Back in the early days of gaming, for every big movie, there was a video game adaptation. While movie licensed games have slowed down in recent years, they most likely will never stop. Originally, I was doing this to cover a wide variety of systems, but when I looked into the sheer volume of licensed games, it looked like the Commodore 64 had even more than the NES. Some of them, while obviously dated now, were actually very good. So, for this list, I'm focusing on video game adaptations from the Commodore 64. I think you'll be surprised at what I dug up. Here's five movie licensed games you probably didn't know about. Also, just a note, with my main computer being repaired, I'm doing everything this week on a Surface Pro from 2014. This is taking me back to the old days.
Aliens. I'm going to start with one of the most faithful video game adaptations of its time. The movie Aliens, the sequel to 1979's Alien, was written and directed by James Cameron. Aliens hit theaters on July 18th, 1986, and was the seventh highest-grossing film of the year. I couldn't get an exact date, but I'm pretty sure the game released either right before this or right after it in 1986. Aliens, the computer game, was released by Activision. The game broke the movie into six sections with each one playing completely different. After a lengthy and pretty impressive series of cutscenes, the first part of the game you actually play is the drop ship segment. In this, you fly the drop ship on the way down to the surface of the Exomoon LV426. You do this by keeping the drop ship within the parameters of this space tube. The music for this segment has been burned into my head for decades. In the second part, you control the Marines as they search the colony. This segment's impressive with the motion tracker, camera feeds, and the life signs of each marine. You wander around and try to get the Marines back to the APC alive. The next segment is the one where the aliens are attacking the room that the group is taking shelter in. You have to stand on the right and shoot the aliens on the left as they try to get past you. If they do, they'll kill one of the survivors that are hiding down here. You need to survive with at least one other marine in order to make it to the next section. This section is an overhead view of the air ducts from much later in the film. You have to make it through the maze while the aliens are trying to kill you. The more marines that made it through the previous sections make this one easier. Once you make it through, you play as Ripley on her way to save N. There's limited ammo and time, so you have to head out there and back in 17 minutes. After that, the site will be nuked from orbit. You also have flares that can be used to help mark your path. To get past the queen, you have to threaten the eggs, which will make her move out of your way. This then leads to the big finale. Ripley and the cargo loader fighting off the alien queen. You do this in a sort of punchout style game. You smack the queen around until finally getting her down to the point where you can grab her with the clamps and drop her into space. This leads to the end where Bishop says his classic line. Then Ripley and N go into the sleep chambers. It's a ridiculously fleshed-out game for a movie license. At the time, most companies really just phone these games in. They often spent more money acquiring the license than investing into actual development. This felt like a complete experience to pair with the movie. Aliens the game was released on numerous platforms, but the only one I ever played was the Commodore 64 one.
Big Trouble in Little China. While aliens stuck close to the movie, Big Trouble in Little China took a few liberties. Big Trouble in Little China the movie was about a trucker, Jack Burton, who fights off an evil sorcerer in a battle that takes place in and underneath Chinatown. It was released in theaters July 2nd, 1986. Big Trouble in Little China, the game was released for the Commodore 64 sometime in 1987 by Electric Dream Software. In the game, you play as three heroes, Jack Burton, Wang Chi, and Eggshen, who's floating on a cloud for some reason. It's been a while since I've seen the movie, and I'm almost positive that he never did this. Anyway, it's a sidescrolling beat him up that's unique because it's going from right to left instead of left to right. The game has four levels. The streets of Chinatown, the sewers, because all video games need a sewer level, Lan's headquarters, and the marriage chamber. So, the game does follow the basic sequence of the film. In order to beat the game, you need to switch between all three characters in order to take out Low Pan and save Kim Catra. No ending scene, just game over. Not the most faithful adaptation, but also not the worst. The stages were portions of the film and it kind of works. It could have been better, though.
Night Breed. In today's market, a game based on Nightbreed wouldn't be that big of a deal. I could see it being some sort of survival horror hybrid. However, in 1990, it was straight up bizarre. Nightbreed was a horror film written and directed by Clyde Barker. It was based on his novella Cabal from 1988. The film was notoriously botched by the studio who made all sorts of cuts to the theatrical version that went against the director's wishes. Anyway, Night Breed or Night Breed the action game was released by Ocean who made more than a few licensed games. Although the subtitle was put on there because there wasn't just one Night Breed game released in 1990, but two. Nightbreed the interactive movie was released right around the same time. There was supposed to be Night Breed the RPG, but that was never finished. They really thought this was going to be the next big thing. In the game, you play as Boon, who gets blessed by the Night Breed god Baffomet and is able to turn into Cabal. He then travels across several stages killing monsters to prove that he's not a murderer. Graphically, it's about average for a Commodore 64 game. I love that so many games from this era have the name of the game located somewhere on the screen at all times. That way, everybody knows that you're playing whatever. In this case, Night Breed. I'm going to cook, you breed. Well, that dialogue sounds like it's from a whole other genre. Boon travels through cemeteries, underground areas, more underground areas, all the while fighting monsters and avoiding traps. In the end, Boon escapes the underground, which is going to be blown up by grenades. There's even a nice little end screen. It's sort of faithful to the movie, although I think an RPG would have captured the game better than a platformer beat him up. A shame that that one didn't get released.
