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Reader Comments (26)

Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:18PM SisypheanLife said

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I would definitely put Spider-man 2 at the top of the list. The other Spider-Man games are lackluster, but the second one really meshed the Spider-Man world with sandbox gameplay. Swinging throughout the city, diving from the tallest buildings only to swing on a line at the last second, Bruce Campbell, etc. Easily in the top 5, but my number 1.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:24PM Haohmaru said

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Willooooow! Ducktales is an awesome choice, as is Goldeneye, but I would easily place Willow over Bucky O'Hare.
TMNT II: the Arcade Game for the NES is another classic.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:34PM (Unverified) said

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Evil Dead: Regeneration was pretty fun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Dead:_Regeneration
Not "great", but solidly fun, with good voice acting by Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell. The best licensed game I've personally played.

And Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds was also pretty good. Actually the vampire fighting got quite tedious after a while, but the puzzle elements were good.

I think those are the only two licensed games I've ever played that struck me as any good.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:37PM (Unverified) said

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Oh, also Simpsons Hit and Run, a grand theft auto clone, is good.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2008 3:54PM (Unverified) said

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I'm with you on that one. I was surprised at how awesome The Simpsons: Hit & Run was. It's without a doubt the best Simpsons game ever (which isn't a terribly prestigious award). If the list was a Top 10, I could see it sneaking its way in.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:35PM MarkyB86 said

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GOLDENEYE.. I still play it to this day. The sixaxis made it feel nice on the pc until i get a real 64 controller!
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:39PM (Unverified) said

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Goldeneye. One of the best games ever. Definitely deserved the top spot.


The Simpsons Hit & Run is a very good candidate as madhat mentioned, as well as The Simpsons Road Rage. Two awesome games.

I also remember playing and loving Aladdin for the SNES when I was younger...
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:51PM TX2 said

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No mention of Wendy: Every Witch Way? or Daffy: Duck Amuck? Tsk Tsk.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 1:55PM Dave Hinkle said

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I remember being fond of Exo Squad on the Sega Genesis, as well as Death and Return of Superman.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:16PM Mr Khan said

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Do Star Wars games count as licensed games in the strictest sense? Few enough of them were released simultaneously alongside, or at least close, to the material in question, but certainly if they did, Rogue Leader would get on that list
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Posted: Dec 17th 2008 3:58PM (Unverified) said

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Yeah, I knew this would come up. I tried to stick with games that were directly tied to an at-the-time current movie or TV series (though I guess you could argue that Goldeneye came two years or so after the movie). The SNES games based on the OT were pretty good, but I'd still say the 5 games on the list outweigh them. There are a surprising amount of good licensed games that just barely got squeezed out: the original Batman for the NES and the Spiderman series for GCN come to mind. It's an unfortunate part about having a list of 5: some don't always make the cut. :(
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:31PM (Unverified) said

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You missed out Chronicles of Riddick, guys. You ought to be kicking yourselves for forgetting that one - it's easily the best licensed game ever, by a wide margin. Also, no Kingdom Hearts? It may not be based on a specific film or TV series (actually it's technically based on a whole range of different films and cartoons, with separate levels for Alice in Wonderland and so forth), but it is still a game based on a licensed brand. On the subject of Disney, I seem to remember a Mickey Mouse platformer that was really good at the time. "Magical Quest" or something? And since I'm talking about children's cartoons, how about Tiny Toon Adventures on the NES? Bit of a classic, imo.

I also think Knights of the Old Republic and Jedi Knight II are certainly good enough to qualify.

I'm sure I'll think of more.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:51PM Mr Khan said

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True, but perhaps there are certain limitations for qualifying due to the nature of the site...
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:44PM (Unverified) said

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What, no Lion King? That game kicked so much ass.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 2:44PM (Unverified) said

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I suppose Ducktales sort of stands in for any of them, but Capcom had even more wonderful Disney-based games than you mentioned (obviously there's not room for everything). I think Mickey's Magical Quest may have been the cream of the crop, though it's been years and years since I played it.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 3:40PM (Unverified) said

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Has anyone ever played Goof Troop on the Snes? I remember playing that with my cousin after school when I was younger. I loved that game.
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 1:33AM blahblah55 said

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AWESOME game. Loved it to death when I was a wee lad.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 3:51PM (Unverified) said

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TURTLES IN TIME.

Nuff said.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 6:18PM (Unverified) said

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No Turtles in Time? Epic fail.
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Posted: Dec 15th 2008 11:07PM (Unverified) said

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I'll be honest, I love the Fast and the Furious arcade games from Raw Thrills. They should be added to the list, they're great fun.
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 10:01AM Bobulous said

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Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis. Ok, I know it wasn't on any Nintendo system, but by 'eck, it were good.

If we're talking licensed games on Nintendo, then surely the Super Star Wars Trilogy on the SNES is a contender? As well as Rogue Squadron on the N64, Rouge Leader and Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast on the Gamecube. Hell, even Bounty Hunter is flawed but good. All excellent games and good uses of the Star Wars license (though the SNES trilogy was tough).

Have to pull you up on the LOTR games you mentioned, though. "The Fellowship of the Ring" was handled by Vivendi. They only had the rights to develop games based upon the books by Tolkien, which were entirely separate from the rights to produce games based on the movies. Those are held by EA, which is why their game have bits from the LOTR movies in them. Sadly, the Vivendi title is somewhat lacking, has some terrible voice acting, dull graphics and poor gameplay.

Vivendi did produce at least one other game based upon the works of Tolkien - The Hobbit, which came out on PS2. It was a sort of Zelda-esque affair. Better than the previous effort, but it still had flaws.
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 5:30PM (Unverified) said

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Two Towers definately deserved that spot, and maybe even a little higher. I spent many an hour hacking my way through that game, though for a while I was almost embarrased that I loved it so much; after all, liscensed games were supposed to suck, so I must have had no idea what I was thinking. Then I found out I wasn't the only one who adored this game.
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 6:00PM ghostlove said

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Are you my twin?!
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Posted: Dec 16th 2008 9:45PM (Unverified) said

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Thank you so much for putting Bucky O'Hare on this list. I fucking love that game.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2008 12:03AM (Unverified) said

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Like Astro Boy? I actually did a Virtually Overlooked column about it -- it may be my favorite Treasure game! http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2008/04/10/virtually-overlooked-astro-boy-omega-factor/
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Posted: Dec 17th 2008 11:10PM g00ber said

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C'mon - you totally forgot Chronicles of Riddick. By far the best one based on a movie.
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