15 TV Shows and Movies Based on Video Games You Need to Check Out

Making any kind of art that’s inspired by or another version of another piece of art is a tough job. When there’s source material, there are always going to be differing opinions on how best to be faithful to it. You can never please anyone, which is what turns people off of it. However, in recent years, there have been a bunch of TV shows and movies that are based on games, whether that means telling an alternate story in the universe of that game or retelling the same story. Naturally, these are met with mixed reactions. Of course, right now (at the time of writing), HBO’s The Last of Us is coming out weekly and is pretty much hitting it out of the park in every aspect. That inspired us to take a look at some of the best and most notable tv shows and movies based on video games in some way, shape, or form. Check it out below.

RELATED: 23 Games Like 'The Last of Us' Everyone Needs to Play

Arcane set new heights for TV shows based on video games because upon the release of its first season, it got praised for nearly every aspect, including world-building, voice acting, action sequences, and more. It’s based on League of Legends and focuses primarily on Vi and Jinx. Perhaps the secret here is that French animation studio Fortiche collaborated closely with Riot Games, the developer of the game. That relationship made for a show that perfectly encapsulates the LoL universe.

Castlevania is a unique video game adaptation because it its multiple seasons, for many it has outgrown that mantle and lives in a world on its own as arguably the best show based on a video game out there. The story is that Dracula summons an army of demons to take revenge on a town called Wallachia when his wife is burned at the stake for being falsely accused of being a witch. Trevor Belmont, a monster hunter, aims to stop him. 

The long-awaited release of Cyberpunk 2077 ended up being a buggy disappointment for many, but every cloud has its silver lining. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which made its debut in September, has been praised as one of the better anime series on Netflix. In its short episodes, the show manages to engage with its plot and visual style in a way that many shows never figure out.

Detective Pikachu is based on the 2016 game of the same name. On paper, it’s a tough sell to hardcore Pokémon fans, but the movie exceeded most expectations. The plot follows Pokémon trainer Tim Goodman (played by Justice Smith) and Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) as they look for Tim’s father. The cast features some big names that might seem out of place – like Rita Ora and Diplo – but director Rob Letterman successfully gives fans a great cinema experience and a reason to want more from him in this world.

Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma received rave reviews for aspects like its combat and side quests, aspects which are somewhat difficult to translate onto a TV show. They did that well and for some, lacked in a more general sense with a forgettable storyline executed poorly, albeit one that remains true to the spirit of the game.

Halo was pretty polarising amongst general viewers and fans of the legendary gaming series. While the series naturally respects the lore of the games, using its canon and characters, it doesn’t follow any of the plots that gamers know. This was a strange decision for many, but it was one that meant that the developers would stand on their own two feet whether they won or lost. The result was somewhat in the middle. The show ended up being a fun sci-fi adventure that some appreciate, but some would have preferred a more faithful adaptation of the games.

A Mortal Kombat movie is interesting on paper because while many great video game adaptations are driven by a solid plot and faithfulness to the source material, all that really matters here to many is the quality of the fight scenes and the characters we get to see. Sonya Blade, Sub-Zero, Liu-Kang, Scorpion, and more big names from the franchise appear and although they’re hard to translate to live-action, director Simon McQuoid does a good job here. The fight scenes are gory and what you’d expect, so in that regard, fans left feeling fulfilled.

Perhaps this is cheating a little, but technically, the Pokémon game came a full year before the show ever aired, so at the time, the show was based on the game. Of course, this makes it one of the best adaptations out there, with many people being big fans of the show and never even showing a deep interest in the games. In its 25 seasons and years on air, it is also one of the longest-running TV shows out there. The animated adventures of Ash Ketchum are one of the most memorable picks on this collection of tv shows and movies based on video games.

The original trailer for this movie got such a negative reception that the studio pushed the movie back by three months. Fans were unhappy with the design of Sonic The Hedgehog and it was clear that something needed to be done, so a redesign took place. That kind of self-awareness and acknowledgment of the people is something everyone wants in a studio so that change put it in good light. All in all, the Sonic The Hedgehog movie won over audiences as a wacky outing that was fun for the whole family – and that’s all it ever needed to be. Once you fall in love with this one, you gotta check out the sequel that puts Tails and Knuckles front and center right alongside the "Blue Blur."

Studio MDHR’s Cuphead has been a hit since its initial release in 2017 and all of its subsequent releases on other consoles since. The aesthetic of the game is heavily, heavily inspired by the 1930s and that’s part of the reason that the show works so well. The animation style is captivating and the overall tone is refreshing.

Around the time of its release, The Last of Us swept an incredible number of awards; so many that the game’s list of accolades has its own Wikipedia page, and there’s a hell of a lot of green. In the decade since, it has maintained its position as not only one of the best games of its era, but one of the best stories ever told. As a result, telling the story over nine episodes was always going to be a tough task, but Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have hit a home run.

The show does an impeccable job of portraying the story and characters of the game, fleshing key points out when necessary, and putting in twists that change events without upsetting hardcore fans of the game. Thankfully, the show just got renewed for a second season, which will be about The Last of Us Part II, so the fun will continue for the foreseeable future. This live-action adaptation is considered by many to be the absolute best when it comes to the long line of tv shows and movies based on video games.

On a technicality, the series of Witcher games was actually based on a series of novels, but most consider the 2019 show a video game adaptation due to the immense success of The Wild Hunt. This show is considered one of the better video game adaptations of all time, bringing new life to the characters and the world they live in. Unfortunately, the forthcoming third season will be the last with Henry Cavill at the helm, with Liam Hemsworth set to replace him, but the future looks bright.

Of course, the early 2000s saw the release of two Tomb Raider films with Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Lara Croft, so 2018’s reboot of the films had shoulders to stand on. The general consensus for this movie was that it captured the spirit of some of the 2010s Tomb Raider games pretty well, but falls flat in places where it should thrive, like the final act and certain puzzle scenes. There was a sequel that got canceled but as of January 2023, Amazon Studios acquired the rights to a new movie that will be part of a larger universe.

After years of delay due to the pandemic, the highly anticipated Uncharted movie finally arrived at the top of 2022. Sure, fans had their complaints and they were likely in good faith, but overall, the film did a pretty good job of translating the action and other emotions from the game over to the big screen. Tom Holland is great as a young Nathan Drake and the future of the franchise is in good hands, with some epic stories yet to tell. Now that Neil Druckmann has confirmed that Uncharted’s story is finished in terms of the games, fans will likely be even more welcome to more movies that extend the tale further.

This is a mafia-style game that is played in VR, so when it was announced, people were curious about how it would play out in a movie. The result was mystery, comedy, and horror all in one that stayed faithful to the concept of the game – a small town is trapped in a snowstorm where one of them is a werewolf. It makes for a pretty thrilling adventure that you don’t have to have played the game to enjoy.