Highlights

• THQ mastered the art of licensing popular properties to profit in the gaming market post-1994.
• Games like Drawn to Life and SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom exemplify THQ's success before the merger in 2013.
• WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 introduced a strategic combat element that made it stand out among wrestling games.

Toy Headquarters, or THQ, started licensing toys but then focused on publishing games in 1994 after a few successful attempts within the video game market. After the success of its first video game license, Peter-Pan, THQ began its quest to license many popular properties it could get a great deal and profit on.

Many of us who had a system in the 2000s owned or played a THQ-published game, whether it was a SpongeBob or a WWE game, as it had a choke hold on many properties around that time. Despite filing for bankruptcy and then being acquired by Nordic, becoming THQNordic, the publisher has had some fantastic games. These are some of the best games published by THQ before the merger in 2013.

10 Drawn To Life

Drawn to Life had a unique gimmick where you customize your protagonist through art skills and imagination. While using the Nintendo DS touchscreen and stylus, you can draw your hero, weapons, platforms, and vehicles that you can interact with throughout the game.

The story has you arriving in a village inhabited by rabbit-like creatures known as the Raposa. Our hero is called to save the village as it is haunted by a dark force. You save the village by going on an adventure while collecting Rapo-coins that help improve and maintain the village. It's a simple game, but a lot of fun for all ages.

9 The Sopranos: Road To Respect

The Sopranos: Road To Respect is based on the HBO Drama, The Sopranos. The series follows a father, Tony Soprano, who struggles to connect with his family while also living another life as a mob boss. The story takes place between season five and six of the HBO series. Prior knowledge is recommended when playing, but the story does a good job of getting you up to speed.

You play as Joey LaRocca, an estranged son of former Soprano crew member turned police informant, Sal Bonpensiero. He meets Tony, who takes Joey under his wing and works his way into the mafia. The beat-em-up style gameplay works well with the subject of the series.

8 WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2006

Wrestling video games have been a part of gaming since 1989 with WWF WrestleMania on the NES. The WWF evolved into World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE, thus rebranding its video game series.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 improved upon the first game, debuting a year prior. Gameplay remains the same with wrestlers fighting in the many rings featured in the WWE series. This entry has a realistic approach to combat, where wrestlers have to manage their stamina gauge during matches before becoming tired and idled, creating a strategic element that makes it one of the best wrestling games.

7 Red Faction

Red Faction was a product of its time and offered an interesting story where a space miner unravels a corrupt organization on the planet Mars. Many of the other miners band together to take down the Ultor Corporation, which has its miners being killed off by a plague. It's up to you to band with the Red Faction and find a cure.

Red Faction was an early first-person shooter with a heavy focus on story, a trend that followed Valve's Half-Life. Red Fiction did stand out from its inspiration as it featured dynamic and destructible environments that included the terrain of Mars, space stations, and underground mines.

6 SpongeBob: Battle For Bikini Bottom

THQ has delivered most of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants video games since the show debuted in 1999. SpongeBob: Battle For Bikini Bottom stands out as one of the best 3D platformers, recently gaining a remaster.

Battle for Bikini Bottom follows SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy as they go through various recognizable stages ripped from the show to stop Plankton and his robots, who plan on taking over the sea. All characters play differently and are essential to reach different areas in levels.

5 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand

50 Cent is a well-known rapper who has had many hits since the early 2000s, so it's natural to merchandise his brand further. In 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, 50 Cent and the rest of his rap group, G-Unit, go on a quest to retrieve a skull embedded in diamonds. The rap group must fight through the Middle East and battle a mercenary group who took their skull.

Blood on the Sand plays similarly to Gears of War as you gun down enemies in third-person and use your terrain to duck and cover. Points can be acquired by taking out enemies. The more stylish kills, the more points, all the while music by 50 Cent blasts in the background.

4 Destroy All Humans!

Destroy All Humans is one of those instances in gaming where you can wreak havoc upon the human race. Set in 1950s America, the game follows an Alien named Cryptosporidium-137 who is looking for his clone on Earth. Once on Earth, Crypto decides to use humans and their brains to procreate further, as his species, The Furon, has no genitalia to procreate.

While harvesting humans, you also have the opportunity to shoot through hoards of military soldiers who attempt to stop your conquest. Eventually, you get to pilot the U.F.O. and decimate military aircraft and buildings that stand in your way. The writing is very comedic and pokes fun at 1950s culture, from sci-fi movies to propaganda.

3 Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row: The Third is a great example of what a video game should be; a virtual world where you can cause chaos to your heart's content while having customizable elements and fun and rewarding gameplay.

Saints Row deviates from GTA, as the story offers an over-the-top and less serious tone where we characters act in ridiculous and comedic ways while your custom character could appear naked or have alien green skin tones. Melee moves are also ridiculous, as you can suplex or stomp rival gang members in stylish ways.

2 Conker's Bad Fur Day

Despite first appearing in Diddy Kong Racing as a cute squirrel, years later, Conker would get his own game where he began to swear, drink, and shoot guns. Conker's Bad Fur Day is filled with cute imagery juxtaposed with heavy mature themes and jokes, giving it that '90s humor made popular by South Park.

Bad Fur Day is a platformer at heart, but it adds many new elements to the gameplay at every level. One moment, you're hopping through a mountain of poo, and the next you're shooting the undead or storming the beaches of Normandy. Many of the scenes in the story mode also parody many popular movies from the '80s and '90s, like The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan.

1 Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Famous for its appearances on various YouTube Lets Plays, Amnesia: The Dark Descent offered a terrifying gimmick where you have no chance of fighting the horrifying enemies; you can only run or hide.

The protagonist, Daniel, is trapped in a castle with amnesia with nothing but a lantern to hold onto. While you traverse through the castle, you're hunted by a spiritual being, creating a situation where you have to stop all progress and find a place to hide. The gameplay consists of puzzles, surviving enemies, and managing your sanity meter.