10 Best Animated Shows Based on Video Games

Jun 13, 2023

Can't get enough of the game? Check out the show!

The world of video games has come far, especially in the last few decades. Audiences and critics alike have praised games for their ability to tell compelling stories, to the point where some can be compared to film and television. This should make the process of adapting them to fit those mediums easy, yet for some reason, it always comes down to a coin toss in quality.

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This hit-and-miss style of adaptation is probably best seen when classic titles are adapted for animated series. Depending on the writers and the intentions of the networks, it can result in either a beloved adaptation or a dud. Regardless, the art style is likely to ensure that the product leaves a distinct impression.

Long before Nintendo released the first Super Smash Bros, NBC released a Saturday morning cartoon that saw a teen named Kevin and his dog sucked into his television. They find themselves in Videoland and meet a number of video game characters, including Mega Man, Pit (called Kidicarus), and Simon Belmont. Kevin learns that he must take the title of Captain N and defend Videoland from the evil villain of Metroid, Mother Brain.

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While the idea of merging all these video game characters together was tantalizing to children in 1989, the show fell short of the mark. This is mainly due to how none of the legacy characters look or act as they do in their respective franchises. However, the show does have its own charm thanks to the premise and a healthy dose of Saturday morning cartoon cheese and managed to spawn a comic book adaptation.

Along with providing entertainment, video games can also be used to educate. This is best seen in the Carmen Sandiego series, where the player learns about geography and history in order to track down the titular master thief. There have been many adaptations over the years, but the best is the first animated series from the 90s.

Set in a self-aware videogame, the human Player aids ACME agents Zak and Ivy as they try to stop Carmen's most recent heist. The show throws plenty of interesting facts at its audience related to the different countries Zak and Ivy visit and even has some characters speak in their native language. The voice cast is also spectacular, including high-quality voice actors like Scott Menville, Jennifer Hale, Roger Bumpass, and Rita Moreno.

In the early 90s, DIC Entertainment produced two different shows based on Sega's flagship character, Sonic the Hedgehog. The second of these shows surprised audiences by offering a dark and mature story, where Dr. Robotnik has taken over the planet Mobius and replaced the majority of its inhabitants with robots. Now Sonic and princess Sally lead a group of freedom fighters to try and undo Robotnik's evil.

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For a Saturday morning cartoon, this show manages to tell an impactful story with an environmentally conscious message without coming across as too preachy. It wasn't afraid to show the heroes lose every now and again, yet always maintained a hopeful outlook that things will get better. Sadly, the show was canceled after two seasons, but maintained a strong reception among fans and inspired a comic series from Archie Comic.

The Mario franchise is both Nintendo's most popular series and the best-selling video game franchise in the world. Several animated series have been made, with the first airing in 1989. Each episode begins with a live-action segment of Mario and Luigi meeting guest actors before transitioning into animation to aid Princess Toadstool in defeating the evil Bowser.

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The show was criticized its reliance on slapstick and the casting of Capt. Lou Albano and Danny Wells as Mario and Luigi. With the rise of the internet, the show found a new audience as its clips were used in internet memes. On Fridays, the show was swapped with an adaptation of The Legend of Zelda, which would eventually cross over with Captain N: The Game Master.

Since the first games were released in 1996, Pokémon has become the highest-grossing media franchise in the world. The series is about catching a team of cute pocket monsters and training them to defeat rival trainers to become regional champion, while also catching one of each in order to fill out the encyclopedia known as a Pokédex. One reason for its success is the anime released in 1997.

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The anime offers audiences a chance to see a world where humans and Pokémon live together in harmony. Since it's hand-drawn, the Pokémon battles are more dynamic and visually interesting than the static models used in the games. Its writing can be hit-and-miss at the time, but the morals and characters work for the target audience.

On Kongo Bongo Island, Donkey a community of gorillas has established itself around the legendary crystal coconut. The future ruler of the community, Donkey Kong, is tasked with guarding the coconut and ensuring that it doesn't fall into the hands of the evil King K. Rule. This is easier said than done, as Donkey Kong still has a lot of maturing to do.

Despite how unsettling the character models can look at times, Donkey Cong Country is notable as one of the first animated series made using motion capture technology. Each episode also had two songs, which ranged from forgettable to catchy earthworms Though it only ran a couple of seasons, several elements from the show, including the crystal coconut, would appear in the Donkey Kong video games.

One of Nintendo's most successful franchises is Kirby, which follows the adventures of the titular star warrior as he defends his home of Dreamland from various evils. An anime adaptation of the first few games was released on October 2001, and adapted for international audiences in 2002. Unfortunately, the dubbing was handled by 4Kids Entertainment, a rather infamous studio known for heavy localization and edits to the original product.

Even with 4Kids' meddling, Kirby: Right Back At Ya! is a fun experience. It follows a simple slice-of-life formula, which is reminiscent of how casual a Kirby game is to play. The voice cast is also having a ball, particularly Ted Lewis,who voices the villainous King Dedede and his cynical henchman, Escargoon.

After being bought by Microsoft, Rare Studios, the company that produced Donkey Kong Country and the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, created a garden simulator where players looked after animated piñatas. Microsoft saw that this had franchise potential and contacted 4Kids to produce a television series. Both were released in 2006 and were met with positive reception.

Much like the Pokémon anime, Viva Piñata focuses on the day-to-day lives of the piñata characters with no connection to the game's plot. The design of the piñatas are creative and colorful, and the show included several tricks from the game, such as feeding piñata certain foods to induce a transformation into a new species. It also showed that, when they weren't dubbing anime, 4Kids were capable of producing their own fun kid's cartoons.

Cuphead took the world by storm when first released in 2017. It combined classic run and gun gameplay with an aesthetic inspired by early Disney and Fleischer cartoons from the 1930s. In 2022, the game released both its DLC called The Delicious Last Course and an animated series made by Netflix.

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The series maintains the 30s aesthetic with its character designs, music, and dialogue. However, it trades the game's plot of Cuphead fighting to claim soul contracts for slice-of-life comedy. It's not bad, and there are plenty of funny jokes to be had, but fans looking for a faithful adaptation might be left wanting.

League of Legends sees two teams take control of a number of champions as they defend and counter-attack to try and destroy the opponent's base. Thanks to constant support and updates from Riot Games, the series maintains dedicated fans and e-sports recognition. In 2022, Netflix released an animated series that pulls heavily from the series' lore.

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Arcane has drawn critical acclaim thanks to its stellar animation, voice work, and storytelling. Several of the characters are existing champions, which helps to flesh out their characters and relationships with one another. It doesn't shy away from showing the brutality of its world and is accessible to new audiences who don't know the lore.

Next: 7 Nintendo Characters Who Deserve A Chance On The Big Screen

Tyler B. Searle graduated with a degree in Journalism Web and Print in 2017 and Television Writing and Production in 2018. He has been a lifelong fan of storytelling, particularly in the realm of animation and fantasy stories. The Disney Renaissance is his favourite era of Disney, and his favourite non-Disney animation company is DreamWorks. Don Bluth is his favourite animator. When not writing lists, he is enjoying a fantasy novel in his home in Ontario, Canada.