Now that comics are getting the respectful film treatment they deserve it’s time for video games to get in on the live action. Every system has a library full of fantastic titles and stories that, if lovingly adapted, would make for great films.
This week we will look at what the SNES offers the silver screen from a golden age in game storytelling:
Final Fantasy IV/III
Popcorn Plot: Aided by a mystery woman with strange powers, a rebel group fights to free their world from an industrial fascist regime that has learned the dangerous secret of harnessing magic.
Every Final Fantasy game would make an incredible film. Period. But the pinnacle of the series in terms of storytelling is without a doubt Final Fantasy VI/III. (OK maybe SOME doubt - but Final Fantasy VII has a DVD already, thank you very much). There’s a lot to reign in and a lot of well-developed characters and side stories that would have to be edited down to make way for a cohesive narrative. But given the right amount of “panel for panel” respect that graphic novels like Watchmen have enjoyed, the story as is would make for a stunning film if not a series. With a riveting score and Yoshitaka Amano’s eclectic steampunk vision, the aesthetics alone would make our hearts run like chocobo in heat. It’s bone crushingly too bad they wasted the franchise on Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within. .
Chrono Trigger
Popcorn Plot: Three teens accidentally enter a time portal that flings them through different eras in time where they will have to use their skills to save the present.
Chrono Trigger has it all: Time travel, prehistoric babes, frog knights, kung fu princesses, magic, a lady science genius, an extraterrestrial parasitic creature that harvests DNA, and robots. There is so much concentrated awesome in the game that if it was made into a film it may stop other films from being produced entirely because why bother? Nothing else can possibly top it.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Popcorn Plot: A young hero must travel between dimensions to save a princess in need and the land he calls home from an ancient evil.
You read SMOSH so you already know why Zelda should be adapted (yay you!). Honestly any of the many plots from the multi-platform Zelda series would be more than acceptable as long as the basics are covered. If one had to choose, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past is a pretty direct take on the goings on of Hyrule without a lot of complicated plot details. Besides the two previous games on the original Nintendo, it’s the most elegantly simple of the Zelda series which is easier to adapt. And there’s nothing an audience appreciates more than an uncomplicated plot. Well, except for chicken throwing!
Secret of Mana
Popcorn Plot: After a boy pulls a sword from a stone he sets off on a journey with a kick ass chick and a mischievous sprite to stop an ailing religious zealot from possessing a noble knight’s body and summoning a beast that will destroy the world.
A lot of dark things happen in Secret of Mana and a film version could definitely have a Pan’s Labyrinth vibe if ever made. The world is in need of some dark fantasy and hopefully we will see a resurgence if Snow White and the Huntsman does well this month. Good thing Snow is played by such a charismatic beauty with sparkl-oh crap, it’s Kristen Stewart. Well, dare to dream Mana lovers. Dare to dream.
Star Fox
Popcorn Plot: Star Fox, an anthropomorphic mercenary team lead by actual fox Fox McCloud, must save the world from a mad scientist turned mad emperor of the Lylat system.
Live action miiight not be the way to go. I’m getting a Howard the Duck vibe just thinking about a walking, talking Han Solo fox dude. But if a Pixar type entity or stop motion animator wanted to snatch up the story, Fox and co. would make for a fun space adventure. Since it’s not an RPG there is a lot of wiggle room for screenwriters to play around with and that makes it a really exciting project. And hasn’t everybody thought Star Wars would have been sexier with talking animal people who make weird garbled distress sounds when they’re in the sh$#t?
Any SNES games you think would make a great film? Let us know in the comments!
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