGame/{{HAWX}}'' and ''VideoGame/VectorThrust'' can help you scratch that itch.
* ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'' is a top-down shooter in which the protagonists are {{Space Marine}}s fighting for a human empire that speaks of spreading freedom and democracy throughout the galaxy, but which is actually about stomping the crap out of any aliens and dissidents it comes across through a culture obsessed with military service. In other words, it strongly invokes the satirical overtones of [[Film/StarshipTroopers the film adaptation]] of ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', though here, the allusions to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror are deliberate.
* ''VideoGame/TheHidden'', a GameMod for ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', has been cited as evoking the feel of the ''Franchise/{{Predator}} films'', much like the aforementioned ''Crysis''.
* Many consider the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}} VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' by ''Creator/IOInteractive'' to be this to Franchise/JamesBond, having a more glamour-glitz, spy thriller plot, while 47 travels to exotic places and offs targets with enough gadgets to make Q branch blush. Even Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer shared this sentiment, as the developers in late-2020 secured the rights to create an actually '''officially licensed''' Bond game (the first since 2012's ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenLegends''), making this trope come full circle.
* ''Hissatsu Ura-Kagyou'' could easily pass as an official entry of the ''Series/{{Hissatsu}}'' TV series since it's a blatant tribute to it -- in fact, it presents itself as a television show, with each chapter having its own teaser sequence and closing credits. Furthermore, the actor who played one of the show's last iconic characters, Masaki Kyomoto, plays a CaptainErsatz of his older role.
* When it comes to video game adaptations of ''Film/RedDawn1984'' (of which there are quite a few on this page), ''{{VideoGame/Homefront}}'' towers over them all. Its plot was written by ''Creator/JohnMilius himself'', and is basically the original ''Red Dawn'' with North Koreans in place of the Russians. ([[HilariousInHindsight And this was before]] the [[Film/RedDawn2012 2012 remake]].) And in turn, it's been hailed as the sequel ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters2003'' (see above) never got.
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'':
** It was meant to be a ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' game, but that didn't work out. The resulting game still had the essential story of the original ''BSG'' and the mood of the re-imagined series (despite the game predating the latter).
** The lore also heavily suggests that it takes place in the universe of the ''Terran Trade Authority''. Or at least, it could. The game manual gives a thorough background of the Kushan history using the same narrative style of the ''TTA'' books. Also, like the ''TTA'' books, the illustrations are exclusively of spaceships and {{Big Dumb Object}}s, but almost never people (unless they're wearing spacesuits). The spaceships look as if they were designed by Chris Foss and Peter Elson. These two artists weren't involved in the game's design, but were given "props" in the credits. Elson was actually supposed to design the game's box art, but then they decided for some reason to go with CGI.
* While the setting is only superficially similar, ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' is, gameplay-wise, the closest ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' has come to actually getting a licensed game. It helps that Aloy is [[{{Expy}} essentially]] just [[RedHeadedHero Katniss with red hair]].
* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' is likely the best video game that could be made out of ''Film/Drive2011''. Both works share a quiet, blond-haired protagonist known by an iconic jacket, incredibly brutal violence, 1980s-inspired synth soundtracks, and neon-drenched cities rife with crime. Creator/NicolasWindingRefn is even giving a ShoutOut in the credits.
* A number of creepypasta games, especially those based on [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP-087, SCP-432]] and ''7 Days'', feature [[AlienGeometries dark, changing structures (including, in the case of the first one, a seemingly endless descending stairwell)]] inhabited by [[NothingIsScarier some dark, sinister, unseen entity that stalks the player]]. These games can be thought of as proof of concept for a ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves'' Unity game.
* While ''VideoGame/JawsUnleashed'' may have suffered from TheProblemWithLicensedGames, that doesn't mean there isn't a good game that lets you play as the ThreateningShark from ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', swimming around eating hapless swimmers, divers, and fishermen while their fellow humans try to hunt you down. You just have to look for ''VideoGame/HungrySharkEvolution'' or ''VideoGame/HungrySharkWorld'' on your smartphone or tablet's app store instead. The developers of the ''Hungry Shark'' games even made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKx6q1e_tf0 a mobile adaptation]] of the film ''Film/SharkNight 3D'' that plays almost identically to the other games.
* ''The Hurricane of the Varstray -Collateral Hazard-'' is basically ''VideoGame/StarSoldier'': BulletHell Edition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:I]]
* The [[VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream video game adaptation]] of Creator/HarlanEllison's ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' was [[http://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3494603/remember-harlan-ellison-made-nihilistic-horror-game-time/ referred to]] by Daniel Kurland of ''Bloody-Disgusting'' as the best ''Series/BlackMirror'' video game ever made (despite coming out many years prior), or at least an excellent blueprint for such, in terms of both works being [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism extremely bleak]] science fiction morality plays.
* ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' was originally planned to be a ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' arcade game. The game's title actually comes from the Japanese version of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'', which was titled ''Rambo: Ikari no Dasshutsu''. The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem game ''Ashura'', which plays similarly, picked up the ''Rambo'' license when it was exported to the US.
* ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission'', as admitted by creator Dennis Caswell, is a spiritual licensee to ''Film/WarGames'', which had an actual LicensedGame on the Colecovision.
* ''VideoGame/{{Incoming}}'' by Rage Software may be a game of it's time in some aspects, but it's nonetheless the much more competently made ''Film/IndependenceDay'' game compared to the official one from Creator/RadicalEntertainment.
* ''VideoGame/InFamous:''
** The first game has exactly the same premise as ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', and its hero has precisely the same superpowers.
** [[https://games.avclub.com/sony-s-best-selling-infamous-series-did-x-men-games-bet-1835286081 This article]] by Justin Carter for ''The Website/AVClub'' describes the series as a whole as making for better ComicBook/XMen games than [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames most of the actual X-Men games]]. The [[VideoGame/InFamous2 second game]] in particular is a great adaptation of the X-Men graphic novel ''ComicBook/GodLovesManKills'', with Bertrand as a RightWingMilitiaFanatic version of William Stryker and the FinalBoss being equal parts [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]] and the [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga Phoenix Force]]. ''[[VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon Second Son]]'', meanwhile, boasts a SpearCounterpart to ComicBook/{{Rogue}} in the form of protagonist Delsin Rowe and his ability to absorb other Conduits' powers.
* ''VideoGame/InvasionTheAbductors'' if ''Film/MenInBlack'' had a light gun game.
* ''VideoGame/IronStorm'' is probably the closest you'll ever get to a game adaptation of Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' (general JustBeforeTheEnd / RuinsOfTheModernAge grimness, a ForeverWar between 20th century megaempires fueled by fanatical propaganda, et cetera).
* ''VideoGame/ItCameFromTheDesert'' is an unofficial adaptation of ''Film/{{Them}}'', which was also the basis for the ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' quest "Those!".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:J]]
* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is a pastiche of [[{{Wuxia}} any number of Chinese/China-set martial arts stories]], but it most prominently lifts several main characters' names and plot ideas from ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds''.
* ''VideoGame/JohnnyNeroActionHero'' is literally a light gun game adaptation of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' that mixes elements of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' with AffectionateParody of 80s/90s [[ActionGenre action films]].
** It also being a LightGunGame adaptation of ''VideoGame/SeriousSam''.
* The Sunsoft game ''VideoGame/JourneyToSilius'' for the NES was originally intended to be a game based on the first ''Film/TheTerminator'' movie. That said, it was far superior to the official NES ''Terminator'' game later released by Radical Entertainment.
* ''VideoGame/JustCause'':
** Given the way the grappling hook is used, it does a better job being a DarkerAndEdgier version of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' than... well... the 2009 ''VideoGame/BionicCommando''.
** It's also as close to a ''Series/BurnNotice'' video game as we'll ever get.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K]]
* ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch Dead Men'' has a noted similarity to the films of Creator/MichaelMann, specifically ''Heat'' and ''Collateral''. The magazine PC Powerplay specifically noted that the game "[took] some pages out of Mann's notebook." The sequel went in a markedly different aesthetic direction, however.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kamui}}'' has been considered to be a sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Ray|Series}}Force''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Katakis}}'' for the Amiga and Commodore 64 was a [[SerialNumbersFiledOff thinly veiled adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/RType'', which many considered superior to the systems' official ''R-Type'' ports. Not surprisingly, Irem sued Factor 5 over it.
** Konami also produced an arcade ''R-Type'' clone titled ''Xexex'', which was never sequelized or ported to any consoles, again possibly due to legal threats from Irem.
* ''VideoGame/KatanaZero'' may be seen as a {{retraux}} successor to the NES ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' trilogy, with a Metroidvania layout.
* On a review of it in this very wiki, ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' was called the best ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' game ever put onto a Nintendo system. Likewise, it's an awesome entry in the ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' franchise.
* ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'', also known as ''Conspiracy'', released by Cryo and Virgin Games, was actually described by Computer Gaming World as a Creator/JohnLeCarre style adventure. You are not playing a glamorous secret agent but are very much cast in the Stale Beer style of spy thriller.
* ''Killerball'' was for all intents and purposes an unlicensed adaptation of ''Film/{{Rollerball}}''.
* ''VideoGame/KillSwitch'' plays more like a sequel to ''VideoGame/WinBack'' than the official ''[=WinBack=] 2: Project Poseidon''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kindergarten}}'' is set in an elementary school [[ArtstyleDissonance that looks wholesome on the surface, but is actually set in a]] CrapsaccharineWorld filled with BlackComedy where the player can die constantly in comedic ways, making it one of the best ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' games ever created.
* ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters'' is basically a ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' game in all but name [[CaptainErsatz and characters]]. And then Creator/WayForward develop Godzilla: Domination, with the ScrappyMechanic removed and features "suspiciously" similar gameplay and graphical style to King of the Monsters.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' is the closest we'll ever get to ''VideoGame/{{Spectrobes}} 4''. Jupiter Corporation, who previously made the first two ''Spectrobes'' games, even made ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' for the Game Boy Advance.
* ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'':
** Aliens/outsiders invade and modernize a primitive world? [[spoiler:Character who looks very similar to the protagonist gets modified and works for the enemy?]] Main antagonist is the CEO of a huge corporation? The fact there is a ESP ability with PSI/PK powers?[[note]]If playing the game in French, the ability's name says that it's PSI![[/note]] Did Kirby just become ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''?
** Many comparisons have been made between this game and ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' (mainly, the latter game's Ride Armor sequences).
** The resemblance to ''[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Lagann]]'' has also been heavily noted. [[spoiler:The final scene of Story Mode, where Kirby's Robobot Armor ''drills'' through the final boss and combines with Meta Knight's ship, only furthers the similarities.]]
* ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'' is more of an adaptation of ''Film/GameOfDeath'' than the Creator/JackieChan movie which shares its title in Japan (''Spartan X'', a.k.a. ''Film/WheelsOnMeals'').
* The ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' soccer league games, including Nintendo World Cup, may as well be called ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa: The Game''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:L]]
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'':
** The game shares its name, setting, narrative structure, and time period with ''Film/LAConfidential''.
** It's also a DarkerAndEdgier version of ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' since it focuses on a detective and his partners investigating various crimes in the City of Angels.
** Given that ''L.A. Noire'' is a SunshineNoir work with plenty of DeliberateValuesDissonance and [[spoiler:a plot involving a private investigator exposing a real estate scheme launched by corrupt businessmen]] it can be seen as a surprisingly good video game adaptation of ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' [[spoiler:albeit with a BittersweetEnding instead of a [[DownerEnding downer one]]]].
