If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that while I don’t play a lot of video games, Batman: Arkham City really captured me as it did everyone else. That game is nearly perfect and the same formula could be applied to essentially any comic book hero or series and it would work. For the sake of not sounding repetitive, I’ve limited myself to only choosing the Arkham City formula for one series, just so we can have a wide variety of styles here.
Now, let’s put something on the proverbial table here before we get cracking. This list is, of course, my opinion and the style of video game that I’ve chosen for each comic book might not be what you consider fun or cool or whatever the kids say these days but it’s what I like, so let’s be cool in the comments section.
Locke & Key
What genre would the video game be: RPG/Puzzle
What should the video game be like: It might seem like a cop out to you with the recent The Walking Dead game – out now by Telltale games – when I say it should be in a similar style, but when you think about it, it makes logical sense. Taking control of Bode, Kinsey and Tyler, the player would need to navigate Keyhouse and it’s outlying areas solving puzzles, looking for clues, and most importantly looking for keys. It would have a lot of the interactive cut scenes that Telltale is famous for which seems like the best kind of way to frame the action of Locke & Key. The game would also be released in episodes which only makes sense because Locke & Key is released in different volumes. While it might not have the glamorous action of a Resident Evil or the ever popular for of zombies, a Locke & Key game could have some smart puzzles, quirky dialogue, and most importantly the potential to be wicked scary.
The Goon
What genre would the video game be: Side Scrolling Adventure
What should the video game be like: When I was thinking about writing this article this was the one that I was the most excited about writing. The way I see this working as a video game is exactly like Donkey Kong Country or the more recent Donkey Kong Country Returns but with The Goon and Frankie as the leads and with zombies, hobos, hags, squids, and other beasts as the villains. It could be set in the world of The Goon with the same format of the different worlds like Donkey Kong. The worlds could be the Hobo Jungle, Crestwood Avenue, The Cemetary, The Industrial Zone, The Freak Show, etc. Growing up, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite games, and remains so to this day, so the prospect of a similar game but with one of my favorite comic book characters would probably be my second wish if I found a genie in a lamp.
