Video games and manga have a long and intertwined history. In the early days of video games, manga was often used to promote new games or to tell stories that were too complex to fit into the limited gameplay of the time. This need has waned as video games have become more and more capable of telling their story without the aid of additional media. Regardless of this, many manga based off of video games continue to be produced and I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the more notable ones.
Let’s start off with, as far as I can tell, the best-selling manga based on a video game, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Based on the popular Dragon Quest video game series, The Adventures of Dai follows the titular character as, after being the only human on an island called Delmurin that was filled with monsters after the fall of the last demon lord, he learns that the demon lord has returned and that he must be trained by the previous hero, Avan, to fight against this menace. The series has proved popular with numerous anime adaptations and several video games and an estimated 50 million volumes sold as of 2022.
Another particularly successful manga that’s based on a video game is Pokémon Adventures. Following the main character, Red, on his journey to collect and train Pokémon, many people like to point out some of the darker themes compared to the video games that it’s based on. It has been a great success, receiving plenty of critical praise, has been running since 1997 and has sold an estimated 28 million copies since. It’s even been described by Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, as “the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey.”
The Legend of Zelda, being one of the most popular video game franchises ever, has seen numerous manga adaptations over the years, particularly adaptations of specific games. These releases have proven to be successful in their own ways but there is a particular reason why I consider The Legend of Zelda manga as being noteworthy. One of the most important and influential mangaka of all time, that being Shotaro Ishinomori, released an adaptation of A Link to the Past which was serialised in Nintendo Power. This fact alone elevates the importance of this series over many other manga based on video games.
The last example I wish to take a look at is a rare example, that being a manga based on a video game that I actually consider to be superior to the source material. Admittedly, I’ve only read the first ten volumes of Higurashi When They Cry but, despite some pacing issues, I think they do a fantastic job of capturing the horror and mystery of the games. The games themselves though, I do find myself getting restless playing because there is no gameplay whatsoever, simply pressing a button to move through pages of text with some music and sound effects playing and the characters changing expression occasionally. I’m not a fan of these types of visual novels, preferring ones that incorporate gameplay into the experience. Therefore, I actually find myself liking the manga adaptation more than the video games they’re based on!
Of course, there are plenty of examples of notable manga based on video games but these are four series that have stuck out to me as being particularly noteworthy. Let me know your thoughts on these manga that are based on video games, what other video game manga you consider to be notable, whether you’ve ever read a manga based on a video game that you liked more than the video game itself and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.