The 5 Best Video Game Film & TV Adaptations Ever Made

Published 7 March 2026  ·  CHEEVO

For decades, video game adaptations were a running joke. A guaranteed disaster. The curse was so consistent it had its own name. And then, somewhere between a fungal apocalypse on HBO and a Blue Blur with Jim Carrey as the villain, something changed. Hollywood finally worked out that the secret wasn't to strip the game away and tell a different story, iit was to honour what made the original great in the first place.

The result? A golden era. Critics who once dreaded the words "based on the video game" are now handing out awards. Franchises that defined childhoods and teenage bedrooms are alive on the biggest screens in the world. And for collectors, people who kept the cartridges, the discs, the limited editions, the memorabilia, that means something. Because when a franchise goes stratospheric, what's sitting on your shelf suddenly matters a great deal more.

Here are the five best video game adaptations ever made. And why now is exactly the time to celebrate what you've kept.

5. Fallout — Amazon Prime Video (2024)

The Fallout franchise has always been a darkly comedic love letter to American optimism colliding with nuclear annihilation. Just think about Vault Boy smiling through the apocalypse with a cheery thumbs-up. Translating that specific tone to screen seemed almost impossible. Amazon Prime Video proved the doubters wrong in spectacular fashion.

Arriving in April 2024, the series landed with a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.5 on IMDb. Within its first 16 days it had been watched by 65 million viewers making it the second most-watched title in Prime Video history. It went on to surpass 100 million viewers by the end of 2024 and won Best Adaptation at The Game Awards. Perhaps most tellingly, the original 1997 Fallout PC game saw a 160% spike in new players on Steam within weeks of the show's premiere. When an adaptation makes people want to go back to the source, you know it's done something right.

Walton Goggins as the Ghoul is one of the great TV performances of the decade with two characters in one body, funny and terrifying in equal measure. Season 2 is already confirmed and already generating serious anticipation.

The collector's angle: Fallout's retro-futuristic aesthetic... that Vault-Tec branding, Pip-Boy device, Power Armour... has one of the most devoted merchandise followings in gaming. A framed Fallout game case or limited edition poster above your desk is a statement piece, not just a keepsake.

4. Sonic the Hedgehog — Film Series (2020–present)

Nobody expected this to work. The original trailer's version of Sonic caused such immediate internet outrage that the studio paused the release, redesigned the character from scratch, and somehow turned a PR crisis into a masterclass in listening to your audience. The result was a film that charmed both lifelong Sega fans and a new generation discovering the Blue Blur for the first time.

Three films in, the franchise has become one of the most commercially reliable in the video game adaptation space. Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik was unhinged, scene-stealing, and somehow exactly right. It gave the series an irreplaceable energy. The films embrace what made Sonic iconic rather than trying to mature it up: speed, attitude, and an irresistible sense of fun.

The collector's angle: Sonic is one of gaming's foundational franchises. It started with Mega Drive cartridges, Dreamcast cases, limited edition runs. With new films keeping the character culturally alive, original Sonic game packaging has never been more worth displaying.

3. The Last of Us — HBO (2023–present)

When HBO's The Last of Us premiered in January 2023, it didn't just succeed, it redefined what a video game adaptation could be. The first season accumulated nearly 40 million viewers within two months of its debut and became HBO's most-watched debut season in the network's history. It holds a 96% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It won awards. It made people who had never touched a controller feel something.

The genius of the show is what it preserved: the emotional architecture of the original Naughty Dog game. Joel and Ellie's relationship which included the grief, the protectiveness, the slow rebuilding of trust, was translated with extraordinary fidelity. The standalone episode "Long, Long Time," widely regarded as one of the finest hours of television in recent memory, demonstrated that the show understood the game's humanity better than its action.

The collector's angle: The Last of Us is now a cross-media cultural phenomenon. First editions of the original PS3 game, steelbook editions, collector's sets — these are items that only gain significance as the franchise continues to grow. They belong on display, not in storage.

2. Arcane: League of Legends — Netflix (2021–2024)

Arcane arrived quietly in November 2021 and left an enormous mark on the cultural landscape. Based on Riot Games' League of Legends and a game many people had heard of but relatively few had played, the animated series managed something almost unheard of: it became essential viewing for people with zero connection to the source material.

Both seasons hold a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The show won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program. It was Netflix's number-one series in 52 countries within a week of its premiere. With a reported combined budget of $250 million across both seasons, the animation with its jaw-dropping blend of 2D and 3D, produced by French studio Fortiche, remains some of the most visually extraordinary work ever committed to screen.

The story of sisters Vi and Jinx, set in the divided steampunk cities of Piltover and Zaun, is a masterclass in world-building, character writing, and visual storytelling. Whether you knew League of Legends intimately or had never opened the client in your life, Arcane delivered something genuinely moving.

The collector's angle: League of Legends merchandise and collector's editions were already a substantial market. Arcane elevated that to a different level entirely. The show's art direction is so distinctive that any related collectible carries a visual weight worth framing.

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie — Nintendo/Illumination (2023)

Mario has been culturally omnipresent for four decades. He is, by almost any measure, the most recognised video game character in history. A film adaptation had been attempted once before in the 1993, but the live-action disaster remains legendary for all the wrong reasons and so when Nintendo and Illumination announced a new animated feature, the cautious optimism was palpable.

What arrived in April 2023 was something rather wonderful: a film that understood exactly what Mario is, why people love it, and what it feels like to be seven years old and first see the Mushroom Kingdom. Critics were divided though and some felt it lacked narrative depth, but audiences were unanimous. The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed over $1.36 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing video game film of all time and the second highest-grossing animated film of 2023. The density of Easter eggs rewarded decades of franchise knowledge, while the visual energy made it joyful for anyone encountering Mario for the first time.

The collector's angle: Mario is the ultimate nostalgia franchise. The original NES cartridge, the SNES box art, a Game Boy Advance case and more are objects that connect directly to a generation's childhood. The film made that nostalgia mainstream all over again. There has never been a better time to frame what you've held onto.

Your Collection Deserves to Be Seen

The best adaptations do something beyond entertain, they reactivate love for the original. They send people back to their shelves, their lofts, their drawers, to find the thing that started it all. A cartridge. A disc. A steelbook. A limited edition box that still has everything inside it.

At CHEEVO, we make display frames for video games and films which are designed to protect what you've kept and give it a place on your wall rather than a shelf in the dark. Whether it's a Mario cartridge that survived three decades or a Last of Us collector's edition you've never opened, it deserves to be seen.