If you’re into the free-to-play smartphone gaming scene — and these days that seems to encompass just about everyone — then you may have heard about this game. In it, you play as a rising Hollywood star whose fame and fortune depends entirely on you. You guide your hero’s every step up the social ladder through the L.A. celeb scene, picking out their wardrobe, their ride, their home, and significant other. If you’re persistent, you can make your star as famous as Kim Kardashian herself. It’s good to have goals.
8. Bruce Lee – EA Sports UFC
Talk about a fish out of water. Bruce Lee, the famous actor and martial artist, never had anything to do with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That’s probably because the UFC didn’t exist until 20 years after Lee died. Regardless of the official history, Electronic Arts decided to add the fighter to its roster of real-life UFC combatants as an unlockable character. Who needs realism when you can pit Bruce Lee against Anderson Silva?
9. Mike Tyson – Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out
One of the earlier instances of a celebrity in games is the NES classic Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. As the final boss of the game, Tyson was brutally tough, giving players only a fraction of a second to dodge his instant knockout swings. But with a lot of practice and some fancy footwork, players were rewarded with some kind words from the fallen giant: “Great fighting!! You were tough, Mac! I’ve never seen such finger speed before.” Coming from the undisputed champ, that’s high praise indeed.
10. Ricky Gervais – Grand Theft Auto IV
Like all games in the series, GTA IV contains multitudes. One of those multitudes is a stand-up act that can be found by having main character Niko Bellic sit on his couch and channel surf between missions. One channel shows the British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais performing a pretty decent stand-up routine. You can watch the whole thing here.
11. Jeff Goldblum – Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Thanks to roles in movies like The Fly and Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum has been a household name for decades. Apparently his run of fantastic films (and commercials) isn’t enough to contain him, so he took a role in the Zombie Mode portion of 2015’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
12. Fred Durst – Fight Club
‘Fight Club’ | Vivendi Games
Fight Club is a high-minded movie with an anarchic worldview, based on a layered novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Considering the shallow state of video game story lines in 2004, Fight Club probably shouldn’t have been made into a video game at all. If it were to become a game, it definitely should not have had a cameo by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. But sure enough, it did. Even this rock-rapper couldn’t save the game from being knocked around by reviewers.
13. Mark Hamill – Batman: Arkham City
Many people who grew up in the ‘90s watching Batman: The Animated Series had no idea it was Luke Skywalker himself who voiced the Joker. Mark Hamill reprised the role in the Batman: Arkham games, lending his delightfully unhinged take on the character to the series. I think it’s safe to say no one was disappointed by the results.
14. Jimmy Kimmel – Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Normally, famous people in Call of Duty games play gritty, emotional roles because that’s what being a soldier in these games means. Jimmy Kimmel, on the other hand, got to play himself. In two of the endings of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, you get to see the talk show host doing his thing, talking about how the game’s heroes saved the world from the brink of destruction.
15. Aerosmith – Revolution X
Unlike most bands, Aerosmith didn’t wait for Guitar Hero to make their video gaming debut. Revolution X was an on-rails shooter, a game in which you aimed a gun controller at the screen to fire compact discs at enemies. Your goal? To save the members of Aerosmith, who had been abducted by the totalitarian government in an attempt to stomp out “youth culture.” Are you a bad enough dude to save Steven Tyler?