Every gamer that ever played knows the unique agony that accompanies falling at the final hurdle. Whether that means popping your clogs within sight of a checkpoint or being brutalised by a near-dead boss monster - gamers know that no defeat hurts worse than that which was so very nearly a victory. At times, managing your hype for an upcoming game can feel little 'game-like' in and of itself. And just like a game, the prospective title that tests our patience, only to disappear mere weeks from release always stings that much more.

Today's big list of stuff looks at ten games that made it all the way to within spitting distance of release, only for outside factors to quash their drop. Some are sure to inspire a profound sense of longing, while others remain fairly unknown - some deservedly, others less so. These then, are ten titles we oh-so nearly came to play. Enjoy.

What? - A massively multiplayer RTS title set within the Dune universe. Players would have chosen between three dynastic groups - the soldiers, traders or mercenaries - and proceeded to carve out their own small empire on Arrakis. Interestingly, the game wasn't to be helmed by Westwood Studios (they of Dune 2 fame), but rather by their predecessors at Cryo Interactive, i.e. the same team that produced the Dune adventure game.

When? - Work on the project was shut down during the title's alpha testing phase, in which a functioning build of the game is put through its paces. Hardly the finished product, but with the vast majority of its workload now behind it

Why? - Developer Cryo Interactive entered bankruptcy in July of 2002. The studio had previously bet big on the success of its other Dune-related property - a third-person action title named Frank Herbert's Dune. Sadly, the game flopped, ultimately costing the studio the opportunity to complete its more ambitious MMO cousin.

What? - A third-person action-RPG similar in many respects to the Mass Effect franchise. In addition, the game was also said to feature a heavy emphasis on base building, forcing players to scout out an infested structure in order to toughen up their stronghold. Think of it as a quasi-survival sim, akin to the central predicament of the second Alien film. Oh, and just to add insult to injury, the game was also being developed by genre stalwarts Obsidian, creators of Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity and South Park: The Stick of Truth. Yeah, it was probably going to be good…

When? - Obsidian's Feargus Urquhart has stated that Crucible was in such an advanced state that it almost appeared ready to release. His colleague Chris Avellone took a slightly less advanced view of the project, arguing that the title only appeared so close to completion because of special efforts made to debut a demo. In either case, Crucible was undoubtedly well into development by the time Sega pulled the plug.

Why? - Sega decided to de-clutter its portfolio -meaning either that the game was costing too much to maintain value, or that the publisher was worried about overexposure. Whatever the reason, Crucible ended up canned. A shoddy stroke of luck for any developer, but one made infinitely more aggravating by the titles Sega chose to press ahead with. 2010's AVP proved to be a thoroughly average adventure, whilst the less said about Aliens: Colonial Marines, the better. Bad call Sega.

What? - An enormous team-based multiplayer title set within the Star Wars universe. Unannounced and unreleased, details on the game remain sketchy, however a small number of interesting titbits have emerged. With Pandemic Studios choosing to move on, development duties passed to Free Radical Design - home to the outrageously entertaining TimeSplitters series. Leaked pre-alpha footage indicates that the studio was working on a fully-fledged storyline, disparate elements of which may have been repackaged into the PSP exclusive Elite Squadron.

When? - According to Free Radical founder Steve Ellis, Battlefront 3 was 99% complete when LucasArts jettisoned the project. An anonymous source would later claim that the figure actually stood at around 75%, prompting Ellis to publically deny the allegation.

Why? - Prior to its acquisition and subsequent shutdown by Disney, LucasArts had commenced upon a widespread company shakeup. As Ellis and co-founder David Doak tell it, Free Radical went from being told to 'think bigger', to cutting back every conceivable cost. Doak would even go so far as to name the project's second set of executives as "psychopaths", intent on the franchise's failure. According to Ellis, the official reason given for the game's cancellation was a lack of necessary marketing funds. The anonymous source meanwhile claimed that the studio had repeatedly missed deadlines and was even redistributing assets onto its other projects.

What? - An ambitious MMORPG project announced back in 2002. Developed by Level-5 (of Dark Cloud and Ni No Kuni fame) True Fantasy Live Online was designed to take advantage of a then-fledgling Xbox Live. Servers would have held around 3000 players apiece, with fully-integrated voice chat between parties.

When? - Level-5 President Akihiro Hino stated that "the world of TFLO was already complete" at the time of the game's shock cancellation. The title was scheduled to enter Beta testing soon thereafter, with a speculative Japanese release date of autumn, 2004.

Why? - Despite its advanced state of completion, TFLO failed to live up to Microsoft's standards. Several overly ambitious features, including widespread voice chat proved tricky to accomplish, fraying relations between the developer and its publisher. Given that the game had already received plenty of positive buzz, TFLO might well have transformed the fortunes of the Xbox brand in Japan. As it is, the game would wind up as a painful reminder of MS's failure to crack that market.

What? - A controversial 4-player beat-em-up title. Thrill Kill combined Mortal Kombat with Manhunt, boasting blood and guts gameplay alongside fetishistic visuals.

When? - Thrill Kill was completed and ready to ship.

Why? Having acquired the property as part of its takeover of the Virgin US label, EA opted to cancel Thrill Kill's release. It was felt that the game's deliberately controversial nature jarred with that of the EA brand. In addition, the company also forbid the title to be sold on to any other publisher, effectively killing off the game. Fortunately for fans, the finished title was soon leaked online, making it one of the more readily available games of that sort. Activision would later utilise the Thrill Kill's engine to create Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, X-Men: Mutant Academy and its sequel Mutant Academy 2.

What? - Remember the Gizmondo - Tiger Telematics' failed attempt to crack the handheld market? Colors was to be that machine's first 'killer app' - a gang-based third-person shooter with GPS player location. Strangely, the game also allowed players to indulge in seedy prison sex (participants would receive early release)… I just can't imagine why it didn't succeed.

