History Sandbox / SpiritualAdaptationVideoGames

*** Its time period and setting are identical to ''Series/TheLastKingdom'', which also prominently features King Alfred the Great. The male Eivor is played by the same actor as Cnut, one of the series' villains. However, if the trailer is any indication, its interpretation appears more charitable to the Vikings and less charitable towards Alfred. Of course, this could be a case of MisaimedMarketing, as was the case with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', but only time will tell. Interviews with the development team indicate that they intend to portray Alfred as a nuanced AntiVillain who wants what's best for his kingdom and his people.

* ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' is what you might get if ''Film/DirtyHarry'' had a LightGunGame. The classic sedans featured -- similar to vehicle era of ''Film/TheDeadPool'' -- help reinforce this, and you even deal with a plane hijacking like in ''Film/MagnumForce''. [[https://youtu.be/09le4jyqqzc Yoshiaki Hatano, the creator of the game]], said the game was inspired by the ''Dirty Harry'' series as it is his personal favorite film series and he liked all five of them.
** The second game, ''Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters'', has nods to the ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'', such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyboyK2eo6c similar music]], and has the feel of the SpaghettiWestern genre in general, but riding the coattails of the original game, you're playing as law enforcement rather than an outlaw.
** ''Lethal Enforcers 3'' is a great ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' racing game.

** Brendan "[=PlayerUnknown=]" Greene, the creator of the game (and its preceding GameMod, ''VideoGame/DayZ: Battle Royale''), has [[http://www.usgamer.net/articles/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-interview-brendan-greene said]] that the film adaptation of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' was a major influence, to the point where they later added [[https://imgur.com/a/Xj2tO a series of DLC outfits]] inspired by those worn by the film's characters. ''[[WebVideo/SmoshGames Honest Game Trailers]]'' apparently agreed, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c7RLtbFiJA describing it]] as the best video game version of ''Battle Royale'' ever made, with the only thing stopping it from being a full-blown adaptation being the lack of [[JokeItem joke weapons]] and Creator/TakeshiKitano. The success of ''PUBG'', in turn, wound up inspiring [[FollowTheLeader a boom]] of similar {{Battle Royale Game}}s with a premise of "last-one-standing survival deathmatch with no respawns", with ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' being (as of now) [[FromClonesToGenre the most successful]] but also including ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', ''[=H1Z1=]'', ''Radical Heights'', ''The Darwin Project'', and battle royale modes for other multiplayer shooters.

** Given the way the grappling hook is used, it does a better job being a DarkerAndEdgier version of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' than... well... the 2009 ''VideoGame/BionicCommando''.

** And in turn, the reimagined Lara Croft in [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 said reboot]] and [[VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider its sequel]], now a young woman fighting to survive after getting stranded in the wilderness and [[TheArcher making heavy use of a bow and arrow]] for survival, is probably the closest we'll get to being able to play as [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss Everdeen]] in a video game, especially given that the actual subject matter of a licensed ''Hunger Games'' adaptation would be ''very'' difficult to get past the radar.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 pinball game ''VideoGame/AlienCrush'' has some graphics that are suspiciously reminiscent of Creator/HRGiger's famous xenomorph designs from the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' films.

* ''Auto Destruct'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation was an unofficial 3D take on ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'', three years before Midway's own [=PS2=] remake. It also works as a spiritual sequel to the ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' portion of ''VideoGame/DieHardTrilogy'', perhaps better than the official sequel, ''Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is a spiritual sequel to either ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage'' or ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', with the art style of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation.
** Or, since it started life on UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows 10, a [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames 8th-Generation]] VideoGameRemake of ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}''.

* Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto had originally wanted to make a ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' arcade game in the early 1980s, but Nintendo's right to the character were revoked midway through production. Miyamoto then took the idea of [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros a scrappy hero]] rescuing [[DamselInDistress a helpless damsel]] from [[KillerGorilla a hulking brute]] and made video game history with ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''. Ironically, Nintendo did eventually produce an official ''VideoGame/{{Popeye}}'' game, which was unfortunately released in the middle of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 and thus languished in obscurity.

