Wasted opportunities or: Why wasn't this a video game??

[Rob2600]

I grew up in the 1980s and was heavily into the NES from 1988 to 1991. I always wondered back then why extremely popular things were never turned into video games, at least here in North America. What a wasted opportunity for publishers to cash in! A couple examples:

The Transformers
Voltron
The New Kids on the Block

Not that I wanted an NKOTB video game, but it always confused me why something as huge as NKOTB was never turned into a video game, but things like 7 Up's Spot and Where's Waldo were.

What other bits of pop culture should've been turned into video games, but never were? (Keep in mind, I'm not saying the games would've been good or even made sense. I'm talking publishers cashing-in.)

[SpaceFlea]

Ronin Warriors deserved a game... or two... or three...

[Mayhem]

There were two Transformers games made for the C64, by Activision and Ocean, although neither are spectacular.

[Aussie2B]

There is a Transformers game on NES, but it's Japan-only. It was published by Takara, and I'm guessing they didn't have a US presence at that point. Maybe they wouldn't allow another publisher to do a localization, or maybe nobody wanted it because it's supposedly an awful game.

[Rob2600]

There is a Transformers game on NES, but it's Japan-only. It was published by Takara, and I'm guessing they didn't have a US presence at that point. Maybe they wouldn't allow another publisher to do a localization, or maybe nobody wanted it because it's supposedly an awful game.

Judging from this video, North Americans didn't miss out:


http://www.youtube.com/embed/dKwA066rNn0

I don't understand why a decent Transformers game wasn't made for the NES. We got two G.I. Joe games and two Golgo 13 games (nobody had even heard of that back then!), but no Transformers.

We got Predator and Total Recall NES games, but no Running Man or Conan :(

[Aussie2B]

I think we would've been better off without Predator and Total Recall, haha. We did get a Conan game, by the way, which also sucks.

[o.pwuaioc]

A little more recent than the 80s and 90s, but I think a 2D Samurai Jack platformer would have been awesome.

[RulerStabInTheEye27]

/////

[sloan]

Hmmm, 80's pop culture that could have been cashed in for video games..

Max Headroom
Milli Vanilli
Big (movie with Tom Hanks)
A-Team

[Rob2600]

Hmmm, 80's pop culture that could have been cashed in for video games..

Max Headroom
Milli Vanilli
Big (movie with Tom Hanks)
A-Team

It doesn't have to be 1980s, just anything that was so popular, it made you ask "Why isn't there a video game of this?"

The A-Team was definitely a wasted opportunity. It could've had Double Dragon/P.O.W. style levels and driving/shooting levels.

In the mid-late 1990s, I'm surprised nobody made a Beanie Babies game.

[Vectorman0]

New Kids on the Block (http://guide.digitpress.com:8080/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=4623) was indeed planned for the NES

[Scissors]

A little more recent than the 80s and 90s, but I think a 2D Samurai Jack platformer would have been awesome.

They did make one for the GBA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzrI--H0Pg

[djshok]

I always thought the Fantastic Four could've used a game in the 90s.

[Damaramu]

I always thought the Fantastic Four could've used a game in the 90s.

One did come out for the Playstation in '97. I remember it being pretty bad.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pJNQiFGIA

What the hell was up with that music? LOL

[o.pwuaioc]

They did make one for the GBA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzrI--H0Pg

I like that it's in the vain of Metroidvania, but man, the programming on that looks terrible. Those controls look sloppy as hell. It needs to be done properly.

[Emperor Megas]

Care Bears
M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand)
Robotech (in the 80s and 90s anyway) I know about the Macross games in Japan, but that's not Robotech, and they still didn't make it here.
She-Ra: Princess of Power

[SEGA_Queen]

Care Bears

Oh man, you don't know how much I wished there was decent Care Bears game when I was I kid. Sure, there was that mini-game collection (Care Bears: Care Quest, I think?), but it sucked.

