Video game movies date back way earlier than one would think. When it comes to the West, many think aboutMortal Kombatbeing the breakthrough title that started the trend. That may have been the one to popularize it, along withStreet Fighter, but they existed in Japan before this is the point here.
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Some of these films were never fully released outside of Japan either. This means that even the most diehard of fans may have missed some of these titles. Some are good and should be localized while others are best left forgotten. Even if they didn’t release officially in the West, every movie on the list at least has a fan translation out there so nothing is off limits here.
10Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Yakuza: Like A Dragonis based ontheYakuzaseriesof games. Contrary to the name it is not based on themost recent releaseof the same name. It is instead based around the events of the first game. At this time only the second title, which released onPS2in 2006 in Japan, was out. It was directed by a fairly big name in Japan, Takashi Miike, who would adapt quite a number of games into movies.
9Ace Attorney
Ace Attorneyis based on thePhoenix Wrightgames. It follows the events of the first game mostly in regard to the opening case and the final one which tries to incriminate his rival, Miles Edgeworth, of a murder crime. It released in 2012 and Takashi Miike also directed it. This might be the most faithful adaptation which is fairly easy given the factthat this seriesis like a novel without much intricate gameplay involved.
8Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen
Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen, orSuper Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, is an anime film that released in 1986.
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It is a wild adventure forMarioand Luigi for many reasons. First of all, they are not plumbers and instead run a grocery store. It’s also an isekai anime with the two brothers falling into a TV after playing a video game. It was never officially released outside of Japan.
7Dobutsu No Mori
Dobutsu no Moriis based on theAnimal Crossinguniverse. It’s an animated movie that released in 2006. It’s basically the plot of the first game with a young girl stumbling into a village of talking animals and the hijinks that follow. It’s a cute movie filled with wondrous characters that favs I’d the game might like although it is light on the side of plot.
6Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring Of Birth
Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birthreleased in 2013. It is the first in a four part series of movies, the last of which was in 2016, all based around covering the third game’s events. UnlikePersona 4andPersona 5which got full anime seasons,Persona 3was given the movie treatment instead. That’s actually a plus because the budget on these seemed higher and thus it is more of an action packed adventure with beautiful animation.
5OneChanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad
OneChanbara: Bikini Samurai Squadreleases in 2008. It’s based on a series of games that beganon the PS2in Japan under the name ofZombie Zonein 2004. Some of the games have crossed over although they are more censored versions. Both the movie and games are all about two things: slashing zombies and showing scarily clad women. It’s very cheesy but it was successful enough to get a sequel in 2009 calledOneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers.
4Forbidden Siren
Forbidden Sirenis the name most Western fans know as justSiren. The first game released in 2004 in North America, but this is actually based on the sequel.
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Forbidden Siren 2didn’t released over here though but it did in Japan, Europe, and Australia in 2006on the PS2. It is the only game of three that never officially released in North America. This is odd considering it is an internally made Sony property.
3Gekijoban Zero
Gekijoban Zerois based on theFatal Frameseries. The film released in 2014 in Japan. The games follow traditional Japanese characters in the real world who just so happen tostumble into ghostsin one way or another. Instead of vacuuming them up like inGhostbusters, players would use a camera to make them go away. The series started in 2001 in Japan on the PS2 which caneWestwardin 2002.
2Biohazard 4D-Executer
There are an insane number ofResident Evilfilms out there from live action to animation, butBiohazard 4D-Executeris undoubtedly the rarest and most obscure of them all. That’s it only released in amusement park theaters. It’s a twenty minute movie that began airing in 2000. The story follows a group of soldiers going into the newly infected streets of Raccoon City in order to rescue Dr. Cameron and to gain her research. It is without a doubt the most obscure filmin the series.
1House Of Neko Atsume
House of Neko Atsumemight be the oddest adaptation out there. It’s based on the 2014 mobile game,Neko Atsume, which was like a cat collector simulation game. The film came out in 2017 and follows a struggling writer who moves away to a quiet house only to be bother by cats. If no one heard of this game before they might think this is just a fun slice of life movie from Japan.
