3 classic Sega games that need to become movies

With new video game movie Sonic the Hedgehog out now in Cineworld cinemas, what other Sega classics deserve to be turned into films? We present three choices.

1. Streets of Rage

Cleaning up the streets was never so much fun as it was in this Sega gem. There were three Streets of Rage games in total, allowing the player to take control of one of several characters to give the baddies a taste of their own medicine. Across increasingly difficult levels, the gamer had to use their character's inherent skills, plus whatever objects lay scattered around the area, to plough their way through to the end level boss. We loved playing as the high-kicking Blaze, although that boss level where we're confronted with her two dopplegangers is still insanely hard.

So how about a movie that pairs several of today's action stars together in a Streets of Rage adaptation? We imagine it'd need a bit more of a narrative to work as a movie (there's only so much nihilistic punching and bottle smashing one can take), but maybe somebody like The Raid director Gareth Evans could give it a bit of style? Let's imagine Charlize Theron, who threw herself into her own fight scenes in Atomic Blonde, paired with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham cutting a swathe through the goons in a nihilistic dystopian city. We'd buy that for a dollar.

2. Golden Axe

Fantasy is all the rage at the moment, what with Henry Cavill's blonde locks in The Witcher and Amazon's new Lord of the Rings adaptation on the way. Maybe there's a gap in the market for a big-screen take on Sega's fondly remembered Golden Axe, which, like Streets of Rage, puts you in charge of a particular character as you cut through hordes of enemies. These encompass armoured goons, skeletons and lots more, with one level even taking place on the back of a giant flying turtle.

There are loads of imaginative possibilities inherent in a Golden Axe movie; just imagine the big-screen spectacle of dwarf Gilius Thunderhead bringing down the wrath of his lightning powers on those around him. Despite the level of carnage suggested by the game (albeit of the fantastical variety), this would likely be more family-friendly than the gore-tastic likes of Game of Thrones; maybe a director like Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) or J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) could be courted?

3. Revenge of Shinobi

Many a Sega gamer can recall battling their way through this alternately exhilarating and infuriating martial arts beat-em-up. The 1989 game is stuffed full of weaponry and ninjitsu abilities, not to mention hard-to-kill bosses. Surely there's plenty of potential in a movie version of Shinobi?

Put somebody like Zhang Yimou in charge, responsible for the gravity-defying likes of House of Flying Daggers, and we could get a game adaptation that's both fantastical and appropriately visceral.