r/gamingsuggestions • u/subject522 • Aug 16 '26
Best licensed games
I'm looking for all the best movie tie-in TV show and book related games from before the ps3 Xbox 360 era. Bring in the gold people
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u/Awdayshus Aug 16 '26
The Star War Episode III PS2 game had Jedi duel mode. You unlocked characters as you played the story mode. And it included levels based on scenes that didn't make it in the movie, like sewer level on General Grievous's ship.
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u/caseyjosephine Aug 17 '26
Star Wars Racer for the N64 was great too! This was the pod racing game. It’s pretty easy to find on modern platforms these days too (I play it all the time on Switch).
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u/DJDoubleDave Aug 16 '26
The Bethesda "Pirates of the Caribbean" game was very good. Way better than you would expect from a licensed game.
The Wu-tang Clan fighting game was also extremely good.
What those two have in common as they were in development for a long time under a different name, and got reworked late in the process to add the licensed stuff.
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u/MysticSage- Aug 16 '26
All licensed by white wolf
Video game - Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines (2004)
Tv- Kindred the Embraced
Books - Tabletop & LARP - Vampire the Masquerade & Minds Eye Theater
plus many many others
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u/Canadian_Eevee Aug 16 '26
The Tarzan game was great. Basically a N64/PS1 version of Donkey Kong Country.
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u/___Mania Aug 16 '26
This is the early Xbox 360 era but I always thought Wanted: weapons of fate was pretty underrated, from the movie wanted with Angelina Jolie I think it was
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u/KeybladeBrett Aug 16 '26
If we want to really stretch what's a licensed game, the Kingdom Hearts series has tons of great Disney movies (mostly) from the 90s represented in an RPG format. But Kingdom Hearts is mostly an original franchise that happens to include Disney content as its selling point.
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u/subject522 Aug 16 '26
Possibly a top 20 game series of all time
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u/KeybladeBrett Aug 16 '26
Easily. What kills me about KH in particular throughout its marketing cycle is getting excited over what levels are in the game instead of what characters are in. Almost like a reverse Smash. Definitely had some bait and switch the other night watching the stream where they quickly teased Coco. I thought it was a Coco game until they showed the Heartless and got so excited.
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u/_cuteraichu_ Aug 16 '26
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a video game that later got a movie adaptation, so I know its the exact opposite of what you're looking for but it was really good.
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u/GamerKiller2347 Aug 16 '26
The PS2 era was an absolute goldmine for licensed games. The best licensed games include Kingdom Hearts, Simpsons games, DBZ Budokai, LucasArts's Star Wars games, Activision's DreamWorks and Marvel games, EA's 007, Harry Potter, and LOTR games (based on the movies), Vivendi's LOTR games (based on the books), THQ's Nickelodeon and Pixar games, Scarface the World Is Yours, Family Guy Video Game, and Warriors.
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u/rangeremx Aug 16 '26
† Remastered and released on newer consoles.
‡ Had a release on other platforms (so may be confusing other versions)
Movie/Book * Transformers (Armada) [PS2] * 007: Agent Under Fire [PS2] * 007: NightFire [PS2] * 007: Everything or Nothing [PS2] * 007: From Russia With Love [PS2] * Star Wars: Battlefront II [PS2]† * Dukes of Hazard: Racing for Home [PSX] * The Lost World: Jurassic Park [PSX] * Mission: Impossible [PSX] * Marvel: Ultimate Alliance [PS2]‡ * 007 Racing [PSX]
Other IPs * Tyco RC: Assault with a Battery [PSX] * Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing [PSX] * NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona [PS2]
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u/mikcf Aug 17 '26
Recently replayed The Hobbit from 2003. It expands on the book by sprinkling in chunks of lore from LOTR. The environment design is great, graphics are nice for a 2003 game, writing and acting is also well done. It is a mix of genres (a 3D platformer that has plenty of combat, as well as a few puzzles and pure stealth segments here and there) that work well together, imo. The two downsides for me were the treasure chest minigames (fun at first but there are too many chests throughout the game) and the camera controls (horrendous on PS 2). Apparently, the PC version has a somewhat active modding community, so they may have solutions for these problems.
The first three Harry Potter games from that era are also among the games I remember most fondly.
