My Personal Ranking of Video Game Adaptations (Patreon)

Yep, I'm giving my personal rankings of movies again, pretty much just because my 1979 Scifi Movies Rankings, 1980s Fantasy Movies Rankings, Post-Apocalypse Movies Rankings, Scifi Movies with "Star" in the Title, and Marvel Character Movies have proved popular.

This time, however, I am ranking television/streaming shows as well. That honestly makes the rankings much more difficult (short format vs long format is much less an apples-to-apples comparison), but since I am doing a weird category anyway (video game adaptations), I'm okay with it. Besides which, if I didn't include shows, my top 3 picks would all be excluded and that just feels wrong.

The inclusion rules are pretty loose this time. It has to be a moving picture product available in English, officially licensed (so no fan films, sorry) from a video game -- not just inspired by one. So Arcane is in, but Willy's Wonderland is out. I'm only including things based on properties that were video games before they were anything else, so no Clue or Dungeons & Dragons movies, even though there have been video games based on those. Also, no movies that adapt multiple video games as plot points, so no PIXELS.

I'm including all the direct-to-DVD/streaming movies I am aware of and have seen, but I expect I missed a few. Certainly there are a lot of Japanese and Chinese animated movies based on video games I have never seen, and likely a fair number of non-English products in general I just can't speak to.

For judging criteria, entertainment value of end product is given the most weight, smart adaptation the second most, and fidelity to the video game elements comes in a distant third (all obviously in my entirely subjective opinion).

So without further ado

From most to least liked: 

Last of Us (Series)

Fallout (Series)

Arcane (Series)

Twisted Metal (Series)

(This is the dividing line between the top 4 'great' entries, and things I thin are 'good.')

Rampage (Movie)

Mortal Kombat (1995 movie)

Werewolves Within (Movie)

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Movie)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020 movie)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023 movie)

Castlevania (Series)

Resident Evil (2002 Movie)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022 movie)

Dead Space: Aftermath (Movie)

Dead Space: Downfall (Movie)

Tomb Raider: The Adventures of Lara Croft (Series)

Ark: The Animated Series (Series)

(I consider everything above this line objectively 'good,' as entertainment, adaptations, and IP additions.)

Tomb Raider (2018 Movie)

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (Movie)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001 Movie)

Super Mario Bros. (Movie, 1993)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Movie)

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Movie)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (Movie)

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (Movie)

Hitman (2007 movie)

Silent Hill (Movie)

Warcraft (Movie)

Halo (Series)

(This is the line between things that are 'okay,' and those that are 'Flawed at best')

The Cuphead Show (Series)

Resident Evil (2022 series)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (Movie)

Resident Evil: Extinction (Movie)

Need for Speed (Movie)

Street Fighter (1994 movie -- without Raul Julia, this would be ranked much, much lower)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

Halo: Forward Unto Dawn (Web series)

Pokemon: The First Movie (Movie)

Hitman: Agent 47 (Movie. I have NO idea why this game got two movies.

Halo: Fall of Reach (Web series)

Uncharted (Movie)

Monster Hunter (Movie)

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (This isn't based on any specific Final Fantasy game, but it is adapted from the concept of Final Fantasy. I think that was a terrible decision, and this ranking reflect that.)

Pokemon the Movie 2000 (Movie. I'm not qualified to speak to the quality of the other 15 animated movies in this series, but my impression is they'd all land near here.)

(From here, I consider things some degree of 'bad.')

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (Movie)

Resident Evil: Degeneration (Movie)

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (Series)

Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie)

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Series)

Fatal Fury the Motion Picture (Movie)

Resident Evil: Death Island (Movie)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)

Resident Evil: Retribution (Movie)

Moshi Monsters: The Movie (Movie)

Dead Rising: Watchtower (Movie)

Dead Rising: Endgame (Movie)

Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (Web series)

The Adventures of Super Mario Brothers (Series)

Pac-Man (Series)

Pole Position (Series)

Borderlands (Movie)

DOA: Dead or Alive (Movie)

Mortal Kombat (2021 movie)

Doom (2005 movie)

Resident Evil: Afterlife (Movie)

Ratchet & Clank (Movie)

Assassin's Creed (Movie)

Silent Hill: Revelation (Movie)

Resident Evil: Vendetta (Movie)

(And now we go from 'bad' to 'terrible.')

Wing Commander (Movie)

The Angry Birds Movie (Movie)

Double Dragon (Movie)

The Angry Birds Movie 2 (Movie)

Resident Evil" Damnation (Movie)

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Movie)

Tekken (Movie)

Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins (Movie)

Mortal Kombat (live-action series)

Heavenly Sword (Movie)

Doom: Annihilation (Movie)

Mortal Kombat Annihilation (Movie)

Max Payne (Movie)(Note that the TRAILER for this movie promises a film halfway between The Crow and Sin City that I think I would love. This just isn't that film.)

 Gordon Chan's The King of Fighters (Movie)

Frogger (Unscripted series)

(There is a category below 'terrible,' and while it's MOSTLY Uwe Boll movis, it's not exclusively those.)

Alone in the Dark II (Movie)

House of the Dead 2 (Movie)

It Came From The Desert (Movie)

Postal (Movie. Likely, the best Uwe Boll movie. Or, 'least bad' Use Boll movie. Which is truly damning with feint praise.)

BloodRayne: The Third Reich (Movie)

BloodRayne 2: Deliverance (Movie)

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Movie)(I don't consider the sequels to this to be based on video games, but they'd all place lower on this list if I did. heck, I barely counted this as a video game adaptation, but it's right there in the title.)

Bloodrayne (Movie)

Zombie Massacre (Movie)

Dead Trigger (Movie)

Alone in the Dark (Movie)

House of the Dead (Movie)

Far Cry (Movie)

Elf Bowling: The Movie (Movie)

(Movie poster included for editorial purposes only)

Honestly, I can't believe my absolute bottom ranked video game adaptation ISN'T an Uwe Boll film., But, that's what I get for ranking these. :P

I BEAT CANCER. NOW I HAVE TO BEAT CANCER BILLS

Without the cancer bills piled up from my 18 month fight with cancer (currently in remission), I'd be in a pretty god place.

Sadly, I still need help, thanks to the American medical system.

If you are willing and able, you can pitch in here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-owen-kc-stephens-fight-cancer