10 Best Short Films Based On Video Games

Tom Holland's Uncharted might be five times longer, but will it be five times better?

Nathan Fillion Drake Uncharted
Sony

It wouldn't exactly be a stretch to say that, more often or not, video game movies don't live up to the promise of properly adapting a beloved IP into a fully fledged blockbuster. It seems like it should be an open goal, right? I mean there's already a script and story made, it should just be a case of converting it into filmic form, but unfortunately no, we, the audience, often end up with cinematic drivel.

However, that's not to say that every single video game film is awful. In fact, some are very good, beloved by fans and critics alike. Not everything can be a high budget blockbuster though. And so we get the short film.

These shorts seem to come out with a more consistent quality than the silver screen counterparts, even if they're usually fan made and not officially licensed by the IP holder. Fan films often seem to gain more renown than their licensed brethren, achieving cult appeal amongst the fans of the original video games - that could be through a sense of ownership over their adored fiction, rather than it being adapted and sold back to them.

And so, let us celebrate the best short films based on video games, the officially produced and the fan films.

10. Street Fighter: Legacy (2010)

Nathan Fillion Drake Uncharted
Content Media

The shortest film on this list at only 3 minutes and 11 seconds, Street Fighter: Legacy is a stunningly choreographed short that hits all of the highs of a bout in the fighting game franchise. Featuring franchise stars Ryu and Ken (with a small cameo from Akuma at the beginning), the film is simple but thoroughly entertaining throughout.

Though light in actual plot, Legacy innovates by rivalling modern martial arts films like Ip Man, whilst still making references to the 2d game camera of the original series - sort of like the Doom movie tried to do with its FPS sequences, but far better. All this, and surprisingly impressive CGI for a 2010 YouTube fan film - I mean just look at the Shoryuken that Ken pulls off - makes for an extremely worthwhile watch, and one that won't take up much of your time.

There's just one thing that it's missing: Raul Julia truly hamming it up as M. Bison.

Contributor

Owen Eady hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.