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' has as its protagonist a whip-wielding, fedora-wearing AdventurerArchaeologist exploring trap-filled ruins and encountering ancient supernatural mysteries. The Franchise/IndianaJones connections are pretty blatant. He even [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade has a difficult relationship with his father]]
* ''Laser Invasion'' is a spiritual successor to the NES ''Top Gun'' licensed games.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'':
** In many ways, it is a video game adaptation of ''Literature/TheStand'', being a RoadTripPlot story set in a post-apocalyptic United States that has been ravaged by TheVirus. There are some smaller plot points that are mutually reminiscent, such as the fact that in both stories the protagonists are venturing from the East Coast towards a location in the Rocky Mountains that contains the last remnants of "good" civilization. The big difference is that, in ''The Last of Us'', [[spoiler:it wasn't really worth it]].
** For the same reason, it also bears a clear influence from ''Literature/TheRoad'', being about a father figure and a child (his actual son in ''The Road'', a teenage girl serving as a surrogate daughter in ''The Last of Us'') making a harrowing trip across a post-apocalyptic America while dealing with cannibals and bandits. ''The Last of Us'' simply adds {{zombie|Apocalypse}}s to the mix.
** As a story about a fungus-based zombie outbreak in which the main character attempts [[spoiler: and apparently fails]] to find a survivor who can create a cure, it has more than a few similarities to Creator/JohnBrosnan's novel ''Literature/TheFungus''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastGuardian'', with its story of a boy's adventures in ruined MagicalLand alongside a dragon-like beast, is the closest thing we have to ''Film/TheNeverendingStory: The Video Game''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', merely from the name and logo design (which is all that is known about it), looks heavily influenced by ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' attempt.
* ''The Last V8'' for the Commodore 64 is clearly inspired by ''Film/MadMax'', which also had a [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames (crappy)]] officially licensed game on the NES.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' is pretty much ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater: The Game'', only with more gunplay [[spoiler: and no hostile humans]].
* In many ways, the HenshinHero RPG ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' is basically the closest anyone has come so far of making a ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' or ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' RPG.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto once claimed that ''VideoGame/{{The Legend of Zelda|I}}'' is based partially off the 1985 Creator/RidleyScott movie ''Film/{{Legend|1985}}''.
** [[http://tinyurl.com/lb43zo5 There]] [[http://tinyurl.com/oaae94f have]] [[http://tinyurl.com/lspzmoc been]] [[http://tinyurl.com/lf8yng2 comparisons]] between ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' and ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''.
** ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'', and ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' have been called "the best Zelda games of the year" at times.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', being set in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] Hyrule with its incarnation of Link being a just-awakened KingInTheMountain and heavy {{Magitek}} presence, is the closest thing to a modern ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'' reboot.
* While the stories are only similar on a superficial level at best (and even saying ''that'' much is more than a bit of a stretch), gameplay-wise ''VideoGame/LEGOCityUndercover'' is essentially a LEGO-fied child-friendly version of Creator/RockstarGames' ''VideoGame/LANoire''.
* ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' is what you might get if ''Film/DirtyHarry'' had a LightGunGame. The classic sedans featured -- similar to vehicle era of ''Film/TheDeadPool'' -- help reinforce this, and you even deal with a plane hijacking like in ''Film/MagnumForce''. [[https://youtu.be/09le4jyqqzc Yoshiaki Hatano, the creator of the game]], said the game was inspired by the ''Dirty Harry'' series as it is his personal favorite film series and he liked all five of them.
** The second game, ''Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters'', has nods to the ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'', such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyboyK2eo6c similar music]], and has the feel of the SpaghettiWestern genre in general, but riding the coattails of the original game, you're playing as law enforcement rather than an outlaw.
** ''Lethal Enforcers 3'' is a great ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' racing game.
* Unless [[http://techraptor.net/content/devolver-digital-wants-to-bring-metal-wolf-chaos-to-the-west Devolver Digital are successful in bringing the latter over]], ''VideoGame/LiberationMaiden'' is the closest Westerners will ever get to [[NoExportForYou playing an English release]] of ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos''.
* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'':
** It's often been cited as the best video game adaptation of ''Film/DonnieDarko'' ever made (and a ''much'' better take on a {{gender flip}}ped ''Donnie Darko'' sequel than [[Film/SDarko the one that we actually got]]), with the game containing several {{Shout Out}}s to the film. Both works focus around an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who goes on a TimeTravel[=/=]AlternateUniverse adventure with countercultural themes and a heavy dose of MindScrew, seeking to prevent an apocalyptic calamity from occurring in the next few days/weeks. [[spoiler:Said calamity is caused by a TemporalParadox that the protagonist is connected to, and in order to close it and save the world (in ''Donnie Darko'') or their hometown (in ''Life Is Strange''), they are forced to make a sacrifice at the end. (In ''Life Is Strange'', of course, [[MultipleEndings you can choose not to do this]].)]]
** It also takes numerous story and thematic cues from ''Series/TwinPeaks'' (taking place in a QuirkyTown in the UsefulNotes/PacificNorthwest filled with oddball characters and supernatural elements) and ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' -- which, again, receive shout-outs.
** As [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPzDCPbM_2k this video]] points out, the inciting incident of the game and the fallout from such also resemble the ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' films, of all things, albeit with far less {{gorn}}. ''Life is Strange'' opens with Max watching her old friend Chloe getting murdered, then going back in time and saving her, while each of the ''Final Destination'' films revolves around a person who has a premonition of an imminent disaster who uses that vision to get themselves and those around them out of harm's way. In both cases, this messes with the universe's plans and merely creates bigger problems down the road as [[YouCantFightFate fate adjusts to the change in plans]] -- in the ''Final Destination'' films, the survivors start dying in freak accidents in the order they would've perished in the disaster, while in ''Life Is Strange'', Chloe has frequent brushes with death that Max constantly has to step in to prevent, [[spoiler:Kate]] is pushed to the brink of suicide because her tormentors (who [[PullTheThread would've been arrested immediately had Nathan killed Chloe]]) continue to get away with it, and [[spoiler:Chloe's continued survival sets off the aforementioned TemporalParadox that threatens to wipe out the entire town]].
* ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'' is considered by some as being the closest westerners will ever get to a game adaptation of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Others call it a pretty decent {{Animesque}} adaptation of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' is a pretty good ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' game, made by that series' original creator and musician after they left Creator/SquareEnix (the former founding his own game design company and the latter going freelance).
* ''Lost Patrol'' from 1990 is the closest any game has come to capturing the dark view on UsefulNotes/VietnamWar exhibited in movies such as ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', ''Film/FullMetalJacket'', and ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.
* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' has long been considered to be the best ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' video game yet made. Even the [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames rather well received]] ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' didn't change this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M]]
* Nintendo's early NES racing game ''Mach Rider'' was highly inspired by ''Film/MadMax'', with a touch of Sega's ''Hang On'', and possibly a spiritual predecessor to ''VideoGame/RoadRash''.
* ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' can be best described as ''ComicBook/SinCity'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Film/TheRunningMan'' thanks to it's DeliberatelyMonochrome art style, story, characters and setting.
* ''VideoGame/MakenX'' is the best ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' HackAndSlash.
* ''VideoGame/{{Maneater}}'', like the aforementioned ''Hungry Shark'', makes for a better ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' game than the actual licensed ''Jaws'' [[VideoGame/JawsUnleashed game]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'':
** The first game was originally meant to be an adaptation of ''Film/TheWarriors'', but Rockstar couldn't get the license at the time. They later made an officially licensed ''[[VideoGame/TheWarriors Warriors]]'' BeatEmUp that is ''incredibly'' faithful to the film, and also an example of fans having SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames.
** Some have suggested that the sequel, ''Manhunt 2'', is a spiritual licensee of ''Film/FightClub''.
** Both games are, together, also among the best translations of an '80s SlasherMovie to video game form, with their extended stalking sequences and ultraviolent stealth kills committed with a wide arsenal of melee weapons. The main difference, of course, is that here you're ''supposed to'' root for the killer to take out the human garbage in front of him, [[VillainBasedFranchise not like that's]] [[TheScourgeOfGod such a big change]].
* ''VideoGame/MassDestruction'' makes an excellent sequel to SNK's NES game ''Iron Tank''.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is inspired by generations of science fiction whose influence it wears on its sleeves.
** It is essentially a licensed ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series, only without the cheesy writing and the ValuesDissonance.
** Alternatively, it can be called ''Series/Babylon5'' with dialogue options.
** It also serves nicely as a ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' game. Hell, the main villains are even similar (robotic beings that want to destroy or assimilate all life and are ungodly powerful). Notably, it nails the full experience of being a Starfleet captain--bonding with crew-mates, talking your way through complex interstellar diplomacy, embarking on dangerous away missions, and [[BoldlyComing seducing attractive aliens]]--much better than most '''actual''' ''Franchise/StarTrek'' games.
** Let's see here, extinct alien precursors leave behind warnings of a machine intelligence whose function is to purge the galaxy of sentient life? ''Mass Effect'' '''is''' ''Literature/RevelationSpace: The Game''.
** As [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]] once lampshaded, to an extent, the first game is basically a Franchise/StarWars game. This really shouldn't come as a surprise, considering Creator/BioWare also made ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', and the plot of ''Mass Effect 1'' is basically that game minus lightsabers.
** Whatever aspects of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' didn't end up in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' ended up here. It helps that genetic engineering, cybernetics, computer hacking, and psionics are all part of the setting, and even a full-on Paragon Shepherd has a OneRiotOneRanger job description and is ''barely'' tolerated by the galactic government, much like the Series 5 Rangers.
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'':
** The first game was greeted by one review with the sarcastic remark "Leather coats, BulletTime, automatic weapons... [[Film/TheMatrix I wonder what the first mod of it will be.]]"
** While the obvious answer to that question is ''Film/TheMatrix'', it could just as easily be answered with ''Film/HardBoiled''. In fact, much like ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'' (see ''Grand Theft Auto'' above), that film [[VideoGame/{{Stranglehold}} also had to basically rip off itself]] in the translation to video game form.
** The first game is basically a video game version of a John Woo movie sharing several of his trademarks such as slow motion action and bullet time. In fact, it's so blatant that even one level has the director's name as the password of a mob hideout.
** ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'' is a good video game adaption of ''Film/ManOnFire''. Just look at the first trailer of the game when Max describes his situation and you will notice the similarities instantaneously.
* One of the driving forces behind the original ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' was none other than Creator/StevenSpielberg, who worked with the same military adviser that he'd worked with when making ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan''. As such, it could be probably be called the best video game adaptation of ''Saving Private Ryan'' ever made, if not in story details then certainly in the tone it took with its portrayal of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The influence was especially apparent in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Allied Assault'', which featured a level based on the storming of Omaha Beach, one of the most famous scenes in the movie, as well as a French town full of snipers, and a HoldTheLine sequence defending a bridge.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** The [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 original]] ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' was intended to be an ''Anime/AstroBoy'' game, so you could say that the ''Mega Man'' games are the best ''Astro Boy'' video games created (at least until ''VideoGame/AstroBoyOmegaFactor'' was released).
** ''Anime/NeoHumanCasshern'', a series about a boy who becomes an android in order to fight a big army of robots, with his robot dog companion who can turn into vehicles. There also is an evil-protype twin-brother and a girl as protagonists/antagonists. Any resemblance ''Mega Man'' might have to this [[SarcasmMode is only coincidence]].