What I really want is a puzzle/platformer. Imagine this: You have one button to attack with the Care Bear Stare. Another would activate a bear's special ability. For example, Cheer Bear could create rainbow bridges to cross large gaps. For bosses, you could use all the villains from the various TV series.

[Doonzmore]

A little more recent than the 80s and 90s, but I think a 2D Samurai Jack platformer would have been awesome.

There's The Amulet of Time for the GBA.

[Mayhem]

There was a Max Headroom game for the C64 as well.

[Bojay1997]

There was a Max Headroom game for the C64 as well.

So were A-Team and MASK. In fact, I think MASK also came out for the MSX and several other European computers. Quite honestly, the vast majority of really big movies and cartoons had a computer game in Europe where companies like Ocean perfected the whole big license, poor quality game trend that continues to this day.

[Wraith Storm]

Robotech (in the 80s and 90s anyway) I know about the Macross games in Japan, but that's not Robotech, and they still didn't make it here.

There was the canceled robotech crystal dreams for the N64. Man I wish that game had been released. I thought it looked more enjoyasble than the two that were released for ps2,gc and xbox.

What about garbagepale kids. They were huge and had a movie, but what about a game?

[djshok]

One did come out for the Playstation in '97. I remember it being pretty bad.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_pJNQiFGIA

What the hell was up with that music? LOL

Hey I never knew about that one. Thanks for pointing it out. Even if blows, I'm gonna check it out. And yeah, the music... wtf

[Rob2600]

MC Hammer - He had huge hit songs and even his own Saturday morning cartoon, but no video game.

The Beatles - I can't believe the only Beatles video game is a version of Rock Band. No Yellow Submarine game? I don't get it. Michael Jackson and Aerosmith got their own games. A Beatles side-scrolling platformer would've been perfect on the NES, Genesis, or SNES.

[Edmond Dantes]

Care Bears
M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand)
Robotech (in the 80s and 90s anyway) I know about the Macross games in Japan, but that's not Robotech, and they still didn't make it here.
She-Ra: Princess of Power

For that matter, He-Man would've been awesome on the NES. I know there were Atari, Intellivision and Commodore games, and IIRC one of the Commo ones was decent, but the NES could've done better.

Rainbow Brite as well. Heck, just do a quick graphics hack of Rainbow Islands and its done.

[sloan]

Battlestar Galactica, circa 1970's. I know that Mattel made a game that was supposed to be Battlestar Galactica for Intellivision, but they lost licensing rights and named it something like Space Battle.

Banana Splits. The old Hannah Barbera muppet show from the 70's.

Johnny Quest. For old timers like myself who loved the cartoon as a kid.

Animal House. I could imagine a car chase scene ala the infamous road trip from the movie, evading police cruisers and what not. Also, could do a level where you have to shoplift as many groceries for the upcoming toga party, just like the movie. Obviously, this might not be a game for the young ones, but they did do a version of Porky's for the VCS.

Smokey and the Bandit. Possibilities are endless for car chase scenes and ramp jumping in Burt's custom Firebird.

[Bojay1997]

MC Hammer - He had huge hit songs and even his own Saturday morning cartoon, but no video game.

The Beatles - I can't believe the only Beatles video game is a version of Rock Band. No Yellow Submarine game? I don't get it. Michael Jackson and Aerosmith got their own games. A Beatles side-scrolling platformer would've been perfect on the NES, Genesis, or SNES.

I can't tell if you're being serious or not. That sounds like a horrible use of The Beatles. Actually, just about everything in this thread sounds like a horrible game idea that we were lucky to avoid.

[sloan]

I can't tell if you're being serious or not. That sounds like a horrible use of The Beatles. Actually, just about everything in this thread sounds like a horrible game idea that we were lucky to avoid.

OP stated that the ideas merely had to be stuff that marketers could cash in on, nothing about the playability factor.

[Bojay1997]

OP stated that the ideas merely had to be stuff that marketers could cash in on, nothing about the playability factor.