Suburban Commando. Yes, yes, I know. Let's get this out of the way. I WAS FROZEN TODAY. Suburban Commando is a 1991 action comedy directed by Bert Kennedy and starring Hulk Hogan. It's extremely silly. So, the cover for the game is also silly. I like how they put Hulk Hogan in small letters and Shep Ramsay in big letters. I think the graphic arts designer got things mixed up. The game was released in 1993, so just a bit late to capitalize on the theatrical release of the movie. It was published by Alternative Software. The game starts off with a Gradius clone. You're flying Shep's ship and shooting asteroids and aliens. Although at the end of the level, you don't fight a boss. You just warp to the next level. Now you are a superdeformed Shep Ramsay hopping through the evil general Starship. After platforming your way to the exit, you fight the evil green guy. Shep in the movie is wearing silver, but in the game he's wearing Hulk Hogan's standard yellow. Did they forget that this was not based on wrestling? Now, level three. After defeating the green guy, you crash on Earth. You start in a disco, which was from the movie. Although, in the movie, I don't remember punching birds and picking up coins. Shep fights the bounty hunters on his way to the garage so he can escape. Although, before that happens, he has to defeat Super Slider. Now, level four. Shep searches the partially built skyscraper. He wanders around for a while which leads to the climactic finale where he fights off the general who transforms into this giant mutant badger thing which is in the movie. The game ends with a well done. Then Shep announces he must now return to patrol the galaxy. The game very loosely follows the plot of the movie. It's mostly Hulk Hogan bouncing around and punching in locations that are kind of like the movie. Aside from the very basic locations, there really isn't a specific moment where you go, "Oh, wow. I remember this part." The first level is probably the closest to the movie, and it's the worst part of the game. After the first level, the game turns into the standard beat him up collectathon. Punch bad guys, get whatever parts you need, and move on to the next stage. It's a pretty bare bones game, but what would you expect from a game based on a Hulk Hogan movie? I was patiently waiting for the Santa with Muscles game, but that never happened.
Predator. The movie Predator was a massive hit. Released June 12th, 1987. Predator the game, while kind of basic, follows the movie very well. The game was released by Activision. While the NES game was more of a mix of Contra and Turken, the Commodore 64 version was more like what you would expect from a Predator game at the time. It even has a little intro with the Predator ship arriving on Earth. The game opens with all the commandos leaving the helicopter. Then you move very slowly to the right and shoot guerilla fighters. Apparently, this was originally a game called Gung-Ho that was in production long before Predator hit theaters. One of the heads of Activision saw the storyboards for Gung-ho right after they acquired the Predator license. So, he requested they make the needed changes to turn that into this. The game split into four sections. The first has Dutch blasting his way through a jungle infested with gorillas on his way to the main camp. The designer said there was no way they had the computing power to have the whole team in the jungle at the same time. So, they came up with the idea that the team went out ahead of Dutch and were all killed by the Predator. Much like the movie, we see the Predator vision and times when the Predator is trying to focus his lasers on Dutch. If you don't dodge it, you die. Stage two is more of the same. You can see the Predator hiding in the trees and you get Predator's laser sights a few more times. The level ends at a cliff where if you've seen the movie, you know you have to jump it. Stage three, you have to keep Dutch covered in mud or else the Predator can see and kill you. The Predator just killed Billy and now you need to wound him in order to escape. That's not the end, though. In keeping with the movie, after a long battle, there's a log trap that you have to lure the Predator under. After being crushed, the Predator then blows everything up. You can then put your name in and you get a congratulations on defeating the Alien Predator trademark. The game does a terrific job of following the movie as much as possible. It's a much better Predator game than the more recent ones. The character moves slow, but it doesn't feel bad. Just adds to the tension. Really, if the character moved any faster, you could have probably beat it in less than 10 minutes. It's actually fun to play, and while it's not as filled with content as some games are today, it is highly enjoyable. Definitely one of the best licensed games from the time. While Alien versus Predator 1 and 2 are arguably the best games with Predator, I've seen a lot of people saying that Predator Concrete Jungle for the PS2 was the best solo Predator game. I also enjoyed Predator 2 on the Genesis. If you'd like to see the bonus six entry as well as get some awesome perks, please consider joining my Patreon. I hope you guys like this. I really enjoyed digging these up. I discovered there's an overwhelming amount of weird licensed games that I'd like to be able to share in future videos. What are some ones that you enjoy or ones that give you nightmares? Let me know. I hated the Home Alone game on the NES. Thanks for watching everyone. I'll see you next time.
I WAS FROZEN TODAY.
