Circle of Confusion, the production company behind Fear The Walking Dead, has joined forces with Stories International, which manages Sega's licenses for film and TV, to adapt two of the company's most classic games: Altered Beast and Streets of Rage. A self-fulfilling prophecy!
The Prophecy of the Arcade
The final sequence of the arcade version of Altered Beast had already predicted it. After fighting the last boss and winning, one of the craziest endings in a video game up to that point was revealed: it had all been part of a movie shoot! The hero, the villains, the princess and the bosses - they were all actors! When the cameras go off, the protagonist takes off his wolf mask and joins the whole cast for some cold beers, celebrating the end of filming.
Yes, the ending of Altered Beast is in the same vein as that of Golden Axe, another Sega classic, where all the characters escape from the arcade cabinet and start running after the players "in real life". Always breaking the fourth wall! Well, it looks like the final sequence of Altered Beast is about to become reality, almost literally. And just confirmed is the TV adaptation of both this immortal classic and another of Sega's timeless treasures: Streets of Rage, the best beat 'em up of all time.
The TV Adaptation Is Coming
The adaptation of these two super classics will be in charge of Circle of Confusion, the producers responsible for the not-so-great TV series Fear The Walking Dead, the spinoff of The Walking Dead. The deal was made possible thanks to Stories International, which handles Sega's properties in film and TV. "We look forward to seeing the centurion of Altered Beast emerge from his tomb and the heroes of Streets of Rage (Adam, Axel and Blaze) fight to restore order to their city," said Tomoya Suzuki, CEO of Stories International.
In addition to the adaptations of Altered Beast and Streets of Rage, Stories International is pursuing other similar projects, along with other partners, including more immortal Sega classics: Golden Axe, Virtua Fighter, The House of the Dead, and Crazy Taxi. In other words, there will be something for everyone! And not to jinx it, but I personally hope that at least one of these series is good. Nowadays television has figured out its game, and is producing content of much higher quality than the big Hollywood blockbusters. Let's cross our fingers!
