Blockbuster action adventure movie Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade was released in the summer of 1989. Starring the titular archaeologist as he and his friends face off against the Nazis, The Last Crusade made almost $300 million at the global box office. The third installment in the Indiana Jones movie franchise, the film also cemented the series’ success.

To bank on this success, several video game spin-offs of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade were also released for (now retro) games consoles. And these too proved to be hugely popular.

The Last Crusade Games

A person holds a SNES controller via Pexels

In total, three games were released, based on the events of the movie. First came Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: The Action Game, which was a side-scrolling adventure game for the Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy, NES, DOS, the ZX Spectrum and many more systems. Indy can flex his wrist and send his whip flying in these levels, which are all inspired by the film.

Then, there was Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure released for Amiga, Atari ST and more. This one has Indy visit different areas from the film, interacting with characters too. It also offers 256 color graphics and a full digital soundtrack, making it a huge hit with gamers at the time. A third game, just called Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, brought more side-scrolling action to the NES console.

The three games were some of the most popular game tie-ins released for the Sega Mega Drive; that’s including Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, which was based on the animated TV series, and several Batman games based on the iconic comic book hero.

The Last Crusade’s Impact

The Sega Mega Drive console via Pexels

The Last Crusade games did more than prove that the Indiana Jones franchise is popular in all mediums – or that tie-ins can do well on the Sega Mega Drive. The titles also provided inspiration for many more recent video games too.

The most well-known example is Tomb Raider, which sees archaeologist and explorer Lara Croft jet all over the world to uncover mysterious artifacts. There are over a dozen Tomb Raider games overall, with Shadow of the Tomb Raider also releasing in 2018. The Book of Ra deluxe online slots game also features historical symbols such as golden statues and ancient masks as well as a brave and adventurous researcher. The way the Book of Ra uses bold graphics and powerful sound effects is directly inspired by Indiana Jones too.

Moreover, Nathan Drake, the protagonist of the Uncharted franchise also bears a striking resemblance to Indiana Jones. Both have a real charm and charisma, both take part in daring feats of action, and both are incredibly curious about ancient artifacts.

Indiana Jones has such a strong position in pop culture and new films in the franchise are continuing to be made, with another movie scheduled to release in 2020. As Indiana goes on more adventures, there will be more room for modern game devs to take inspiration and we may even see some more direct game spin-offs too.

Carl Williams

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