If you like blockbusters Sonic the Hedgehog, Five nights with FreddieAnd The Super Mario Bros. movie are proof that mainstream audiences are finally ready to enjoy video game adaptations Secret level a sampler record. From the creators of Netflix’s similarly designed animated anthology Love, death + robots, Secret level offers 15 bite-sized adaptations of 15 different video game franchises. The result is, kindly, a mixed bag, focusing mostly on lesser-known games and rarely offering more than a basic version (with one deeply wacky exception in Secret levelThis is a riff Pac Man).

Still, it’s an interesting experiment and one that, if successful with viewers, could spawn future seasons that take the concept of a video game adaptation in new and unexpected directions. So which episodes of Secret level are actually worth your time? Here they are, ranked from worst to best:

In his worst moments, Secret level makes you feel like you’re voluntarily watching a commercial. But Playtime: Fulfillment Might as well be Be In one commercial, a bike messenger played by Kevin Hart’s daughter Heaven zips past PlayStation characters like Kratos and Sackboy while her famous father yapping in her ear. The big reveal at the end essentially boils down to “Video games are good!” – as if anyone who wants to watch Secret level needs to be convinced.

Secret level leans toward the dark and dark, so it’s an adaptation of Capcom’s beloved film Mega man The franchise, overloaded with crazy robots, could have provided a welcome splash of color. Instead, this short, boring origin story is a missed opportunity. This episode ends where it should have begun; inexplicably, the blue armor, the insanely catchy music, and pretty much everything else that’s fun Mega man only arrives in the final moments.

It’s safe to say no one was playing Unreal tournament for the story. Perhaps that’s why this adaptation of the first-person shooter franchise feels so by-the-numbers, as a rogue robot sparks a revolution by winning a series of unlikely victories in a futuristic gladiatorial arena. At least credit for bringing it back Unreal Tournament 3 Voice actor Fred Tatasciore as announcer.

Spelunky: Tally has the misfortune of being no less than behind three other episodes meditate on the cycle of life, death and rebirth that video game protagonists must endure. But even if the episode stands on its own, this is a pretty poor take on the addictive roguelike game, with most of the story taking place in a boring starting area CavingThe ever-changing corridors.

Keanu Reeves in a mech suit! That’s pretty much the entire story of this adaptation of FromSoftware’s third-person shooter franchise, which casts Reeves as a cynical pilot whose closest companion is the computerized voice in his head. It’s nothing special – and it’s hard to shake the feeling Cyberpunk 2077in which Reeves played a prominent role, would have been a much better fit Secret level – but it’s a perfectly decent introduction to an underrated video game franchise.

Don’t feel bad if you’re not familiar with it Crossfire. The free-to-play shooter is a huge success in Asia, but never really caught on in the US. This episode – in which two rival squadrons of mercenaries, each of which insists they’re “not the bad guy”, fight over a briefcase and the asshole who carries it – delivers serviceable action while simultaneously standing out as the only one Secret level Episode set in the real world.

You have to respect the boldness of this dark, bloody adaptation Pac Manwhich reimagines the video game icon as a sword-wielding humanoid guided through a maze of ghosts and monsters by a floating yellow dot who insists he must eat everything in his path. To be clear: Pac-Man: Circle is breathtakingly stupid in both concept and execution. But at least it is like that attempt do something interesting.

I am largely unknown Honor of kings – a multiplayer online battle arena game developed by the Chinese company Tencent Games – so I can’t say how well this installment adapts its source material. But these pseudo-philosophical musings on the nature of free will and fate, which wouldn’t sound particularly out of place in the dorm room of a stoned freshman, are at least presented with some panache as a vengeful orphan challenges the callous ruler of a crumbling city to a game of Go .

Can this really be called a video game adaptation when the video game hasn’t even been released yet? Exodus won’t be released until 2025, making this episode feel more like a commercial. But at least it’s a pretty good piece – albeit one that’s very annoying Interstellar – as a father chases his wayward daughter across the galaxy as the vagaries of space-time cause her to age faster than he does.

This adaptation of the beat-’em-up series stays pretty close to the original story, as a martial arts master seeks revenge with the help of a magical talisman that revives him as an older man when he falls in battle. But Sifu: It takes a life He at least manages to give the concept an elegant sheen by comparing his hero’s struggle to a chef’s lifelong quest for the perfect dumplings and the stylized animation – a welcome departure from the dull, almost realistic part of most films Secret levels episodes – makes this episode stand out from the crowd.

Embarrassingly, Concord: Tale of the Implacable arrives several months after the spectacular failure of Sony’s multiplayer shooter, which was so unpopular that it led to the closure of both the game and the studio that developed it. But even if Secret level Spectators can’t just start a few laps Concordthis episode – not a bad one Guardians of the Galaxy A squabble about a feuding spaceship crew on a mission to throw off the shackles of space capitalism – it’s one of the show’s more distinctive and breezy installments. Think of it as a message from an alternate universe where Concord was a huge success.

Secret level It was smart to start with this episode celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons with a charming greatest hits series featuring archetypes from the larger universe of the popular tabletop game. A cursed prisoner, a brave paladin, a spellcasting necromancer, and a five-headed dragon… If you were a GM looking to start a new campaign, this episode wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

The Outer Worlds was largely overshadowed by the Stand out Franchise that comes from the same creators, but Secret level provides a solid introduction to the game’s jaundiced tone. Set in an alternate universe where ruthless megacorporations have colonized space in their relentless pursuit of profit, we follow Amos, a tireless orphan who volunteers for more than a hundred body-modifying experiments in the hopes of climbing a corporate ladder and becoming involved to reunite with the woman he loves. This is satire delivered with a sledgehammer, but hey, it’s not like we live in particularly subtle times.

And speaking of insubtlety: Of all the dark stories in Secret levelWarhammer 40,000 is the darkest, and that’s exactly how it should be. Set in a far, far future where, as the opening text explains, there is only war, the film follows a group of Space Marines from a strange, dogmatic religious sect as they use guns and chainsaws to fight their way through an endless horde sadistic alien. It’s a damn good time.

In this loose adaptation of Amazon’s own massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a vain king who sets out to conquer a distant land but ends up humiliating himself. This is another installment that plays with the concept of a regenerating protagonist – on this island, as we soon learn, anyone who dies is reborn unharmed on the shore – but there’s both humor and a sly poignancy to it Schwarzenegger’s King Aelstrom loses one competition after another. He was the reigning monarch of the island before he dedicated himself to building a prosthetic arm for his loyal servant. “This is this island. “An eternity of second chances,” Aelstrom is told, and his character development despite countless setbacks is a welcome reminder of what video games can offer.