Movie Sequels: The Video Game Expansion

Movie Sequels:
The Video Game Expansion 

When it comes to movies, sequels love to crop up in many forms – be it theatrical outings, novelizations or TV series made that satiate those who really want to experience the next chapter of a feature they liked.

or in the case of something like “Back at the Barnyard”, make the original feature even weirder in retrospect by pretending it never happened and chucking out a character that played a big role in the movie (even if she had no real personality).

That said there is one form of continuations we used to see a lot, and that’d be in the form of the tie in game. While the general gist is that these games were supposed to retell the feature – which I mean, if I’m  being marketed a GAME based on the MOVIE I saw, I’d imagine it’d be a version where I can finally take charge

And fail at it too!

But we also used to get those ambitious titles that sough to expand the world, continue the adventures or try to explain how this mess started in the first place.


Actually to go back to the Treasure Planet image there, that movie had multiple tie in titles for different consoles and platforms to the point that they couldn’t list them all in the end credits

"Yeah we got Treasure Planet games! Find them on your own, same with the books. Go to a bookstore for a change NERD"

But interesting enough, while the console and handheld versions were essentially retellings of the movie, the PC title, Battle at Procyon, was actually a sequel.

"Aw yeah, we have Treasure Planet 2 at home"

Jim Hawkins has graduated  from the Royal Navy Academy and now commands his own ship!

"Hopefully he's better a piloting it than me"

However there is a war brewing between the Procyon nation and the empire and Jim needs to see about restoring peace. Oh, and Long John Silver is back and then apparently dies at the end (sure he did, surreee).
The actual title is a real time strategy and has a surprising amount of depth and effort put into what was essentially a leftover release aimed at children. But the game has managed to keep such a following that people are still playing the multiplayer campaign to this day

|

Not to mention it’s on Steam too wooooo
*this is not endorsed by Disney because Disney would never market Treasure Planet material anyhow, I mean they couldn't even get the game's title correct on the Steam page*

While we’re on the Disney run, how about Chicken Little, yeah that had a tie in game – which also had a sequel

Ace in Action is a third person action shooter game that’s Disney trying their hand at the Ratchet & Clank formula – minus the innuendos.

but we can channel a bit of Sly Cooper here on the anthro design. AYYYYYYYY

So despite technically being a sequel, in that it takes place at the end of the movie. It pretty much ignores every load of nonsense that feature had put down and relishes in the made-up world that was teased with the “accurate” film at the end. You play as Ace and a few other characters, whose names I will forget because they’re not on the cover.

"Ratchet & Clank: Going Fully Clothed"

With Ace you’re generally experiencing these on foot missions, going about corridors and shooting enemies, freeing up sections and completing things that are too easy to call puzzles that from now on they will be now as “paddzles” since they’re clearly here just to artificially extend the level design. The vehicle sections have you driving around in a sci fi tank and a space ship and…admittedly the experience is a bit dull. I get the game is made for kids, it’s based on a Disney movie but there are ways to make it enjoyable and Ace in Action feels too mindless to really keep itself going after the first few missions. After which you really feel the repetition kick in. It also doesn’t help that Adam West’s novelty wears off after a while too. It’s definitely an odd approach to the license but it’s also very indicative of the time it came out where companies starting slashing down tie in game budgets.

By the way the game is on Steam too if you’re interested

You probably are


Probably


Especially if you’re a Disney Collector.


Or a Streamer…..

You know you want to...........

There was also Meet the Robinsons which is in a unique spot, as the GBA title served as a sequel to the movie, while the console game was a prequel. I will admittedly have to put this one on the shelf for now as I haven’t properly played it outside of testing it out on modern systems and wondering why this isn’t on Steam

"Hey I broke the pattern"

Lets actually move away from Disney for a bit, and go back a little further to the past…..

Okay that's a bit too far back

Here we go, Batman 89. The original Tim Burton movie is a beloved classic (or a fairly poor adaption of Batman depending on who you ask)

Look anyone saying this is bad are weak

So Warner Bros were on this very crazy marketing run for Batman 89, hyping it up with posters that kept everything hidden, tie in material that revealed most things and a cereal so good people were eating it as a challenge in the 2010s

….that last bit doesn’t sound right.

And with the hype train going, why not have a video game made based on the movie! And they did, Batman on NES is such a classic that it made people forget there were other tie in games for the movie made for other platforms too

So with such a popular game, why not make a sequel, after all the movie was getting one!

But Sunsoft wanted a sequel out just a year after the tie in game’s release…whelp ya know, if ya don’t have any source material to work with, make your own!

And thus, Batman: Return of the Joker was made and released across multiple platforms of the time. As for how popular the game was, hard to tell as for generally while it did appear on many good Batman games lists, it wasn’t as big a hit as the prior title for one reason or another. No cereal tie in will do that I suppose.

From the get go, their take on a sequel is a bit of a baffling decision. Return of the Joker? He was literally thrown out of a high tower in the previous game (and fell to his death in the movie).

What I mean to say is, the Joker was dead, buried, finished, puffed up in a less than fantastical take on the character. So, I must applaud the devs for just putting up their hands and not caring about it – there are times where I can appreciate someone flatout ignoring a very popular well received product.

HE'S DEAD, CRACKED THE PAVEMENT AND HIS SKULL. BEREFT OF LIFE, RIGGED TO MORTIS

As for the game itself, the gameplay has seen a big overhaul compared to the prior title. While Batman still has his general moveset such as using a weapon and wall jumping, the way they’re used is completely different.

Batman no longer uses his fists but rather some sort of bat gun, making it play more like a run and gun shooter of the time.

Which fair, this is the one Batman who can kill people and still be considered a hero. The sprites have seen a massive overhaul, instead of making him pink, the bat now sports a blue color more reminiscent of his 70s design. The sprites are also far more detailed – now for the 16-bit consoles, it was a no brainer, but the amount of detail on the environment and character sprites for the NES is absolutely commendable. Sunsoft’s devs went all in on the game’s look, resulting in one of the best looking titles released for the platform.

"Hmm.....what's with the Contra looking gameplay in my Batman"

Gameplay wise, it maintains the difficulty of the previous title, granted in some aspects it had been balanced out a bit more to be a little bit more fair and in some cases, streamlining the design a bit to match the Contra inspiration.

sheesh, did I say inspiration, they just full blown covered the game in Contra’s leftover ammo

The Joker dies again, this time due to an exploding island, but hey, if there was a Sunsoft Batman 3, we probably would’ve had him popped up as right as rain with an even bigger chin.

While it’s clear that the developers weren’t too bothered on actually continuing the respective features their tie in titles were continuing, I can’t help but still be amused that an attempt was made. In some cases, these attempts also turning out to be the only continuation some of these features ever got. What piqued my interest enough to cover some was moreso, looking at the different approaches.

This trend has resurfaced thanks to game publishers like GameMill and Outright Games essentially reviving console tie in titles and I look forward to seeing how many more of these tie in sequels may crop out and their different approaches.

With that said however….please don’t just have them be – a character reads a story and that’s it. Shrek Superslam did it right, but that’s a tale for another time.

I may also at some point down the line give some of these games like Treasure Planet II their own respective reviews or analysis. If anyone would like that, feel free to ask or suggest