In every console generation, there is a chosen one. Well, there should be, but Sunnydales resident slayer of all things dead and deadly has had a disappointingly brief run in the world of video games.
Just two home console titles and four handheld over the first decade of the 21st Century remain Buffys digital legacy some 12 years later. Given the almost brutally obvious match between a vampire-slaying teenager and her wisecracking entourage with the world of video games, its genuinely surprising we didnt get more adaptations. Still, as the show was effectively done and dusted by the time the more prominent examples released, perhaps it was a case of too soon or not soon enough.
The first shot at bringing Buffy to gaming was a rather understated (putting it kindly) effort on GameBoy Color and was simply dubbed Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This side-scrolling beat em up saw Buffy Summers plodding through eight levels of hell, fighting off all manner of vamps. Well, six kinds of vamps, and only one at a time. It was a typically bare-bones beat em up with very little to distinguish itself as a Buffy game. THQ could have slapped Mad About You on the box and been as connected to the contents (A Paul Reiser beat em up when?). It was also just a bit rubbish.
In 2002, Fox Interactive took up the publishing duty, and forged a deal with real-life malevolent demon Bill Gates to produce a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer game for the hulking monolith known as Xbox. The game (once again imaginatively titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was developed by The Collective, who had already tried its hand at adaptations with games for Men in Black and Deep Space Nine. Theyd go on to do a Star Wars game, get renamed Double Helix Games, make a Silent Hill game, and eventually led to the developer being snapped up by a real-life malevolent demon.
Using the talents of Buffy novel writer Christopher Golden and his Buffyverse comic book collaborator Thomas E. Sniegoski to pen a script, The Collective brought the spooky goings-on of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth life. This tale sees Buffy up against a powerful vampire and a necromancer (plus Spike) who are out to resurrect The Master. This leads to third-person action-adventure fighting against vampires, zombies, hellhounds, and more in a surprisingly typical Buffy storyline.
While it was far from essential as a game, the Xbox Buffy did a lot right in recreating what made the show so memorable for so many. When TV show adaptations were notoriously poor, this felt like a genuine effort to change that perception. Its a shame it was restricted to a single console that, relatively speaking, didnt have that much of an audience. Id imagine licensing issues prevented it from getting a backward-compatible release on Xbone One.
2003 was a record year for Buffy games, with a whopping two whole vampire-slaying epics to get your grubby mitts on. First up was Natsumes GameBoy Advance platformer Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King. It was undeniably better than the previous GameBoy outing, with the Advances superior power and color palette making this game look a lot more like it might actually be about Buffy. Alas, it was about as enjoyable as being stuck in an elevator with Riley Finn, and added just as much to the series legacy as that slab of blandness.
The second was Chaos Bleeds, the last Buffy console game to date, releasing on Gamecube and PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It centers on Season 5 Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang tackling the source of all evil and alternate realities bleeding into theirs, which allows for the return of a few vanquished friends and foes (Sid the Dummy, for example). It was similar to the previous console-only game in gameplay terms, but also featured a selection of multiplayer modes (all of which let you play as characters other than Buffy). If you ever wanted to batter the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Willow Rosenberg, then this is very much the Buffy game for you.
Chaos Bleeds managed to be a good Buffy fan experience and an okay game as with its predecessor. Swapping between Spike, Sid, Xander, Faith, Willow, and Buffy over the course of the games story added some much-needed variety with each character having their own traits and abilities, even if the utilization of them was rather unimaginative. The aforementioned multiplayer modes werent much of a bonus, but the behind-the-scenes features and comic book tie-ins added more to the package.
Still, this was the peak of Buffy the Vampire Slayer video games. The following year saw a first (and last) mobile entry, with The Quest for Oz. This non-canonical platformer sees Buffy searching for Willows wolfy squeeze Oz, who has seemingly been kidnapped by the dippy but dangerous vampire Drusilla. By punching vampires, bats, and other baddies, Buffy collects several magical keys, which will lead her to a final encounter with Drusilla and SPOILERS rescue Oz. Given how the whole Oz and Willow thing ends up going, it might have been better to let Drusilla alone this once. The game (which you can seek out on the internet if you so wish) is slightly better than the previous two platformers, but thats not an especially high bar.
After five Buffy games in just four years, the gaming franchise was temporarily laid to rest until 2009 where it made its comeback. Unfortunately, that comeback was Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice.
Back on a Nintendo handheld once more, Buffy hit the 2DS with a 3D adventure that sat somewhere between the console outings and the handheld ones. The problem was that it didnt work as either. Aside from some interesting magic casting with the stylus and decent first-person crossbow action, Sacrifice was arguably the worst Buffy game to play when it came to the act of vampire-slaying. A fiddly, unenjoyable mess that, to this day, acts as a rather sad epitaph for video games based on the Slayer.
