You just can’t get enough of your favourite old TV show or film and desperately want more? Yes GoldenEye 64 is the perfect use of a franchise to inspire a video game, but how about new content? Telltale Games were specialists in the field, but there are others too! Featuring original actors from beloved franchises, and the original team of writers and animators in most cases. These games aren’t just spin-offs – they’re canon, crafted by the creators themselves, and often feel like extended episodes or mini-movies.
Here are some standout titles that fit that mould…
Back to the Future: The Game
- Platform: Wii
- Developer: Telltale Games
- Format: Episodic graphic adventure (5 episodes)
- Original Cast: Christopher Lloyd reprises Doc Brown; Michael J. Fox voices cameo roles as Marty and other McFlys
- Story: Set six months after the third film, Marty travels to 1931 to help a young Emmett Brown fix the timeline
- Style: Feels like a fourth movie, written with help from co-creator Bob Gal
Futurama: The Game
- Platform: PS2, Xbox
- Developer: Unique Development Studios
- Platform: PS2, Xbox
- Original Cast: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, and others reprise their roles
- Story: Features a brand-new plot written by the show’s writers, essentially a lost episode
- Style: Includes 30 minutes of original animated cutscenes that were later compiled into a mini-movie
- See Also: Mobile game Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow had the same kind of love and attention poured into it, unfortunately no longer available
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)
- Platform: PS3, Wii
- Developer: Terminal Reality
- Original Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson all return
- Story: Written by Aykroyd and Ramis, considered the “true” Ghostbusters 3
- Style: Feels like a full movie sequel, with cinematic cutscenes and authentic humour
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games (2010–2011)
- Platform: PC, Mac
- Original Cast: Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond)
- Format: 5 episodic games released by the BBC
- Style: Each game plays like a standalone episode, with puzzles and exploration
- Fun Fact: The BBC called them “four extra episodes” of the show
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (2003)
- Platform: PS2, Xbox, GameCube
- Original Cast: Includes voice work from several cast members
- Story: A “lost episode” set during Season 5, written by show writers
- Style: Playable characters include Buffy, Willow, Xander, Spike, and Faith
- See Also: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice (Nintendo DS – 2009)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes (2009)
- Platform: Multi-platform
- Original Cast: Features voice actors from the animated series
- Style: Plays like a series of episodes, with Jedi and clone trooper missions
X-Files: Resist or Serve
- Platform: PS2
- Original Cast: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise Mulder and Scully
- Story: Structured like three full episodes of the show
- Style: Combines survival horror gameplay with classic X-Files storytelling
Jurassic Park: The Game (2011)
- Platform: PS3, Wii
- Developer: Telltale Games
- Original Cast: Not the film cast, but features new characters voiced by professional actors
- Story: Set during and after the events of the first movie, focusing on a different group of survivors
- Style: Episodic adventure with cinematic cutscenes and quick-time events
The Simpsons Game (2007)
- Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP
- Developer: EA Redwood Shores
- Original Cast: Full voice cast including Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith
- Story: Meta-narrative where the family realizes they’re in a video game
- Style: Plays like a season of the show, with parodies of other games and pop culture
- See Also: The Simpsons: Hit & Run (2003) which is considered one of the greatest video games of all-time, again with all the original cast and new content
South Park: The Fractured But Whole (2017)
- Platform: PS4, Xbox One
- Developer: Ubisoft San Francisco
- Original Cast: Trey Parker and Matt Stone voice all characters
- Style: Structured like a cinematic sequel, with deep RPG mechanics and hilarious cutscenes
- See Also: South Park: The Stick of Truth (2014) which is the prequel and often included in a bundle with TFBW
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004)
- Platform: PS2, Xbox
- Developer: EA Redwood Shores
- Original Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, John Cleese – along with newbie Willem Dafoe, starring as a classic Bond villain
- Story: Entirely original, written like a Bond film
- Style: Third-person shooter with driving and gadgets
Batman Begins (2005 Video Game)
- Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA
- Publisher: EA Games, Warner Bros. Interactive
- Original Cast: All the cast reprised their roles, with the exception of Gary Oldman
- Style: The game itself was a stealth-action adventure based in Christopher Nolan’s Gotham, with a unique “fear” mechanic a concept that predated Arkham Asylum and laid groundwork for future Batman games.
- See Also: The formula evolved further with the hugely successful Batman: Arkham Asylum series – recommending the remastered versions