Hollywood adaptations of video games: The best and the worst

Hollywood has been trying to cash in on the enormous popularity of video games for around three decades, but almost every attempt has resulted in a major flop. Of course, internet users have noticed and dubbed the phenomenon "the curse of video game adaptations."

The New Yorker magazine published a long article explaining the ingredients that tend to make video game adaptations flop and suggested that some new shows coming out in 2023 had the potential to break the 30-year curse.

Image: thelastofus / Instagram

The video game industry is hugely popular and profitable. In 2023, it’s expected to rake in $221 billion in revenue, according to Statista. But overly cynical attempts to make money do not usually jive with great art and entertainment.

Image: Still from 'Super Mario Bros' (1993)

This was Hollywood’s first major attempt to cash in on the trend. Mario Bros. was an incredibly popular game, and producers were drooling to get into the venture. But there was a big attempt to distance from the 'silly' game, with the tagline even saying: "this aint no game."

Image: Still from 'Super Mario Bros' (1993)

In the film, Mario and Luigi were actually plumbers from Brooklyn. The Princess was an archeology student at NYU. Then, the writers created an incredibly convoluted reason for why the gang ended up in a parallel universe: the mushroom kingdom.

Image: Still from 'Super Mario Bros' (1993)

There was also disdain for the game from the actors. Bob Hoskins, the British actor who played Mario, said he had no clue about the Nintendo game until his kids told him that he was the little guy jumping around. Later, Hoskins said the movie was "the worst thing I ever did… an efing nightmare… I used to play King Lear."

Image: Still from 'Super Mario Bros' (1993)

On the flip side, the New Yorker says other Hollywood adaptations respond to that criticism by prioritizing faithfulness to a game without considering how it might translate to film. This can result in contrived inside jokes and nonsensical lore, which can alienate both fans and new viewers.

Image: Still from 'Doom' (2005)

'Doom' was the first-ever first-person shooter video game. In the climax of the film adaptation, starring Dwayne Johnson, for a whole five minutes, all the action even unfolded through the eyes of the protagonist, just like in the game. All the audience sees of the protagonist are his hands and gun.

Image: Still from 'Doom' (2005)

New Yorker writer Alex Barasch described that 'Doom' scene as "dizzying and dull… what felt immersive to a player was borderline illegible to a passive viewer." The film has an impressively low 18% approval rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Image: Doom, CuteFloor, Youtube

Video games can be inspired by movies, so turning a movie into a video game and then back into a movie is like “running text through Google Translate and back: each iteration came out more garbled than the last,” writes Barasch. One example is ‘Halo,’ which was heavily influenced by ‘Aliens.’

Interviewees in the article say the video game ‘Tomb Raider’ was little more than a "gender-flipped Indiana Jones." While the 2001 film, starring Angelina Jolie, saw some commercial success, Rotten Tomatoes gives it 20%, saying the plot is "senseless" and with "no emotional impact."

Another issue with video game adaptations is the lack of character development. Main characters in video games are often defined by their abilities and objectives, which don’t always translate well to the big screen. Other characters are sometimes just there for players to kill violently.

Although the video game-inspired horror flick had enough fans to become a seven-film franchise, critics slammed the first movie (and most that came after). The Rotten Tomatoes consensus is that it’s loud, violent, formulaic, and cheesy... and with cliché characters.

The 2021 film was based on the incredibly popular franchise that, at its core, is all about the joy of beating up another player. The Guardian called the adaptation “a late-night drunk watch at best,” and any positive reviews mostly just took joy in the film’s graphic violence.

Image: Still from 'Mortal Kombat' (2021) via WarnerBros

What most people love about video games is exploring a new world and making choices. But when you translate those ideas to the screen, writers have to flatten the story and make those decisions for the viewers. This can alienate players. Meanwhile, odd plot choices that try to contain everything can confuse newcomers.

Photo: Sam Pak / Unsplash

‘Assassin’s Creed’ is an award-winning open-world game where the player roams around carrying out assassinations in the 12th century. The film adaptation was a critical mess, "arguably better made… than most video game adaptations; unfortunately, the CGI-fueled end result is still a joylessly overplotted slog," according to the Rotten Tomatoes consensus.

The new HBO series ‘The Last of Us’ is based on a hit video game series of the same name. It follows two strangers navigating through a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic America. It is HBO's first-ever stab at a videogame adaptation... and so far, it seems to be breaking the curse.

Image: HBO

The series got off to an incredible start. With 4.7 million U.S. viewers watching its debut, it became the second-largest HBO debut since "Boardwalk Empire." Social media, regular media and even watercoolers around the world were abuzz after each episode of the first season.

Image: HBO

What worked here? 'The Last of Us' is a video game that bucked the “open world” trend and is based on linear storytelling, which writers say helped adapt it to the screen. Throughout the season, some scenes from the video game and show are almost identical but others took significant detours.

Image: From HBO

It was also co-written by the game’s creator Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, who is best known for writing the award-winning and much loved ‘Chernobyl’ miniseries.

Image: Chernobyl (2019) HBO/ YouTube

After its first season, it has become a rare example of a show that both critics and audiences love. On Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of critics have had positive things to say, while 89% of the audience reviewers were raving about it. One of the other few shows with similar ratings is HBO's equally bleak 'Chernobyl.'

Image: thelastofus / Instagram

"Retaining the most addictive aspects of its beloved source material while digging deeper into the story, The Last of Us is binge-worthy TV that ranks among the all-time greatest video game adaptations." That's the critics' consensus, according to the Rotten Tomato aggregator.

Image: HBO 'THe Last of Us' Trailer/ YouTube

Rejoice or despair? Beside’s ‘The Last of Us’ there’s a slew of new video game adaptations in the pipeline. According to the New Yorker, Netflix alone has announced more than a dozen, while Paramount+ and Amazon have shows based on ‘God of War’ and ‘Halo.’

‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’ is an animated adventure comedy that premiered in April 2025. It was a box office hit, and while only 59% of critics loved it, 88% of audience members did... with many kids becoming totally obsessed.

Still from the trailer via thesupermariobros.movie