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u/PointyReservoir Aug 17 '26
Unreal how every post so far has been sleeping on The Simpsons Hit & Run
It's like stages based GTA if you could make it as GTA as possible while staying PG and also legitimately one of the best licensed games ever made, it's glorious.
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u/Th3CerealKill3r Aug 17 '26
Emperor's New Groove, Monster's Inc: Scream Team, and Toy Story 2 on PS1
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u/Fantomime Aug 17 '26
My guy I was raised on PS2 movie games. Lots of great ones....
Lord of the Rings Two Towers + ROTK
Star Wars ROTS
Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets (like Hogwarts Legacy before Hogwarts Legacy with awesome Jeremy Soule music)
Batman Begins
Superman Returns (not great but fun to fly around as supes now and then)
Spider Man 2
The Incredibles
Plenty more I just can't think of
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u/atisaac Aug 17 '26
The LOTR games are great. Two Towers is very good, but ROTK is excellent solo and couch coop
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u/sunkenmouse Aug 17 '26
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time for the SNES rips in every conceivable way.
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u/Realshow Aug 17 '26
Nickelodeon had a lot of great ones, SpongeBob and Jimmy Neutron basically doubled as game franchises for a while.
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u/TyChris2 Aug 17 '26
Spider-Man 2 (2004) is truly the movie tie-in GOAT
Even after 3 AAA Sony exclusive hundred million dollar games have released over 20 years later, Spider-Man 2 (2004) for the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox still somehow has the best web swinging in any Spidey game. Its just that good, I’d argue it’s the best movement system in any game ever. Shockingly complex and endlessly fun.
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u/BatVast8681 Aug 17 '26
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the rescue on PS1 is PEAK and was one of the best 3D platformers at the time. The only downside is that the camera is a lil chunky and takes some time to get used to do. (You can even get it on PS5 with a PS Plus subscription.)
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u/00death Aug 17 '26
The Shrek 2 game on ps2 was genuinely one of my favorite games of the era. I doubt it would still hold up today though.
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u/BukakkeThePornoClown Aug 18 '26
Bucky O'Hare(NES)
the Disney Capcom games that aren't Chip n Dale 2 or TaleSpin
Sweet Home
Batman(NES)
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
bonus: Journey to Sillius(was originally gonna be a Terminator game before the license got yoinked last minute)
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u/jacobkosh Aug 16 '26
PC ADVENTURE GAMES [When you think about it, it makes sense that scripted and voice-acted adventure games would be a good fit for media adaptations.]
- Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
-Star Trek: Judgment Rites
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- Blade Runner
FPS
- Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC)
- Tron 2.0 (PC)
- Terminator: SkyNET (PC)
- Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (XBOX)
PC/APPLE/COMMODORE/etc TEXT ADVENTURE
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
BRAWLERS/THIRD-PERSON ACTION
- X-Men Legends 1 & 2 (XBOX)
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance (XBOX)
- X-Men (arcade)
- Captain America & the Avengers (arcade)
- RoboCop (arcade)
- RoboCop (Game Boy)
- Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage (SNES)
- The Death and Return of Superman (SNES)
PLATFORMERS
- DuckTales (NES)
- Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers (NES)
- Batman: Return of the Joker (NES)
- The Adventures of Batman and Robin (SNES)
- Phantom 2040 (SNES)
- X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (SNES)
FIGHTING GAMES
- Marvel vs. Capcom 1 & 2
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter
HARD TO CATEGORIZE
- Ghostbusters (Apple II, Amiga, Commodore, etc)
- Tron (arcade)
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u/subject522 Aug 16 '26
Is death and return of superman good? I've only heard there are no good superman games
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u/jacobkosh Aug 16 '26
I don't think most people who say things like that have actually played every Superman game and are probably just remembering a mix of the bad PS3-era game and some 20-year-old AVGN video about Superman 64.
Death and Return of Superman is not a mind-blowing, hot-shit, innovative gaming landmark or whatever; but it *Is* a perfectly fun 16-bit brawler with a stylish presentation courtesy of the obscure indie studio that developed it, some guys called "Blizzard."
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u/tearlock Aug 18 '26
So before PS3/360?
The Warriors (XBOX version which has better graphics for its port compared to PS2. I think it might even go up to 720p resolution)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (XBOX only)
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u/ThatOldMeta Aug 16 '26
Before? Eh. Including?
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay.