We’re far from the days where every blockbuster movie had to have a shitty tie-in video game, with movie studios and game developers preferring shitty mobile games or Fortnite events now, so it’s a bit sad that we can no longer come back from the theater, sit down in front of the Nintendo, and play through an extremely loose interpretation of the movie we just saw as a game. Indie developer JoyMasher and sound designer Dominic Ninmark haven’t quite taken us back to that era, but they have put together a short video on what John Wick would be like as an NES game. The end result is sort of a Contra-like side-scroller, with 8-bit Keanu Reeves ducking under big, round bullets and executing his enemies with both style and efficiency.
He even fights a helicopter, in a nod to the outsized boss fights you’d often see in games like this, and there’s a touching ending—though it’s a little too touching, given the familiar beats of the John Wick movies. If anything, there should be a “Sorry Jon, your dog is another castle!” message from Toad. Also, a real John Wick game for the NES would be much harder than this appears to be, especially deep into stage five. That would be more appropriate to the obvious Contra inspiration for one thing, and things rarely ever seem this easy for Baba Yaga in the movies.
It’s a fun glimpse into what might’ve been (if John Wick came out in the ‘80s), but it’s worth noting that there is an actual John Wick game coming out at some point in the future.