Video games have a long history of adapting movies and TV shows, especially the animated ones. Even back in the 80s games like DuckTales for NES were doing quite well, and things only started slowing down in the last 10-15 years, perhaps.
Often the games were of debatable quality, obviously made quickly to cash in on the popular thing, but every now and then we’d get something remarkable.
And you don’t even need an old console to play them, because some of the best cartoon and animated movies adaptations are quite modern! Let’s take a look at a few, shall we?
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | Sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | South Park: Snow Day! | 2024-03-26 | Adventure | Question Games | 63% |
 | South Park The Stick Of Truth | 2014-03-06 | Adventure | Obsidian Entertainment | 76% |
 | Lego Star Wars III The Clone Wars | 2011-03-22 | Adventure | Traveller's Tales | 84% |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Cowabunga Collection | 2022-08-30 | Action | Digital Eclipse | 69% |
 | South Park The Fractured But Whole Gold Edition | 2017-10-16 | RPG | Ubisoft San Francisco | 54% |
 | Disney Epic Mickey 2 The Power Of Two | 2012-11-18 | Adventure | Junction Point Studios | 86% |
 | Ducktales Remastered | 2013-08-13 | Arcade & Platform | CAPCOM | 69% |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredders Revenge | 2022-06-16 | Action | Tribute Games Inc. | 43% |
 | Samurai Jack Battle Through Time | 2020-08-21 | Adventure | Soleil Ltd. | |
 | Spongebob Squarepants The Cosmic Shake | 2023-01-31 | Adventure | Purple Lamp | 95% |
 | Spongebob Squarepants Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated | 2020-06-23 | Adventure | Purple Lamp | 80% |
 | Adventure Time Pirates Of The Enchiridion | 2018-07-17 | Adventure | Climax Studios | 84% |
 | Scooby Doo Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe Adventure | 2014-07-16 | Adventure | WayForward | 88% |
Re-animated classics
There are few animated…anything with a bigger cultural weight than Disney movies, and, consequently, there were quite a few video game adaptations of them. However, none of them ever rose to the level of quality, flair, and just sheer weirdness achieved by the Kingdom Hearts series.
Currently up to three main instalments and an incalculable number of incomprehensibly named spin-offs, Kingdom Hearts merges the realities or Final Fantasy, Disney worlds (like Frozen, Toy Story, etc.) with some of its own lore and ideas. It’s super weird, but going on adventures alongside Goofy and Donald is a one-of-a-kind experience.
On a somewhat different level of classicism, there’s a neat little old-school game called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. TMNT is an all time-classic and has been for nearly 50 years, with comic books, live action movies, and, indeed, many animated shows.
This game is strongly inspired by the one from the 80s, which is fondly remembered by many of the older millennials. It’s a beat’em up starring all four turtle bros and three of their stalwart allies, and its co-op mode can handle up to six players at once!
Not bad for a game which looks like a SNES survivor (in the best way possible).
Cartoons for the young and old alike
Lovely Disney classics and action-packed toy commercials aren’t the only children’s animations turned into game. Take, for example, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake which adapts the long-running, extremely silly, Nickelodeon show about a bunch of sea creatures and a squirrel. Including the titular sponge, who famously lives in a pineapple under the sea.
Cosmic Shake is a 3D action-platform game, which has SpongeBob chasing magical baubles and saving friends across many diverse locations.
On the other side of the spectrum is Multiversus, a platform fighter in the vein of Smash Bros. Instead of various Nintendo characters it features contestants taken from the vast catalogues controlled by Warner Bros.
Indeed, you can see Shaggy join forces with Superman to beat the snot out of Jake the Dog and Bugs Bunny. It’s pretty wild, but very entertaining, with quite a few fan favourites for kids and adults alike.
Something for an overall older audience
It’s not only kids that get to enjoy cartoons, of course, but some animations are specifically meant for a teen, or even an adult audience. No, not like that. For example, Samurai Jack, a legendary action series from Genndy Tartakovsky, looks like a child-friendly enough show at first glance, but the style of violence, themes, and even the pacing can be better suited for teens at least.
South Park: the Stick of Truth, on the other hand, is something that’s definitely not recommended for anyone other than adults. Based on the famous cartoon, it features humour ranging from simple jokes to fecal and graphically sexual gags.
If this sounds like something in your wheelhouse, you’re in for a great RPG with turn-based battles and a story riffing on various game and fantasy tropes, as the titular town is consumed by a chaotic Live Action Role-Playing game.
Animated Assets
These are just a few notable examples of cartoons and animated movies being adapted to video games, especially if you expand your search parameters to also include anime. This niche is rich and varied, and despite the uneven quality, it still has had a much greater success rate than game adaptations of live action productions.