10 Licensed Games We NEVER Expected

10 Licensed Games We NEVER Expected

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 licensed video games that we never expected to be made!

“Gotham City Imposters” (2012)

When you’re using the license to a superhero franchise, you ideally want to center your game around THAT superhero. Well, Monolith Software had a completely different idea for a Batman game. This was an online shooter where you played as a bunch of normies masquerading as the Dark Knight and the Joker, both sides equipped with grappling hooks, capes to glide with, and more. You could even customize loadouts with weapons inspired by Batman’s gallery of villains. Though there was a shift in taking the game from a premium to free-to-play market, “Gotham City Imposters” never caught on.

“SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated” (2020)

For a time, Nickelodeon games were kind of in the tanker. After “Nicktoons: Globs of Doom”, many of them were mediocre at best, broken, glitchy, and boring at worst. So, it was surprising that THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp wanted to remake what many considered to be the best SpongeBob game ever made (before “Cosmic Shake” came along). And what do you know - “Rehydrated” turned out to be just as great as the original game! And clearly, it was a huge success as there have been more SpongeBob games released in the 2020s than there were in the decade prior.

“RoboCop: Rogue City” (2023)

While there was an attempt to revive “RoboCop” in 2014, the franchise hasn’t been relevant since the third movie in 1993. So, to put out a “RoboCop” game featuring an original story in 2023? Many expected the game to be okay and nothing more. Imagine our surprise when “Rogue City” wound up being an exceptional first-person shooter. His tanky build and different upgrade paths worked surprisingly well mechanically, and “Rogue City” provided more of a challenge than we had initially anticipated. If you haven’t played this for yourself yet, you should check it out for yourself.

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game” (2009)

While we’re talking about ancient movies from the 80’s, “Ghostbusters: The Video Game” received an odd amount of attention during its marketing cycle back in the day. The reason for this was because Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were writing the game and even going so far as to say “it is essentially the third movie”. But to do this twenty years after “Ghostbusters II”, which wasn’t even a good sequel? Strange. Nevertheless, “Ghostbusters: The Video Game” was the best game based on the franchise ever made with its destructible environments and creative mechanics. This is worth checking out if you’ve been itching for a third-person shooter that feels original in gameplay.

“Spy vs. Spy” (2005)

Ever since its debut in 1952, MAD magazine has been a fairly niche publication. Not everyone can get into the bizarre artwork, and some of the humor is an acquired taste. Its flagship comic strip series, “Spy vs. Spy”, has fallen under the same notoriety. So, how would a 3D action game based on that series work exactly? Well, it’s basically one big scavenger hunt where one player tries to horde items and escape the map while sabotaging his enemies. Wait a minute…was “Spy vs. Spy” the first extraction shooter? And it was somewhat good? …Naw, couldn’t be.

“Sand Land” (2024)

The late Akira Toriyama has widely been known for creating “Dragon Ball” and his character design work on “Dragon Quest” and “Chrono Trigger”. “Sand Land” is among his most obscure creations along with “Dr. Slump”, “Go! Go! Ackman”, and “Jaco the Galactic Patrolman”. That said, it was bizarre to see Bandai Namco and Disney try to make “Sand Land” the next big thing between the 2024 game and a whole anime series. The game wound up being a solid title with its tank-based combat and exploration. But if you’re expecting something super deep in mechanics, you might be disappointed.

“Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor” (2026)

Even though the games were few and far between, “Thomas & Friends” was always shoved into these crappy edutainment games that had nothing to do with the show. When has Thomas ever been about learning shapes and numbers? “Wonders of Sodor” is pretty much the first REAL “Thomas & Friends” video game we’ve ever received. In addition to retelling stories from the shows and books, “Wonders of Sodor” gives us the experience every fan has wanted by allowing us to drive our favorite trains and actually take part in the Island of Sodor’s daily operations. It took several decades to get here, but finally, someone has done the IP some justice.

“Retro Game Challenge” (2006)

This DS gem might seem like an original flash in the pan to outsiders at first, and one that is very much catering to older players. It’s a game that wants you to beat a bunch of NES-style games? Odd, but it is very much in-line with the Japanese TV show it’s based on. “Retro Game Challenge’s” villain, Demon Arino, is based on the host of “Retro Game Master”, Shinya Arino. Since 2003, Arino has used the show to try and beat various NES games within a single day’s time, a similar format that the DS game uses.

“Mars Attracts!” (2025)

Back onto movies getting games decades later, a park management game is not the sort of adaptation we were expecting out of 1996’s “Mars Attacks”. And yet, that is exactly what we got in 2025, and it fell under the radar super hard across the gaming community. Launching in early access, “Mars Attracts” shows a ton of promise with its unique premise and sense of humor. User reviews indicate an experience akin to “Zoo Tycoon”, and the folks at developer Outlier have big plans for the full release. We just hope the game is coming to consoles as well as PC in the near future.

“Groundhog Day: Like Father, Like Son” (2019)

This…is the strangest, most bizarre video game adaptation of a movie you could possibly witness. Yes, “Groundhog Day: Like Father, Like Son” is a VR game based on the Bill Murray comedy flick released way back in 1993. Though it tells an original story starring Phil’s son, aptly named Phil Jr., it follows the same formula as the movie in that you are stuck in a timeloop until you can solve everyone’s problems. Unfortunately, its missing the movie’s dark humor, the minigames are finicky and broken on occasion, and the conversations with NPCs are a bit awkward. Perhaps not every movie needs a video game?

Have you played any of these for yourself? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays.