00:00Go. Those mercenaries are my unfinished business.
00:04Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're taking a look at 10 licensed video games that
00:09we never expected to be made. Before we begin, we publish new videos all week long.
00:15So be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays, and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
00:21Gotham City Imposters
00:28When you're using the license to a superhero franchise, you ideally want to center your
00:33game around that superhero. Well, Monolith Software had a completely different idea for a Batman game.
00:40This was an online shooter, where you played as a bunch of normies masquerading as the Dark Knight
00:45and the Joker, both sides equipped with grappling hooks, capes to glide with, and more. You could
00:51even customize loadouts with weapons inspired by Batman's gallery of villains. Though there was
00:56a shift in taking the game from a premium to free-to-play market, Gotham City Imposters sadly
01:01never caught on. SpongeBob SquarePants, Battle for Bikini Bottom, rehydrated.
01:07Squidward, are you okay? No, I'm not okay, you barnacle-head. Do I look like I'm okay?
01:13For a time, Nickelodeon games were kind of in the tanker. After Nicktoon's Globs of Doom,
01:19many of them were mediocre at best, broken, glitchy, and boring at worst. So, it was surprising
01:24that THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp wanted to remake what many considered to be the best SpongeBob
01:30game ever made. That was before Cosmic Shake came along. And what do you know? Rehydrated turned out
01:36to be just as great as the original game. And clearly, it was a huge success, as there have been
01:42more SpongeBob games released in the 2020s than there were in the decade prior.
01:47Hello, Patrick. I've got a job for you to do. Oh, boy.
01:51Robocop. Rogue City. While there was an attempt to revive Robocop in 2014,
01:57the franchise hasn't been relevant since the third movie in 1993. So, to put out a Robocop game
02:04featuring an original story in 2023, many expected the game to be okay and nothing more. Imagine our
02:11surprise when Rogue City wound up being an exceptional first-person shooter. His tanky build
02:17and different upgrade paths worked surprisingly well mechanically, and Rogue City provided more
02:22of a challenge than we had initially anticipated. If you haven't played this for yourself,
02:26you should check this out. It is highly inconsiderate not to secure your technology.
02:32Ghostbusters the Video Game. This way, gentlemen. Well, this looks inviting.
02:39While we're talking about ancient movies from the 80s, Ghostbusters the Video Game received an odd
02:45amount of attention during its marketing cycle back in the day. The reason for this was because Dan
02:50Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were writing the game and even going so far as to say, quote,
02:55it is essentially the third movie, end quote. But to do this 20 years after Ghostbusters 2,
03:01which wasn't even a good sequel? Strange. Very strange. Nevertheless, Ghostbusters the Video
03:09Game was the best game based on the franchise ever made, thanks to its destructible environments
03:14and creative mechanics. This is worth checking out if you've been itching for a third-person
03:19shooter that feels original in its gameplay.
03:27Spy vs. Spy
03:35Ever since its debut in 1952, Mad Magazine has been a fairly niche publication. Not everybody can get
03:42into the bizarre artwork, and some of the humor is definitely an acquired taste. Its flagship comic
03:49strip series, Spy vs. Spy, has fallen under the same notoriety. So how would a 3D action game based
03:55on that series work exactly? Well, it's basically a third-person shooter that is also one big scavenger
04:02hunt where one player tries to hoard items and escape the map while sabotaging his enemies. Wait a minute.
04:08Was Spy vs. Spy the first extraction shooter? And it was somewhat good? Nah, couldn't be.
04:15Sandland.
04:16P-Papa! It's Beelzebub!
04:20Hey, Z-
04:21Wh-What?!
04:23The late Akira Toriyama has widely been known for creating Dragon Ball and his character design work
04:28on Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. Sandland is among his most obscure creations, along with Dr.
04:35Slump, Gogo Ackman, and Jayco the Galactic Patrolman. That said, it was bizarre to see Bondi Namco and
04:42Disney try to make Sandland the next big thing between the 2024 game and a whole anime series.
04:48The game wound up being a solid title with its take-based combat and exploration, but if you're
04:53expecting something super deep in mechanics, you might be a bit disappointed. Thomas and Friends,
04:58Wonders of Sodor.
05:00You will be taken through every step needed to make sure that Thomas is a really useful engine.
05:07Even though the games were few and far between, Thomas and Friends was always shoved into these
05:12crappy edutainment games that had nothing to do with the show. Seriously, when has Thomas ever been
05:17about learning shapes and numbers? Where were these devs getting the ideas from? Wonders of Sodor is
05:23pretty much the first real Thomas and Friends video game we have ever received. In addition to
05:28retelling stories from the shows and books, Wonders of Sodor gives us an experience that every fan has
05:34wanted by allowing us to drive our favorite trains and actually take part in the island of Sodor's
05:40daily operations. It took several decades to get here, but finally, finally, someone has done this
05:47IP some justice. Retro Game Challenge. This DS gem might seem like an original flash in the pan to
05:59outsiders at first, and one that is very much catering to older players. It's a game that wants
06:05you to beat a bunch of NES-style games? Odd, but it is very much in line with the Japanese
06:10TV show it's
06:11based on. Retro Game Challenge's villain, Demon Arino, is based on the host of Retro Game Master,
06:18Shinya Arino. Since 2003, Arino has used the show to try and beat various NES games within a single
06:24day's time, a format that is similar to the DS game. Mars Attracts.
06:36Back onto movies getting games decades later, a park management game is not the sort of adaptation
06:41we were expecting out of 1996's Mars Attacks. And yet, that is exactly what we got in 2025,
06:49and it fell under the radar super hard across the gaming community. Launching in early access,
06:55Mars Attacks shows a ton of promise with its unique premise and sense of humor.
07:00User reviews indicate an experience akin to Zoo Tycoon, and the folks at developer Outlier
07:06have big plans for the full release. We just hope the game is coming to consoles as well as PC
07:11whenever that happens.
07:17Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's album Balance,
07:21classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal. Check out the full track and album below.
07:30SoundMojo's album is coming to the end of the day's time, and we'll see you next time.
07:32I am the Echo you can't outrun. The joke's on you! The Blade's begun!
07:41The Blade's begun!
07:42Groundhog Day. Like father, like son.
07:52This is the strangest, most bizarre video game adaptation of a movie that we may have witnessed.
08:00Yes, Groundhog Day. Like father, like son is a VR game based on the Bill Murray comedy flick released way
08:07back in 1993.
08:09Though it tells an original story starring Phil's son, aptly named Phil Jr., it follows the same formula as the
08:16movie in that you are stuck in a time loop until you can solve everybody's problems.
08:21Unfortunately, it's missing the movie's dark humor, the mini games are finicky and broken on occasion, and the conversations with
08:29NPCs are a bit awkward.
08:31Perhaps not every movie needs a video game. Have we ever thought of that?
08:36Okay, okay. It wasn't that special, guys. Jeez. Maybe it was.
08:41Now, shall we spin again? Let's see who gets lucky next!
08:44Have you played any of these for yourself? Let us know down in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe
08:49to MojoPlays!
08:55We'll see you again next time!
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