There have been many video games made based on popular TV shows, movies or books. These games take a pre-existing franchise and utilize the characters and storylines to create games that will ideally appeal to a similar audience. Notoriously, many of these franchised games have not sold well. However, that is not to say that none of them do. There are some truly excellent games in existence that are based on movies and have become separate, popular entities.

Some of them have managed to draw more people into the genre and expand the reach of the original story and characters. Online casinos and other gaming websites often attract new customers by featuring games based on well-known characters, which then lead people to other games on the site. As you’ll see at these NJ online slots, there are a wide range of recognizable names to choose from, with gameplay based on favorite characters from some of the best-loved movies of all time.

The Dark Knight Slots

The Dark Knight slots game is based on the 2008 Batman film starring Christian Bale as the legendary superhero, battling Heath Ledger’s Joker and other villains to save Gotham City from organized crime. The slots game features 50 pay lines across six reels, with res-pin features for both Batman and the Joker. Play starts from as little as 20p and there are four progressive jackpots that can be won, offering the opportunity to make a huge win from a small deposit. The Bat appears on reels two to five and is wild, so can be substituted for any other symbol except the two bonus symbols if it appears. The Gotham City Free Games feature also provides free spins for extra chances to win.

Marvel’s Spiderman

There have been several video games created based on the Marvel Comics character of Spiderman. One of the best is Marvels’ Spiderman for the PS4, in which players must explore a re-imagined Manhattan island to defeat crime lord Wilson Fisk. As might be expected from Spiderman’s most famous web-slinging special skill, most of the game takes place over the city rooftops, with players being required to propel their superhero acrobatically across the skyline in search of enemies to destroy. A series of small side games, such as collecting goods for Spidey’s backpack and chasing pigeons, add new elements to keep the gameplay interesting throughout. The game has a rich narrative and plenty of action, with one-on-one fights interspersed with group combat situations.

Jurassic World Evolution

Jurassic World Evolution is a sim game available for PC, Xbox and PS4, taking players into a carefully crafted universe based on the theme park most will be familiar with from the series of movies. The game is narrated by Jeff Goldblum to add familiarity to the key characters, with more voice acting from B.D. Wong and Bryce Dallas Howard. Those who are familiar with the movies will get a kick from references and in-game dialogue, but even those who have never seen the films will find a lot to entertain them within the game. The concept focuses on the player as theme park manager, with over 40 different species of dinosaurs to unlock and settle into their habitats. Each individual dinosaur has its own unique personality, which can be seen in the status panel and through its in-game actions.

John Wick Hex

John Wick Hex is a stop-start tactical strategy game available for PS4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Classic Mac OS. Players manage multiple characters on a timeline basis rather than a turn turn-based play which, while it can be confusing to begin with, helps keep the action moving and makes the game feel as fast-paced as the movies. Each action characters can perform has a preparation time and a time it takes to complete, with timeline bars showing how much time the character and the enemies have left to make the next move. The six-chapter campaign sees characters using multiple moves to defeat or outwit the enemies, with zoomed in replays in real-time at the end of each level to relive the best parts of the action.

The popularity of video games with movie tie-ins seems to come in waves. A surge in the early eighties ended after the universally panned E.T. game for Atari bombed so badly it became widely regarded as one of the worst games of all time. In the late nineties, movie tie-ins once again became a go-to for video game designers, with popular titles such as the Golden Eye 007 game, which reportedly made more money than the movie. Today, movie tie-ins are once again becoming popular, particularly with LEGO versions of famous titles. Movie character affiliation can help introduce games to a wider audience, making them more accessible.