When? - Leaked copies of the game suggest that Colors was all-but complete at the time of its cancellation.

Why? - The Gizmondo became the worst-selling handheld of all time, bankrupting Tiger Telematics and putting and immediate stop to all games then in development.

What? - A tactical action game boasting numerous RPG elements. Black9 took its inspiration from the Deus Ex series, positing a cyberpunk world divided between warring cartels. Former Taldren Inc. developer Erin Hoffman argued that the game was so very "special", that it may even have changed the lives of a small portion of its players. High praise indeed then.

When? - Hoffman stated that the game was around 85% complete at the time of its cancellation.

Why? - According to several parties involved in the Black9 project, publisher Majesco proved to be an overly demanding and highly unprofessional partner. Having already released two commercial flops - including the critically acclaimed Pyschonauts and the supposed franchise starter Advent Rising - Majesco was beginning to feel the pinch. They in turn put to squeeze onto Taldren, demanding 'crunch time' level working hours throughout the entire life of the project. Hoffman claims that the studio rallied to hit these targets but was still denied promised funding. Later, - again according to Hoffman - two programmers were surreptitiously 'lent' to the project so as to steal the game's source code. This was allegedly done in order turn the game - a property wholly owned by Taldren Inc. - over to a brand new developer. With the near-complete title in its possession, Majesco would then attempt to lure key personnel away from the studio, at which point the team chose to shut its doors rather than to let Majesco win. Later, many of the Majesco executives involved in the Black9 botch were ousted by the company's shareholders, with Hoffman herself describing the modern publisher as 'a very different company'.

What? - A realistic, tactical FPS based on the Second Battle of Fallujah, aka the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war. Developer Atomic Games intended to create what might best be described as a 'survival-terror' game, in which the player never feels wholly safe from attack. Long stretches of agonising tension would be broken up by moments of breathless, violent confrontation, echoing the real-life experiences of many soldiers involved in the battle.

When? - An 'insider source' speaking to IGN claimed that work on the game was completed sometime in late 2009/ early 2010.

Why? - Given the recent nature of the events depicted, many commentators found the game to be in poor taste. When word of this controversy reached publisher Konami the company responded by dropping the project entirely. Atomic Games was subsequently unable to secure a new publisher and later released a large number of its staff. However, studio president Peter Tamte remains committed to the project, confirming that 6 Days was still in development as recently as 2012. The game's current status is unknown.

What? - After 16 years of annual releases, EA opted to retire its NBA franchise in 2011. However, just two years later the brand was back.

When? - EA's big comeback made it to the figurative post-season before being abruptly cancelled just weeks ahead of its proposed release.

Why? - EA exec Andrew Wilson stated that the game was simply not ready enough to hit its scheduled release date. Instead the company would take another year to develop a truly "great" experience. NBA Live 14 went on to receive some of the worst review scores in series history. Ouch.

What? - A sprawling space-based FPS title. Human Head's vision for the game featured an amnesiac U.S. Marshall named Killian Samuels - abducted from the earth and now plying his trade as a galactic bounty hunter.

When? - Former Human Head developer Jason Blair described the title as a 'full game', denying claims made by publisher Bethesda that Prey 2 was merely "a demo" at the time of its cancellation. Project Director Chris Rhinehart has also stated that the title was close to reaching its alpha stage, with most of the game's major elements already in place.

Why? - How long have you got? The saga of Prey 2 is a sad, strange and complicated one, so let's just stick to Human Head's involvement. Having developed the first game in the series, HH teamed up with Bethesda Softworks to publish its ambitious sequel. However, by 2013 the developer had been completely removed from the project, with Bethesda citing an overall lack of quality for the shuffle. For its part, the scorned studio remained proud of its efforts on the game, with many senior devs pointing to internal politics as reason for the changeover. Prey 2 was officially confirmed cancelled in October, 2014.

I'd say video game movies get a bad rap for being subpar cinema, but the honest truth is that video game movies are pretty goddamn awful most of the time. That reputation makes it hard to greet the .

But, true as that may be, it doesn't do much good to wallow in misery. We can spend our time lamenting the most rotten of the game movie crop, or we can turn away from the worst and focus on game-based films that are worth signing into Netflix over. Yes, I choose to be optimistic and think about the best video game feature films, even the ones that only made it to DVD. They aren't perfect, and they may make proper film buffs scoff, but each has a special something that makes microwaving another bag of popcorn worthwhile.

DOA: Dead or Alive wasn’t exactly set up for success. It was released straight-to-DVD in the United States, though it deserved a full theatrical release over some other video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham). The story's what you'd expect from a fighting game franchise: combatants from around the world are invited to participate in a secret martial arts tournament where things are not what they seem.

It's a weak premise to be sure, but DOA neither needs nor wants to be deep and affecting cinema. It's a pure popcorn flick from start to finish, with cheesy dialogue and exaggerated fight scenes that make for some stellar so-bad-it's-good comedy. Plus, the fact that allies can instantly become enemies if their names are drawn out of a figurative hat of death pumps some juice into an otherwise stale formula, and actually gives an explanation for why everyone in the DOA universe is constantly kicking the crap out of one another.

Max Payne is a movie that dreams of being Sin City when it grows up, from the neo-noir setting to its oppressive, shadowy visuals. You could say that much of that style comes from the Max Payne video games, but Max Payne the movie uses its roots as a segue rather than a foundation, turning it into a straight-up private-eye thriller.

