DS Daily: License to thrill

by Chris Greenhough { Jul 24th 2008 at 9:00AM }

In yesterday's edition of Bury the Shovelware, Kaes dug a shallow grave for Sensory Sweep's atrocious game adaptation of Jackass. Nobody here was surprised. Throughout pretty much all of gaming's history, licensed spinoffs of anything -- be they movies, TV shows, comics, or any other non-game property -- have turned out to be utter dreck.

There are exceptions to the rule however, and it's those we want to ask you about today. Which license-based games really struck a chord with you and defied your expectations of what a movie/TV show/comic tie-in could offer? We know the DS is short on these, so we'll let you choose titles from the GBA library if you so wish -- such as this, for example.

Tags: astro-boy, dsd, iphone, jackass, psp

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

nashley @ Jul 24th 2008 9:26AM

I'd have to say Spider-Man on the gamecube. sorry, can't think of any on the ds or gba.

Nigeria: SSBB: 0731-6347-2110 @ Jul 24th 2008 9:34AM

I can't think of any for the DS. I brought Disney Friends for my cousin and she says it's ok. BUt I haven't played it myself, so...

I enjoyed Riddick on the 360, as well as Astro Boy on the GBA. The Lion King on the Mega Drive was awesome, but that's taking it well back.

Gaucho @ Jul 24th 2008 10:21AM

I'm going to say Spider-man 2 for the PS2, Batman for the NES and Batman Returns for the SNES. All three were great IMO.

travis @ Jul 24th 2008 10:37AM

TMNT for the GBA was an awesome side-scrolling fighter, maybe one of the best I ever played. Of course, the other console versions of the game were junk, but the GBA game stood out for me.

Foodie_Monster @ Jul 24th 2008 11:16AM

Any DS or GBA attempt at a licensed game sucks. There's no way around it.

I'll agree with my Argentinian friend above though, Spider-man 2 for the PS2 was definitely the best movie licensed game I've ever played.

Brittany @ Jul 24th 2008 11:26AM

I liked the 1st lego star wars, I liked (I think it was the 2nd) Ninja Turtles game for the NES....

Gaucho @ Jul 24th 2008 11:33AM

none of the ninja turtles games for the NES were based on the movies as far as I know, but Teenage mutant ninja turtles: Turtles in Time was the best turtles game of all.

Ryan Mc @ Jul 24th 2008 11:43AM

Astro Boy: Omega Factor for the GBA.

It is exactly what you want in a side-scroller: fast action, crisp controls, interesting abilities, good graphics, amazing combat. You can also upgrade everything your character can do several times over. :)

It is exactly what you want in a license: faithful to the character, tons of cameos for long-time fans, and has a great story.

I love this game to death. It also uses its level select in a cool way that weaves into the plot. Worth tracking down.

Onomah @ Jul 24th 2008 2:28PM

I second that motion. I think that if they made a DS astroboy game with the care and attention that they put into this one it would sell buckets. Of course I think that the anime has since waned in popularity once more so it won't have the whiney little kid market to tap, but still as the old saying goes : if you make it well, they will buy it. unless there are more complicated issues which would have a contrary effect.

I concede that as sayings go it's a bit wishy washy.

Ng0zT @ Jul 24th 2008 11:49AM

ClayFighter 63⅓ ftw!

BlackDogAssault @ Jul 24th 2008 1:25PM

Are you perhaps drunk? Clayfighter ain't no licensed game, bro'.

Ng0zT @ Jul 24th 2008 1:49PM

oh i thought it was...since nintendo didn't make it
and no i've been clean for 16� years :P

MrTyzik @ Jul 24th 2008 11:57AM

"Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Ugh, that was really hard to type. My family seems to enjoy the DS game. I suppose any "game show" has a chance at be coming a "game show game".

Roto13 @ Jul 24th 2008 11:58AM

Defintely Astro Boy. Definitely. That was a fantastic game.