* A subversion: ''[[VideoGame/DynamiteCop Dynamite Deka]]'', a [=3D=] [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] for the arcades and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn released in Japan, was heavily inspired by the ''Film/DieHard'' films to the point that the game's main character, Bruno Delinger, [[ComicBookFantasyCasting bore more than a passing resemblance]] to Creator/BruceWillis. When Sega worked on the game's international version, they [[DolledUpInstallment tacked on]] the ''Die Hard'' license, renamed Bruno Delinger into John [=McClane=], and modified the main villain into Hans Gruber.

* With the glaring absence of ''VideoGame/FZero'' since the discontinuation of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance and [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]], ''VideoGame/FASTRacingLeague'' and especially its sequel ''FAST Racing NEO'' are widely considered to be the best ''F-Zero'' games not named ''F-Zero''. The "is this ''F-Zero''?" reaction among Creator/{{Nintendo}} fans to the latter at [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3 2015]] is practically {{memetic|Mutation}} and the game quickly [[FanNickname became known as]] "F-Neo." [[Creator/ShinenMultimedia Shin'en]] is, in fact, aware of the comparisons and openly invites them, [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/646665055807868929 seeing as they hired Jack Merluzzi, the race announcer in F-Zero GX, to announce for NEO.]] The third installment, ''FAST RMX'', went another step by not only [[https://twitter.com/ShinenGames/status/827541687367036929 bringing back Merluzzi]] as the LargeHamAnnouncer but also changing the livery of the [[http://images.nintendolife.com/news/2015/12/feature_a_glimpse_behind_the_scenes_of_fast_racing_neo_-_part_three/attachment/1/original.jpg previously green]] Fulcon Capital vehicle [[http://imgur.com/a/hAkvI to better resemble the Blue Falcon.]]

** Especially with the Advertising/{{Pepsiman}} guest character in the Japanese UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn version of the first game speaks for itself!

* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is a spiritual adaptation of the [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]]-era ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games (among other things, according to the game's original creator). It even started out as ''Sonic'' fan game.

** ''Starlancer'' is also noteworthy for having a backstory that's basically the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' [[SerialNumbersFiledOff thinly disguised]] by having DirtyCommunists instead of [[RobotWar Cylons]]. It's also rather better than the officially licensed ''BSG'' game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} despite being made by ''the same studio''.

* The UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game ''Gekka Mugentan Torico'' (known as ''Lunacy'' in the U.S) feels like ''Series/{{The Prisoner|1967}}'' with a liberal dash of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' thrown in. The City of Mists even has architecture reminiscent of Portmerion, Wales, which was used for The Village of ''The Prisoner''. The show has an eerie atmosphere and several characters who play headgames with our mysterious player character, who is known only as Fred.

*** It's also been described as a better [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames sixth-generation]] ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' game (albeit with the PlayerCharacter being [[VillainProtagonist a criminal]] rather than a cop) than the actual third ''Driver'' game (titled ''[=Driv3r=]'') that came out on [=PlayStation=] 2 and Xbox, which was a notorious ObviousBeta. (The ''GTA'' games, of course, gleefully took multiple shots at the ''Driver'' series, particularly for its lousy on-foot controls in the second and third games. By the time that series got its act together with the fourth game ''Parallel Lines'', it was ''them'' who came off looking like [[FollowTheLeader Johnny-come-latelies]], despite the first game having [[OlderThanTheyThink beaten Rockstar to the punch]] by two years in terms of providing a 3D WideOpenSandbox city.)

* ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' was originally planned to be a ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' arcade game. The game's title actually comes from the Japanese version of ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'', which was titled ''Rambo: Ikari no Dasshutsu''. The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem game ''Ashura'', which plays similarly, picked up the ''Rambo'' license when it was exported to the US.

