Beetlejuice became a pop culture icon from the moment he appeared in his self-titled 1988 movie. Sure, he’s crass, crafty, and a sight for sore eyes, but the afterlife’s leading bio-exorcist is undeniably charming and hilarious. Now he’s finally returning to the movies with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, along with a host of beloved characters from the previous film.
While this is great for his fans, it shouldn’t be the only return he’s making in the 21st century. As animated and over-the-top as he is, it’s surprising that the colorful and macabre world of Beetlejuice hasn’t gotten its own modern video game. After all, not only is anticipation high for his next big screen outing, but the closest thing he’s gotten to a modern gaming spotlight, a 2017 LEGO Dimensions expansion pack, proved that there’s plenty of fun for the character to have in such a format.
Beetlejuice’s previous games are incredibly dated
LEGO Dimensions add-on aside, Beetlejuice’s gaming appearances are entirely confined to the 1990s. He made his gaming debut in 1990 via Adventures of Beetlejuice: Skeletons in the Closet, a DOS game based on the animated Beetlejuice series. Taking place on a giant checkerboard, you play as Beetlejuice as he defeats various monsters with loogies while Lydia Deetz cleans up their remains. It’s a good time-killer and very much evokes the look of the show, but it’s hardly a definitive Beetlejuice gaming adventure.
The following year came Beetlejuice for the Nintendo Entertainment System, largely based on the 1988 movie. This title puts Beetlejuice in a platforming environment, where he runs from one fantastical stage to the next, squashing bugs and planning to cause mischief for the Deetz family. This is a pretty standard platformer from the era with little to write home about. With the likes of Super Mario World on the market at the time, this one was pretty easy to pass over, and its fortune hasn’t improved with age.
1992’s Beetlejuice: Horrific Hijinx from the Neitherworld! is a Nintendo Game Boy offering based on the Beetlejuice cartoon, and, unsurprisingly, it woefully misses the mark. It’s sluggish, and the limitations of the hardware prevent it from capturing the look and feel of the show. Like its contemporaries, it’s entirely unremarkable—another big miss.
For such a popular character, one would think that Beetlejuice would have at least one solid game to his credit already, but no such title has made it to consumers yet. All the more reason for a modern Beetlejuice game to come along, giving the character his gaming due and rectifying his past blunders.
Classic horror-comedy properties have worked as modern video games before
One of the great things about gaming as a medium is that there’s a little bit of everything out there. Want a serious, character-driven story? How about something light and comedic? Atmospheric? It’s all out there, and more often than not, these games find their audience and thrive. One has to imagine that a horror-comedy game adaptation of Beetlejuice would find the same success, especially since similarly-toned properties from decades past have performed well when brought to the format.
A prime example is 2009’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game from Atari Interactive. The game has players join the original movie’s Ghostbusters as the new recruit, embarking on an adventure between the first two films. It’s funny, action-packed, and visually impressive for the time, striking just the right chords with Ghostbusters fans. In fact, with the legacy cast at the forefront, many out there long considered it the true Ghostbusters 3 before Ghostbusters: Afterlife came along in 2021, despite its place in the timeline. Dan Aykroyd even referred to it as such in a 2009 interview with SciFiNow.
If Ghostbusters can get a video game continuation long after a series entry last graced the big screen, and hit a home run with franchise fans, gamers, and critics alike in doing so, surely Beetlejuice could do the same.
A new Beetlejuice game could be all kinds of crazy fun
When it comes to Beetlejuice, the name of the game is fun. The film and the cartoon are full of rich colors, wacky environments, and other-worldly characters that fans can’t forget. These elements are perfectly suited for a modern video game, with hardware finally available that can render such visuals in stunning detail.
Unlike previous Beetlejuice games, voice acting is now very much a thing in video games, too. It’s now possible for Beetlejuice and his companions to craft and sell a compelling narrative, build on existing lore, and crack all kinds of jokes while you play.
Of course, what are stories and visual elements without solid gameplay? Given the character’s off-the-wall nature, Beetlejuice can fit into virtually any gaming environment. A goofy platformer could allow for colorful, inventively-designed levels in both the netherworld and the land of the living.
Meanwhile, a more open-world angle can do the same with an emphasis on exploring such fascinating environments and getting acquainted with their residents. Even a linear game could prove enjoyable, putting the main narrative and the characters within it front-and-center. Naturally, any and all of these options could allow Beetlejuice himself to shine with his undead abilities weaved into traversal, puzzle-solving, combat, and more.
All in all, Beetlejuice deserves the modern video game treatment. He and his world are tailor-made for it, and if anything, so long as it’s done right, such a title would go a long way in washing the taste of his previous games out of gamers’ mouths. The only question is, which, if any, developer will step up to once again let the Juice loose on the gaming landscape?
