Hello again everybody and welcome to another edition of JohnnyTalk. Today, I would like to talk about some movie celebrities that were in video games (which includes some movie licensed games), now this is about Celebrities or their likeness used for a game, not just a celebrity that has their name on the box of a game. So, don't expect games like John Elway's Quarterback or Ken Griffey Jr's All-Star Baseball, and this won't be about generic sports games like MLB: The Show or Madden.
Mike Tyson~Punch-Out!![]
This talk blog kicks off (or should I say *Punches* off) with the now infamous champion Boxer: Mike Tyson. He has endorsed some of the more iconic Nintendo games as we know it as Punch-Out!!! (Labeled Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!!)
He didn't just had his name and face on the game's gamebox. He was actualy in the game as the game's final boss after you defeat Super Machoman and claim the World Circuit title belt. Tyson was also known to be one of the more diffcult final bosses in any video game as almost all of his punches instantly knocks you down and avoiding them is nearly impossible as he doesn't flash red as the other boxers do before they throw a punch. This reflects the real McCoy as he was known for ending the fight very quickly.
Now, he became infamous for his obviously stints with the law and his eventual rotten sportsmanship later on in his career, and Tyson was replaced in all re-releases of the game by a more generic Mr. Dream (but was just as difficult). Oddly enough, his rape conviction (which landed him in prison for 6 years) was not why he didn't return, but it was him losing his title to James "Buster" Douglas is why he was replaced. Speaking of which Douglas had his own boxing game for the Sega Genesis, likewise Frank Bruno (which had some Punch-Out!!-like characters in them).
Sylvester Stallone~Various Games[]
The famous action star has had a lot of his movies be turned into games. Rambo, Cliffhanger, and Judge Dredd to name a few.
Perhaps the game that he was the most involved in was the 3DO version of Demolition Man where he was a tough cop named John Spartan in a war torn Los Angeles and apprehanded his arch nemesis: Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes) and both were sent to a cryoprison and both awakened in a more peaceful yet more policed Los Angeles. He appeared in the difficulty level select screen as well as the game over and ending screens. Saying sometimes whitty and sometimes scornful remarks (depending on the screen)
Sly is your biggest fan
Now, if you have played the game, and unless you were really good at the (from what I heard) uneven and clunky gameplay, you'll hear these scornful quotes by Sly quite often, possbily directed at the game itself.
On a lighter note, Stallone also provided some of the cutscenes in between stages as well as the digitized game sprites during the 1-on-1 fights with Phoenix which is similar to Mortal Kombat.
Arnold Schwarzenegger~Various Games[]
Like his friend, Sylvester Stallone. Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies also had a lot of licensed video games made out of them. Of course, there was Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall and True Lies.
He was most involved in the arcade rendition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (named T2: The Arcade Game), now Schwarzenegger himself didn't make a physical appearence, but he did provide his own voice for the game. Edward Furlong (who plays the teenage John Connor) also was involved in the game as he provided the digitized game sprites of Connor as well as Robert Patrick (who plays the T-1000).
Jackie Chan~Various Games[]
Another yough, action movie star makes it to this blog. Unlike Stallone or Schwarzenegger however, there are only a few of Chan's movies that were actually made into video games (the one that I read about was Project A). Chan himself also endorsed some kind of "Educational" video game system in China around 30 years ago (which had a standard computer (or typewriter) keyboard for a controller.
Anyway, you may remember that Chan appearing in the video game: Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu which appeared on the NES which was a platform/fighting game where Chan has to rescue his girlfriend. But the game he was the most involved in, was an obscured TFG called: Kung Fu Master Jackie Chan, which featured Chan himself and a few of his stunt-performing friends in a TFG with live-action digitized game sprites similar to Mortal Kombat, but the game itself plays similar to Street Fighter, despite that it's more like MK than SF as there's fatalities (though it's more comedic and less graphic), in this game, Chan appears as 3 boss characters (yes, I mean 3) as he uses 3 different styles of Chinese Kung Fu.
- Drunken Fist: He wears an orange outfit of some kind here, and he uses this Kung Fu style as he's most famous for (thanks to the Drunken Master series of movies).
- The Seven Animal Styles: He wears a Yellow colored Shaolin outfit. He uses the Seven Animal styles which of some are the Eagle, The Tiger, The Snake and The Mantis.
- Bagua Zhang: He wears his military uniform from the Project A series of movies. This style is said to be the oldest form of Kung Fu as it was writien in the Ancient Chinese Scroll: the Ye Jing (or I Ching) which involves open palm strikes and ciurcular motion (the circular motion isn't in the game due to the 2D plane).
When you do face Chan in the game, he has SNK Boss Syndrome as he is nearly impossible to defeat (much like Tyson from Punch-Out!!) and when you lose, he shrugs off and says something scornful (like Stallone in the 3DO version of Demolition Man), but if you're really good (or really fortunate) to beat him, he'll ger angry and punch the screen. The game's update (named Jackie Chan: Fist of Fire) has all 3 version of Chan playable as well as the Chinese Dragon boss. The game also had super combos like in Street Fighter.
Aerosmith~Revolution X[]
It's not just Actors and athletes in this edition of JohnnyTalk, even musicians are talked about here, and the musicians are a set of Bostonians which call themselves: Aerosmith as they make their appearence in another Midway Rail shooter: Revolution X.
The game is supposedly in a world which is run by a totalitarian government known as the New Order Nation, and led by a British School Teacher named Helga who has captured the said Rock & Roll band and you (a resistance fighter) must rescue them. After they are captured, you find a message from the band that will aid you on your mission.
The enitre band makes a physical appearence as the.......a lack for a better word: "Damsels in Disteress" but their lead singer: Steve Tyler is what provided the voice for the game as well (along with a British woman who does Helga's voice)
Jet Li~Rise To Honor[]
Like Chan, Li's movies haven't been made into games. But what Li has done is a stand alone game for the Playstation 2 called Rise To Honor which is about a Hong Kong police officer taking on the city's criminal underworld. Li's likeness and voice aren't the only things he provided for the game, he also did a lot of his own motion capturing for the game as well as the game's other aspects.
Heck, he even did the commercial for the game which was pretty cool.
Jet Li Rise to Honor (Playstation 2) - Retro Video Game Commercial-1462683749
Pierce Brosnan & Daniel Craig~Various James Bond Games[]
Ever since the popularity of GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64, James Bond games have been quite popular. Of course, Pierce Brosnan was the first since GoldenEye starred him as the ever swave British Secret Agent. Apart from The World is Not Enough, there were other Bond games, though Agent Under Fire didn't have the likeness of any Bond actor (though he looks like George Lazanby, but it isn't him) Brosnan's likeness was used again for the Bond game: Nightfire.
But Brosnan himself would do the next Bond game: Everything or Nothing as he also provides his voice (alog with Heidi Klum, Willem Dafoe, John Cleese and Judi Dench, though Ms. Nagai has the likeness of Japanese model: Misaki Ito, but was voiced by a British Woman, Richard Kiel returns as Jaws for the game as well)
When the reins were taken by Daniel Craig starting in the remake of Casino Royale in 2008, he also did some Bond games, such as Blood Stone, Quantum of Solace and the remake of GoldenEye, but his likeness was used for 007 Legends.
That is all for this edition of JohnnyTalk. You can check out my other blog, Johnny Watches Youtube about some of the more obscured video games where you may or may not have played or even heard of, see you later.