* ''VideoGame/{{One}}'' is often considered to be a better ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation than the actual games released for the console, ''Legacy of War'' and ''C: The Contra Adventure''.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' games were probably the closest that kids in TheEighties had to playing a [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames good]] ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' game. ''Pitfall 2''[='=]s theme music even [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong sounds similar]] to the Raiders March. It was probably most pronounced with ''Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure'', the series' [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super NES]] installment.

* ''VideoGame/{{Quackshot}}'', a Creator/{{Disney}}-licensed UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game starring WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, is said to had been created by Creator/{{Sega}} to get around an embargo which prevented them from using the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' license, which was instead given to Creator/{{Capcom}} for their [[VideoGame/DuckTales NES game]]. And with several ShoutOut WholePlotReference moments, it's also considered one of the best ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' games.

* ''[[NoExportForYou Saiyuki World]]'' and ''Saiyuki World 2'', which was released overseas as ''Whomp’Em''. These two [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] games are pretty interesting examples. While the first game is pretty much a Famicom adaptation of ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterLand'', the second game can be considered an adaptation of [[NoExportForYou Japanese-only]] [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC-Engine]] game ''Son Son 2'' by Capcom, heck, the second game [[LampshadeHanging was even called like that on some pirate multicarts of the 90’s]]. And on top of that, both games are also spiritual adaptations of ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.

* The Mattel UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} game ''Space Battle'' was intended to be a ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' game, according to the Blue Sky Rangers.

* ''Starhawk'' (no relation to [[VideoGame/{{Starhawk}} the PS3 game]]) and ''Star Fire'' were unofficial arcade adaptations of the Death Star battle from ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'', both predating ''Star Wars: The Arcade Game'' by 5 years. Also predating the licensed arcade game were the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} game ''Star Strike'' and ''VideoGame/BuckRogersPlanetOfZoom'' (which doesn't look like a ''Buck Rogers'' game because it wasn't one in the first place).

* The UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch game ''[[VideoGame/TabeOJa Tabe-O-Ja]]'', with its plot revolving around people competing against each other with [[AnthropomorphicFood "Tabe-Gami", monsters created by preparing special dishes]], is about as close to a modern ''Manga/FightingFoodons'' game as you can get.

* ''The [=TakeOver=]'', much like ''VideoGame/FightNRage'', is not shy about its 90s BeatEmUp influences -- the game's official UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} description outright calls it "a side-scrolling beat'em up inspired by 90's classics such as ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFight''." If not for the fact that an actual ''Streets of Rage 4'' came along not too long after[[note]]''The [=TakeOver=]'' was officially released in December 2019 on Steam, with ''[=SOR4=]'' hitting consoles the following April, but the game was in early access as far back as February 2016, roughly two full years before development on ''[=SOR4=]'' began[[/note]] (or the existence of the earlier ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake''), this homage could have very easily passed itself off as a new ''SOR'' installment: you have a crime-ridden ViceCity as the (initial) setting; heroes with ties to the police; a JackOfAllStats who's a blond, headband-wearing, bare-knuckle brawler; pretty much every notable gameplay mechanic from the original trilogy (only this time with the notable addition of firearms); and a plot that can be summed up as "What if Axel and Blaze [[BattleCouple got together]], [[CowboyCop stayed on the force]], and adopted a daughter who was later [[IHaveYourWife kidnapped by]] TheSyndicate?" The development team even brought in Creator/YuzoKoshiro to compose the Stage 1-1 theme!

* ''VideoGame/{{Kindergarten}}'' is set in an elementary school [[ArtstyleDissonance that looks wholesome on the surface, but is actually set in a]] CrapsaccharineWorld filled with BlackComedy where the player can die constantly in comedic ways, making it one of the best ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' games ever created.

* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' feels like the distant, HD sequel of ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' we never got, especially with the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat.