I enjoyed it because it reminded me my childhood.
There are plenty of movies related to the video games. The 80s movie 'Tron' was one of those first I have seen, followed by many. But the recent one 'Wreck-it Ralph' was the game changer in the modern animation/CGI which led to another similar flick, 'The Lego Movie'. Lego and 'Toy Story' are the toys, not the video games, but very close to this theme and I'm very happy that Hollywood made this film for the guys like me who grew up playing them.
The film had a very simple story with the great visuals. Sometimes simple is very good rather going for hi-tech. Especially those who played these games in their middle-age back in the 80s could be now very old and they might suffer to understand the film due to the technology/terms/phrase gap, if it matched to the todays hi-tech hi-resolution video games. But the youngsters of the present era didn't understand that who are the backbone of any movie's success and that's why this movie sunk in the ocean of criticism.
My childhood and teenage was the late 90s and early 00s respectively, So 8bit games are on the edge of revolution. My favourites were the races and brick games, especially 'Duck Hunt', because I get a gun, not joystick. So this movie really brought me those sweet memories. A decade ago I used those unique sounds and music for message alerts in my 2G mobile phone(s).
I know recently Sandler had hit the rock bottom in his acting career, but, he's kind of lifted after the decent film 'The Cobbler' and excellent multistarrer 'Men, Women & Children'. This is not a massive comeback to what he's known for, comedies. But, sailing on average or above in better than falling downward in the career graph. To me this film was a better one, an above average, obviously not a masterpiece.
Guest appearances were unexpected, but was not that effective, except Ashley Benson, who was so hot in her 2-3 odd minutes. This film is not for everyone. Youngsters and oldsters never understand it. If you were born in the 70s and 80s, then probably you will know what to expect. Even it does not deliver to your expectation, definitely gives satisfaction for bringing those lost memories of our childhood.
7/10