** ''Mega Man'' eventually ended up being more of an amalgam of ''Astro Boy'' and ''Casshern''.
** Capcom did make another ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' game for the [=PlayStation=] 2 (and arguably a better installment than ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''). It's called ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission''.
** If you're looking for a ''Franchise/KamenRider'' game that isn't a fighting game or a mass brawler, one that feels like it's from the early Heisei era, look no further than ''VideoGame/MegaManZX''.
** While the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' games on the [=PS2=] aren't bad, they were often criticized for not featuring all of Ben's forms for the sake of the gameplay. On the flipside, games that feature all of Ben's forms often have simplified gameplay for the sake of character variety. However, one game managed to combine the best of both worlds, bringing gameplay and character variety together. The name of the game? ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** The series as a whole was always quite consciously inspired by ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', most notably with how its protagonist is named Snake, but nowhere is it more open about it than in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', with the mission this time being to rescue the President, the Shell complex being located in New York Harbor, and Snake using the codename "Pliskin", [[spoiler:with a FinalBoss battle in lower Manhattan for good measure]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' had, by far, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic the best]] Film/JamesBond [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic title song you'll ever hear.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSUZRQ4vIA#t=746s This review]] argues that ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' is as close as we are going to get to a modern ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'' game. Or it would be the closest thing, until Capcom [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jMwcJI0pEg rebooted]] ''Strider''.
** [[http://www.capcom-unity.com/mega_man/go/thread/view/7461/30098841/drawing-parallels-between-megaman-and-metal-gear-rising-revengeance This forum post]] also makes the case for ''Revengeance'' being a 3D ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' game.
** Many ''Anime/KillLaKill'' fans also think ''Revengeance'' is the closest thing to a ''KLK'' game. Ironically, [[https://twitter.com/PG_kamiya/status/399256760260653056 Hideki Kamiya has no interest]] in making a ''KLK'' game.
* ''[[https://twitter.com/megacoptergame?lang=en Megacopter: Blades of the Goddess]]'' may be the closest we get to a new ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' game.
* ''VideoGame/MetalStorm'' is perhaps the best NES adaptation of ''VideoGame/{{Thexder}}'', which did have a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] PortingDisaster.
* The ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' games captured the essence of the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies better than any of the licensed games did. Samus Aran ↔ Ellen Ripley. Metroids ↔ Xenomorphs. The main antagonist of the series, Ridley, is even a ShoutOut to Creator/RidleyScott, director of the 1979 ''Film/{{Alien}}'' film.
* The ''VideoGame/MidnightClub'' series by Creator/RockstarGames pretty much screamed out ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'', with the first game (2000) was released almost a year before [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001 the first film]] was released (in 2001), the second game (2003) was released few months before the film's sequel, ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'', and features vehicles similar to the first two film's vehicles and one of the game's open-world maps, Los Angeles (The first film's setting), the third game was the closest can get to a ''Series/PimpMyRide'' video game than the actual "terrible" ''Pimp My Ride'' video game developed by Eutechnyx, and the fourth game, ''Midnight Club: Los Angeles'' (2008) for the [=PlayStation 3=] and Xbox 360, was also the closest can get to a cancelled 2003 [=PlayStation 2=]/Xbox licensed video game based on ''The Fast and the Furious'' film and the sequel ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' developed by Genki (the Japanese developer known for the ''Shutokou Battle''/''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'' series), but it lacks closed street races and drag races.
* ''VideoGame/MizzurnaFalls'' is basically a VideoGame adaptation of ''Series/TwinPeaks'', only with the SerialNumbersFiledOff.
* The ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series was heavily inspired by two major sources: [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]]'s original Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean ride, and the Creator/TimPowers novel ''Literature/OnStrangerTides''. And in turn, the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' movies [[SpiritualAdaptation/LiveActionFilm bore the influence]] of ''Monkey Island''. (In not-at-all related news, the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides fourth]] ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean PotC]]'' movie was ''coincidentally'' [[HilariousInHindsight based on the same book]].)
* ''VideoGame/MuppetMonsterAdventure'' may be the best ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' sequel from the original [=PS1=] trilogy that ''Creator/InsomniacGames'' never worked on and is better then the official sequels that came out after the [=PS1=] trilogy. It is also helped that Sony Europe published the games PAL version release, in which Sony was involved with the original [=PS1=] trilogy!
* ''VideoGame/MuseDash'' is basically a HotterAndSexier version of ''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin'', featuring horizontal scrolling notes and notes colored by which button you have to hit.
* ''VideoGame/MystikBelle'' is this to ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie[=/=]The Krion Conquest''. It also may be the best ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' video game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:N]]
* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'':
** The franchise as a whole can be sometimes described as ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' of racing games. Most players, classic or tuner, bump each other with multidollars of cars from different classes in tracks and open streets. That would be the closest ''Super Smash Bros'' games ever come to [=PlayStation=] and Xbox consoles.
** Speaking of ''Midnight Club'' above on the M folder, the way that the franchise turned to a street racing theme from ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground Underground]]'' to ''Undercover'' also pretty much screamed out ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'', with the Underground games feature closed street races and drag races that seen in the first two films.
** The emphasis on drifting and tight suspenseful mountain pass duels in ''Carbon'' make it a pretty good ''Manga/InitialD'' game.
*** ''Carbon'' also released four months after ''Film/TheFastAndTheFuriousTokyoDrift'', and ''boy'' does it show.
** And the latest ''Hot Pursuit'' version is an awesome ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}'' sequel!
** 2017's ''Payback'' is likewise a good ''Film/TheFateOfTheFurious'' adaptation, especially with TheProblemWithLicensedGames plaguing [[VideoGame/FastAndFuriousCrossroads recent official F&F titles]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Nefarious}}'', the story starts with the VillainProtagonist fighting his HeroAntagonist, and ends when TheBadGuyWins. Said VillainProtagonist has an affable relationship with a DamselInDistress associated with his nemesis, their nemesis gives up on fighting them, and, [[spoiler: through said relationship, and after a FinalBoss against someone who used to be associated with said VillainProtagonist in some way, said VillainProtagonist makes a HeelFaceTurn]]. It's basically ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': The Video Game.
* ''[[VideoGame/NiNoKuni Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch]]'' is generally considered one of the best examples of a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' ActionRPG.
* ''VideoGame/NieR'', as mentioned in its Laconic section, might as well be called ''[[spoiler:Literature/IAmLegend]]: The Game'', especially once TheReveal is cruelly shown.
* Speaking of ''VideoGame/NieR'' and Legends, fans of the Nintendo cult classic, ''VideoGame/TheGuardianLegend'', will find that ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' is the sequel they've always been waiting for.
* [[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/night-terrors-augmented-reality-survival-horror#/story The upcoming]] AugmentedReality SurvivalHorror game ''Night Terrors'' is, when it releases, the closest we'll ever get to actually playing ''VideoGame/SilentHills''.
* Do you wish for a new ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'' game? Don't worry, you'll get ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}''.
* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'', an AffectionateParody of '60s SpyFiction that simultaneously revels in the glamour of the setting and genre and lampoons its more dated tropes (especially the sexism), is probably the closest we'll get to an ''Film/AustinPowers'' game.
* Both of the actual ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' video games, ''Dogs of the Night'' (based on the original comic) and ''The Science of Evil'' (based on [[Film/Hellboy2004 the 2004 film adaptation]]), suffered from TheProblemWithLicensedGames, but no worry: ''VideoGame/Nocturne1999'' already came very, very close to the feel of the B.P.R.D., albeit set in the early 20th century. Given that Terminal Reality later made the acclaimed ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'', one can only wonder what they would've done with the actual ''Hellboy'' license.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:O]]
* The SurvivalHorror game ''VideoGame/ObsCure'' is this to ''Film/TheFaculty''. In both works, [[Film/TheBreakfastClub a group of high school students from across various cliques and social circles]] battle monsters who used to be their classmates (only with less [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse paranoia]] and more BodyHorror in ''[=ObsCure=]''), and it turns out that [[spoiler:the school's administration is a major part of what's happening]]. The creators of ''[=ObsCure=]'' even said that they had Creator/JoshHartnett (one of the stars of ''The Faculty'') in mind when designing the character of Stan.
* ''VideoGame/OkageShadowKing'' is probably the greatest Creator/TimBurton game no one has ever heard of.
* The adventure game ''Operation Stealth'' by Delphine Software was so obviously an homage to ''Film/JamesBond'' that its American publisher (Interplay) was able to make minor changes to the dialogue and release the result as an actual licensed game, ''VideoGame/JamesBond007TheStealthAffair''.
* ''VideoGame/{{One}}'' is often considered to be a better ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation than the actual games released for the console, ''Legacy of War'' and ''C: The Contra Adventure''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Oni}}'' is one of the best (and overlooked) ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' games out there, going as far as having two of the main characters as expies of Mokoto Kusanagi and Daisuke Aramaki. (Creator/ShirowMasamune is actually listed in the "Special Thanks" section of the game's credits.)
* ''VideoGame/OrcsMustDie'' feels a lot like an ''Army of Darkness'' game, but with Orcs instead of skeletons. Hell, the War Mage character even gets a boomstick in the sequel!
* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' may be considered the best ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' video game, with a touch of ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro''.
* While an official ''Series/StargateSG1'' video game languished for years in DevelopmentHell with nothing ever coming out of it, ''VideoGame/{{Outcast}}'' is a very close match to one. Modern-day humans discover a gateway to an alien world? Check. A RetiredBadass DeadpanSnarker career military man is dragged back into duty to lead an expedition there? Check. Locals regard the arrivals with clear religious overtones? Check. The alien world appears to be mainly pre-industrial with curious instances of highly advanced technology peppered about? Check.
* ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'':
** Between its SpaceWestern stylings and its sense of humor, it's pretty close to the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' video game that fans of that show have long been waiting for, especially since the planned [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] based on the series became {{vaporware}}.
** The dysfunctional, bureaucratic nature of its {{dystopia}} (albeit [[MegaCorp corporate]] instead of governmental) has also led some to call it the best ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' video game ever made, albeit [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace in space!!!]]]].
** With its plot centering on an interstellar voyage gone awry where the protagonist awakes from cryosleep before everyone else and has to try to save the ship, it's also the closest we get to a ''Film/{{Passengers}}'' video game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Outland}}'' combines the parkour and swordplay of the 2D ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' games with the BulletHell and polarity-switching of ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' and its sequel are likely the best ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' video games. With the first game’s setting of a creepy building with dark going ons and insanity, it can also be seen as what Film/BookOfShadowsBlairWitch2 could have been, and the second can be taken as an adaptation of every exploitation film based on or inspired by Jonestown or other such cults in the 70s and 80s.
* ''Outwars'', a 1998 PC game by Microsoft, takes a lot of elements from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''. Hell, the first mission can basically be considered a direct ShoutOut.
* It's good to see a good game in the ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' universe again (especially after the acidic reception to [[BribingYourWayToVictory the mobile version]]), albeit a spinoff called ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' under a different genre.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' was thought to be more of a sequel to ''VideoGame/DoomII: Hell on Earth'' than ''VideoGame/Doom3'' turned out to be.
* ''VideoGame/PandoraFirstContact'', is the re-release of ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pararena}}'' is basically ''Film/{{Rollerball}}'' [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!!!]]]]
* Overkill doesn't try hard to hide that ''[[VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist Payday: The Heist]]'' and [[VideoGame/PAYDAY2 its sequel]] are basically ''Film/{{Heat}}'': ''The Video Game'', and have given the film many, many references in [[ShoutOut/PAYDAYTheHeist both]] [[ShoutOut/PAYDAY2 games]].
* The original ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series was the closest people got to a ''Franchise/StarWars'' [=RPG=] until ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' came out.
* ''VideoGame/PhantomBreaker''[='=]s spin-off beat 'em up game, ''Phantom Breaker: [=BattleGrounds=]'', is basically the new ''VideoGame/PanzerBandit''.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'', from the third game on, is ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' as a JRPG/Dating Sim. As for more specific examples...
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'':
*** The moody and snarky protagonist who faces off villains associated with death, the Tarot Cards and immortality make him akin to a bishounen Jotaro, the protagonist of Jojo Part 3, ''Stardust Crusaders.'' Both also reveal their FightingSpirit in an iconic scene that involves a shot to the head.
*** [[http://kotaku.com/5912065/persona-3-really-is-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-down-to-the-smallest-characters This]] ''Kotaku'' article makes the claim that ''VideoGame/Persona3'' can be considered a video game adaptation of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', with each character from ''Persona 3'' compared to a character from ''Buffy''.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'':
*** A group of young adults and a nonhuman solve a supernatural mystery, [[spoiler: and the BigBad is a human]]. This is basically the best WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo game ever made.
*** Its narrative similarities, {{Fighting Spirit}}s, small town setting and [[spoiler: the fact that the BigBad has the same power as the heroes]] makes it the best ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' game out there.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
*** With its party of [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] forming a CaperCrew to target worse criminals and its VillainOfTheWeek structure, this is the closest thing we'll get to a ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' RPG.
*** And just like Persona 4 is close to Diamond is Unbreakable, the theatrical nature of the young criminals and their use of fighting spirits to take down worse people makes Persona 5 a great RPG for ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' fans, which is also the 5th part of Jojo funny enough.
*** With its plot involving entering characters' {{Mental World}}s and changing something within to alter their personality, it's also the closest thing we'll get to an ''Film/{{Inception}}'' game.
* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity '' is a ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' or ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' video game in all but name. It uses similar mechanics, the same classes, and even many of the same races (down to having aasimar/tiefling {{Exp|y}}ies in the form of the godlike). It helps that the creators have already made [[VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment what is widely regarded as one of best DND games ever]].
* The ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' games were probably the closest that kids in TheEighties had to playing a [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames good]] ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' game. ''Pitfall 2''[='=]s theme music even [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounds similar]] to the Raiders March. It was probably most pronounced with ''Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure'', the series' [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super NES]] installment.
* ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'':
** Brendan "[=PlayerUnknown=]" Greene, the creator of the game (and its preceding GameMod, ''VideoGame/DayZ: Battle Royale''), has [[http://www.usgamer.net/articles/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-interview-brendan-greene said]] that the film adaptation of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' was a major influence, to the point where they later added [[https://imgur.com/a/Xj2tO a series of DLC outfits]] inspired by those worn by the film's characters. ''[[WebVideo/SmoshGames Honest Game Trailers]]'' apparently agreed, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c7RLtbFiJA describing it]] as the best video game version of ''Battle Royale'' ever made, with the only thing stopping it from being a full-blown adaptation being the lack of [[JokeItem joke weapons]] and Creator/TakeshiKitano. The success of ''PUBG'', in turn, wound up inspiring [[FollowTheLeader a boom]] of similar {{Battle Royale Game}}s with a premise of "last-one-standing survival deathmatch with no respawns", with ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' being (as of now) [[FromClonesToGenre the most successful]] but also including ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', ''[=H1Z1=]'', ''Radical Heights'', ''The Darwin Project'', and battle royale modes for other multiplayer shooters.
** On a similar note, it's also been frequently compared to ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', which is itself seen by many people as a Western take on ''Battle Royale''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'':
** The second game is probably the closest we'll get to a video game adaptation of ''Film/FallingDown''. While the first game was a comparatively straightforward shoot-em-up with a more nihilistic tone, the second was a far more satirical story with a heavy dose of BlackComedy. The protagonist (known only as [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude "the Postal Dude"]]) is a man who, much like William "D-FENS" Foster, has [[RageBreakingPoint finally snapped]] over all the inconveniences in his life, and spends the day building an arsenal of increasingly outlandish weapons as he tries to carry out his daily errands while everybody in the CrapsackWorld around him acts like an asshole. One notable difference, though: the Postal Dude is implied to be a HenpeckedHusband, with some of his errands being things that his wife wants him to do [[spoiler:such that he tries to kill himself after he forgot to buy his wife ice cream after escaping the chaos of the final day (though he lives)]], while in ''Falling Down'', D-FENS is not only doing everything under his own volition, but is strongly implied to have an endgame of ''murdering'' his ex-wife.
** Given its cartoonishly {{vulgar|Humor}}, [[CrossesTheLineTwice deliberately offensive]], satirical view of... well, [[WorldGoneMad everything]], ''Postal 2'' was also the best ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' game before ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' came out.
** On that note, ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'' is pretty much a near-remake of the first ''Postal'' game, except [[UpToEleven somehow]] even DarkerAndEdgier. Some have taken to calling it "the real ''Postal III''" after the actual ''Postal III'' proved to be a polarizing ObviousBeta. Running With Scissors even included ''Hatred''[='=]s VillainProtagonist as a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtYZGrwnBE bonus character]] in the UpdatedRerelease ''Postal Redux'', complete with voice acting, while the options menu includes a DeliberatelyMonochrome effect that's called "Just Like That Other Game".
* ''Power Blazer'', in its original Japanese form, was a mediocre ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' clone, but the Western counterpart, ''Power Blade'', works well as a ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' adaptation, even [[ShoutOut referencing the first film's poster]] with its cover and title screen art.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1LU0NGCVHQ Power Drive 2000]]'', with its talking car and 80s-themed environments and music, is possibly the best video game adaptation of ''Series/KnightRider'', as well as a spiritual successor to ''VideoGame/OutRun''.
* As [[http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=352 Action Button Dot Net]] puts it: "''...someone finally made a good Franchise/SherlockHolmes game, and it's not even a real Sherlock Holmes game. It's about [[VideoGame/ProfessorLayton some dude named Layton]].''"
* At high levels of play, and especially on Turbo Mode, ''VideoGame/ProjectM'' is the best ''Anime/DragonballZ'' game ever made. Just watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhnrNYcw62A this]] for proof as to why.
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', while a SpiritualSuccessor to [[VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction an earlier game]] based on ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' made by the same studio, also bears a number of other influences.
** There's a reason it's often referred to as ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}: The Game''.
** It's also often compared to ''Film/TheThing1982'', with both works revolving around a shapeshifting monster that can take on the form of other people in a BodyHorror-filled manner.
* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' takes elements of ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'', ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'', and for Little Mac's Last Stand mode in the Wii game, the climax of ''Manga/TomorrowsJoe'' and combines it all into one fine package.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Q]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Quackshot}}'', a Creator/{{Disney}}-licensed UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game starring WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, is said to had been created by Creator/{{Sega}} to get around an embargo which prevented them from using the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' license, which was instead given to Creator/{{Capcom}} for their [[VideoGame/DuckTales NES game]]. And with several ShoutOut WholePlotReference moments, it's also considered one of the best ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' games.
* The visual novel ''Quartett!'' looks like something straight out of Creator/HidekazHimaruya's portfolio if he did eroge.
* ''VideoGame/QuantumBreak'' is as close to a ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' game we're going to get, between the contemporary, East Coast science fiction setting, the existence of a MegaCorp that resembles Massive Dynamic a little too much, the presence of Creator/LanceReddick who plays [[spoiler:a character ''very'' similar to an Observer]], and a scientific experiment at the heart of the lore that is responsible for the eventual end of the world. Even the game's muted blue-tinged ColorWash resembles ''Fringe's'' look. ''Hardcore Gamer'' [[http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2016/02/21/quantum-break-could-be-the-fringe-of-video-games/193060/ even called it as such]] before the game's release.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:R]]
* ''VideoGame/RabiRibi'' is the closest thing to a 2D MetroidVania ''Videogame/{{Nier}}'', although LighterAndSofter.
** The game is effectively a successor to ''VideoGame/BunnyMustDie''. Both are {{Metroidvania}}s starring a PlayboyBunny afflicted with a transformative curse, and gameplay heavily revolving around BulletHell elements. The original name for "[[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels Bunny Extinction]]" mode was even going to be "Bunny Must Die".
* ''VideoGame/RadRacer'' is the closest thing the NES has to a port of ''VideoGame/OutRun''.
* Joining the roster of ''Film/MadMax'' adaptations, many of which are listed above, is ''VideoGame/Rage2011''.
* Although it's now gone to full-fledged series and is far more popular than its inspiration, ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'' was as close to a ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' sequel as we are ever going to get.
* While most ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games made in the last ten years are [[BrokenBase pretty polarizing]] even at their best, two indisputably great ones have come out recently: ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'', and ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends''.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' seems to be a spiritual adaptation of ''Film/YoungGunsII'', ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'', and ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'', with a bit of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' mixed in.
** In another sense, the game seems to be a violent R-rated 1890s version of ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' in that both protagonists keep their journals; both go to parties by campfires and get drunk at one point; both have their ex-boy/girlfriends; both have dreams of spirit animals; both struggle to do good with finding their own identities and coping with the massive changes in the world around them; and [[spoiler:both have come down with illnesses in their lives... and at least Mae Borowski's illness isn't terminal unlike Arthur Morgan's]].
** Interestingly, as the PC version (and now the [=PS4=] and upcoming Xbox One versions) adds gang hideouts to Gaptooth Breach and Solomon's Folly (Twin Rocks[[note]]Special Edition only[[/note]] and Fort Mercer are already gang hideouts) and puts the [=LeMat=] revolver, Evans Repeater and a High-Power pistol Expy into the single-player campaign, the epilogue includes a lot of content from the first game in it, [[spoiler:especially since John is playable]]. While there are some major differences such as New Austin being less active and there being no Mexico or story, it's now fairly reminiscent of the first game -- especially on PC as the previous game never released on it.
* ''VideoGame/RedFaction'' bears striking resemblance to the Martian society depicted in ''Film/TotalRecall1990''.
* If Creator/LucBesson made a game, ''VideoGame/RememberMe'' would be it. It features a [[WaifFu petite]], [[ActionGirl ass-kicking female protagonist]] who uses tons of SheFu in a distinct science fiction setting with rich visuals and hammy writing, which evokes the "cinema du look" style of Besson and other French films of the TheEighties. If that wasn't enough, it also bears a strong French influence, since it takes place in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Paris]] and the creators of the game, Creator/DONTNODEntertainment, are French.
* ''[[VideoGame/KunioKun Renegade]]'', along with being the [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Precursor]] to ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', makes for a better ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'' adaptation than LJN's LicensedGame.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
** [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 The first game]] was heavily inspired by the Japanese horror film ''Film/SweetHome'' and [[VideoGame/SweetHome its video game adaptation]], and can be seen as an updating of such for the 3D era of gaming, although with enemies that, instead of ghosts, turn out to be {{zombie|Apocalypse}}s and mutants created by biological weapons.
** On that note, it's also heavily influenced by Creator/GeorgeARomero's ''Film/LivingDeadSeries'', especially in the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 second]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis third]] games where the [[TheVirus t-Virus]] outbreak has reached the city.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' is often described as an amalgamation of ''Film/TheConstantGardener'' and ''Film/BlackhawkDown'' with parasitic zombies.