Its been over a decade since that demoralizing final outing, and were coming up to 25 years since Buffy first staked our hearts through our TV screens. For a variety of reasons, it seems unlikely wed get a new Buffy game, but a part of me hopes we get one more trip to Sunnydale to kick the face off some undead creepazoids.
Read more here:
Revisiting the Disappointingly Brief History of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Video Game Adaptations - Bloody Disgusting
- Nosferatu: First Footage Shows Off Bill Skarsgard as the Vampire - TheWrap - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend and Amber Coffman Cover Grateful Dead's Peggy-O - Pitchfork - April 12th, 2024
- Watch: Goose Welcome Vampire Weekend for Half-Hour Jam on Night Four at The Capitol Theatre - jambands.com - April 12th, 2024
- Woman found dead in Italian church was dressed like vampire and looking for ghosts - Express - April 12th, 2024
- Goose Welcome Vampire Weekend for Half-Hour Jam on Night Four at The Capitol Theatre (A Gallery + Recap) - Relix - April 12th, 2024
- A Guide to Vampire Weekend's Most Jewish Songs and Lyrics - Alma - April 12th, 2024
- Review: Vampire Weekend's 'Only God Was Above Us' sinks its teeth into nihilistic perspectives - Washington Square News - April 12th, 2024
- Watch Vampire Weekend Join Goose for a 31-Minute Redition of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" | Exclaim! - Exclaim! - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend's Only God Was Above Us: Review - Consequence - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Covers The Grateful Dead's 'Peggy-O' On SiriusXM - Digg - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Covered Grateful Dead With Amber Coffman On SiriusXMU: Watch - Stereogum - April 12th, 2024
- Savannah Basley Co-Stars in SyFy's REGINALD THE VAMPIRE Season Two - BroadwayWorld - April 12th, 2024
- Review | Vampire Weekend's 'Only God Was Above Us' is sure to get stuck in your head - UI The Daily Iowan - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Survivors Contra Crossover DLC Will Come to PlayStation Later in the Summer - Push Square - April 12th, 2024
- OGWAU Is Vampire Weekend Keeping Things Fresh - HeadStuff.org - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Survivors is Crossing Over With Contra - GameRant - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Survivors Headed to PS5 and PS4 This Summer - News - VGChartz - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Survivors teams up with Contra for new DLC and fangs its way onto PlayStation consoles this summer - VG247 - April 12th, 2024
- The face of a 500-year-old vampire with a brick between her teeth - Metro.co.uk - March 24th, 2024
- Scientists recreate face of 16th-century vampire buried with brick inside mouth - WION - March 24th, 2024
- Montreal daily apologizes following backlash over Netanyahu vampire cartoon - The Times of Israel - March 24th, 2024
- This Major Aspect of 'Interview with the Vampire' Makes It Better Than the Movie - Collider - March 24th, 2024
- Stare Into the Screen Not the Sun: Vampire Weekend to Livestream Special Solar Eclipse Show - Rolling Stone - March 24th, 2024
- Vampire Dormitory Anime Cast to Cover Every Little Thing Song for Ending Theme - Crunchyroll - March 24th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend will livestream Austin eclipse show - Brooklyn Vegan - March 24th, 2024
- 10 Essential 80s Vampire Movies You Might Have Missed - Flickering Myth - March 24th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend, Slightly Stoopid, Portugal. The Man, and more shows announced at Dillon Amphitheater (so far) - Summit Daily - March 24th, 2024
- 'Interview With the Vampire': Meet the Real Armand With Assad Zaman (VIDEO) - TV Insider - March 24th, 2024
- Xbox Game Pass gets cowboy vampire-slayer classic today, just in time for weekend - ReadWrite - March 24th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Tease Punky, Jammy New Offshoot With An Imaginary Backstory - Stereogum - March 24th, 2024
- The GLAAD Wrap: Trailers for The Acolyte and Interview with the Vampire, New Music from Xana, Anglica Garcia ... - GLAAD - March 24th, 2024
- Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Will Unlock Deeply Hidden Memories - Gizmodo - March 24th, 2024
- Netanyahu caricatured as vampire in Canadian newspaper: 'Every Jew understands the meaning' - Ynetnews - March 24th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend tease a new offshoot project with an "imaginary back story" - NME - March 24th, 2024
- Scientists Reconstruct Face Of 16th Century 'Vampire Woman' Buried With Brick In Mouth - Study Finds - March 24th, 2024
- Here's a haunting, beautiful Interview With The Vampire season 2 trailer - The A.V. Club - March 24th, 2024
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Most Important Moment Features One Word - Den of Geek - March 24th, 2024
- TV Shows Like 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' That'll Suck You In - The Lineup - March 24th, 2024
- Remember When Pedro Pascal Was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? - Remezcla - March 24th, 2024
