T5W#462-Top 5 Video Games that Deserve an Anime Adaptation

We really living in a new golden age of Video Game Adaptations.  Far from the dark days of Super Mario Bros., Mortal Kombat Annihilation and most of the Resident Evil Movies, we now have Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, and recently The Last of Us and Fallout to enjoy.  Anime has had a hand in this market since the dawn of time as well and many Video Games, mostly fighting ones, have been brought to life in some fashion or another (spectacularly is up for debate depending on the title).  But while titles like Final Fantasy, Bayonetta, Street Fighter and Xenosaga have gotten the Anime treatment, there’s still a treasure trove of untouched gems with fanbases just waiting to see their favorite games in pique Anime Condition.  Since we’ve covered the Knuckles Miniseries this week, today’s Top 5 Wednesday is talking about the Top 5 Video Games that Deserve an Anime Adaptation.  BTW I’m going to be avoiding titles from series that already have one Anime related title.  So as much as I know we all want to see a true to form Anime movie or series of Final Fantasy VII (or for me IX), if it has an Anime already, it’s not eligible for this list.

 
#5-Ace Combat

While I don’t know much about Ace Combat personally, I do know that an Anime adaptation can fill a much needed void in the action/Mecha genre, and that’s a good old fashioned non giant robot epic with just fighter plans.  With the Giant Robot genre still reasonably covered and the Macross series still in stasis after Macross Delta, Ace Combat seems perfect to sweep audiences up into a global conflict where the skies are battlefields and sweet looking CG aerial dogfights straight out of Top Gun can happen.
 

#4-Assassin’s Creed

This popular but slightly uneven cross between Historical Fiction and hardcore Scifi could go in a number of different directions.  Naturally, you could just go in order of the games.  Orrr you could take a page out of the Live Action Movie’s playbook and tackle a time period that hasn’t been seen in the games a la the Spanish Inquisition.  Given that we’re finally getting a Japan/Samurai/Ninja themed entry in Assassin’s Creed Shadows this Fall, I can see this as another easy choice for adaptation.  But really, I think a lot of us just wanna see an Ezio Auditore focused story in Anime form.  Like I said, lots of different choices here.
 

#3-God of War

Anime certainly isnt short on options for super bloody action and carnage.  But come on, God of War basically defines that for video games.  Sure the more recent ones have given us an amazing redemption story for Kratos but no ones forgotten how he got his start in the gaming world: taking apart all of Greek Mythology bit by bit with his Blades of Chaos.  I can see a Studio like Madhouse bringing their classic extreme 90s action talents to a project like this.  Heck Kratos swinging over the actual Titans of Greek myth could give the Survey Corps from Attack on Titan a run for their money.

 
#2-Soul Calibur

Fighting games are a popular choice for Anime adaptations.  Street Fighter has more than a few and even Samurai Showdown got one in the 90s (I think Dreamcast’s Power Stone did too).  When putting this list together, Soul Calibur seemed like a no brainer.  You’ve got dozens of fighters with their own unique styles and weapons, not to mention a plethora of choices for sexy poster girls like Ivy, Cassandra, Sophitia and Taki to name a few.  Given Ufotable has more or less perfected cinematic melee combat with the Fate/Stay Night series and Demon Slayer, this is an Anime epic they can easily knock out of the park.
 

#1-Metal Gear Solid

Ask anyone the question of which Video Game should get the Anime treatment and most of the time, someone will being up Metal Gear Solid.  Hideo Kojima’s mamouth masterpiece is chock full of Anime inspirations and over the top set pieces.  Not to mention in a series trying to be deadly serious about many subject matters, you cant ignore that it has Cyborg Ninjas, Vampires and Bi-Pedal Mecha that go “Mooooo” (I’m not even joking).  It really doesn’t get anymore Anime than Metal Gear Solid whether it’s a classic Solid Snake outing or an OVA centered on one of those aforementioned Cyborg Ninjas, Raiden.