Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega’s mascot for over three decades, with the speedy needlemouse appearing in numerous video games, cartoons, comic books, and even movies. In fact, the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies have cemented him as a mainstream hit among a new generation, all the while signaling a trend of modern, successful video game adaptations. Another film based on a Sega title is now on the way, but it won’t at all feature Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles.
A movie based on Sega’s Streets of Rage has been announced, bringing back the once mainstream beat-’em-up series for a live-action on-screen adventure. This is one of the first major adaptations of a Sega game to hit the big screen, at least one that doesn’t involve Sonic. Ironically, both brands emerged from the same era, and given the talent involved, the newly announced movie could see similar success while reaching new audiences.
Sega’s Next Video Game Movie Won’t Feature Sonic the Hedgehog
A Streets of Rage movie is now in development. This comes six years after the beginning of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, the likes of which has paid huge returns for Sega’s blue-quilled mascot. Interestingly enough, Streets of Rage will be written by Josh Miller and Pat Casey, who also wrote the Sonic movies, giving the two franchises a bit of cinematic connection outside of both being based on iconic Sega IP.
While mainstream audiences might not be nearly as familiar with Streets of Rage, the classic series of side-scrolling action games came out in the same period that also saw the birth of the game developer’s iconic mascot. The first Streets of Rage arrived in 1991, the same year as Sonic’s first game on the Sega Genesis. Made in the beat-’em-up style, Streets of Rage was Sega’s answer to games such as Final Fight and Double Dragon, eschewing the arcade roots of the former and becoming a must-have killer app for the Genesis.
When beat-’em-ups began to die down in popularity around the turn of the century, Sega put the brand on ice. This showed that Streets of Rage was not nearly as malleable as Sonic, which had made the jump into 3D by the end of the 1990s. It wasn’t until the early 2020s that fans were given a modern yet nostalgic Streets of Rage sequel in the form of Streets of Rage 4.
Given that there’s no news of a fifth Streets of Rage game and the relatively low-key release of the fourth, it’s come as a bit of a shock to fans to see it as the next Sega franchise to get the video game movie treatment. At the same time, if there was a brand that could “replace” Sonic in this way, it would be Streets of Rage. In fact, it might be the best Sega IP for the task, even if most of its popularity is more nostalgic in nature.
Why Streets of Rage Is the Best Candidate for a Video Game Movie Adaptation
Despite lacking major adaptations so far outside the games themselves, the Streets of Rage series is primed to become a film more so than any other classic Sega game, including Sonic the Hedgehog. The game’s plot involves three former cops, Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding, who take justice into their own hands to defend Wood Oak City from Mr. X’s criminal syndicate.
In many ways, it and rivals such as Final Fight were very heavily inspired by the gritty action movies of the 1980s and 1990s, especially with those films’ heavy focus on brutal, butt-kicking fisticuffs. Speaking of rivals, Sega’s former adversary Nintendo lacked such a game, and the success of Streets of Rage and a certain blue hedgehog helped to cement the company as a “cooler,” edgier option that still does what “Nintendon’t.” Thus, turning the game into a movie makes perfect sense, as it was instrumental in defining Sega’s identity back in the day.
It can actually be argued that Streets of Rage is one of the few true candidates for a movie alongside Sonic, as other Sega franchises simply aren’t as viable. There have been numerous live-action renditions of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, but none of these were made by Hollywood. Likewise, their sprawling stories make those games best suited for TV shows. The same can be said for their predecessors, the Shenmue games. In fact, the anime adaptation of that series showed another avenue for revisiting these stories, but a live-action movie is likely a bad idea.
Anime is definitely the best place to adapt something like Persona, developed by Sega subsidiary Atlus anda spinoff of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. It’s impossible to adapt those games into movies and even potentially scratch the surface of their appeal. The same is the case for other Sega franchises, such as Phantasy Star or Golden Axe.
Those other brands might be a bit too dark for more mainstream audiences, especially since so many of them are M-rated games that aren’t at all meant for kids. In this respect, Sonic will remain the king of family-oriented fare, but Streets of Rage can strike the right balance between blockbuster appeal and an older target audience.
The Streets of Rage movie will likely be PG-13, and even though it isn’t an R-rating, it will likely bend the PG-13 as far as possible to capture the grit and grime of the games. This will not only match the movies that inspired the games themselves but also set a clear precedent that the movie is going for a different audience than the Paramount Sonic movies.
In this way, Sega’s adaptations can reach a wide array of audiences while staying true to the spirit of the games. By going where even the speedy Sonic can’t, Streets of Rage can chart a new path and bring in those who might have otherwise avoided the more “kiddie” flicks. While the central characters in the movie might not go as fast as Sonic, their movie adaptation can prove that they pack an even greater punch.
- Director
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Jeymes Samuel
- Writers
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Josh Miller, Pat Casey
- Producers
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Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black, Toru Nakahara, Dmitri M. Johnson, Dan Jevons, Tony Shaw