The worst video game adaptations

Ash Walker • 03 Apr 2025 Features

Game over.

For years, Hollywood has been trying - and failing - to make successful adaptations of the most popular video games around. Only in recent times, with critically-acclaimed shows like The Last of Us and Fallout, has the curse seemingly been lifted.

Will A Minecraft Movie - now in cinemas - continue this upwards trend? Only time will tell.

But what about all those other attempts over the years? The ones that failed to live up to expectations, made weird creative choices, or were simply dead on arrival?

Well, we’ve rounded up the worst offenders and put them in a list. Here are our picks of the absolute worst video game adaptations of all time.

10. Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Credit: Super Mario Bros. (1993) Trailer #1 (Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers, YouTube)

A truly bizarre film, this bears only a passing resemblance to the beloved, long-running Nintendo series - and only if you squint.

Bob Hoskins and John Lequizamo are Mario and Luigi, Brooklyn plumbers who find themselves in a strange parallel universe where humanity evolved from dinosaurs instead of apes - but look much the same - and the king has turned into a giant fungus.

It’s weird, daft and a little bit nightmarish, but not without its charm. It’s just nothing like the cheery, colourful source material.

9. Street Fighter (1994)

Credit: Street Fighter (1994) Trailer HD (Film Trailer Channel, YouTube)

Action powerhouse Jean Claude Van Damme stars in this adaptation of the fan-favourite fighting games series (Street Fighter II specifically), alongside Ming-Na Wen and, randomly, Kylie Minogue.

There’s no plot to speak of, but the characters are fun and Raul Julia, as the despotic Bison, is especially good, all but running away with the film.

It’s not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s campy, silly fun.

8. Double Dragon (1994)

Credit: Double Dragon Trailer 1994 (Video Detective, YouTube)

Man, 1994 was a banner year for movies based on fighting games. Hot on the heels of Street Fighter came this weird little movie, adapted from an arcade favourite.

Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf play brothers living in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. When they come into possession of (half of) a mystical amulet, they gain magical kung-fu abilities, and must go up against a local crime lord, played by Robert Patrick.

It’s a load of old nonsense, but the devastated, futuristic world of 2007 California is pretty fun, and it’s worth a watch for Robert Patrick’s bonkers hairdo alone.

7. Uncharted (2022)

Credit: UNCHARTED - Official Trailer (HD) (Sony Pictures Entertainment, YouTube)

One of the most thrilling, cinematic video game franchises of all time, the Uncharted series was absolutely begging for the big screen treatment - it’s basically Indiana Jones, but in the modern day and with a lot more shooting and quippy banter!

The movie audiences got though was a dull, lifeless mess, full of forced, unfunny jokes and workmanlike action. Plus its two, terribly miscast leads - Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg - have about as much chemistry as two slices of bread.

A complete misfire, and a waste of great source material and great talent. Unfortunately, it did well enough to get executives thinking about a sequel…

6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Credit: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) Trailer #1 (Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers, YouTube)

Yet another adaptation that manages to suck all the fun out of its source material. This should have been a pulpy,swashbuckling adventure film, full of magic, monsters and, of course, parkour.

What it turned out to be is a boring, forgettable swords-and-sandals epic, with some impressive sets but little else going for it.

But by far this film’s biggest sin is in casting the thoroughly Caucasian Jake Gyllenhaal as a Persian character - not to mention Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. A weird decision all around, and one which Gyllenhaal himself now regrets.

See also the dreadful Assassin’s Creed movie.

5. Doom (2005)

Credit: Doom (2005) Official Trailer (Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers, YouTube)

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Karl ‘The Boys’ Urban fighting monstrous demons on Mars? This should have been the greatest movie ever made!

Unfortunately, it’s just a bit pants. An adaptation of the ‘90s classic - the granddaddy of all first person shooters - this trades heavy metal action spectacle for dull-as-dishwater exposition.

It’s not a complete loss though - there’s a five minute segment, shot entirely in first person, that’s actually pretty cool. It’s just a shame the rest of the film is so boring.

4. House of the Dead (2003)

With a whopping ten adaptations under his belt - all of them utterly terrible - director Uwe Boll is the undisputed king of the bad video game movie. And it all began with this cheap and cheerful number, based on the popular series of arcade shoot-em-ups.

Featuring a cast of disposable teens, all of whom have bizarre outfits and no personality to speak of, this is your standard zombie fare, only made remarkable by how truly bad it is. The acting is wooden, the editing is insane and the whole thing looks like it was shot on a cheap digital camera.

Although it does have a certain crappy charm to it, unlike some of Boll’s other attempts…

3. Postal (2007)

Credit: POSTAL Movie Trailer (Running With Scissors, YouTube)

A loose adaptation of the infamous ‘90s shooter, in which the main aim of the game is to cause as much carnage as possible. Director Uwe Boll (yes, him again) transforms the game into a sort of hyper-violent comedic satire.

Or at least, he tries to…

The result is a crass, over-the-top spoof, in the vein of stuff like Epic Movie, but with all the sense of humour of a baked potato. It’s pretty equal opportunity in its attempts to offend, taking aim at everything from race to sexuality to, of course, 9/11, but none of it is particularly interesting or smart.

And even the action isn’t very good. Definitely one to avoid.

2. Borderlands (2024)

Credit: Borderlands (2024) Official Trailer (Lionsgate Movies, YouTube)

How could they get this one so wrong? The beloved Borderlands series is chock full of quirky characters, inventive design and hilarious stories - you’d think it’d be easy to shift all of that directly onto the big screen.

Unfortunately, director Eli Roth instead turns in a soulless clone of Guardians of the Galaxy, stripping away all of the interesting stuff in favour of a messy, slapdash story with lacklustre takes on much-loved characters.

This one gets extra points taken away for absolutely squandering an amazing cast, including the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart and, believe it or not, Oscar-winning legend Cate Blanchett. An embarrassing failure.

1. Alone in the Dark (2005)

Credit: Alone in the Dark (2005) Trailer (Bygone Attractions, YouTube)

Trash-meister Uwe Boll has made many more, totally dire video game adaptations, from BloodRayne to Far Cry, but none are quite as terrible as Alone in the Dark.

Loosely based on the legendary video game series, often regarded as the forerunner of the survival horror genre and an inspiration for such gaming giants as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, this had the potential to be something truly special.

Unfortunately it’s just a load of rubbish.

Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff turn in lacklustre performances, the CGI monsters are abysmal and there were several competing versions of the script in rotation during filming. You can absolutely tell.

Even Uwe Boll can’t defend this cinematic monstrosity, telling Entertainment Weekly in a 2011 interview: “Okay, Alone in the Dark was not good, I agree.”

Ouch.

Here’s hoping Minecraft fares much better in its jump to the big screen. Check out A Minecraft Movie for yourself, in cinemas now.

And don’t forget - you can get two free cinema tickets, every month, with a Sky Cinema subscription.