8 Best Licensed Games That You Should Know Update 03/2024

Aladdin (Super Nintendo)

Since the beginning of home consoles, there have been video games based on TV shows, movies, and other well-known properties. The sad truth is that these licenced games are usually not as good as other games. It happens all too often for a well-known, well-established property to quickly make a lot of money by putting out a product that isn’t finished or isn’t very good. Still, licenced games sometimes go against the grain of the industry, and sometimes a game based on an existing property hits the mark and goes above and beyond. These 10 games did that well and might be the best licenced games ever made.

Aladdin (Super Nintendo)

Aladdin (Super Nintendo)

Aladdin for the Super Nintendo is a great platformer made by Capcom that follows the story of Disney’s animated movie to the letter. Virgin Games, on the other hand, made the Aladdin game for the Sega Genesis, which is different from the original story. There is only one game that does justice to the Aladdin licence, and that is Capcom’s Super Nintendo game. Some parts of the game are really fun to play, and the platforming levels are different enough to keep things interesting. In a flying level, Aladdin will sometimes have to ride his magic carpet. These stages are frustratingly hard, but they do a good job of making scenes from the movie come to life. Even though it looks old by today’s standards, the Aladdin video game was a big hit when it came out in 1993, and it still holds up surprisingly well today.

Batman Returns (Super Nintendo)

This beat ’em up game from Konami in 1992 was a breath of fresh air for the genre. Batman Returns is a side-scrolling beat-em-up game like Final Fight or Streets of Rage. It is based on the Tim Burton movie of the same name. Through side-scrolling levels, the game does a great job of capturing the spirit of the movie and telling the story in the same way. This amazing feat of storytelling makes the game flow well and lets Batman fans enjoy the story. In Batman Returns, there are more different kinds of enemies than in Final Fight or Streets of Rage. The enemies are more than just a simple swap of palettes, and you have to use your brain to beat them. Batman Returns is one of the best licenced superhero games ever made because it has a lot of different things to do and a fun grappling hook.

The Simpsons Hit & Run

The Simpsons Hit & Run

The Simpsons Hit & Run is a great example of how a licenced game should be made. It has a lot of great humour from the first few seasons and a 3D version of Springfield. Even though the show sometimes moves things around, Hit & Run’s map is made to scale and is as accurate as it can be. Hit & Run is one of the best licenced games of all time. It’s fun to drive around Springfield and see all the famous places. The game also has a great way to play that was taken from the Grand Theft Auto series. This combination of Grand Theft Auto and The Simpsons works really well. It stays mostly family-friendly and feels like an extra season of the show.

The Walking Dead: Season 1

Telltale Games has made sure that The Walking Dead: Season 1 can be played on almost any console or mobile device. This means that as many people as possible can enjoy it. The game tells the story of Lee and Clementine as they try to survive the zombie apocalypse. It is based on the TV show and comics of The Walking Dead, but the story is unique and hasn’t been told anywhere else. That doesn’t mean that The Walking Dead doesn’t fully take advantage of its source material. In fact, it does a great job of doing so by using familiar characters and bringing back the feelings from the show. The original story just gives players a feeling of discovery while forcing them to make hard moral choices. The Walking Dead: Season 1 is a great licenced video game that does a great job of capturing the feel of the TV show and comic.

DuckTales (NES)

DuckTales (NES)

This 1989 classic is still considered one of the best platform games of all time, even though many gamers no longer play on the NES. The perfect version of the Disney animated TV show (and later movie) that Capcom made was a huge hit and is still one of the most popular cult games from the NES era. Maybe it’s because the controls are easy to use or because the game looks good, but DuckTales has a way of pulling players in and keeping them there. The people who worked on Mega Man also worked on DuckTales, and it shows in the overall quality of the show. Nintendo and Capcom were able to put the game on the Game Boy in a way that was true to the original. However, the console version is the one that deserves the most praise. Fans of the show and the original game got a love letter in 2013 when the game was remastered and put on all major consoles in high definition.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

TMNT IV: Turtles in Time is another beat-em-up with a side-scrolling view. It’s also one of the best games ever made, with memorable co-op play, catchy music, and a setting that brings out the best in the game. The local co-op feature lets players play the game with a friend and control two turtles on the screen at the same time. Since each of the four turtles has their own weapons and personality, the game is meant to be played more than once to try out all of the characters. Even though some of the Ninja Turtles’ weapons have a longer range than others, it’s nice to know that the game is perfectly balanced and none of the turtles have an advantage over the others. Turtles in Time does a great job of capturing the spirit of its source material and is just fun to play. It has a time-traveling mechanic, a fight with Shredder, and cameos from Bebop and Rocksteady. It’s one of the best licenced games that has ever come out.

Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

Before it came out, Kingdom Hearts seemed very risky, and people didn’t have very high hopes for it. The game looked like it was similar to Final Fantasy, but it had more action-oriented parts. It also had Disney characters in it. Goofy, Donald Duck, and plenty of other iconic characters from Walt Disney’s Animation Studio had invaded this JRPG, which made it an unknown quantity. Kingdom Hearts would go on to be a huge hit right away, putting to rest any fears that people might have had about this strange crossover. As far as licenced properties go, Kingdom Hearts is unique because it has its own universe and storyline. The game also has a lot of places and characters from Disney sources. Kingdom Hearts is a great game and a great series as a whole. Fans have been waiting over a decade for the proper third entry and perhaps Kingdom Hearts 3 will finally arrive in 2017 after suffering numerous delays throughout its development.

South Park: Stick Of Truth (Metascore 85)

South Park: Stick of Truth is a role-playing game that is based on the TV show South Park. It came out in 2014, and Obsidian Entertainment made it. They also made Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and The Outer Worlds, which came out more recently.

Obsidian was able to make the game look exactly like the TV show and make players feel like they were in an episode, especially when they were looking around the town. The creators of the show, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, wrote the story for Stick of Truth. They were also very involved in making the game.