** Since the majority of the game takes place on a cruise ship, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'' is close as we are going to get to a sequel to ''VideoGame/ColdFear''[[note]]The game mostly takes place on a whaler. All the more ironic because Cold Fear was following Resident Evil 4.[[/note]]
** Given the tepid reaction to both ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' video games, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2'' is probably the best interactive adaptation of the {{Gorn}} franchise.
** From the moment the "Beginning Hour" demo was released, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'' saw many comparisons to ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974''. It has the player trying to escape from a dilapidated house in the DeepSouth owned by a CannibalClan that's already killed and butchered their friends, and contains many stylistic {{Shout Out}}s to the film, most notably a scene that's essentially a recreation of the famous dinner scene from that film. It's also been called the closest thing we'll ever get to actually playing ''VideoGame/SilentHills'' after that game was canceled, drawing heavily from its "P.T." demo in terms of its style. Some also consider it a spiritual successor to the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series. Finally, some fans of the ''[[VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins Condemned]]'' [[VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot games]] have called it an unofficial third installment in the franchise, with both being first-person SurvivalHorror games set in run-down locales with melee combat and a few powerful guns with rare ammunition.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'', in turn, earned comparisons to ''Film/Dracula1931'' the moment Creator/{{Capcom}} started releasing information about it, and Franchise/UniversalHorror more broadly once people sat down to play it. It takes place in [[{{Ruritania}} a small, rustic village and nearby castle in Eastern Europe]], implied to be Romania specifically (or at least [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed a fictional stand-in]]) given the names, several monsters resemble {{w|olfMan}}erewolves (and even have names like "lycans" and "vârcolaci" that evoke such), and the villain Lady Alcina Dimitrescu heavily evokes the imagery of {{Classical Movie Vampire}}s, specifically a [[GenderFlip female version]] of Dracula, in terms of her being a [[EvilIsBigger very tall]], elegant aristocrat with three female underlings who call to mind [[VampiresHarem Dracula's "brides"]].
* ''VideoGame/RetroCityRampage'', in terms of story, is the best ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' video game, along with referencing countless classic NES games, and in terms of gameplay, is an excellent [[{{Retraux}} faux-8-bit]] adaptation of the original ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''.
* A little indie game named ''Richard and Alice'' is the closest we've got to the video game adaptation of ''Literature/TheRoad''.
* ''VideoGame/RigidForceAlpha'' is mainly a spiritual adaptation of ''VideoGame/RType'', but also incorporates gameplay elements from ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}''. Its's also the closest we'll get to a remake of ''VideoGame/ZeroWing''.
* Creator/VectorUnit's ''Riptide GP: Renegade'' is the closest thing to a modern ''VideoGame/JetMoto'' or ''VideoGame/WaveRace'' game, with both franchises having been dormant for the past two decades.
* ''VideoGame/{{Risen}} 2: Dark Waters'' makes a good ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' RPG, especially with most of the official games suffering from TheProblemWithLicensedGames.
* ''VideoGame/RoadRedemption'', in addition to being a spiritual successor to ''VideoGame/RoadRash'', is what ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen could have been]].
* ''VideoGame/RobotAlchemicDrive'' is the closest Westerners will ever get to ''Manga/GiantRobo: The Video Game''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'', to ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' (for gameplay) and ''supposed'' to resemble ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' in terms of the setting. Emphasis on "supposed to", because most of the levels in ''RKS'' are in broad daylight, whereas ''Castlevania'' takes place mostly at night (especially in the early 2D games). If anything, it bears a lot more resemblance to the much more obscure ''VideoGame/{{Valis}}'' series.
* Ethan Gach of Kotaku [[http://kotaku.com/rule-of-rose-is-now-10-years-old-and-still-savagely-twi-1786477272 describes]] ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' as an unofficial sequel to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', one where the kids "were never rescued, and instead got their hands on an airship and started exporting their cruelness abroad."
* ''VideoGame/RunSaber'' pretty much works as a substitute for a SNES version of ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'', right down to the [[LaserBlade laser blades]] and the same number of stages as the arcade original.
* Do you want ''Film/TheRunningMan: The Game''? There are four options: ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', ''VideoGame/MadWorld'', ''VideoGame/MondayNightCombat'', or ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}''. A new entry in the stakes is the multiplayer survival game ''[[https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/09/the-culling-review-early-access/ The Culling]]'' (currently in Early Access), which also draws influence from ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Literature/BattleRoyale''.
* ''VideoGame/RyseSonOfRome'' may be a better ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' game than the 2003 licensed game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S]]
* As [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]] so eloquently put it, "''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII has already been done, and it was called ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur''."
* ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' was the best sequel for ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' in its day.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', an open world action game in which the player is encouraged to run wild with deadly superpowers in a city, is the closest we'll ever get to ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}} 3''. The glide is even directly copied from Prototype, only purple trails instead of red, with the exact same pose.
* ''[[NoExportForYou Saiyuki World]]'' and ''Saiyuki World 2'', which was released overseas as ''Whomp’Em''. These two [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] games are pretty interesting examples. While the first game is pretty much a Famicom adaptation of ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterLand'', the second game can be considered an adaptation of [[NoExportForYou Japanese-only]] [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC-Engine]] game ''Son Son 2'' by Capcom, heck, the second game [[LampshadeHanging was even called like that on some pirate multicarts of the 90’s]]. And on top of that, both games are also spiritual adaptations of ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.
* Although ''VideoGame/{{Satazius}}'' is a GenreThrowback for {{Horizontal Scrolling Shooter}}s in general, it feels most like a ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' game due to the designs of the levels, bosses, and weapons in particular.
* While ''VideoGame/SatelliteReign'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Syndicate}}'', a number of reviewers have also compared it to ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{SCAT}}: Special Cybernetic Attack Team'' was the NES's answer to ''VideoGame/ForgottenWorlds'', which was never ported there. Likewise, ''VideoGame/OmegaFive'', also by Natsume, plays like a modern update of ''Forgotten Worlds''.
* ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooMysteryMayhem'' involves Shaggy and Scooby using an enchanted object to capture ghosts and other supernatural creatures, making it the closest thing to a LicensedGame based on ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo''.
* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'':
** With its ConspiracyKitchenSink[=/=]AllMythsAreTrue setting, in which [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering feuding secret societies]] control the rest of humanity and cover up the existence of the paranormal while seeing themselves as its protectors from the evils in the shadows, it's the best video game adaptation of ''Series/TheXFiles'' ever made, albeit with [[PerspectiveFlip the conspirators as the protagonists]] and the [[TheGreys aliens]] replaced with [[CosmicHorrorStory extradimensional abominations]]. It even has its own version of the "black oil", the inky biological weapon that the aliens created to destroy humanity with, in the form of [[TheCorruption the Filth]].
** Its modern-day retelling of Creator/HPLovecraft also makes it a great adaptation of ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'', which itself owed a lot to ''The X-Files''.
** On the subject of Lovecraft, the [[LovecraftCountry Solomon Island]] portions of the story, in which the player does battle with a horde of FishPeople that have emerged from the sea and besieged a coastal town in New England, may as well have been called ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth: The Game''. There are {{Shout Out}}s aplenty: some of the fishmen are called Deep Ones, the town is called Kingsmouth (which doubles as a reference to Creator/StephenKing, who also shows up in the game [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed as "Sam Krieg"]]), and there's a SchoolForScheming on the island called Innsmouth Academy, which can itself be seen as an American horror take on [[Literature/HarryPotter Hogwarts]].
** Two of the later DLC mission strands, "The Last Train to Cairo" and "A Dream to Kill", are basically adaptations of ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' and ''Franchise/JamesBond'' respectively into the universe of ''The Secret World''. Both are packed with {{Shout Out}}s, from the newly purchasable outfits and titles to some of the names of missions and achievements, and even [[Film/AViewToAKill the very title of "A Dream to Kill"]].
* Barring the lack of giant bugs, ''VideoGame/Section8'' is the most true adaption of the [[Franchise/StarshipTroopers Mobile Infantry]] ever.
* ''VideoGame/SenkoNoRonde'' is the closest thing to a video game adaptation of ''Manga/TowardTheTerra'' that nobody has ever played.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}} And The Pirates Curse'' looks and plays like a spiritual sequel to ''VideoGame/MonsterWorldIV''. The series's games are also good adaptations of ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
** The whole series can be summed up as ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'': The Video Game; especially ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne''.
*** Akira's route in the SFC ''Shin Megami Tensei: If..." is in some aspects an even *stronger* spiritual adaptation -- though also less of one in some other aspects.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'' on the True Demon Path is also considered a pretty good distillation of Creator/FriedrichNietzsche's entire philosophy.
** They could also qualify as the finest ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' games known to man, as they take place in a post-apocalyptic FantasyKitchenSink.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
** The series as a whole owes as much to Creator/StephenKing and ''Film/JacobsLadder'' as the first few ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games do to the work of Creator/GeorgeARomero.
** The MythArc involving the cult likewise draws a great deal of influence from Creator/HPLovecraft. Even some of the stories that don't involve the cult wouldn't feel out of place in his writing, especially with the constantly shifting EldritchLocation nature of the town.
** Off the Shelf Reviews has also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN9HhiF-N7o described it]] as having a lot in common with Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Literature/{{Phantoms}}'' and its film adaptation (at least, the first half of the story). People wander into a sleepy town where everybody has mysteriously vanished, with it later being revealed that an evil, ancient god has taken over the town, though unlike ''Phantoms'', ''Silent Hill'' has the enemies be genuinely supernatural instead of [[DoingInTheWizard revealing them to have a biological origin]]. They were talking about it recursively, though, calling ''Phantoms'' the best ''Silent Hill'' movie ever made despite it (and the original book) coming out before any of the games.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
** The [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original design concept]] for the game was an architectural/home design simulator, inspired by Creator/WillWright losing his house in the 1991 Oakland firestorm, and became the more general life simulator that's known and loved today when, during development, Wright decided that the people reviewing the homes were even more interesting. However, the original concept still remains in the games' highly robust architectural options, allowing players (like with the aforementioned ''Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer'') to play out an HGTV home redecoration show. In fact, a popular genre of ''Sims'' Website/YouTube videos concerns just building or renovating homes, with some even recreating the model homes featured on some of HGTV's programs.
** Each game in the series comes with a preset family called the {{Goth}}s who live up to their name, and practically invite comparisons to the titular protagonists of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''. If you're playing with the various expansions that add more overt supernatural elements to the games, the comparisons get even more blatant.
** More broadly, ''The Sims'' practically encourages players to create their own Spiritual Adaptations of just about any DomCom or SoapOpera family on television, past or present, recreating their outfits, personalities, and homes in near-perfect detail using the game's many tools for such -- and that's before getting into [[GameMod mods]].
** The ''Supernatural'' expansion for ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' introduces a new town called Moonlight Falls that's based on [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest the Pacific Northwest]]. Given that this expansion also introduces an UrbanFantasy [[FantasyKitchenSink Kitchen Sink]] of vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, ghosts, and zombies, it's clear that it was meant to get players into a ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' state of mind. The inhabitants of Moonlight Falls make it obvious: they include [[FurAgainstFang feuding families of vampires and werewolves]], the former having a teenage son clearly inspired by Edward Cullen, as well as a family named the Swains, comprised of a teenage daughter named Bailey who looks like Creator/KristenStewart and whose traits include [[CuteClumsyGirl "clumsy"]], [[CoolLoser "loner"]], and [[VampireVannabe "supernatural fan"]], and who even has the same bedspread as Bella Swan in the movies, and a single father named Chester who works in law enforcement, loves to fish, and has the same Zodiac sign as Charlie Swan's actor Billy Burke. Moonlight Falls also includes expies of the cast of ''Series/BeingHumanUS'' in the Roommates Supernatural household, and an expy of [[Literature/TheSouthernVampireMysteries Sookie Stackhouse]] in Marigold Maldano.