Narcosynthesis @ Jul 24th 2008 12:23PM

on the GBA I really enjoyed TMNT, slated on pretty much all the other platforms (DS included), but the GBA version was a completely different game - a simple side scrolling beat em up which is fantastic fun to play. This one is currently in my DS case alongside the usual DS games...

I know it isn't DS/GBA, but I still rank Goldeneye on the N64 s one of the finest games ever made. Naturally pretty dated now as far as the graphics and design go, yet still one of the best games to play with a few friends on multiplayer.

Kai Wong @ Jul 24th 2008 12:42PM

SPEED RACER!

You wouldn't expect it, given how the movie kinda tanked, but the game is like F-Zero with tricks and car-fu (though that's kinda lame). Multiplayer may not have made it, but it's still a really entertaining racing game that's good for a couple of hours.

Almus @ Jul 24th 2008 3:44PM

I have to agree, I have had alot of fun with this game.

Covarr @ Jul 24th 2008 12:45PM

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was not bad on either DS or GBA. I also liked Spidey 3 on DS.

aj @ Jul 24th 2008 2:15PM

All licensed games suck. It's the immutable law of the universe.

The only ones that did not were the ones that ripped off successful formula - Batman Returns for the SNES, and the Ninja Turtles games on the NES - because those were just your garden variety 2D beat-em-ups. There is no way in hell to make those not fun.

But these days, with your fancy graphics and technology, it's so easy to take an idea and just crap all over it.

Remember Superman 64? REMEMBER?

Onomah @ Jul 24th 2008 2:31PM

I try not to, every day I try not to.
sometimes I wake up at night gasping and drenched in sweat and I reach for a Gamecube controller to play spider-man 2. Just...don't mention that game again okay? please? can't believe I wasted my birthday money on that...

That Fuzzy Bastard @ Jul 24th 2008 4:01PM

Astro Boy for GBA, yes. Spider-man 2 for Xbox/PS2/GC, yes.

For the DS, it's tougher, but... Over the Hedge is actually a very good time. It's short, and derivative, but a kids' title that isn't a platformer gets points from me, and a kids' title that borrows from Metal Gear gets major points.

Note that this does not apply to Hammy Goes Nuts, which looks pretty mediocre.

aber @ Jul 24th 2008 9:22PM

To say that all licensed games are trash is simply ignorant. While the vast majority are, there have been bright spots. As many have mentioned, Astro Boy & TMNT stand out for the GBA (My kid also SWEARS by the Ham-Ham games for the GBA too). For the DS, Balls of Fury wasn't that bad, and neither was For the PS2, Peter Jackson's King Kong was good, as were the Lego Star Wars games (not to mention the Battleground games) and the recently released Wall-E is decent. My daughter played the absolute shite out of the PS2 NeoPets game as well. It's all a matter of picking the right game play genre to take the game in (very few licensed titles offer original game play) and how well they execute it.

Going back further, in the 8 & 16-bit days, there was actually a much higher percentage of quality licensed titles (Duck Tales, Goonies II, GI Joe 1 & 2, plus all the other titles already mentioned for just the NES alone for example). Unfortunately, garbage titles constantly over shadow the good games, which is nothing new if you remember Total Recall for the NES or even ET for the 2600 if you want to go back 25 years =)

Kenny @ Jul 24th 2008 11:22PM

The Godfather: Blackhand edition for Wii was an awesome game. It's very fun. It's like GTA except in the 1950's, lol.

Robert Baldwin @ Jul 25th 2008 2:05AM

Transformers was really fun for me, but I am kinda biased towards TF to begin with.
Jump Superstars was quite fun.
Bleach The Blade of Fate is pretty fun too. I think that covers the bases of the licensed games that I've actually played for the DS and would recommend.
And Astroboy is one of the best games for the Advance.

Power Rangers for Game Gear was awesome, and I'm waiting for another Power Ranger game to live up to or surpass that. Super Legends, while okay, is not it.

Hmm, I need to work on the other cases for Harvey Birdman for the Wii, as the first case plays like an episode of the show.