- Interview With The Vampire Season 2 Goes Bigger Than Ever, See The Extended Look Into Fan-Favorite Series Return - Giant Freakin Robot - March 24th, 2024
- Fury Over Antisemitic Canadian Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Netanyahu as Blood-Sucking Vampire - Algemeiner - March 24th, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: Memory Is The Monster In Stunning Extended Season 2 Trailer INTERVIEW WITH ... - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 24th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Extended Look: Memory Is Monster - Bleeding Cool News - March 24th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire trailer season 2 trailer is brimming with queer lust and the return of Lestat - Gay Times Magazine - March 24th, 2024
- Everything we're obsessed with in the new 'Interview With the Vampire' trailer - Pride.com - March 24th, 2024
- Pedro Pascal Was Saved By Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Giant Freakin Robot - March 24th, 2024
- AMC reveals an extended look at Interview with the Vampire Season 2 - Claire and Jamie - March 24th, 2024
- "Interview with the Vampire" Season 2 Trailer Previews the Return of AMC's Anne Rice Series on May 12 - Bloody Disgusting - March 24th, 2024
- Scream directors explain how their new vampire horror movie fits into the Universal Monsters universe, and share ... - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- 'Blood Hunt' Connecting Cover Holds the Line Against the Vampire Armies - Marvel.com - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Therapist - Official Distortions Trailer - IGN - March 16th, 2024
- How Mel Brooks and Twilight inspired a vampire visual novel mixing funny with therapy - Rock Paper Shotgun - March 16th, 2024
- Game Theory: Yes, please, bring on the Vampire Survivors clones - The A.V. Club - March 16th, 2024
- Son 'stabs dead his mum he believed was a vampire biting him at night' - Metro.co.uk - March 16th, 2024
- Man accused of killing mother in Siletz believed she was a vampire - KOIN.com - March 16th, 2024
- 11 Best Songs of the Week: Ride, Vampire Weekend, Drahla, Waxahatchee, and More - Under the Radar Mag - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Give Upbeat History Lesson About Cruelty Through the Ages on New Song Classical - Rolling Stone - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Therapist - Counsel the undead and help them rest in peace - ReadWrite - March 16th, 2024
- Watch: Vampire Weekend Share Classical, Third Preview Single from 'Only God Was Above Us' - Relix - March 16th, 2024
- Oregon man claims mom was vampire before he's alleged to have killed her - Toronto Sun - March 16th, 2024
- Court docs: Man accused of killing elderly mother in Siletz believed she was a vampire - Fox 12 Oregon - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend present the orchestral single, "Classical" - The Line of Best Fit - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend releases new song & video from upcoming album, 'Only God Was Above' 105.7 The Point - 105.7 The Point - March 16th, 2024
- The 'Vampire Survivors' soundtrack is coming to vinyl this month - NME - March 16th, 2024
- Blood Hunters #2 introduces an all-new vampire hunter and shows what happens when vampires drink the Hulk's blood - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire survival game V Rising sinks its teeth into a full-blooded 1.0 release this May - Rock Paper Shotgun - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend have released a new album cut, 'Classical' - Dork Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Survival Game V Rising Is Leaving Early Access On May 8th - MMORPG.com - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Therapist Releases New Distortions Trailer - Bleeding Cool News - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Survival Game V Rising Launches Into 1.0 This May Before It Hits PS5 Later This Year - Game Informer - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend glance at the cruelty of history on Classical - Beats Per Minute - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Horror Abigail Is 'Very R-Rated', Says Tyler Gillett: 'We Want The Blood To Stick To You' - Empire - March 16th, 2024
- After 2 years, this vampire anime based on one of our favorite manga is getting the second season it deserves - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- Man brutally kills mother, believing she is a vampire - The News International - March 16th, 2024
- Vampire Survivors is the next Nintendo Switch Online Game Trial in Europe - Nintendo Everything - March 16th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire stars tease "fierce" and "feisty" season 2 - Gay Times Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- New action RPG combines the best of Diablo and Vampire Survivors - PCGamesN - March 16th, 2024
- 'Your vampire ball is over' Putin to Western elites - azrbaycan24 - March 16th, 2024
- 8 Interview With The Vampire Book Moments We Can't Wait To See In Season 2 - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- Inside Ukraines terrifying Vampire drones unit striking fear into Russian troops who liken them to chi... - The Sun - March 8th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero