Call them game-izations — blip-and-blast versions of movies for the joystick set. Of course, something gets lost in the translation from big screen to game screen: plot, characters, credits for best boy. Here's how some flicks compare with their offshoots.
ALIEN 3
The Game: Where the movie had
no armament and only one full-grown monster, this game has an
armed-to-her-teeth Ripley racing against time to smoke hordes of
fanged critters. A-
The Movie: Has convicts, lice, artistic pretensions, muddy
cinematography, a boyfriend for Ripley, hokey symbolism, and — most
important — no way to win.
BATMAN RETURNS
The Game: Forget about
the tortured dualities of good and evil — this is a rousing, jump
and-shoot-action game, whose main links with the movie are in its
dark backgrounds and Tim Burton-inspired character design. A
The Movie: Has Michelle Pfeiffer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michelle
Pfeiffer.
HOOK
The Game: Peter Pan
tries to rediscover his inner child by hacking his way through the
usual assortment of bad guys. One plus: gorgeous green-and-gold
backgrounds that are truer to real life than the movie's overstuffed
sets. B-
The Movie: Has Dustin Hoffman's snide snob of a Hook, Bob Hoskins
as Smee, a food fight, a sledgehammer-subtle message about the purity
of childhood, expensive and immobile ship set.
ROBOCOP 3
The Game: Since we've not
yet seen the movie, here's what we learn from the game: RoboCop
stalks the streets of Old Detroit, coming undewr more combined
firepower than an Orion Pictures shareholder. C+
The Movie: Has — who knows?
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
The Game: Universal in name only, this is very reminiscent of a mediocre action
game called Turrican, featuring the kind of dinky enemies that have
plagued the genre for years, as well as a hero who curls up into a
buzzing circular saw. It's still no worse than the movies it has
absolutely nothing to do with. D+
The Movie: Has the worst actor in action movies (Jean-Claude Van
Damme) and the best actor in action movies (Dolph Lundgren).
Interesting Terminator-retread production design. Real fake blood.
