Tag Archives: film tie-in

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Sega CD

The Sega CD version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is completely different to the platform game of the same name developed by Bits Studios, although it is still based on the 1994 film starring Robert De Niro as The Monster. This game was developed by Psygnosis and published as a double pack, alongside Bram Stoker’s Dracula, by Sony Imagesoft in 1994. As far as I know it wasn’t released as a stand-alone title.

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Cobra, Commodore 64

The 1986 Commodore 64 version of Cobra – based on the Sylvester Stallone film of the same name – is infamous for its sheer awfulness. It is based on the more successful ZX Spectrum game, designed and programmed by the late Jonathan Smith, but has lost a great deal in translation to the C64.

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Big Trouble in Little China, Amstrad CPC

The 1987 Amstrad CPC version of Big Trouble in Little China is more or less a direct port of the ZX Spectrum original, but with slightly more colour in the graphics. It is noticeably slower than the Spectrum version, though.

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Big Trouble in Little China, Commodore 64

Based on the 1986 John Carpenter film of the same name, Big Trouble in Little China is a side-scrolling action game designed by Mev Dinc and published by Electric Dreams Software for the C64 in 1987. And it is pretty lame, it has to be said.

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Big Trouble in Little China, ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum version of Electric DreamsBig Trouble in Little China was the first released, coming out the same year as John Carpenter‘s famous film, in 1986. The Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 versions followed later, in 1987.

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The Evil Dead, ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum version of Palace Software‘s The Evil Dead video game was never released as a stand-alone title, although it was given away as a freebie on the b-side of the cassette for the ZX Spectrum version of Cauldron. Probably because Palace realised that no person in their right mind would pay money for a game this bad.

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Gremlins: The Adventure, ZX Spectrum

Gremlins: The Adventure is a text-based adventure, with graphics, based on the successful comedy horror film from 1984. It was first released in 1985 by Adventure International and was programmed by Brian Howarth with artwork by Teoman Irmak.

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Alex Rider: Stormbreaker, Game Boy Advance

Alex Rider: Stormbreaker is an isometric action/stealth/fighting game, based on the 2006 film Stormbreaker, where you play as teenage spy Alex Rider who is recruited by MI6 to investigate a shady individual called Herod Sayle. The game was created by Razorback Developments and published by THQ in the same year as the release of the film.

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Planet of the Apes, Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance version of Planet of the Apes is somewhat different, visually, to the Game Boy Color version, although it is basically the same game underneath. Graphically, the GBA version goes for a “digitised”, more realistic look, which I don’t think is as appealing as the pure 2D drawn look of the GBC version. It makes the game look more like an early ’90s Amiga game, which I think dates it significantly.

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Planet of the Apes, Game Boy Color

Planet of the Apes for the Game Boy Color was developed by Torus Games/Visiware and was first published by Ubisoft in 2001. It is based on the 1968 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1963 book by Pierre Boulle. Actually, to be more accurate, the game follows the plot of the 1970 sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, more closely than it does the first film, where Brent (played by James Franciscus) crash-lands on a post-apocalyptic Earth on a rescue mission to find Taylor (Charlton Heston), and eventually finds himself held prisoner in an underground city run by telepathic humans.

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