It's one of the most commonly-held beliefs in the video game industry: movie tie-in games are nothing more than a cash-grab by major studios, and almost never anything but terrible. Not without plenty of evidence, of course, since the list of truly atrocious tie-in video games gets longer every year - 2013 being no exception.

But instead of beating a dead horse and slamming bad games for being bad, we thought we'd offer a ray of hope as the next generation of consoles approaches, and the lines between film and digital interactivity continue to fade.

They beat the odds, and blew our minds: here's our list of the Top 10 Movie Tie-In Video Games.

Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005)

King Kong Tie In Game

Given the mixed reception of Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005), it seems fitting that the accompanying video game bearing an even longer title - Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie - should share a similar fate. As one of the crossover titles between current-gen systems and those previous, technical glitches and bugs ran rampant on some platforms.

Yet Jackson's direct involvement in the game, along with Ubisoft's Michel Ancel meant that despite these drawbacks, some aspects of the game were downright fantastic. The third-person 'Kong' sections weren't particularly inspired, but the first-person cinematic action and pacing was a fitting addition to the film; ultimately, the top priority for any tie-in.

Disney's Aladdin (1993)

Disneys Aladdin Tie In Games

What game comes to mind when you hear 'Disney's Aladdin' depends largely on which early home console you spent the most time with: the Sega Mega Drive or the SNES. Luckily, both offered games that modern tie-ins can only dream of approaching in terms of quality.

As fate would have it, Disney's Aladdin came around before studios began desiring tie-ins to be made cheaply, and quickly. For the Mega Drive, development fell to Virgin Interactive, and to Capcom on the SNES. When it came to platformers in the 1990s, few did it better. The fact that it centered on Aladdin and the film's characters didn't change the fact that it was one polished platformer.

Cars 2 (2011)

Cars 2 Tie In Games

While the path to popularity is a hard one to walk for any tie-in game, those perceived to be 'aimed at kids' have an even tougher time. Such is the case for Pixar's range of tie-ins, especially those made by developer Avalanche Software. After Toy Story 3: The Video Game shocked many who took the time to play it, next up was Cars 2.

The cart racer blew us away at E3 2011, offering a multiplayer experience that no one expected from a tie-in, and even on par with -dare we say it? - Mario Kart. Needless to say, the finished product was every bit as enjoyable, teaching us that tie-in racers don't always have to be forgettable.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Kung Fu Panda Tie In Game

As Kung Fu Panda proved to be a surprisingly good animated film, so too did its tie-in game surprise fans of third-person action. Seeing younger audiences (whom the game was designed for) embrace the digital version of martial artist - and giant panda - Po wasn't a shock, but any parents or older siblings who took the controller in hand soon found that this game was more polished than plenty of 'triple-A' releases.

Developed by Luxoflux, the minds behind the True Crime series, Kung Fu Panda reminds us that a game aimed at children can still be a tight and polished product. Sadly, the sequels were handed off to different teams, but the original tie-in remains a game that kids love and one parents don't need to pretend to enjoy.

The Lion King (1994)

Lion King Tie In Game

As was the case with Disney's Aladdin, The Lion King video game comes from a time when tie-in franchises were handed not to the cheapest team, but the most respected. In this case, Virgin Interactive used the character and settings - the artwork supplied by the team at Disney - to deliver one polished platformer that's still capable of testing the most skilled gamers.

The game (like most from Virgin) found success in simplicity: young Simba can roar, roll, and jump on enemies, and his older version uses swipes and scratches to throw enemies off screen. In the end, The Lion King didn't just give young fans of the movie another top-quality experience, but use the most popular franchise of the time to train them for the grueling platformers they'd later encounter.

The Warriors (2005)

The Warriors Tie In Game

Open-world excellence and Rockstar Games go hand in hand, but if there is one overlooked game in the publisher's stable, it is without a doubt The Warriors. Although the game doesn't quite fit with the rest of the games our list - it was released almost thirty years after the film of the same name - it so perfectly captured the spirit of a tie-in game that it must be mentioned.

Using the same central characters from the film, The Warriors thrusts players right into the violence, allowing the chance to play the preceding events and those of the film firsthand. Rockstar Toronto may not be the most highly-touted of the publisher's studios, but by capturing the tone and feel of the film, thereby giving fans another outlet through which to enjoy it, the game remains one cross-media experiment that was a complete success.

Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004)

Riddick Escape Butcher Bay Tie In Game

Forget being a movie tie-in game that didn't disappoint: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is one of the few games on our list that wasn't just critically acclaimed, but hailed by some as one of the best in a console generation. Blending first-person stealth, action and adventure led many to compare the game to the likes of Half-Life, aided by a strong performance from the film's leading man, Vin Diesel.

Escape From Butcher Bay was a hit while the tie-in film The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) turned out to be a dud, and developer Starbreeze Studios eventually 'reinvented' the game in the form of Assault on Dark Athena, itself embraced by critics and players. To this day, a flawed stealth system causes us to ask why more developers haven't simply copied what Starbreeze did so well with Riddick.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spiderman 2 Tie In Game

At this point Spider-Man 2 has become somewhat of an obvious inclusion when discussing the greatest movie tie-in games, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the title. For our purposes, we're speaking specifically about the console (GameCube, PS3 and Xbox) version of the game developed by Treyarch, now busying themselves with the Call of Duty franchise for Activision.

By granting the abilities of Spider-Man in an expansive digital version of New York City, players first experienced what it was like to be the beloved webslinger. It's the same compliment paid to the later release of games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, and while it may lack some of the graphical polish or depth of detail, Spider-Man 2 proved it was possible for comic book characters to be successfully translated to more than the page.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Xmen Origins Wolverine Tie In Game

Anyone familiar with X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition knows that it's a shame not every platform was as polished as the work of Raven Software. And anyone who saw the attached film knows that it wasn't hard to upstage. While the film was a disappointment, the game itself proved to be a bloody, adult, tongue-in-cheek guilty pleasure - in other words, what fans hoped for from the movie.

Partially following the plot of the film, the game let players do what they always dreamed of: hack and slash like only Wolverine can. The gruesome executions and finishing moves and visible wounds healing in real time helped make the game a worthy addition to the Wolverine mythology. As of now, the game is an oddity. But with The Wolverine (2013) approaching, anything is possible.

GoldenEye 007 (1997)

GoldenEye 64 Tie In Games

If you need us to tell you why GoldenEye 007 stands in a class of its own, you've got some homework to do. Everyone who ever played a Nintendo 64 likely spent some time with the game: it sold over eight million units worldwide, cementing Rare's place in the history books in the process. Proving that a tie-in game - following the film's plot, for that matter - could be critically successful, GoldenEye 007 also convinced many that a first-person shooter could work on home consoles.

The game showed so much promise, the studio committed to taking as long as needed to complete it, eventually launching just under two years after the film. Of course, it was the multiplayer component that secured GoldenEye's place in game history, as friends huddled around their TVs to help give birth to couch co-op for years after release. Who knew the multiplayer was only added near the end of development as a complete experiment?

Conclusion

Top 10 Movie Tie In Games

Plenty of games manage to capture enough of their attached films to keep the most devoted fans happy, but these ten games defied the odds by achieving acclaim among the industry at large. They may owe their place in history to being the exceptions that prove the rule, but that's still cause for celebration.

Which of the games on our list did you most enjoy? Think these games are proof that tie-in games can be spectacular, or has the majority of releases dashed your hopes for the future?

Share your thoughts in the comments - and our hopes for the next generation of consoles.

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Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.