5 Movie Tie-In Video Games From The '90s Everyone Regretted Buying

Just as there is a tragic history behind video game movies, the reverse is true of video game adaptations of major Hollywood productions, a fad that was particularly prevalent in the 1990s. For every great movie tie-in game from the '90s, like "Jurassic Park" or "Aladdin," there's a lackluster title that should never have happened. These games often felt like cash-ins, quickly and shoddily made to align with a given movie's release. Many popular '90s movies that have stood the test of time have tie-in games that taint their legacies, even if most gamers have long since forgotten about them.

When it comes to the titles that we've covered in this article, it's safe to say that anyone who was excited about getting these tie-in games at the time walked away disappointed after actually playing them, no matter how much they may have loved the film in question. These tie-ins completely wasted the goodwill that fans of the movies had, taking advantage of people who wanted to play in the sandbox of their favorite films. Here are five movie tie-in video games from the '90s that everyone regretted buying.

Francis Ford Coppola brought a stylish flair to his 1992 movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula," heightening the gothic atmosphere. The following year, the movie got tie-in games for many major gaming platforms of the era, including Nintendo and Sega's home and handheld consoles. The tie-in title featured Jonathan Harker confronting Dracula and his minions in Transylvania before driving him out of London and facing him for a showdown back in Carpathia. The sad thing is that none of these versions were particularly good, with uninspired design and poor controls all around.

The Sega CD version of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" deserves special recognition for how far off the mark it landed. The game used sprites of digitized actors imposed on faux 3D backgrounds as Jonathan Harker punched and kicked his way through the forces of darkness. If the player received a game over, they were treated to an awkward full-motion video of Keanu Reeves screaming in a scene from the movie. With so many contemporary games, like Konami's successful "Castlevania" franchise, offering impressive horror-themed experiences, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" felt laughable by comparison.

1991's "Street Fighter II" catapulted fighting games into the mainstream and got its own live-action movie adaptation in 1994. This, in turn, received its own movie tie-in game for arcades and consoles titled "Street Fighter: The Movie." As opposed to the traditionally animated sprites, the game featured digitized iterations of the movie's cast playing their respective characters. The franchise's signature special movies were retained, as was the broader "Street Fighter" story, with combatants facing the villainous crime lord M. Bison.

A bizarre detour in the stunning transformation of "Street Fighter," this movie tie-in game feels just as clunky as its source material. The mechanics are awkwardly programmed compared to other contemporary titles in the franchise and the presentation feels cheap. With its digitized rendition of the playable roster, the tie-in feels more like a cheap "Mortal Kombat" knock-off than a "Street Fighter" game. Those hoping that "Street Fighter: The Movie" would at least get its accompanying fighting game right were sorely disappointed.

Both 1989's "Batman" and its 1992 sequel "Batman Returns" received fairly impressive tie-in video games adapting their respective stories. This winning streak came to an end with 1995's "Batman Forever," which was based on the film of the same name and was nowhere near as thrillingly translated. Like "Mortal Kombat," the game utilized digitized sprites of live-action actors as Batman and Robin take on waves of enemies working for Two-Face and the Riddler. Gameplay is limited to a 2D perspective, with the heroes battling each villain with a variety of moves like a fighting game.

With its shoddy presentation, including actors who don't resemble their Hollywood counterparts, "Batman Forever" was a complete disappointment. The level designs are uninspired, the combat is clumsily programmed, and the whole thing feels like a cheap rush job. The arcade game doesn't fare much better: While it boasts a slightly improved graphical display and superior sound design, the awkward combat mechanics remain. Fans of the Dark Knight had to wait a full decade for a new game that did the source material justice, with 2005's "Batman Begins" proving popular with gamers.

As far as movie tie-in games go, few are as universally beloved as 1997's "GoldenEye 007" for the Nintendo 64. The movie's sequel, "Tomorrow Never Dies," had its tie-in game go to the original PlayStation as a console exclusive release in 1999. Unlike its N64 counterpart, the PS game was a third-person shooter, with skiing and driving levels as well. The game retells the story from the movie, with James Bond and Chinese secret agent Wai Lin stopping media mogul Elliot Carver from triggering a war between Britain and China.

It's almost unfair to pit "Tomorrow Never Dies" against "GoldenEye," but the comparison was inevitable. The newer game came up lacking in virtually every way, from its poorly rendered graphics to its lack of a multiplayer mode. Even on its own merits, the game struggled to stack up to other PlayStation third-person action games like "Syphon Filter." James Bond rebounded with the underrated "The World Is Not Enough" tie-in game the following year, making "Tomorrow Never Dies" even more of an embarrassment.

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's 1992 comedy hit "Wayne's World" was adapted into a video game in 1993, coming out for every Nintendo console on the market at the time as well as the Sega Genesis and PC. The NES version of the game lets players choose between Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, each with their own moves, as they defend their show from a manipulative producer. The SNES and Sega games feature an original story, with the duo sucked into an arcade game and searching for a way to escape back to the real world.

The NES version of "Wayne's World" feels like an afterthought, both easy and quick to beat, with its simplistic level design and enemies. The SNES and Sega versions boast a better technical presentation, but the level layouts are as uninspired as the gameplay mechanics. More annoyingly, the faces of Wayne and Garth pasted onto their sprites are creepy and Wayne constantly shouts "not" whenever he gets hit, which doesn't even make sense. A head-scratching translation of the beloved slacker movie, "Wayne's World" is definitely not excellent, nor does it encourage party time.