Of course, losing the more game-centric aspects of Payne's vendetta means the film misses out on bullet-time physics and comic-inspired visuals, which is a big part of what made Max's exploits so good in the first place. The film's plot feels almost entirely removed from all but the basic parts of the Payne mythology, so there isn't much for fans here. Still, it latches onto the grittiness of Payne first and foremost, making it perfect if you're looking for a mystery marinating in dark action. If that's your jam, make sure to grab a copy of the Unrated edition, as things were toned down for theatrical release - the exact opposite of what Max Payne should be.

If you’re dying for a movie that juxtaposes excellent fight choreography and flashy CG with Ben Kingsley sighing internally for 116 minutes, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time better be in your shopping cart of choice. A loose retelling of the first game, The Sands of Time is filled with great action sequences and expert use of special effects for the sands’ time-warping properties, both of which make up for its so-so storytelling.

The elephant in the room is that none of the actors for the main characters are Persian, and the whitewashed cast is definitely a distraction. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton's performances are decent enough though, with Gyllenhaal in particular channeling the Prince's struggles from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones into a faithful portrayal. Don't go in expecting Shakespeare, but if you're craving impressive fight scenes and sand-related magic, this won't be a waste of time.

The first in a series of films based on Capcom's seminal zombie franchise, Resident Evil is a fun horror flick that knows where to focus its energy. It doesn’t follow the story of the games, which can be impenetrable for non-fans, and would've been diminished if it was simplified for mainstream audiences anyway. Instead, RE follows new protagonist Alice (played by the lovely Milla Jovovich) and a group of Umbrella Corporation soldiers as they work to contain the outbreak of the T-Virus.

Alice’s main opposition isn’t the virus itself, but rather the AI with a doomsday protocol, using its automated systems to exterminate the virus by killing everyone inside. This tech makes for one of the best gore scenes in horror history, as characters are sliced and diced by malevolent machinery in a shower of gore. The plot gets squashed to make room for all that violence and action, and tends to drag when it does get attention, but if gratuitous gore and fantastic gunplay are all you care about, Alice is a worthwhile stand-in for RE's iconic, zombie-slaughtering protagonists.

It's Suicide Squad with an Arkham twist, dressed up like Batman: The Animated Series - and all of those things turn out just as good as they sound. Taking place two years before Arkham Asylum, Assault on Arkham focuses of the dysfunctional adventures of the Rogue Gallery's pinch hitters as they're forced to break into Arkham on the orders of Amanda Walker. Like I said, it's with a few different faces.

Even if you haven't played the games (or scored every Riddler trophy), Assault on Arkham can stand on its own, with the sort of impressive animation and framing that's characterized most of DC's animated features in recent years. That said, it's heavy on fan service and light on explanation, so if you walk into this one with no Batman knowledge you're going to come out very confused. But for a film aimed squarely at building another piece of the Batman mythos into the Arkham series, Assault on Arkham it gets the job done by any means necessary (which includes exploding heads).

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was right to put Lara's name first, because that's what the movie's really about: the spelunking heroine of video game legend, and everything else is secondary. Angelina Jolie is the perfect actress to fill Lara's combat boots, and her action hero chops have made her virtually inseparable from old-school Lara in the minds of many moviegoers. Tomb Raider is an action-packed popcorn flick through and through, with excellent choreography and magnificently ridiculous fight sequences; Jolie's performance is the hot, buttery magic on top.

That doesn't translate to Tomb Raider being a good movie - the story is bare-bones at best, and when the movie does attempt to foster an emotional core through Lara's feelings about her dead father, it's painful in all the wrong ways. But don't worry about that - Lara just sliced a robot open with its own blade arms and popped her party mix into its disc drive, and you don't want to miss another second.

Before taking the helm on the Resident Evil movies, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, one of the first video game movies that managed to appeal to a mainstream audience while faithfully adhering to its source material. The film follows the saga started by the evil Shang Tsung and his plot to destroy Earthrealm (i.e. Earth); the exaggerated fight moves of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang are the only thing that can stop him. It's incredibly cheesy in proper early '90s fashion (with all the bad hair and leather to boot), but commits to the premise so sincerely that it's hard not to love.

The quirky nature of the film fits right in with the characters themselves, who are constantly cracking jokes and switching between increasingly ridiculous outfits. Its fight scenes are genuinely exciting, made even better by regular overacting, and both capture the spirit of Mortal Kombat even without the gut-churning Fatalities. While Hollywood tried to bottle lightning again in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, it lacked the goofy soul it needed to succeed. In a battle between the two, the original Mortal Kombat scores a flawless victory.

Capturing the scale of Bayonetta's battles is hard to do on film, and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate never really gets there. Even though it's replete with explosive battles and outrageously campy action, the anime interpretation it feels toned down in comparison to the game, with a lot of stylized close-ups and music that has nowhere near the peppiness of . But as different as Bloody Fate might feel from its source material, it's still good enough to stand on its own, and that's not half bad for a video game film.

Through gorgeous animation that uses its bold color scheme as a storytelling tool, Bloody Fate recounts a simplified version of Bayonetta's tale, which is easier to make sense of when it's actually explained. Unlike other game adaptations that demand a thorough understanding of the original game from the start, Bloody Fate is a workable stand-in for the original game. You won't have to know anything about the seductive witch ahead of time to get the jist of what's happening, letting you enjoy the gleeful carnage on its own, beautifully rendered merits. Now if only they'd they'd give Bayonetta 2 the same treatment (no Wii U necessary).

Advent Children is the ultimate in fan service, and it's not sorry. The impatiently awaited sequel to Final Fantasy 7, Advent Children comes bearing a plot that you need , some diagrams, and a ton of red string to properly understand. Yet its stellar cinematography makes much of its narrative incoherence forgivable, and once you actually sort out what's happening, it's the perfect story for those in need of an FF7 fix.

