Video game movies suck. Video game television shows suck (except for that one Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon). Basically, if there’s a script and acting and it’s about video games, it’s going to suck… unless the fans are making it. Video game fans have come up with some impressive web series based on their love for different franchises, ranging from anime mash-ups to parodies to epic, episodic dramas. Here are five of the best.

5. Rockman Neo by AndrewDickman

Debuted: January 6, 2003
Based on: MegaMan

Posted on Newgrounds way back in 2003, I remember one of my buddies showing me this and we spazzed out about the music, the style and everything about it. This is one of the first fan anythings I had ever seen and it still ranks as one of the coolest. Unfortunately, the MegaMan fanbase drove the creator away and he’s reworking it as an original story. You can find more at his DeviantArt; look for Perfection Neo and SFCVM pictures in his gallery.

4. Super Mario Bros Z by Alvin-Earthworm

Debuted: April 4, 2006
Based on: Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Dragon Ball Z

If you took the characters of Mario and Sonic, and the plot structure of Dragon Ball Z, and blended them on high for 10 minutes, you would probably something like Super Mario Bros. Z. Or a bad drink. More specifically, SMBZ recreates the Android and Cell sagas of DBZ, though it does cut some of the more extraneous bits of the original DBZ storyline. And by some, I mean most. Now multiple episode power up sequences or overextended training montages here. Much like RockMan Neo, Alvin-Earthworm lost interest in SMBZ midway through 2007. Fortunately, he decided to come back some 16 months later to continue the series up again. There are 8 episodes thus far; you can watch them on Youtube or on Newgrounds.

3. The Awesome Series by Egoraptor

Debuted: February 23, 2006
Based on: Almost any game you can think of

We’ve covered fangames, adaptations, and altogether brand new storylines and no we have our first out and out parody. Debuting with Metal Gear Awesome, the Awesome series has parodied the like of Sonic, Devil May Cry, Halo, Gears of Wars and more. Egoraptor is quite the accomplished voice actor and is always fun to listen too. If you have time, it’s worth it to watch the whole lot of them.

2. Dead Fantasy by Monty Oum

Debuted: October 10, 2007
Based on: Final Fantasy, Dead or Alive

When it comes down to it, Final Fantasy is still one of, if *the* most recognizable names when it comes to role-playing games from Japan, dependant entirely on whether you consider Pokemon an RPG. Dead or Alive is a competant fighter series, based around counters and reversals. And bouncing boobs. In late 2007, Haloid creator Monty Oum debuted the first in a series of versus throw-downs between the ladies of the two franchises. Starting with Yuna and Rikku taking on Kasumi and Ayane, the series has a penchant for surprising and sudden character introductions, expanding the scope from Dead or Alive versus Final Fantasy to more of a Tecmo Koei versus Square Enix out and out brawl. The series is currently up to its fifth full episode (not counting the two music videos), with more episodes are expected for 2011.

1. Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy by Hive Division

Debuted: September 27, 2009
Based on: Metal Gear Solid

METAL GEAR?! MSG Philanthropy is most likely the most expensive entry on this list and it’s fairly easy to see why. It’s also the only entry to merit its own page on Wikipedia. Released late in 2009, this fan film has received praise from none other that series creator Hideo Kojima. In reply to a tweet asking if he had seen the fan film, he replied “Of course I did. It’s awesome. I felt like crying for their love towards Metal Gear. It’s also a well made movie. I can’t wait to see next part.” As an added plus, Aoife Ferry, the singer of “The Best is Yet Too Come” from the ending of Metal Gear Solid, sings for the ending credits of this film as well. This is the first of three planned short films.

So there you are, the top five fan created media on the net. All for free, and all fantastic. It’s not a complete list; I know for a fact I’ve missed Red vs Blue, but that’s a for profit venture and it’s far more businessy than the entries listed here. But feel free to point out anything else I may have missed in the comments.