I understand, but most of the ideas floated here would make lousy cash-ins as well since nobody would buy them.

[sloan]

You are telling me that Battlestar Galactica, Smokey and The Bandit, or the A-Team would be lousy cash-ins for video games? Think back to the times when those IP's were fresh on the scene. Those would have been massively successful by any stretch of the imagination.

[Bojay1997]

You are telling me that Battlestar Galactica, Smokey and The Bandit, or the A-Team would be lousy cash-ins for video games? Think back to the times when those IP's were fresh on the scene. Those would have been massively successful by any stretch of the imagination.

Simply slapping the name of some popular movie or TV show on a product is not a guarantee of anything. It cost a lot of money to obtain the license, even in the 1980s. Dukes of Hazzard and the other licensed games like Cabbage Patch and The Smurfs sure didn't move a lot of units on the Colecovision and all of those were massively popular IPs. Look at the two games that people always reference as killing the Warner version of Atari, ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark, two of the biggest movies of the early 80s. Again, consumers will only give you so much slack before they refuse to buy crap or at least something that isn't what they are led to believe it might be.

Battlestar Galactica was a flop on television that only lasted one season (Sorry, I refuse to count Battlestar 1980 which similarly failed). Smokey and the Bandit and the A-Team were popular, but again, simply having a popular license doesn't mean the game would generate tons of revenue or be a success, especially once people had already been burned by other licensed games. The same thing happens today. Licensed games are no guarantee of success and certainly other than superhero and sci-fi or fantasy IP, very few television shows or movies are turned into games simply because people won't buy them.

[Rob2600]

Sloan is correct. My point with this thread is that we had tons of licensed games like Wayne's World, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, The Flintstones, Moonwalker, The Simpsons, Die Hard, Porky's, etc., so why didn't publishers license other really hot franchises like The A-Team, Transformers, Voltron, Rainbow Brite, and The Beatles?

[Bojay1997]

Sloan is correct. My point with this thread is that we had tons of licensed games like Wayne's World, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, The Flintstones, Moonwalker, The Simpsons, Die Hard, Porky's, etc., so why didn't publishers license other really hot franchises like The A-Team, Transformers, Voltron, Rainbow Brite, and The Beatles?

Simple, cost of obtaining the license versus projected profits or the IP holder had no interest (The Beatles took forever to grant rights to Rock Band, there is no way they would have licensed a crappy platform game) or they did in other countries and the games weren't good enough to warrant release here (see A-Team, Transformers, Max Headroom, etc...) or the market was already saturated. I'm sorry, but you could make these same lists for every consumer product imaginable. There have been tons of licensed games over the years and there still are. Unfortunately or fortunately, not every popular IP is going to result in a game just like not every popular movie results in a toy line or a popular soundtrack album, etc...The reasons why some IPs are licensed for games and some are not are as diverse as the IPs themselves.

[The 1 2 P]

MC Hammer - He had huge hit songs and even his own Saturday morning cartoon, but no video game.

He did have a game: kind of (http://compare.ebay.com/like/280874764470?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar).

I always wantd to play an Underworld game. It's now four movies strong and could make for a very strong action/adventure game. There was one in production for the Xbox but it got cancelled before it ever saw the light of day. You can see gameplay footage for it on one of the white kiosk disc from last gen.

[Rob2600]

Lol An MC Hammer LCD handheld game. I never knew!

And wasn't there an Underworld game for the PS2, or was it cancelled?

I'm surprised there's never been an Archie game.

[MASTERWEEDO]

I still want the original version of Nightmare on Elm St. where you are Freddy.

[Collector_Gaming]

I still want the original version of Nightmare on Elm St. where you are Freddy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW8JZFxkEUA

[TheGam3r]

Rugrats game for the NES/SNES/Genesis. it seems like the only Nicktoon at the time that did not get a game release.