Here are the broad strokes: two years after the end of FF7, three Sephiroth clones show up and start all sorts of trouble, so the gang has to get back together to stop them (and help Cloud get over his re-emerging survivor's guilt over Aerith's death). That's about all the explanation the movie offers up, which leads to a lot of head-scratching moments when the characters' motivations don't stretch farther than the next fight scene. But man are those fight scenes amazing: varied and gorgeous enough to stay interesting despite their frequency, with bits of character development in between that'll leave any FF7's fan's heart a-pattering. Dress it up with full CG that still look fantastic ten years later, and you've got a solid gift for the fans that doesn't need to make sense to be enjoyable.

Striking a balance between loyalty to the source material, mass appeal, and good filmmaking is biggest hurdle for any video game movie, and very few manage to keep one aspect from overwhelming the others. Silent Hill isn't perfect in that regard (it’s no stranger to cheap horror gimmicks and clichés, for instance), but it's gotten closer than any other game movie to date. It takes what made Silent Hill so terrifying in the first place and captures it on film, feeding off that same fear that made the game successful so many years before.

Reimagining the story of Silent Hill with a female lead named Rose, the Silent Hill movie pulls from the game's otherworldly horror for its visuals and iconography, incorporating series touchstones like the cultish Order, psychic child Alyssa Gillespie, and nightmarish monsters at every turn (including Pyramid Head in one of the movie's best scenes). Most importantly, it doesn't shy away from the grotesque imagery that makes Silent Hill so affecting, so you never get the sense that it's been sanitized for Hollywood. It even takes things a bit too far at the end, so get ready to cover your eyes.

I'd say video game movies get a bad rap for being subpar cinema, but the honest truth is that video game movies are pretty goddamn awful most of the time. That reputation makes it hard to greet the .

But, true as that may be, it doesn't do much good to wallow in misery. We can spend our time lamenting the most rotten of the game movie crop, or we can turn away from the worst and focus on game-based films that are worth signing into Netflix over. Yes, I choose to be optimistic and think about the best video game feature films, even the ones that only made it to DVD. They aren't perfect, and they may make proper film buffs scoff, but each has a special something that makes microwaving another bag of popcorn worthwhile.

Comprised of a little-known cast, DOA: Dead or Alive wasn’t exactly set up for success. It was released straight-to-DVD in the United States, though it deserved a full theatrical release over some other video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham). The story's what you'd expect from a fighting game franchise: combatants from around the world are invited to participate in a secret martial arts tournament where things are not what they seem.

It's a weak premise to be sure, but DOA neither needs nor wants to be deep and affecting cinema. It's a pure popcorn flick from start to finish, with cheesy dialogue and exaggerated fight scenes that make for some stellar so-bad-it's-good comedy. Plus, the fact that allies can instantly become enemies if their names are drawn out of a figurative hat of death pumps some juice into an otherwise stale formula, and actually gives an explanation for why everyone in the DOA universe is constantly kicking the crap out of one another.

Max Payne is a movie that dreams of being Sin City when it grows up, from the neo-noir setting to its oppressive, shadowy visuals. You could say that much of that style comes from the Max Payne video games, but Max Payne the movie uses its roots as a segue rather than a foundation, turning it into a straight-up private-eye thriller.

Of course, losing the more game-centric aspects of Payne's vendetta means the film misses out on bullet-time physics and comic-inspired visuals, which is a big part of what made Max's exploits so good in the first place. The film's plot feels almost entirely removed from all by the basic parts of the Payne mythology, so there isn't much for fans here. Still, it latches onto the grittiness of Payne first and foremost, making it perfect if you're looking for a mystery marinating in dark action. But if that's your jam, make sure to grab a copy of the Unrated edition, as things were toned down for theatrical release - the exact opposite of what Max Payne should be.

If you’re dying for a movie that juxtaposes excellent fight choreography and flashy CG with Ben Kingsley sighing internally for 116 minutes, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time better be in your shopping cart of choice. A loose retelling of the first game, The Sands of Time is filled with great action sequences and expert use of special effects for the sands’ time-warping properties, both of which make up for its so-so storytelling.

The elephant in the room is that none of the actors for the main characters are Persian, and the whitewashed cast is definitely a distraction. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton's performances are decent enough though, with Gyllenhaal in particular channeling the Prince's struggles from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones into a faithful portrayal. Don't go in expecting Shakespeare, but if you're craving impressive fight scenes and sand-related magic, this won't be a waste of time.

The first in a series of films based on Capcom's seminal zombie franchise, Resident Evil is a fun horror flick that knows where to focus its energy. It doesn’t follow the story of the games, which can be impenetrable for non-fans, and would've been diminished if it was simplified for mainstream audiences anyway. Instead, RE follows new protagonist Alice (played by the lovely Milla Jovovich) and a group of Umbrella Corporation soldiers as they work to contain the outbreak of the T-Virus.

Alice’s main opposition isn’t the virus itself, but rather the AI with a doomsday protocol, using its automated systems to exterminate the virus by killing everyone inside. This tech makes for one of the best gore scenes in horror history, as characters are sliced and diced by malevolent machinery in a shower of gore. The plot gets squashed to make room for all that violence and action, and tends to drag when it does get attention, but if gratuitous gore and fantastic gunplay are all you care about, Alice is a worthwhile stand-in for RE's iconic, zombie-slaughtering protagonists.

It's Suicide Squad with an Arkham twist, dressed up like Batman: The Animated Series - and all of those things turn out just as good as they sound. Taking place two years before Arkham Asylum, Assault on Arkham focuses of the dysfunctional adventures of the Rogue Gallery's pinch hitters as they're forced to break into Arkham on the orders of Amanda Walker. Like I said, it's with a few different faces.

