Is the era of the bad video game adaptation finally over? There have been enough great movies and TV shows over the past few years to suggest that the curse has been lifted. Gone are the days of mediocre Tomb Raider films being as good as we had it and live-action Mario movies haunting our collective nightmares. For clarity, this is separate from our older Best Video Game Movies list, which you can check out here if you so wish. From Netflix animations to live-action survival horrors, here are what we think are the 10 best video game movies and TV shows.
Veteran British actor Bill Nighy voicing the equally legendary Mewtwo is just one of the reasons why Pokemon Detective Pikachu is an enjoyable time. Tim (Justice Smith) and Lucy’s (Kathryn Newton) adventure to find the former’s missing father unravels a mystery worthy of this world’s greatest detective. Voiced with charm by Ryan Reynolds, Detective Pikachu is just the pocket monster for the job, as he leads us through Ryme City and a view into the world of Pokemon as we’ve never seen before.
Few games have as flashy action as Capcom’s Devil May Cry does, so it’s no surprise that the Netflix series based on the games has some of the sharpest animation seen on the platform. Demon hunter Dante is tasked with keeping the Earth safe from the Hellish threats lurking in a neighboring realm, and stylishly unloads thousands of bullets doing so. Season 1 builds up to a truly bonkers finale of the sort the source material demands, as Hoon Lee’s villainous White Rabbit steals the show, while 2026’s second season shines the spotlight on the enigmatic Vergil. It’s never subtle, but certainly entertaining, even if it’s not the best Netflix adaptation on our list.
If at the turn of the century you’d have told us that Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves were starring in a movie together, we would have been very excited. If you’d then told us that they’d be playing Dr Robotnik and Shadow the Hedgehog, we’d have been confused, but likely still excited. The fact that the Sonic films are seemingly the only ones that can coax Carrey out of retirement will always be confusing, but we’re not complaining too much when the third of this trilogy has given us some of his best work in a long time. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the best of a series that only seems to be getting better over time, as they up the stakes, absurdity, and quality of Ben Schwartz’s loveable blue blur’s adventures with each outing.
A prestige TV adaptation of The Last of Us always felt inevitable. The original game is very much structured like a show, after all. And when it comes to the first season of HBO’s series, that destiny looked to be one fulfilled to great success, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey slotting into the shoes of beloved characters Joel and Ellie. If it had stopped there, you’d likely see this show near the very top of this list. But following an uneven retelling of the, admittedly, much more complex source material that is The Last of Us Part 2, the jury remains out on whether it will be able to do the full story justice by the time the series finishes. Still, there’s no denying the quality of the production on show, with that first season’s journey across a post-apocalyptic America providing some of the best moments, and episodes, of television of the past few years.
Quantity over quality would’ve been the way most described Resident Evil’s big-screen efforts of the past. Then Zach Cregger arrived. The Weapons and Barbarian director took the essence of what has made Capcom’s survival horror series so enduring and translated it into 90 minutes of non-stop action. Each and every moment of its riveting runtime is aimed at provoking an instinctive reaction from us, whether that be to laugh or scream, sometimes managing to do both within seconds of each other. Bryan’s evening from hell through Raccoon City encapsulates what it’s like to play through one of the games in a way that none of the previous attempts ever did. It’s scary. It’s funny. It’s absurd. It’s Resident Evil.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes Night City’s streets from the 2020 RPG and tells a moving tale that’s as resonant as its striking animation. Yes, it’s all based on Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop game, widely considered a keystone of the genre, but this is a TV show based as much on CD Projekt’s creation as anything, with whole city blocks and characters redrawn in this prequel. In some ways, it delivers the title’s themes in a manner that’s even stronger than in the game, thanks to how well-realised its lead, David, and the characters that surround him are. It’s wonderfully additive to CD Projekt’s world — an extension of a place so many of us have gotten lost in, but seen through different eyes.
Netflix’s Castlevania series was consistently fantastic over its four-season run, elevating the storytelling ability of the games and giving a new dimensionality to characters that had previously been built with gameplay first in mind. It deliciously plays in the grey areas between good and evil, with varying factions and motivations all in play up until its satisfying conclusion. Borrowing from the Game of Thrones playbook of never letting any character feel safe from their fate, it’s a thrilling interpretation of the Konami series, and a trailblazer when it comes to what’s possible with video game adaptations.
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