** The ''[=StrangerVille=]'' expansion for ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' could've easily been titled ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale: The Game'' with little in the way of changes. Small desert town in the Southwest? Check. Lots of freaky, unexplained goings-on? Check. All layered on top of the base game's down-home suburban Americana setting, much like how ''Night Vale'' was a sendup of ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion''? You betcha. The central storyline of the expansion was also noted (for instance, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgvQJWoX1Q here]] by WebVideo/LazyGameReviews) as drawing heavily from ''Series/StrangerThings'', not just in the title but also in how all the weird goings-on tied back to a [[GovernmentConspiracy secret government lab]] outside a [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere seemingly ordinary town]].
* Play some classical music, and ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' could easily pass itself off as a Western adaptation of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes.'' There's even a mod that lets you import both [[TheEmpire the Reich]] and the [[TheRepublic Free Planets Alliance]].
* Many people have noted that ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' is remarkably like a video game version of ''Manga/{{Dororo}}''. In both series there is a protagonist who lost something dear to them and are given back an opportunity to reclaim what they lost by slaying monsters. [[spoiler: However, things go from bad to worse, as both lead characters end up gradually losing their humanity with each foe slain, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming the very thing they destroyed]] ]]. There were even [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally intended to be 48 Colossi]] in the former just like the 48 demons Hyakkimaku must slay, hinting that it may very well have been a deliberate homage.
* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' feels like the distant, HD sequel of ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' we never got, especially with the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat.
* The Mattel UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} game ''Space Battle'' was intended to be a ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' game, according to the Blue Sky Rangers.
* ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' is a DarkerAndEdgier game in the ''Sonic'' series that sees the Blue Blur fighting with [[LaResistance The Resistance]], a group of freedom fighters composed of OriginalGeneration characters, to save the world [[TheBadGuyWins after Dr. Eggman conquers it]], making it the closest we may ever get to a video game adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' or ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''.
* ''VideoGame/{{SOS}}'' is basically a video game adaptation of ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure''.
* Much like ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'', ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'' is a successor to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' made by someone with a history in Sonic fangames. In particular, the first game is a successor to the 2D games, while [[VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester2 the second]] is one for the 3D ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''-era games.
* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' was marketed as a loose adaptation of ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'': on release, many critics described it as being closer in spirit to ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', the film adaptation of that book. Like ''Apocalypse Now'', it's an examination of American military interventionism, rather than colonialism as in ''Heart of Darkness''.
* In the realm of {{creepypasta}}s, ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'' has been considered as ''[=NoEnd=] House: The Video Game''.
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' takes a remarkable amount of story and status quo takes from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'', particularly ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2''. Spider-Man's popularity among New Yorkers is a major factor, Peter and Mary Jane's chemistry is similar to Peter and Gwen's, [=OsCorp=] is somewhat of a GreaterScopeVillain behind most of the problems that plague Spider-Man, [[spoiler:Peter's mentor turns evil and becomes the BigBad that he has to fight atop [=OsCorp=] tower, and finally a major point of motivation and plot concerns Harry Osborn's genetic illness that is slowly killing him.]] Overall, the game seems to be somewhat of a remake of those movies.
*** After the first movie's suit got added to the game in the remaster, it only brings it into more focus. Especially since Sony was trying to use the second movie to set up potential sequels with the Sinister Six, who appear in the game as villains.
** As mentioned above, players seem to really enjoy putting on the Raimi suit and pretend that the whole game is ''Spider-Man 4''.
** The spin-off, ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales'' makes an excellent ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'' or ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' game.
* ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'' was highly inspired by the Franchise/JamesBond franchise, and was planned to carry the license before the developers were denied it. The series is also a better take on ''Series/KnightRider'' than the licensed games for the NES and [=PS2=].
* The ''VideoGame/{{Stalker}}'' games are an almost absurdly obvious example of this for the classic Russian science fiction novel ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic'' and its FilmOfTheBook, ''Film/{{Stalker}}''.
* The [=iOS=] game ''Star Command'' is barely even trying to hide that it's essentially a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' reminds many people of, alternatively, ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' (and especially ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator''), ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''[[note]]Amusingly, that wouldn't be Blizzard's first take at a spiritual adaptation of a Games Workshop property; see the entry on Warcraft below[[/note]], and as of ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'', ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.
* The Creator/{{Infocom}} InteractiveFiction game ''Starcross'' is essentially ''Literature/RendezvousWithRama'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff. It's probably because a more obscure company called Tellurium actually got to do a licensed text adventure (not to be confused with ''VideoGame/{{Rama}}'', a 1996 FMV game).
* ''VideoGame/{{Starflight}}'' is certainly in the running for the best ''Franchise/StarTrek'' game ever made, and certainly the best of the 1980s.
* ''VideoGame/StarFox'' is possibly the closest thing to a ''ComicBook/AlbedoErmaFelnaEDF'' videogame we can ever get.
* ''VideoGame/StarGladiator'' is faithful to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' license, offering more satisfying lightsaber combat than the fighting game ''VideoGame/StarWarsMastersOfTerasKasi''.
* ''Starhawk'' (no relation to [[VideoGame/{{Starhawk}} the PS3 game]]) and ''Star Fire'' were unofficial arcade adaptations of the Death Star battle from ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'', both predating ''Star Wars: The Arcade Game'' by 5 years. Also predating the licensed arcade game were the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} game ''Star Strike'' and ''VideoGame/BuckRogersPlanetOfZoom'' (which doesn't look like a ''Buck Rogers'' game because it wasn't one in the first place).
* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'':
** It is basically ''Lensman'', ''Babylon 5'', or ''Mass Effect'' as a strategy game. Its chief theme is that "the Galaxy is ancient and full of wonders," populated by young races that are staking out claims for themselves, squabbling over territories and fundamental ideological differences, discovering and striving to understand the relics and remnants of their {{Precursors}}, encountering ancient [[VestigialEmpire Fallen Empires]] that may seek to [[BenevolentPrecursors shepherd]], [[AbusivePrecursors exploit]], or [[HiddenElfVillage simply ignore]] them, and existential threats that threaten to overwhelm them and start the cycle anew.
** Likewise, when Luke Plunkett of ''Kotaku'' discovered a ''Stellaris'' mod called ''[[http://kotaku.com/mod-turns-stellaris-into-star-trek-1796364850 Star Trek: Infinities]]'' that turns it into a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' game, he wasn't surprised in the slightest. (While that mod eventually became {{abandonware}}, another one, ''[[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688086068 ST: New Horizons]]'', was made by a different team.)
-->"...when you look at how ''Stellaris''[='=] universe works and what you have to do in the game, it’s no wonder a ''Star Trek'' mod was one of the first things people thought of."
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse: VideoGame/AttackTheLight'', for reasons detailed in that game's YMMV page, is a pretty good remake of ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}''.
* The ''VideoGame/Strikers1945'' shmup games are essentially ''VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo'' (more specifically ''19XX: The War Against Destiny'') with a dash of ''VideoGame/AeroFighters''. Which is helped by the developers having previously made the first ''Aero Fighters.''
* Creator/{{Suda 51}} has made some quirky and original games, but some of them feel like adaptations of other games or movies:
** ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'' is pretty much a ''Film/{{Grindhouse}}'' game and a ''VideoGame/{{Splatterhouse}}'' game made into a ThirdPersonShooter. The plot is about the same as ''Splatterhouse'': a man's girlfriend is captured by demons and he must go to hell/the underworld to rescue her. There is also a [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] supernatural weapon that tags along with the heroes to help them with their quest, the [[ArtifactOfDoom Terror Mask]] for Rick and the floating skull [[SwissArmyWeapon Johnson]] for Garcia.
** ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'':
*** It is a ''VideoGame/{{Onechanbara}}'' game, but even {{camp}}ier and more over the top, with a story that takes itself even less seriously.
*** Its story, about a blonde California ValleyGirl and cheerleader who's part of a lineage of [[HunterOfMonsters monster hunters]] and has to save the world from TheUndead, also feels like the best ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' game ever made (even with that show's [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames surprisingly good licensed games]]), complete with a supporting character named Cordelia and the heroine's AudienceSurrogate everyman boyfriend Nick feeling a lot like Xander Harris. Unlike Buffy Summers, though, Juliet Starling fights mostly {{zombie|Apocalypse}}s instead of vampires.
** ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' feels like an adaption of seasons 1 and 2 of ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' set in the modern day. Both stories involve reaching the #1 assassin/the number 1 headband, [[CycleOfRevenge the cycle of revenge]], and the former #1 getting back his title after [[TenMinuteRetirement falling out]].
** ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'' with its MediumBlending stylization, a self-aware and satirical meta tone that almost never takes itself too seriously while simultaneously having dark undertones, being an over the top AffectionateParody that takes as many pot shots as it spends genuinely loving its medium while having a massive amount of shout-outs is basically the closest thing to a ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' video game. In addtion, with its theme and multiple references to superhero and {{Toku}} films, this is another game, that's going to be close as we can get to another ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe''.
* Judging from [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sonicwings/images/d/d8/Spinal-breakers-flyer.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111111030731 this flyer]] and the game itself, Spinal Breakers is basically ''Film/TheTerminator''.
* ''VideoGame/StraniaTheStellaMachina'' is a spiritual sequel to Creator/{{Compile}}'s ''VideoGame/{{MUSHA}}'' and ''Robo Aleste''.
* ''Street Racing Syndicate'' if ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' had a game with police chases, licensed parts, real locations, and of course '''''women'''''.
* Hitsparks Games' aerial third-person shoot-em-up ''[[http://www.strikeblazinger.com/ Strike Blazinger]]'' may be as close as we get to a modern ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' sequel. With its {{animesque}} cyborg girl protagonist, it may also function as a spiritual adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheGuardianLegend''. Likewise, ''FX Unit Yuki'', a {{retraux}} GaidenGame to ''Strike'', may be considered one for ''VideoGame/{{Valis}}''.
* The unreleased NES game ''VideoGame/{{Sunman}}'', by Sunsoft, was originally intended to be a ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''-based side-scrolling action game. An early build of the game actually had the Man of Steel as the player character with John Williams' iconic theme as the first stage music, but for some reason Sunsoft lost the license and Supes got replaced with an [[CaptainErsatz obvious pastiche]].
* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'' if it's a LighterAndSofter take on ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''.
** Also, with its gameplay built around use of grind rails to navigate its open world, could well be the ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'' sequel Sega never made.
* ''VideoGame/SuperCyborg'' is this to ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}''.
* At least until the GrandFinale, the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' saga will be the closest thing to a ''Franchise/MassEffect'' trilogy being in this HumongousMecha MassiveMultiplayerCrossover. [[spoiler:Supreme God Sol]], like the Reapers, is an EldritchAbomination that has been wiping out universal civilizations for [[TimeAbyss millions of years, with the implication its cycle of destruction and rebirth has occurred multiple times]]. The entity's herald and his use of {{Brainwashing}} people simply be being near them harkens to Reaper [[MoreThanMindControl Indoctrination]]. Finally, the herald feigns a HeelFaceTurn, being EvilAllAlong, with a plan to use the entity for his own means, similar to the Illusive Man.