Even if you haven't played the games (or scored every Riddler trophy), Assault on Arkham can stand on its own, with the sort of impressive animation and framing that's characterized most of DC's animated features in recent years. That said, it's heavy on fan service and light on explanation, so if you walk into this one with no Batman knowledge you're going to come out very confused. But for a film aimed squarely at building another piece of the Batman mythos into the Arkham series, Assault on Arkham it gets the job done by any means necessary (which includes exploding heads).

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was right to put Lara's name first, because that's what the movie's really about: the spelunking heroine of video game legend. Angelina Jolie is the perfect actress to fill Lara's combat boots, and her action hero chops have made her virtually inseparable from old-school Lara in the minds of many moviegoers. Tomb Raider is an action-packed popcorn flick through and through, with excellent choreography and magnificently ridiculous fight sequences; Jolie's performance is the hot, buttery magic on top.

That doesn't translate to Tomb Raider being a good movie - the story is bare-bones at best, and when the movie does attempt to foster an emotional core through Lara's feelings about her dead father, it's painful in all the wrong ways. But don't worry about that - Lara just sliced a robot open with its own blade arms and popped her party mix into its disc drive, and you don't want to miss another second.

Before taking the helm on the Resident Evil movies, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, one of the first video game movies that managed to appeal to a mainstream audience while faithfully adhering to its source material. The film follows the saga started by the evil Shang Tsung and his plot to destroy Earthrealm (i.e. Earth); the exaggerated fight moves of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang are the only thing that can stop him. It's incredibly cheesy in proper early '90s fashion (with all the bad hair and leather to boot), but commits to the premise so sincerely that it's hard not to love.

The quirky nature of the film fits right in with the characters themselves, who are constantly cracking jokes and switching between increasingly ridiculous outfits. Its fight scenes are genuinely exciting, made even better by regular overacting, and both capture the spirit of Mortal Kombat even without the gut-churning Fatalities. While Hollywood tried to bottle lightning again in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, it lacked the goofy soul it needed to succeed. In a battle between the two, the original Mortal Kombat scores a flawless victory.

Capturing the scale of Bayonetta's battles is hard to do on film, and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate never really gets there. Even though it's replete with explosive battles and outrageously campy action, the anime interpretation it feels toned down in comparison to the game, with a lot of stylized close-ups and music that has nowhere near the peppiness of . But as different as Bloody Fate might feel from its source material, it's still good enough to stand on its own, and that's not half bad for a video game film.

Through gorgeous animation that uses its bold color scheme as a storytelling tool, Bloody Fate recounts a simplified version of Bayonetta's tale, which is easier to make sense of when it's actually explained. Unlike other game adaptations that demand a thorough understanding of the original game from the start, Bloody Fate is a workable stand-in for the original game. You won't have to know anything about the seductive witch ahead of time to get the jist of what's happening, letting you enjoy the gleeful carnage on its own, beautifully rendered merits. Now if only they'd they'd give Bayonetta 2 the same treatment (no Wii U necessary).

Advent Children is the ultimate in fan service, and it's not sorry. The impatiently awaited sequel to Final Fantasy 7, Advent Children comes bearing a plot that you need , some diagrams, and a ton of red string to properly understand. Yet its stellar cinematography makes much of its narrative incoherence forgivable, and once you actually sort out what's happening, it's the perfect story for those in need of an FF7 fix.

Here are the broad strokes: two years after the end of FF7, three Sephiroth clones show up and start all sorts of trouble, so the gang has to get back together to stop them (and help Cloud get over his re-emerging survivor's guilt over Aerith's death). That's about all the explanation the movie offers up, which leads to a lot of head-scratching moments when the characters' motivations don't stretch farther than the next fight scene. But man are those fight scenes amazing: varied and gorgeous enough to stay interesting despite their frequency, with bits of character development in between that'll leave any FF7's fan's heart a-pattering. Dress it up with full CG that still look fantastic ten years later, and you've got a solid gift for the fans that doesn't need to make sense to be enjoyable.

Striking a balance between loyalty to the source material, mass appeal, and good filmmaking is biggest hurdle for any video game movie, and very few manage to keep one aspect from overwhelming the others. Silent Hill isn't perfect in that regard (it’s no stranger to cheap horror gimmicks and clichés, for instance), but it's gotten closer than any other game movie to date. It takes what made Silent Hill so terrifying in the first place and captures it on film, feeding off that same fear that made the game successful so many years before.

Reimagining the story of Silent Hill with a female lead named Rose, the Silent Hill movie pulls from the game's otherworldly horror for its visuals and iconography, incorporating series touchstones like the cultish Order, psychic child Alyssa Gillespie, and nightmarish monsters at every turn (including Pyramid Head in one of the movie's best scenes). Most importantly, it doesn't shy away from the grotesque imagery that makes Silent Hill so affecting, so you never get the sense that it's been sanitized for Hollywood. It even takes things a bit too far at the end, so get ready to cover your eyes.

I'd say video game movies get a bad rap for being subpar cinema, but the honest truth is that video game movies are pretty goddamn awful most of the time. That reputation makes it hard to greet the .

But, true as that may be, it doesn't do much good to wallow in misery. We can spend our time lamenting the most rotten of the game movie crop, or we can turn away from the worst and focus on game-based films that are worth signing into Netflix over. Yes, I choose to be optimistic and think about the best video game feature films, even the ones that only made it to DVD. They aren't perfect, and they may make proper film buffs scoff, but each has a special something that makes microwaving another bag of popcorn worthwhile.

DOA: Dead or Alive wasn’t exactly set up for success. It was released straight-to-DVD in the United States, though it deserved a full theatrical release over some other video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham). The story's what you'd expect from a fighting game franchise: combatants from around the world are invited to participate in a secret martial arts tournament where things are not what they seem.