A Sailor Moon game should have been localized around the end of the 16-bit era/beginning of the 32-bit era to promote the anime's premiere in North America.

[Edmond Dantes]

I can't tell if you're being serious or not. That sounds like a horrible use of The Beatles. Actually, just about everything in this thread sounds like a horrible game idea that we were lucky to avoid.

To be fair, most of these game ideas would have probably been bad. But its fun to dream and ask "what if" and "why not?"

To this day it still surprises me that He-Man and Thundercats, being as prolific as they were, never made it to the NES, yet somehow we got a Knight Rider game.

The NES game was my first experience with the Knight Rider franchise. Sad but true. I hear there was a much better version for the PC-Engine.

[Hawksmoor]

Thundercats is my #1 choice, by far. Yes, there was a C64 game (I think), but it was crap and doesn't count.

Others I would've liked to have seen include Gummi Bears, C.O.P.S., Shirt Tales, and Freakazoid.

[The 1 2 P]

And wasn't there an Underworld game for the PS2, or was it cancelled?

Nope, there wasn't any Underworld games released last gen or otherwise. I could see them making one similiar to Blood Rayne although they would have to put the focus on guns as opposed to using blades.

[Greg2600]

Sloan is correct. My point with this thread is that we had tons of licensed games like Wayne's World, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, The Flintstones, Moonwalker, The Simpsons, Die Hard, Porky's, etc., so why didn't publishers license other really hot franchises like The A-Team, Transformers, Voltron, Rainbow Brite, and The Beatles?

Rob most of the shows you and others mentioned were at their height in popularity before the NES was released or really got rolling. I agree with BoJay, the games would likely have stunk. Almost all of the big licensed games were horrible, because they went to companies like LJN, Acclaim, Activision, or Data East, which produced bad games most of the time. What really made no sense were the licenses used on stuff like Felix the Cat.

I think the main mistake they kept making was trying to shoe horn a feature film into a game. They should have instead taken the characters and guided them through a new, original adventure. Which is usually what happens nowadays.

[Soviet Conscript]

Thundercats is my #1 choice, by far. Yes, there was a C64 game (I think), but it was crap and doesn't count.



i'm pretty sure there was a thunder cats game for the amiga. i remember playing it and it wasnt that great.

[Gerald]

Wasn't there a Sailor Moon fighting game for 3 D0?

[Greg2600]

Thundercats on Amiga/Atari ST, systems that are a big step over the NES, but the game barely shows that. Side scrolling like Ghouls N Ghosts. Should have been an easy one to do. I don't know the reason for Hasbro's reluctance to license out their properties at the time? They did that GI Joe game on the 2600, which sold well I think, and then nothing until the 90's, when the fever had passed. I wonder if they saw video games as their competition?

PS: Underworld came on PS2 but only in Europe. Not highly rated. Transformers (Takara) PS2 game from around 2003-2004 had a lot of G1 skins in it. The game is terrible, but those look cool. Unfortunately never made it to the US. We got other crappy TF games on PS2 tied into the cartoon iteration of the time. Again, you can look no further than Hasbro for all of this.

[Retrocade Fantasia]

Danger mouse

that is all

[Hawksmoor]

Wasn't there a Sailor Moon fighting game for 3 D0?

Yes, and it was actually pretty solid. Pretty much like a precursor to Arcana Hearts. My favorite 3DO fighting game was based on Yu Yu Hakusho though.

[Rob2600]

A Bionic Six video game could've been awesome- potentially way better than The Three Stooges, Dick Tracy, Robocop, and Dirty Harry games.

A BraveStarr game could've been great, too.


Danger mouse

And You Can't Do That On Television :) After all, we did get Double Dare on the NES. Why not that, too?

[Retrocade Fantasia]

And You Can't Do That On Television :) After all, we did get Double Dare on the NES. Why not that, too?

