T5W#35-Top 5 Video Game Based Anime

Spoiler Alert: This kind of has something to do with this weeks upcoming First Impression Friday feature…so that’s a good tie in.

Video Games and Anime pretty much go hand in hand don’t they?  I mean many time you want to just pop in a video game just to feel like you’re playing an Anime itself.  But occasionally a game is so beloved by many that it gets some form of Animated treatment. And that’s what im looking at today.  These are 5 titles ive seen and…relatively enjoyed.  I’ll admit some of these are on here for nostalgia factor alone and not cause they’re anything really good.  So, without further ado, onto this tiny list of Anime based on Video Games…the good, the bad and the meh

 

#5-Fatal Fury

I find it a stroke of luck I ever found this title on Scifi Channel one night a long time ago.  Before I even knew what King of the Fighters was, I was curious where Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui came from…and if Mai was single (she wasn’t, she was hooked up with Terry’s brother, Andy).  The Motion Picture is pretty standard fare, it’s definitely not Street Fighter.  But I know some fans of 90’s Anime enjoy it and for me, it was a fun little venture.  So it makes the list.

 

#4-Resident Evil Degeneration and Damnation

I almost forgot about these two to be honest.  When thinking about favorite Video Game franchises and thinking about whether or not they have Anime adaptations, several titles come to mind…like Metal Gear Solid.  But this is Resident Evil we’re talking about here.  Both Degeneration and Damnation are essentially prequels to Resident Evil 5 and 6.   Both feature tales involving Leon S. Kennedy, the hero from Resident Evil 2 and 4 and a host of other familiar faces.  Some of those faces include the lovely femme fatales of the franchise, including red head beauty Claire Redfield and everyone’s favorite lady in the red dress Ada Wong.  These films are more in line with the action adventure direction that the series later took (to varied effect) but theyre still a fun watch, especially Damnation if only cause it has a really sexy Ada fight scene.

 

#3- Halo Legends

Much in the tradition of The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight, Halo Legends is a collection of short stories from across the Halo mythos all done by different directors and animation studios.  Except for a comically themed entry with a Spartan trying to go hand to hand with a brute in DBZ style combat, the rest of the entries are pretty in line with the Halo Universe.  Highlights include Cortana’s two part recap of the history of the Haloverse, from the Forerunners to the end of Halo 3; and a CG glam fest from the director of Appleseed.  I really like that one since we see the Master Chief with two of his closest friends mowing down Covenant.  We also get to see their hud displays as they run through…just like the game.  It’s pretty awesome.

 

#2-Fate/Stay Night

Yes.  Believe it or not, this one originated as a Japanese Visual Novel on Windows and Playstation 2.  Wow that’s kind of a mind blower.  Over the course of last year, I delved head first into Fate/Zero, the FSN Prequel, and immediately wanted to know what happened next with Shiro and Rin’s quest.  That led to watching Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works as it aired it’s second half in Japan and eventually watching the main FSN pathway this past winter on DVD.  This series got me immersed big time.  The story is epic, the characters memorable, the action beyond belief.  Oh and it gave me Rin Toshaka, who’s fast become one of my top Anime heroines.

 

#1-Street Fighter II V and Street Fighter II: The Motion Picture

If ever there is a blueprint most Anime video game adaptations should follow, it’s this one.  Ken and Ryu reunite after a period apart for a round the world training trip.  Pretty much the entire roster from the first couple of games (yes there was a Street Fighter 1: Guile, Chun-Li, Dalshim, Vega and even M.Bison as the big bad.  The action keeps in pace with the games and many of the characters signature moves have been perfectly recreated.  If you need a cliffnotes version of this series, I also hear that the SFII Motion Picture is pretty good.  The most ive seen is bits and pieces of the final battle between Ken and Ryu against Bison.  I CAN say that the fight between Chun Li and Vega is pretty freaking awesome.