It's a weak premise to be sure, but DOA neither needs nor wants to be deep and affecting cinema. It's a pure popcorn flick from start to finish, with cheesy dialogue and exaggerated fight scenes that make for some stellar so-bad-it's-good comedy. Plus, the fact that allies can instantly become enemies if their names are drawn out of a figurative hat of death pumps some juice into an otherwise stale formula, and actually gives an explanation for why everyone in the DOA universe is constantly kicking the crap out of one another.

Max Payne is a movie that dreams of being Sin City when it grows up, from the neo-noir setting to its oppressive, shadowy visuals. You could say that much of that style comes from the Max Payne video games, but Max Payne the movie uses its roots as a segue rather than a foundation, turning it into a straight-up private-eye thriller.

Of course, losing the more game-centric aspects of Payne's vendetta means the film misses out on bullet-time physics and comic-inspired visuals, which is a big part of what made Max's exploits so good in the first place. The film's plot feels almost entirely removed from all by the basic parts of the Payne mythology, so there isn't much for fans here. Still, it latches onto the grittiness of Payne first and foremost, making it perfect if you're looking for a mystery marinating in dark action. But if that's your jam, make sure to grab a copy of the Unrated edition, as things were toned down for theatrical release - the exact opposite of what Max Payne should be.

If you’re dying for a movie that juxtaposes excellent fight choreography and flashy CG with Ben Kingsley sighing internally for 116 minutes, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time better be in your shopping cart of choice. A loose retelling of the first game, The Sands of Time is filled with great action sequences and expert use of special effects for the sands’ time-warping properties, both of which make up for its so-so storytelling.

The elephant in the room is that none of the actors for the main characters are Persian, and the whitewashed cast is definitely a distraction. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton's performances are decent enough though, with Gyllenhaal in particular channeling the Prince's struggles from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones into a faithful portrayal. Don't go in expecting Shakespeare, but if you're craving impressive fight scenes and sand-related magic, this won't be a waste of time.

The first in a series of films based on Capcom's seminal zombie franchise, Resident Evil is a fun horror flick that knows where to focus its energy. It doesn’t follow the story of the games, which can be impenetrable for non-fans, and would've been diminished if it was simplified for mainstream audiences anyway. Instead, RE follows new protagonist Alice (played by the lovely Milla Jovovich) and a group of Umbrella Corporation soldiers as they work to contain the outbreak of the T-Virus.

Alice’s main opposition isn’t the virus itself, but rather the AI with a doomsday protocol, using its automated systems to exterminate the virus by killing everyone inside. This tech makes for one of the best gore scenes in horror history, as characters are sliced and diced by malevolent machinery in a shower of gore. The plot gets squashed to make room for all that violence and action, and tends to drag when it does get attention, but if gratuitous gore and fantastic gunplay are all you care about, Alice is a worthwhile stand-in for RE's iconic, zombie-slaughtering protagonists.

It's Suicide Squad with an Arkham twist, dressed up like Batman: The Animated Series - and all of those things turn out just as good as they sound. Taking place two years before Arkham Asylum, Assault on Arkham focuses of the dysfunctional adventures of the Rogue Gallery's pinch hitters as they're forced to break into Arkham on the orders of Amanda Walker. Like I said, it's with a few different faces.

Even if you haven't played the games (or scored every Riddler trophy), Assault on Arkham can stand on its own, with the sort of impressive animation and framing that's characterized most of DC's animated features in recent years. That said, it's heavy on fan service and light on explanation, so if you walk into this one with no Batman knowledge you're going to come out very confused. But for a film aimed squarely at building another piece of the Batman mythos into the Arkham series, Assault on Arkham it gets the job done by any means necessary (which includes exploding heads).

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was right to put Lara's name first, because that's what the movie's really about: the spelunking heroine of video game legend. Angelina Jolie is the perfect actress to fill Lara's combat boots, and her action hero chops have made her virtually inseparable from old-school Lara in the minds of many moviegoers. Tomb Raider is an action-packed popcorn flick through and through, with excellent choreography and magnificently ridiculous fight sequences; Jolie's performance is the hot, buttery magic on top.

That doesn't translate to Tomb Raider being a good movie - the story is bare-bones at best, and when the movie does attempt to foster an emotional core through Lara's feelings about her dead father, it's painful in all the wrong ways. But don't worry about that - Lara just sliced a robot open with its own blade arms and popped her party mix into its disc drive, and you don't want to miss another second.

Before taking the helm on the Resident Evil movies, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, one of the first video game movies that managed to appeal to a mainstream audience while faithfully adhering to its source material. The film follows the saga started by the evil Shang Tsung and his plot to destroy Earthrealm (i.e. Earth); the exaggerated fight moves of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang are the only thing that can stop him. It's incredibly cheesy in proper early '90s fashion (with all the bad hair and leather to boot), but commits to the premise so sincerely that it's hard not to love.

The quirky nature of the film fits right in with the characters themselves, who are constantly cracking jokes and switching between increasingly ridiculous outfits. Its fight scenes are genuinely exciting, made even better by regular overacting, and both capture the spirit of Mortal Kombat even without the gut-churning Fatalities. While Hollywood tried to bottle lightning again in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, it lacked the goofy soul it needed to succeed. In a battle between the two, the original Mortal Kombat scores a flawless victory.

Capturing the scale of Bayonetta's battles is hard to do on film, and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate never really gets there. Even though it's replete with explosive battles and outrageously campy action, the anime interpretation it feels toned down in comparison to the game, with a lot of stylized close-ups and music that has nowhere near the peppiness of . But as different as Bloody Fate might feel from its source material, it's still good enough to stand on its own, and that's not half bad for a video game film.

