The Sega franchises that still need a live action movie – from Golden Axe to Virtua Fighter

metro.co.uk:

With Streets Of Rage coming to the silver screen, we look through Sega’s other franchises to see which ones have the most movie potential.

It’s weird to think that we could see a Sega cinematic universe before one for Nintendo or any other games company. Sega already has two very successful live action Sonic The Hedgehog movies and has now tapped the creator of John Wick to direct a Streets Of Rage movie.

Between these and the Yakuza movie, that were announced in 2020, we can’t help but ask the obvious question: what other Sega franchises could make the jump to live action?

Sega’s more cartoony properties would probably be better suited to animation (does anyone really want a live action Alex Kidd or ToeJam & Earl?), but others, whether it be from a visual or story standpoint, might work surprisingly well with the right creative team behind them.

The likes of Lord Of The Rings, Game of Thrones, and Dungeons & Dragons have undoubtedly helped high fantasy stories become more mainstream in recent years. Inspired by the Conan the Barbarian movies, Golden Axe is one of the more obvious picks for a live action adaptation.

Essentially the fantasy equivalent to fellow beat ‘em-up Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe’s minimal plot, of three warriors saving the land from an evil tyrant, can easily be expanded upon in a movie without risk of deviating too much from the source material.

Plus, whereas Sonic The Hedgehog is a family friendly affair, a Golden Axe movie could afford to be a bit bloodier and more violent. Maybe not too violent, though. Some of us still remember Golden Axe: Beast Rider and its attempts to offer a more mature experience by aping God Of War.

We were going to include Jet Set Radio on this list, but its