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

[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:

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.