T5W#555-Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Video Game Adaptations

Three years after they crushed the box office, Mario and Luigi are back with their ever growing gang of Nintendo favorites for another cinematic offering with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  If it’s even half as good as it’s predecessor, it’ll continue to cement just what kind of a new golden age of Video Game Adaptations we live in now.  The Last of Us and Fallout continue to reign supreme on the TV side while we still have more big screen spectacles to look forward to with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat II.  However, it’s hard to forget the dark ages of Video Game Adaptations, the ones that got it all wrong, that might’ve made money but made no one happy and…yeah I’ll admit some of them I do like in a so bad theyre good kind of way.  Maybe it’s because I grew up with a lot of them and watched them a ton, some bad video game movies can get an amusing chuckle out of me and I might, dare I say, even genuinely enjoy them.  So, on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m counting down my personal picks for the Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Video Game Adaptations. 

 

Pokemon: The First Movie-Mewtwo Strikes Back

When Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock receive an invitation to meet the worlds greatest Pokemon trainer, it’s a chance they cant pass up.  Little do they know, they’re walking into their biggest and most dangerous adventure to date when they meet Mewtwo, a clone of an illusive legendary Pokemon.  Tired of Human arrogance and Pokemon dependency, Mewtwo seeks to eliminate both and start his own world of those made in his image.  Against foes even Ash and his Pokemon cant handle, the only hope for the world rests in the very Pokemon Mewtwo was born from: Mew.

Released in 1998 in Japan and in 1999 in America, Pokemon: The First Movie arrived at just the right time for Pokemon fans all over the world.  The legendary Video Game and Anime had taken the world by storm and you can be anticipation for its first feature length film was through the roof.  It even teases a match between two of the strongest and rarest Pokemon at the time: Mewtwo vs. Mew. So how is Pokemon: The First Movie?  Well, let’s just say it wasn’t what was constantly advertised at the time of its release and that’s both a good and bad thing. 
 

One Piece: Into the Grand Line

With his crew assembled, Monkey D. Luffy finally sets out for the Grand Line: a stretch of dangerous waters said to be hold the long sought after One Piece.  Luffy and his crew of misfits have braved a lot to get this far but they haven’t faced anything like the foes waiting for them along the Grand Line.  A guild of dangerous assassins, Baroque Works, sets their twisted sights on the Straw Hats and a special cargo they’ve come across.  In order to survive, Luffy and his friends will have their resolves tested like never before.  Will the Grand Line be where their dreams come true or where their dreams go to die?

There’s a moment during the Season Premiere of Netflix’s One Piece, where Luffy looks upon the execution site of Gold Roger.  He says he just wanted to see it and pay tribute to the man who started it all and respectfully tips his hat to the towering momument with a smile on his face.  It was right here that I thought to myself, “This feels right.”  That can basically calmly sum up my thoughts on One Piece: Into the Grand Line.  Season One was great but compared to Season Two feels more like a proof of concept for the bigger and better things to come and let me tell ya, they have arrived delivering on almost every front.  This is the season that proves beyond the shadow of any doubt that Live Action Anime can work when you have the right team of writers, willingness to indulge in the spirit of Anime, and yeah having the OG creator onboard to supervise doesn’t hurt either. 
 

The Gundam Anime Corner 12th Anniversary

While I usually open one of these special pieces reflecting on how long I’ve been working on this massive endevor, I want to share a quick story first.  Back in late 2025 I was asked by a couple of friends to officiate for them at their wedding (don’t ask how or why I’m able, even I don’t 100% get it).  It was a huge honor to be asked but something always nagged me besides pressure to not mess up on the couples big day.  Why was I the one picked for such a prominent role in the wedding?  Don’t get me wrong: everything went fine, smiles, happiness, dancing, the whole shebang.  But I did get a moment to ask the bride and groom and they looked surprised I was asking.  Not only was I their top pick for the job but a lot of that faith came down to my writing over on the Anime Corner.  Let me tell you: Everything just froze for a few seconds.  A compliment like that, that my blog and my writing skills were what convinced two special people to let me partake in their big day in a vital role…woof.  It’s…yeah…
 
So as you can imagine, it’s one thing to talk about 12 years of writing, ranting and trying to come up with Top 5’s every week.  But when your work touches the lives of people in such a way.  That’s the biggest damn compliment my blog has ever received and it lets me know that every week I feel like a review doesn’t have enough UMPH or entertainment value or the Top 5’s or First Impressions might be lacking, something about this little corner of the internet is accomplishing what I always hope but never always get confirmation on: introducing new titles to old and new Otaku and making someones day better even if it’s just for a few minutes.  I feel so much pride and happiness in the Gundam Anime Corner right now that the right words cant even properly describe it.
 
And you know what?  12 years in…oh baby we’re still running with it and still going strong and as we cross into Year 13, wild rides await.  Ok before I start crying over that amazing memory, how about a quick breakdown of what’s coming from now until mid summer.
 

Angel’s Egg

Two souls wander a desolate landscape with no destination and only the vaguest notion of purpose.  For a girl, it is to guard an egg that is the most precious thing in the world to her.  For a boy, he only wants to know what’s sleeping inside of the egg.  Together these two ponder the meaning of their existence and how the world came to be.  All the while, the contents of the egg remain a tempting mystery to be solved…but should it be?

So this is a bit of a weird one to look at.  When it comes to Mamoru Oshii’s filmography, I’m mostly just familiar with his work on Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor and Panzer Kerberos.  Granted all of those titles share a lot of his artistic styles, especially when it comes to letting the animation and music do all the talking while we watch and ponder.  Angel’s Egg is that approach on full display: a visual journey into a very dark and confusing unknown with only two near silent protagonists for guides.  It’s ridiculously beautiful, it’s super heavy with it’s content.  And really, I’m still wonder how I should grade it.  Guess we’ll figure it out along the way.