I don't know *gets slimed*

[Rob2600]

I also would've loved a "Weird Al" Yankovic game, either on the NES or SNES. Each level would be a parody of a different popular video game. There could be a Super Mario Bros. parody level, a Gradius parody level, a Donkey Kong parody level in which Michael Jackson is on top of the girders throwing barrels of bleach down at you, and a Wolfenstein first-person level in which you have to shoot all the mimes.

[Spidey80]

i'm pretty sure there was a thunder cats game for the amiga. i remember playing it and it wasnt that great.

We`ll be getting a Thundercats game for the DS(based on the new show)this fall.

As for licenses that never got made into games,I`d have to say the following..

Sky Commanders
Visionaires
Silver Hawks

[Cryomancer]

I also would've loved a "Weird Al" Yankovic game, either on the NES or SNES. Each level would be a parody of a different popular video game. There could be a Super Mario Bros. parody level, a Gradius parody level, a Donkey Kong parody level in which Michael Jackson is on top of the girders throwing barrels of bleach down at you, and a Wolfenstein first-person level in which you have to shoot all the mimes.

That actually sounds like a pretty good concept.

Also, there have been two Voltron games now, one for iOS and one on XBLA. They are both somewhat similar in gameplay, and decent although nothing super special. The iOS one is even 2D spritebased, so you could probably pretend it's an SNES game fairly well, heh.

[Mayhem]

Danger mouse

that is all
This is gonna sound repetitive but there was a Danger Mouse game on the C64. Maybe two even.


A BraveStarr game could've been great, too.
See above. Also on C64.

[Greg2600]

Also, there have been two Voltron games now, one for iOS and one on XBLA. They are both somewhat similar in gameplay, and decent although nothing super special. The iOS one is even 2D spritebased, so you could probably pretend it's an SNES game fairly well, heh.You're too kind, they stunk big time.


This is gonna sound repetitive but there was a Danger Mouse game on the C64. Maybe two even.Yes, C64 had a game for pretty much any licensed property imaginable. That meant little to most people, who didn't have a C64 back then.

[DigitalSpace]

This thread reminded of me of a dream I once had about playing a King of the Hill game on the SNES. I even posted about the dream in an old thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?64270-I-constantly-have-dreams-of-finding-rare-games/page4&p=1446885#post1446885):


I had a dream that there was a King of the Hill game for the Super Nintendo. I was playing the first level, which had Hank going through the alley, and I get to the Hill's backyard and pause. When I came back to the game, Hank was gone and Bobby was running around the backyard with Ladybird.

The SNES was on the tail end of its run by the time King of the Hill hit the airwaves, but I'm kind of surprised that a game was never made for another system.

[MASTERWEEDO]

Danger mouse

that is all

or even Count Duckula

[MASTERWEEDO]

An "Are You Afriad of the Dark?" game couldda been sweet. Each level as a different story.

[duffmanth]

NKOTB was never turned into a video game cuz their whole audience was pretty much pre-teen/teen girls.

[Garry Silljo]

An "Are You Afriad of the Dark?" game couldda been sweet. Each level as a different story.

There is one on the PC. It's only one story though.

[Spidey80]

The first two I`m going to list got games either before or after the NES era,but it`s surprising that no one did an NES game based on these properties,even Taito who had a Hanna-Barbera license then
Yogi Bear
Scooby-Doo

Some other picks
Jonny Quest
Marvel licenses such as the Fantastic Four and the Hulk(you`d think Acclaim/LJN would have brought out games based on those characters)
Wonder Woman(come to think of it,why hasn`t she ever gotten her own game at all,regardless of system?)

[Haoie]

How many sitcoms get turned into games?

None?

Probably for the best. Although I do want to play as Steve Urkel at least once in my life.

[o.pwuaioc]

How many sitcoms get turned into games?

None?

Probably for the best. Although I do want to play as Steve Urkel at least once in my life.

Close enough?

http://s.uvlist.net/l/y2007/01/33372.jpg

[sloan]

How many sitcoms get turned into games?