Through gorgeous animation that uses its bold color scheme as a storytelling tool, Bloody Fate recounts a simplified version of Bayonetta's tale, which is easier to make sense of when it's actually explained. Unlike other game adaptations that demand a thorough understanding of the original game from the start, Bloody Fate is a workable stand-in for the original game. You won't have to know anything about the seductive witch ahead of time to get the jist of what's happening, letting you enjoy the gleeful carnage on its own, beautifully rendered merits. Now if only they'd they'd give Bayonetta 2 the same treatment (no Wii U necessary).

Advent Children is the ultimate in fan service, and it's not sorry. The impatiently awaited sequel to Final Fantasy 7, Advent Children comes bearing a plot that you need , some diagrams, and a ton of red string to properly understand. Yet its stellar cinematography makes much of its narrative incoherence forgivable, and once you actually sort out what's happening, it's the perfect story for those in need of an FF7 fix.

Here are the broad strokes: two years after the end of FF7, three Sephiroth clones show up and start all sorts of trouble, so the gang has to get back together to stop them (and help Cloud get over his re-emerging survivor's guilt over Aerith's death). That's about all the explanation the movie offers up, which leads to a lot of head-scratching moments when the characters' motivations don't stretch farther than the next fight scene. But man are those fight scenes amazing: varied and gorgeous enough to stay interesting despite their frequency, with bits of character development in between that'll leave any FF7's fan's heart a-pattering. Dress it up with full CG that still look fantastic ten years later, and you've got a solid gift for the fans that doesn't need to make sense to be enjoyable.

Striking a balance between loyalty to the source material, mass appeal, and good filmmaking is biggest hurdle for any video game movie, and very few manage to keep one aspect from overwhelming the others. Silent Hill isn't perfect in that regard (it’s no stranger to cheap horror gimmicks and clichés, for instance), but it's gotten closer than any other game movie to date. It takes what made Silent Hill so terrifying in the first place and captures it on film, feeding off that same fear that made the game successful so many years before.

Reimagining the story of Silent Hill with a female lead named Rose, the Silent Hill movie pulls from the game's otherworldly horror for its visuals and iconography, incorporating series touchstones like the cultish Order, psychic child Alyssa Gillespie, and nightmarish monsters at every turn (including Pyramid Head in one of the movie's best scenes). Most importantly, it doesn't shy away from the grotesque imagery that makes Silent Hill so affecting, so you never get the sense that it's been sanitized for Hollywood. It even takes things a bit too far at the end, so get ready to cover your eyes.

I'd say video game movies get a bad rap for being subpar cinema, but the honest truth is that video game movies are pretty goddamn awful most of the time. That reputation makes it hard to greet the .

But, true as that may be, it doesn't do much good to wallow in misery. We can spend our time lamenting the most rotten of the game movie crop, or we can turn away from the worst and focus on game-based films that are worth signing into Netflix over. Yes, I choose to be optimistic and think about the best video game feature films, even the ones that only made it to DVD. They aren't perfect, and they may make proper film buffs scoff, but each has a special something that makes microwaving another bag of popcorn worthwhile.

Comprised of a little-known cast, DOA: Dead or Alive wasn’t exactly set up for success. It was released straight-to-DVD in the United States, though it deserved a full theatrical release over some other video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham). The story's what you'd expect from a fighting game franchise: combatants from around the world are invited to participate in a secret martial arts tournament where things are not what they seem.

It's a weak premise to be sure, but DOA neither needs nor wants to be deep and affecting cinema. It's a pure popcorn flick from start to finish, with cheesy dialogue and exaggerated fight scenes that make for some stellar so-bad-it's-good comedy. Plus, the fact that allies can instantly become enemies if their names are drawn out of a figurative hat of death pumps some juice into an otherwise stale formula, and actually gives an explanation for why everyone in the DOA universe is constantly kicking the crap out of one another.

Max Payne is a movie that dreams of being Sin City when it grows up, from the neo-noir setting to its oppressive, shadowy visuals. You could say that much of that style comes from the Max Payne video games, but Max Payne the movie uses its roots as a segue rather than a foundation, turning it into a straight-up private-eye thriller.

Of course, losing the more game-centric aspects of Payne's vendetta means the film misses out on bullet-time physics and comic-inspired visuals, which is a big part of what made Max's exploits so good in the first place. The film's plot feels almost entirely removed from all by the basic parts of the Payne mythology, so there isn't much for fans here. Still, it latches onto the grittiness of Payne first and foremost, making it perfect if you're looking for a mystery marinating in dark action. But if that's your jam, make sure to grab a copy of the Unrated edition, as things were toned down for theatrical release - the exact opposite of what Max Payne should be.

If you’re dying for a movie that juxtaposes excellent fight choreography and flashy CG with Ben Kingsley sighing internally for 116 minutes, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time better be in your shopping cart of choice. A loose retelling of the first game, The Sands of Time is filled with great action sequences and expert use of special effects for the sands’ time-warping properties, both of which make up for its so-so storytelling.

The elephant in the room is that none of the actors for the main characters are Persian, and the whitewashed cast is definitely a distraction. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton's performances are decent enough though, with Gyllenhaal in particular channeling the Prince's struggles from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones into a faithful portrayal. Don't go in expecting Shakespeare, but if you're craving impressive fight scenes and sand-related magic, this won't be a waste of time.

The first in a series of films based on Capcom's seminal zombie franchise, Resident Evil is a fun horror flick that knows where to focus its energy. It doesn’t follow the story of the games, which can be impenetrable for non-fans, and would've been diminished if it was simplified for mainstream audiences anyway. Instead, RE follows new protagonist Alice (played by the lovely Milla Jovovich) and a group of Umbrella Corporation soldiers as they work to contain the outbreak of the T-Virus.

