Smash hit movies always seem to have plenty of tie-ins, sponsors, merchandise and other ways of squeezing as much money out of a release as possible. Blockbusters capture huge audiences who are always looking for new ways to enjoy their favourite scenes and characters and gaming makes this really easy, with developers providing experiences that allow players to take control and live out their movie fantasies. Here’s a brief look at some of the best games available that are inspired by big screen hits.

Star Wars: Battlefront

The latest game in the Battlefront series is a gem, revisiting the original trilogy in all its glory. Battlefront allows players to relive everything from Darth Vader tearing apart a rebel base on the ice planet Hoth, or Luke and Leia chasing storm troopers through the trees in the forests of Endor. The game has performed very well on PlayStation and Xbox consoles and has opened up a whole new revenue stream as the next generation of Star Wars films are released.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Freddy Kruger kept millions awake at night after the release of the original movie way back in 1984. As video games hadn’t quite taken off in the early 80s, it took until 1990 for Nintendo to release a NES game that featured a quest to collect Freddy’s bones and outfit and dispose of them in the high school furnace. If you loved the series of games and films then we also came across something you’d love, A Nightmare on Elm Street slots game lets you enjoy your favourite characters and potentially win some big money and also probably boasts better gameplay than the 8-bit NES game. Freddy also popped up on the 2011 PS3 game

The Lego Movie series

Lego has experienced an interesting and unorthodox journey into gaming, starting out as a physical toy, then a successful game series, then an even more successful movie which has in turn been made into a game and a sequel, Lego Batman, which again has its own game (phew). Lego can’t seem to put a foot wrong at the moment and have transformed from a troubled children’s toy company from Denmark into a multi-billion dollar global brand. The best game in the series so far is of course the latest Lego Batman, which benefits from the utterly hilarious Will Arnett as Batman.

Batman

Of course, there’s the more ‘serious’ Batman games that have taken the world by storm since the release of Arkham Asylum back in 2009. The series is now on game number 4 and has become a global success, tying in with the even more successful films by Christopher Nolan and more recently Zach Snynder that have rebooted a series that was almost killed off by the terrible Batman & Robin movie from 1997. The games feature a first person sneak-em up format where players must navigate levels either stealthily or going in all guns blazing, riding around in the Batmobile or using bat gadgets to defeat classic enemies like the Scarecrow, the Penguin and of course the Joker.

What are some of your favourites?