Gilligan's Island - NES
Addams Family (various versions) - NES, Genesis, SNES

[Edmond Dantes]

Don't forget the Home Improvement game for SNES...

[StealthLurker]

Wished there was a 2D Vampire Hunter D game. The PSX game was so terrible. Maybe a cross up of Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden style motif and gameplay.

A Bionic Six game would have been cool too. Also mentioned earlier... Visionaires.

.

[CelticJobber]

A game based on Full House or Saved By The Bell probably would've done good business for Acclaim/LJN in the tween girls demographic.

The rap group the Fat Boys were huge in the mid-80's. A videogame starring them would've done gangbusters at retail. Hell, it could've been based on their comedy classic "Disorderlies".

Also, I always thought there should've been a videogame based on the Capt. N cartoon.

[Gameguy]

A game based on Full House or Saved By The Bell probably would've done good business for Acclaim/LJN in the tween girls demographic.
There's a Saved by The Bell game on youtube, it's interactive like a choose your own adventure book.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CumqNwQsChM

[Kiddo]

Also, I always thought there should've been a videogame based on the Capt. N cartoon.

It was probably difficult enough getting the Captain N cast in the cartoon, but having a game with the same cast would've probably been full of licensing difficulties. In comparison, Bug-tte Honey, which has some similarities to Captain N as an anime series in Japan featuring multiple videogame crossovers, pretty much had none of the "Crossover" aspect in it's videogame adaptation and just felt like a weird, puzzly, kusoge version of Adventure Island.

Come to think of it, though, pretty much anything DiC's made (That wasn't based on a license) didn't get a video game adaptation I can recall.

On the note of 80's franchises which tend to get ignored, stuff targeted for girls tends to get the shaft. There was never a mainstream game based on G1 or G2 My Little Pony or Rainbow Brite, for example. The 80's revival of Alvin and the Chipmunks also got ignored probably because of the major focus on the "Chipettes".
... Come to think of it, there isn't one for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic either, is there? Wow, you'd think a game developer would be wanting to make some cheap cash-in on that while it's still hot.

[Rob2600]

Come to think of it, though, pretty much anything DiC's made (That wasn't based on a license) didn't get a video game adaptation I can recall.

In the U.S., the only Sunbow cartoon series that had NES games were G.I. Joe and Bucky O'Hare. It made no sense.


On the note of 80's franchises which tend to get ignored, stuff targeted for girls tends to get the shaft. There was never a mainstream game based on G1 or G2 My Little Pony or Rainbow Brite, for example.

Or Jem.

[sloan]

Underdog (endless opportunities to save Polly Purebread)
Poltergeist
Trading Places (play as either Ray or Lewis)
Mork and Mindy (get to fly with Mork back to Ork)
Hong Kong Fooey
Heathcliff
Planet of the Apes (yes, later versions were done on PS2 and Xbox, but a 2600 or Colecovision version would have been nice)
Michael Jackson's Thriller (lots of possibilities with corpses coming up out of the graveyard)

[NayusDante]

The Twilight Zone - This would be fun today, in a weekly "episodic" format.

Star Trek: Enterprise - Maybe it wouldn't have been cancelled if we had gotten a decent game. Preferably something a little more cerebral than Elite Force.

House M.D. - I know there was a casual DSi download title, but they should have given this one to Telltale. I always envisioned this series as a graphic adventure.

Robocop: The Animated Series - I can't be the only one who remembers this...

[Gameguy]

This should have been a real game.


http://i48.tinypic.com/20zchw1.jpg

[The 1 2 P]

The Twilight Zone - This would be fun today, in a weekly "episodic" format.

That episodic format was one of the concepts for the Alan Wake game. And they even had a background tv show you could watch on tv monitors you found in the game. The tv show was called Night Springs and it was based on....wait for it....The Twilight Zone.

[Xian042]

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors,

sorry if it was mentioned already, but this would have made a cool game