Alice’s main opposition isn’t the virus itself, but rather the AI with a doomsday protocol, using its automated systems to exterminate the virus by killing everyone inside. This tech makes for one of the best gore scenes in horror history, as characters are sliced and diced by malevolent machinery in a shower of gore. The plot gets squashed to make room for all that violence and action, and tends to drag when it does get attention, but if gratuitous gore and fantastic gunplay are all you care about, Alice is a worthwhile stand-in for RE's iconic, zombie-slaughtering protagonists.

It's Suicide Squad with an Arkham twist, dressed up like Batman: The Animated Series - and all of those things turn out just as good as they sound. Taking place two years before Arkham Asylum, Assault on Arkham focuses of the dysfunctional adventures of the Rogue Gallery's pinch hitters as they're forced to break into Arkham on the orders of Amanda Walker. Like I said, it's with a few different faces.

Even if you haven't played the games (or scored every Riddler trophy), Assault on Arkham can stand on its own, with the sort of impressive animation and framing that's characterized most of DC's animated features in recent years. That said, it's heavy on fan service and light on explanation, so if you walk into this one with no Batman knowledge you're going to come out very confused. But for a film aimed squarely at building another piece of the Batman mythos into the Arkham series, Assault on Arkham it gets the job done by any means necessary (which includes exploding heads).

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was right to put Lara's name first, because that's what the movie's really about: the spelunking heroine of video game legend. Angelina Jolie is the perfect actress to fill Lara's combat boots, and her action hero chops have made her virtually inseparable from old-school Lara in the minds of many moviegoers. Tomb Raider is an action-packed popcorn flick through and through, with excellent choreography and magnificently ridiculous fight sequences; Jolie's performance is the hot, buttery magic on top.

That doesn't translate to Tomb Raider being a good movie - the story is bare-bones at best, and when the movie does attempt to foster an emotional core through Lara's feelings about her dead father, it's painful in all the wrong ways. But don't worry about that - Lara just sliced a robot open with its own blade arms and popped her party mix into its disc drive, and you don't want to miss another second.

Before taking the helm on the Resident Evil movies, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, one of the first video game movies that managed to appeal to a mainstream audience while faithfully adhering to its source material. The film follows the saga started by the evil Shang Tsung and his plot to destroy Earthrealm (i.e. Earth); the exaggerated fight moves of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang are the only thing that can stop him. It's incredibly cheesy in proper early '90s fashion (with all the bad hair and leather to boot), but commits to the premise so sincerely that it's hard not to love.

The quirky nature of the film fits right in with the characters themselves, who are constantly cracking jokes and switching between increasingly ridiculous outfits. Its fight scenes are genuinely exciting, made even better by regular overacting, and both capture the spirit of Mortal Kombat even without the gut-churning Fatalities. While Hollywood tried to bottle lightning again in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, it lacked the goofy soul it needed to succeed. In a battle between the two, the original Mortal Kombat scores a flawless victory.

Capturing the scale of Bayonetta's battles is hard to do on film, and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate never really gets there. Even though it's replete with explosive battles and outrageously campy action, the anime interpretation it feels toned down in comparison to the game, with a lot of stylized close-ups and music that has nowhere near the peppiness of . But as different as Bloody Fate might feel from its source material, it's still good enough to stand on its own, and that's not half bad for a video game film.

Through gorgeous animation that uses its bold color scheme as a storytelling tool, Bloody Fate recounts a simplified version of Bayonetta's tale, which is easier to make sense of when it's actually explained. Unlike other game adaptations that demand a thorough understanding of the original game from the start, Bloody Fate is a workable stand-in for the original game. You won't have to know anything about the seductive witch ahead of time to get the jist of what's happening, letting you enjoy the gleeful carnage on its own, beautifully rendered merits. Now if only they'd they'd give Bayonetta 2 the same treatment (no Wii U necessary).

Advent Children is the ultimate in fan service, and it's not sorry. The impatiently awaited sequel to Final Fantasy 7, Advent Children comes bearing a plot that you need , some diagrams, and a ton of red string to properly understand. Yet its stellar cinematography makes much of its narrative incoherence forgivable, and once you actually sort out what's happening, it's the perfect story for those in need of an FF7 fix.

Here are the broad strokes: two years after the end of FF7, three Sephiroth clones show up and start all sorts of trouble, so the gang has to get back together to stop them (and help Cloud get over his re-emerging survivor's guilt over Aerith's death). That's about all the explanation the movie offers up, which leads to a lot of head-scratching moments when the characters' motivations don't stretch farther than the next fight scene. But man are those fight scenes amazing: varied and gorgeous enough to stay interesting despite their frequency, with bits of character development in between that'll leave any FF7's fan's heart a-pattering. Dress it up with full CG that still look fantastic ten years later, and you've got a solid gift for the fans that doesn't need to make sense to be enjoyable.

Striking a balance between loyalty to the source material, mass appeal, and good filmmaking is biggest hurdle for any video game movie, and very few manage to keep one aspect from overwhelming the others. Silent Hill isn't perfect in that regard (it’s no stranger to cheap horror gimmicks and clichés, for instance), but it's gotten closer than any other game movie to date. It takes what made Silent Hill so terrifying in the first place and captures it on film, feeding off that same fear that made the game successful so many years before.

Reimagining the story of Silent Hill with a female lead named Rose, the Silent Hill movie pulls from the game's otherworldly horror for its visuals and iconography, incorporating series touchstones like the cultish Order, psychic child Alyssa Gillespie, and nightmarish monsters at every turn (including Pyramid Head in one of the movie's best scenes). Most importantly, it doesn't shy away from the grotesque imagery that makes Silent Hill so affecting, so you never get the sense that it's been sanitized for Hollywood. It even takes things a bit too far at the end, so get ready to cover your eyes.