* It's subtle, but the premise of the original ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', in which the fighters are dolls brought to life by the Master Hand to do battle, is essentially ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' with Creator/{{Nintendo}} characters. Indeed, most {{Fanon}} regarding Master Hand revolves around interpreting him as an imaginative child.
* With its bullet-dodging RuleOfCool gameplay and CyberPunk styling, some have said that ''VideoGame/{{Superhot}}'' is a better game based on ''Film/TheMatrix'' than the actual ''Matrix'' games.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:T]]
* The UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch game ''[[VideoGame/TabeOJa Tabe-O-Ja]]'', with its plot revolving around people competing against each other with [[AnthropomorphicFood "Tabe-Gami", monsters created by preparing special dishes]], is about as close to a modern ''Manga/FightingFoodons'' game as you can get.
* Creator/{{Taito}} loved this during the late '80s and the '90s, aside from their own brilliant licensed games. Examples include:
** ''VideoGame/OperationWolf'' is like the game version of ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'' and ''Film/{{Commando}}''.
** ''Operation Thunderbolt'', besides being a sequel to Taito's own ''Operation Wolf'', is basically the game version of Creator/ChuckNorris film ''Film/TheDeltaForce''.[[note]]The game is also loosely based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe the real life Operation Thunderbolt]].[[/note]]
** ''Chase HQ'' basically reenacts any movie cops versus bad guys car chase like those in ''Film/{{Bullitt}}'' or ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''.
** ''Rastan Saga'' (or just ''Rastan'', depending on the version) is basically a ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' game.
*** ''Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III'' is an excellent ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' game.
** ''Space Gun'' might as well being a spiritual grandfather to ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'', between gameplay that revolves around shooting off the limbs of the aliens (though here, it's because the chest and the head are armored) and the eerie atmosphere of the alien-infested space station. And much like ''Dead Space'', it can also work as an ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' game. The game even has a motion tracker just like the movie, and the aliens have a similar scream to those in the film. As pointed out in [[http://blamethecontrolpad.com/spacegun/spacegun.htm this review]].
** ''Dead Connection'' did it before ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' and ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' licensed game, being a mafia revenge noir shooter.
** This got turned around with ''VideoGame/{{Kamui}}'' that is a spiritual licensee to ''VideoGame/{{Ray|Series}}Force''. ''Kamui'' features many gimmicks from ''[=RayForce=]'', such as HomingLasers that attack background enemies, 2D graphics with extensive use of Mode 7-esque effects, and a plot involving an [[AIIsACrapshoot evil A.I.]]
* ''The [=TakeOver=]'', much like ''VideoGame/FightNRage'', is not shy about its 90s BeatEmUp influences -- the game's official UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} description outright calls it "a side-scrolling beat'em up inspired by 90's classics such as ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFight''." If not for the fact that an actual ''Streets of Rage 4'' came along not too long after[[note]]''The [=TakeOver=]'' was officially released in December 2019 on Steam, with ''[=SOR4=]'' hitting consoles the following April, but the game was in early access as far back as February 2016, roughly two full years before development on ''[=SOR4=]'' began[[/note]] (or the existence of the earlier ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake''), this homage could have very easily passed itself off as a new ''SOR'' installment: you have a crime-ridden ViceCity as the (initial) setting; heroes with ties to the police; a JackOfAllStats who's a blond, headband-wearing, bare-knuckle brawler; pretty much every notable gameplay mechanic from the original trilogy (only this time with the notable addition of firearms); and a plot that can be summed up as "What if Axel and Blaze [[BattleCouple got together]], [[CowboyCop stayed on the force]], and adopted a daughter who was later [[IHaveYourWife kidnapped by]] TheSyndicate?" The development team even brought in Creator/YuzoKoshiro to compose the Stage 1-1 theme!
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'', with its plot about {{Reincarnation}}, powers from their past lives, and the [[spoiler:conspiracy about how the past entities were brought to their downfall]] actually makes it into what might be the closest we've ever gotten to an ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' video game.
* A teenage boy dressed in blue and black, accompanied by his SuperpoweredEvilSide, has adventures, which culminate in the SuperpoweredEvilSide [[IAmWho finding out his identity]]. The overall BigBad is a figure from said SuperpoweredEvilSide's past, a recurring antagonist is a white-haired youth (well, said youth's SuperpoweredEvilSide in one case), said SuperpoweredEvilSide becomes good through ThePowerOfFriendship, and [[spoiler:the FinalBattle is a duel between the protagonist and his alter-ego]]. Are we talking about ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' here, or ''Manga/YuGiOh''?
* ''Tass Times in Tonetown'': This 1986 Interplay adventure PC game has much of the style and mood of the mid-'80s SaturdayMorningCartoon ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo''. The game was released near the end of the cartoon's run. Like the Creator/{{MTV}}-inspired cartoon, ''Tass Times'' had an overarching popular music theme (although given the limitations of a typical 1986 computer, there wasn't much of an opportunity to realise the music aspect). Tonetown (the game's setting) fits right in with the many locations that Kidd and the band visit during their adventures through the Flip Side. Both can be described as a music-themed surreal fantasy nowhereland populated by all sorts of strange beings. And finally, both are an homage to what was so good about the '80s, and are unashamed of their '80s style.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is often compared to ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', as they share a similar visual style, a saxophone-dominant score, and are both set in TheSixties.
* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' was made as a 2D equivalent of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', but it actually feels more like a sequel to ''VideoGame/ActRaiser'' due to the improved combat and NPC interaction. (It also crosses with ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', too.)
* ''VideoGame/TheMedium'' is a spiritual reboot of ''Franchise/SilentHill'', complete with Music/AkiraYamaoka composing the soundtrack.
* After ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'' was [[ScrewedByTheLawyers shot down by Hasbro]], the development team, with the help of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' creator Creator/LaurenFaust and Lab Zero Games of ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' fame, revived the concept as ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' with an all-original cast of quadrupedal characters, some of which reuse combat elements of their ''FIM'' counterparts.
* ''Tiny Barbarian'' is the best adaptation of Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' in video game form you will ever see.
* ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'':
** It is as close as it gets for an ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS'' FPS game.
** It has also [[http://gamingbolt.com/did-titanfall-totally-rip-off-japanese-manga-attack-on-titan invited]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e308wwpFdsw comparisons]] with ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. It also involves elite air-mobile soldiers[[note]]albeit with jetpacks rather than 3D Maneuver Gear[[/note]] fighting giants called "Titans"[[note]]albeit mechanical rather than organic[[/note]] that have a weak point at the back of the "head" [[spoiler:where they are "piloted".]]
* ''Franchise/TombRaider'':
** The early games were often cited as being evocative of ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', before the series underwent major decay and eventually [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 reinvented itself]] as a substantially DarkerAndEdgier series.
** And in turn, the reimagined Lara Croft in [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 said reboot]] and [[VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider its sequel]], now a young woman fighting to survive after getting stranded in the wilderness and [[TheArcher making heavy use of a bow and arrow]] for survival, is probably the closest we'll get to being able to play as [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss Everdeen]] in a video game, especially given that the actual subject matter of a licensed ''Hunger Games'' adaptation would be ''very'' difficult to get past the radar.
** ''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' has been a ''Tomb Raider'' version of ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}''.
* Many gamers also consider ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'' to be a great sequel to the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' games. Makes sense, considering it was made by the old ''Diablo'' dev team. And of course, [[VideoGame/DiabloIII the first Diablo game in years]] [[DuelingGames came out the same summer]] as ''VideoGame/TorchlightII''...
* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'':
** ''VideoGame/ShogunTotalWar'' and [[VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2 its sequel]] are pretty much the closest you can get to an epic scale adaptation of ''every'' Japanese samurai movie ever. And the ''Fall of the Samurai'' DLC Expansion seems set to do the same for ''Film/TheLastSamurai'', minus Creator/TomCruise.
** ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'' and ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' can be described as adaptations of ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' and ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'', respectively. The ''Alexander'' expansion of ''Rome'' could easily pass off as an RTS game adaptation of [[Film/{{Alexander}} the Oliver Stone biopic of the same name]] right down to even the title. The ''Britannia'' campaign of ''Medieval II'' is basically a ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' video game with even Creator/MelGibson William Wallace and Highlander lookalikes albeit with less ArtisticLicenseHistory than that film.
** ''VideoGame/ThronesOfBritanniaATotalWarSaga'' is more or less an adaptation of ''Series/TheLastKingdom'' or ''Series/{{Vikings}}''.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
** ''Double Dealing Character'' is basically a Yagawa ''Touhou'' game.[[note]]Shinobu Yagawa is best known for ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'', ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider'', ''VideoGame/{{Ibara}}'', and a slew of other ShootEmUp games where bombing and suiciding as advanced scoring tactics as well as gratuitous quantities of [[OneUp extra lives]] are [[SignatureStyle common elements]]. Bombing in ''Touhou'' traditionally triggers auto-pickup, and in ''DDC'', auto-pickup rewards the player with bonuses, including point bonuses, bomb fragments (8 of which make a bomb) and life fragments (3 of which make an extra life). This leads of a cycle of bombing, then dying for more bombs, then bombing some more, getting extra lives to offset the constant dying.[[/note]]
** Due to its [[SequelDifficultySpike increase in difficulty over past games]] and the use of {{checkpoint}}s, ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'' is hailed as a great ShootEmUp version of ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy''.
* ''VideoGame/TreasurePlanetBattleAtProcyon'' was the closest thing to an adaptation of TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic fourteen years before it [[VideoGame/BattlefleetGothicArmada received its own adaptation]]. Ranging from SpaceIsAnOcean theme, WoodenShipsAndIronMen tone, and [[spoiler:a storyline involving stopping a superweapon fielded by enemies (Procyon's Ironclads taking place for Blackstone Fortresses)]].
* ''VideoGame/TroubleWitches'' goes by another name: ''VideoGame/MagicalChase 2''.
* Creator/HumanEntertainment's ''Twilight Syndrome'' series can be summed up as a video game adaptation of popular 1990s [[GenreAnthology Japanese horror anthologies]] like the ''Honto ni atta kowai hanashi'' (aka ''Scary True Stories'') DirectToVideo series and/or the ''Yonimo kimiyona monogatari'' (aka ''Tales of the Unusual'') TV drama, many of them starring [[SchoolgirlSeries teenage schoolgirl]] protagonists.
* ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut10tFsWdZ8 referred to]] the ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' games as "the ''Film/MadMax'' movies [if they] took place at a Music/LimpBizkit concert". They also refer to Needles Kane, the MonsterClown driver of Sweet Tooth who serves as something of a mascot for the series, as [[TakeThat a better take]] on ComicBook/TheJoker than Creator/JaredLeto's version from ''Film/SuicideSquad2016''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U]]
* It takes a bit of time to realize that ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'', alias ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'' in the States, is [[Series/{{UFO}} not set in 1980, and was not made by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' is an adaptation of Creator/JRRTolkien's [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Middle-earth]]. Akalabeth is taken from Akallabêth, the fourth part of ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', and the story of the the White Tree is adapted in the Silver Seed plot of ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII''. There are also Balrogs, sometimes called Balrons, and Hobbits, sometimes called Bobbits. Likewise, the series adapts ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]''; the first game was based on Richard Garriott's 28th CRPG adaptation of the tabletop game, and the Gazer enemy is based on the Beholder.
* ''VideoGame/UnchainedBlades'' is a dungeon-crawling successor to the ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' series. You play Fang, a human with dragon powers (like Ryu), teaming up with Tiana, a [[RoyalRapier rapier-wielding]] [[WingedHumanoid bird-winged]] [[TheRedMage magic-wielding]] RebelliousPrincess (like Nina). Also just like ''Breath of Fire I'', several semi-beastly beings tag along with them as they search for a wish-granting goddess.
* ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'':
** Although some official ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' games have averted TheProblemWithLicensedGames, the ''Uncharted'' games are by far the best Indy games you will ever play. Creator/SethRogen and Evan Goldberg have even [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/27/seth-rogen-and-evan-goldberg-asked-to-write-uncharted-film said]] that this is why they turned down repeated offers to write the ''Film/{{Uncharted|2022}}'' movie -- they love the games, but they couldn't find a way to not make it similar to ''Indiana Jones''.
** ''Uncharted'' has also been claimed by ''WebVideo/HeyAshWhatchaPlayin'' to be a ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' game of sorts, pointing out Nathan Drake's physical resemblance to star Creator/NathanFillion, the same music composer, as well as several eerily similar plot details in ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves''.
* ''VideoGame/UnderDefeat'' is pretty much a sequel to ''VideoGame/TwinCobra'' (and by extension ''VideoGame/TigerHeli''); both games are helicopter-based [[VerticalScrollingShooter Vertical-Scrolling Shooters]] with relatively low bullet counts by today's standards. ''Under Defeat'' even has [[HardModeFiller an extra five stages that are harder, remixed rehashes of the first]], much like ''Twin Cobra''.
* Similar to the brawler games mentioned above, ''VideoGame/UndercoverCops'' is one of the best ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' games without the over-the-top gore or Kenshiro.
* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', in addition to being an {{homage}} to every SlasherMovie and teen horror movie of the last forty years, bears a number of further similarities to ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' once you look under the hood. Both stories revolve around a group of teenagers who fit into classic horror movie archetypes heading out to a cabin deep in the woods for a weekend of debauchery, [[spoiler:and both groups are being manipulated to play out just such a horror movie scenario. (In ''Until Dawn'', it's one of their own seeking to avenge the deaths of his sisters, and in ''The Cabin in the Woods'', it's a GovernmentConspiracy carrying out a HumanSacrifice.) And both plans go flying OffTheRails by the third act once actual supernatural forces that the villains never accounted for come into play.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:V]]
* ''V-V'' (pronounced "v-five") is ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' except [[VerticalScrollingShooter vertical]].[[note]]''Grind Stormer'', a retooled version of ''V-V'', however, isn't, due to using {{Smart Bomb}}s and a more traditional "pick up powerups directly via items" syste.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is the closest players can get to playing a ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'' sequel for the immediate future. That the developers also worked on the older franchise probably helps. It's also the closest thing to a WWI-era ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' game.
** Where ADayInTheLimelight sequel, ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'', would have been ''Series/BandofBrothers''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Vanish}}'', a first-person survival horror game where the player is stalked by MoleMen in an underground labyrinth, is the closest you get to an adaptation of ''Film/TheDescent''.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanquish_%28video_game%29#Development According to Shinji Mikami]], he wanted to do a ''Anime/NeoHumanCasshern'' game, but since he already did [[VideoGame/GodHand a brawler game]] (itself listed on this page as such), he decided to put more emphasis on shooting. Hence, ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'' is the closest we will ever get to a ''Casshern'' video game adaptation.
* ''The Videokid'' plays like the ''VideoGame/{{Paperboy}}'' remake Midway never produced.
* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' makes a excellent game adaption of ''Film/LastActionHero'', only parodying {{Toku}} shows instead of Hollywood action movies, while also being the best ''Franchise/KamenRider'' game ever..
* Creator/{{Konami}}'s BeatEmUp ''VideoGame/ViolentStorm'' feels like an excellent sequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFight''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:W]]
* ''[[https://wftogame.com/ War for the Overworld]]'' is basically a FanRemake of ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' with enough WritingAroundTrademarks to enable commercial sale.
* ''VideoGame/WarOfTheMonsters'', a FightingGame where you play as {{kaiju}} duking it out in fully destructible cities in a world inspired by '50s/'60s sci-fi [[BMovie B-movies]], is Creator/IncognitoEntertainment making an unofficial adaptation of the Showa-era Franchise/{{Godzilla}} films, particularly the sequels where the Big G battled other monsters. The menu screen is a UsefulNotes/DriveInTheater, the loading screens take the form of retro-style movie posters, and two of the playable monsters are transparent WritingAroundTrademarks versions of Godzilla and Film/KingKong.
* Creator/{{Blizzard|Entertainment}}'s other big RTS franchise, ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'', was often described as ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' in disguise. This was especially true in the first few games (the first RTS game was even pitched to Creator/GamesWorkshop to see if they would license it), though there is still some inspiration from ''Warhammer'' present in later ''Warcraft'' titles, along with inspirations from many other works. On a more specific level, ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' may have taken some inspiration from ''Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat'' and ''Videogame/WarhammerDarkOmen''[='=]s leveling hero combat system, and ''Warcraft III's'' character portraits also are animated in a similar way to ''Dark Omen''[='=]s character portraits. That said ''Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat'' was itself noted to take inspiration from the first ''Warcraft'' game, so things came a full circle here... even so, the Dwarven vehicles ''may'' have been a bit too close to Warhammer Fantasy in ''Warcraft III'', prompting a rework in ''The Frozen Throne'' expansion.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' is frequently described as a ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' DarkFic and probably the closest thing to an MMO for the franchise that you’ll ever get. Not only does it use a ton of classic {{Toku}} tropes, but many of the characters and factions map pretty well to ones from ''Power Rangers'' (the Tenno are the Rangers, Lotus is Zordon, the Sentients are the Machine Empire, the Elder Queen is Rita Repulsa, Stalker and his acolytes are ThePsychoRangers, etc.) and the plot sometimes reads like a {{Deconstruction}} of the series. Sometimes it even mirrors the franchise’s [[FandomSpecificPlot Fandom-Specific Plots]], like [[spoiler:the Tenno being ChildSoldiers, similar to the tendency to portray the Rangers as such in fanfics.]]
** It also often seen as a third-person shooter version of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' or ''LightNovel/AsuraCryin'', mainly for it’s thematic similarities to those games.
* ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' is a gameplay successor to the MinigameGame gameplay style of ''Bishi Bashi Special''.
* Rockstar's video game adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'', while licensed from a CultClassic [[Film/TheWarriors action movie]], could also be seen as an updating of ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' to the [=PS2=] era.
* ''VideoGame/WarriorsLegendsOfTroy'' adapts the legend of Troy in a manner very reminiscent of [[Film/{{Troy}} the 2004 film]]. Achilles looks like Creator/BradPitt, Hector like Creator/EricBana, and the initial chapter has a lot of echoes from the movie. Of course, this time there are Gods and mythological creatures but still...
* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'':
** With its theme of cyberterrorism, EverythingIsOnline, and hacking through a smartphone, it could be considered as a DarkerAndEdgier take on ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork''.
** It's also considered to be the closest thing we'll ever get to a ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' video game.
* ''VideoGame/WildArms'' is basically the closest thing you can get to a ''Anime/{{Trigun}}'' RPG.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'':
** ''Webvideo/SuperBunnyhop'' [[https://youtu.be/CXWbUJXAVE0?t=11m argues that]] it's a pretty good, unofficial ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda''.
** It's been said to be the best ''Series/GameOfThrones'' game never made, given that it has dark, gritty, mature and sexual themes in a fantasy world much like ''[=GoT=]''. In an ironic twist of fate, the Netflix adaptation is often considered the SpiritualSequel to the Game of Thrones series precisely because of the dark, gritty, mature and sexual themes.
* You ever wanted to play a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII FirstPersonShooter in the vein of Creator/QuentinTarantino, specifically ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''? Look no further than ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder''.
* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' could be considered the best ''Franchise/SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'' game ever made.
* ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'', like the aforementioned ''Red Alert 2'', is an RTS that draws heavily from ''Red Dawn'', albeit in a less comedic manner.
* The 2019 ''VideoGame/{{World War Z|2019}}'' video game may not be that faithful to [[Literature/WorldWarZ the original novel]] or to [[Film/WorldWarZ its film adaptation]], but it ''is'' probably the closest we'll ever get to a ''VideoGame/Left4Dead 3'', given how that game seems to be stuck in DevelopmentHell. Save for the [[ThirdPersonShooter third-person perspective]], it could easily be a third ''Left 4 Dead'' game: four survivors fight through waves of zombies across levels each broken up into a handful of stages, with many of the {{Elite Zombie}}s being direct expies of the ones from the ''Left 4 Dead'' games.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wreckfest}}'', in addition to being developed by the creators of ''VideoGame/FlatOut'', is also the closest thing to a modern ''VideoGame/DestructionDerby'' sequel.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:X]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' gets compared to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' a lot and not without reason: Giant mecha series with Christian overtones, troubled protagonists trying to come to terms with their problems and AssimilationPlot.
* People are calling ''VideoGame/{{Xenonauts}}'' a better ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense X-COM]]'' game than [[VideoGame/TheBureauXComDeclassified the then-upcoming FPS one in the making by 2K Games]]. Understandably, when [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown Firaxis' new turn-based strategy installment]] was announced, DuelingGames immediately ensued.
* ''VideoGame/XenoCrisis'' is this for either ''VideoGame/AlienSyndrome'', ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', or ''VideoGame/{{Xenophobe}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Y]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' has alternatively been called a modern-day remake of ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', for its BeatEmUp combat combined with RPGElements and slapstick humor, and ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'', for its open world gameplay, myriad of (often silly) [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer sidequests and time wasting options]], and similar fighting styles.
* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' is one of the most family friendly ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games ever made. It's also a pretty good Japan-made ''Ghostbusters'' game.
* ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'', on top of [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie the obvious]], is the closest we'll ever get to ''VideoGame/ChameleonTwist 3''.
* The Creator/DavidLynch film ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}'' has an adaptation in the form of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''. The similarities between the two are uncanny.
** Yume Nikki can also be compared to Salvador Dali's ''Film/UnChienAndalou''. Probably more appropriate as neither work has dialogue.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Z]]
* ''Zen: Intergalactic Ninja'' for the NES is arguably a much better ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' adaptation than [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames the licensed game]] on the system.
* ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'' series has been described as a less {{Gorn}}y version of ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''. Characters are trapped in an undisclosed location by a mysterious figure who wants them to play a dangerous escape game and the plot unfolds into an even bigger conspiracy. The finales also pull a OnceMoreWithClarity.
* ''Zillion'', though officially licensed from the anime ''Anime/RedPhotonZillion'', plays like a spiritual adaptation of ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission''.
[[/folder]]

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** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' looks to be a game adaptation of ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' — creatively titled street gangs with themed animal names, sporting NiceHat, populist resentment among slum-areas, all-out street brawls, Fight Clubbing, and roughly the same era, only with the setting [[SettingUpdate transplanted to London]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Fuel}}'' may be considered the unofficial ''Film/MadMax'' WideOpenSandbox {{racing game}}.

* ''VideoGame/StreetRacingSyndicate'' if ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' had a game with police chases, licensed parts, real locations, and of course '''''women'''''.

* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'' if it's a LighterAndSofter take on [[VideoGame/Prototype [PROTOTYPE]]].

* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'', with its gameplay built around use of grind rails to navigate its open world, could well be the ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'' sequel Sega never made.

* ''Johnny Nero Action Hero'', is literally a light gun game adaptation of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' that mixes elements of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' with AffectionateParody of 80s/90s [[ActionGenre action films]].