Netflix is gearing up for Sonic Prime starring SEGA’s own blue blur, coming off the heels of his recent movie success with Sonic The Hedgehog 2. The streaming service also is well known for its video game adaptations after the success of Castlevania, which is getting a sequel show. Do any other SEGA properties have the potential to become great series?
SEGA has had successes with adaptations besides Sonic, as games like Persona have had anime adaptations. Shenmue recently received an animated series on Adult Swim that worked out well. There’s still room for more, though. Plenty of the series has iconic characters or wonderful stories that must be seen in other mediums.
Streets of Rage
This SEGA beat-em-up series is one of their most enduring franchises. Despite the death of the arcade where this genre thrived, Streets of Rage received a new installment a few years ago. The series features a cast of vigilantes trying to take down a criminal syndicate in control of a city. The main character, Axel Stone, is an ex-policeman disillusioned with the force’s corruption.
The series has always been a favorite for fans, and the anti-police themes could help it see success in the current climate. A few years ago it was announced to be getting a TV adaptation, in fact, though it has been somewhat superseded by a film adaptation by the staff behind John Wick. If this is a success, a TV adaptation is to be somewhat unlikely.
Shinobi
Shinobi was SEGA's attempt at competing with the excellent Ninja Gaiden game series. The series debuted in arcades in 1987 and has had over 10 sequels. The protagonist Joe Musashi has been one of SEGA's icons ever since. The series has sold four million copies and is known for its high technical achievements.
The plot follows Joe in his quest to become stronger and defeat the evil ninja clan Zeed. The series is less known for its plot and more for its exciting graphical set pieces, though. Ninja action is common throughout the franchise with imagery of the Sengoku period like castles and sakura blossoms at every corner.
Trauma Center
SEGA isn't solely the main studios like Sonic Team as they also own JRPG juggernaut Atlus. When people think of Atlus they likely think of their famous Persona series. There's another series that they're known for though that would lend itself perfectly to a medical drama. That series is Trauma Center, also known as Trauma Team, a series of melodramatic surgery sims.
The games are addictive and fun romps that overly dramatize surgery. The doctors may start saving patients from normal diseases, but magical bioweapons will surface. The games eventually grew to star a litany of doctors of multiple specialties and styles. The series lends an overarching plot and a cast of doctors to a prospective TV show.
Shin Megami Tensei
While gamers may know the Persona series, the series it spun off from is much less famous. Shin Megami Tensei is a series about summoning demons to deal with the apocalypse. It spun off from a novel series itself and is much more sporadically released than its spin-off. The series' themes are dark and brooding, though, and the mythology lends itself well to a series TV show.
The game heavily deals with characters from mythology appearing in the real world. Sects have formed that worship either Order or Chaos and it's up to the player to pick, but it's often quite grey. This nonstandard morality would be a great fit for a show. The demon summoning would also lead to epic battles, although the show may want to avoid Christian demons for American audiences.
Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi is one of the wildest and best classic arcade games in SEGA's repertoire. The series is rooted firmly in the late '90s with a soundtrack featuring bands like The Offspring. The series is rumored to be getting a reboot which would be excellent. A companion show would also do a lot to solidify the series' campy aesthetic and goofy world.
The gameplay of Crazy Taxi is simply to drive passengers to their destination as quickly as possible. Despite this, all the drivers have unique backstories in the manuals we never get to see. A show might be a good place to see stuff like that. Additionally, cool vehicle stunts would be a must for sure.
Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo didn't start as a SEGA game, but the series of puzzle games is excellent for anyone looking for an action-puzzler. The series also didn't start as a puzzle game, instead starting as an RPG series with a lot of lore. The game stars a bunch of plucky characters with a lot of personalities. They would definitely fit into an animated show very easily.
Modern Puyo games prioritize gags more often in the story. Characters like Schezo and Risakuma definitely have more gags to them these days. However, the series also has a mythology that goes back decades and a great magical girl heroine in Arle. In this way, an animated series could also take on a tone similar to something like She-Ra.
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon is a series of rail shooters by SEGA. Unlike SEGA's other rail shooter House of the Dead and more like Nintendo's StarFox, Dragoon had an emphasis on lore. The world these games took place in was detailed and fascinating. So much so that it got an RPG spin-off in the form of Panzer Dragoon Saga, one of the rarest games ever.
Every game sees the hero flying around a post-apocalyptic world on the back of a dragon. The heroes and the evil empire compete for resources that were once used by the mysterious ancient civilizations of the planet. All characters also speak a unique language called Panzerese. A rich fantasy world like this would make for quite an epic fantasy show.
Altered Beast
Altered Beast is a wild game with a bizarre premise. The player is a reanimated corpse who is sent by Zeus to fight evil. After absorbing enough energy they can transform into one of many different bestial forms. The world isn't actually explored very much and it definitely could be with a TV adaptation.
The violent Greek-inspired action brings to mind things like Netflix's Blood of Zeus. Staff from Castlevania worked on that show as well and the violence and Greek mythology would mix well for a TV show and the polymorphic hero would also make for a unique selling point. It would certainly be a revival for the brand, which has not seen a new game since the 2000s.
Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio is a funky and fresh series that would smash any adaptation. The series is all about bright colors and rocking jams, so a cartoon would fit it well. It sees a group of teens in Tokyo tagging the environment in protest of the oppressive government. This type of theme is in right now, and the series also comes with a great cast.
The series features plenty of groovy youth rebels like heroes Beat, Gum, Combo, and Mew. That's just the main gang, the GG's, as there are other gangs as well like Poison Jam, the Love Shockers, and Rapid 99. There's also the funky fresh DJ Professor K who serves as the commentator of the game. Mix that with cruel officer antagonists and that's one heck of a great cartoon cast.
Yakuza
Yakuza, also known as Like a Dragon, is one of SEGA's biggest series right now. It stars an ex-Yakuza down on his luck in a series of wacky but extremely heartfelt adventures. These games are masters of varying their tone in wild ways. Yakuza's sensibilities would be a treat to see in a televised format.
Yakuza has big bombastic crime thriller plots full of betrayals and plot twists. The downtime in contrast can be almost comedic Buddhist morality fables with the main character encountering someone who needs help. The fight scenes have a lot of martial art film DNA with large impacts and dramatic close-ups of finishers. No TV show is like this, which is why the already cinematic Yakuza would make a great adaptation.