Shack Chat: What 80s action movie deserves a modern video game adaptation?

The recent launch of Robocop: Rogue City has us feeling nostalgic for iconic 80s action movies. With how enjoyable the game is, we've been wondering what other movies from that era are ripe for modern video game adaptations.

Question: What 80s action movie deserves a modern video game adaptation?

Predator - Ozzie Mejia, Senior 80s Kid

This one might need some explanation, because I guarantee there's someone out there looking at this answer and saying, "Ozzie, there's already a Predator video game out there. It's called Contra." Alright, that's... sort of true?

But what if this idea got turned on its head? What if instead of playing as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers, players took on the role of the Predator?

Again, people are probably looking at that and saying, "Ozzie, there's already a Predator video game like that out there. It's called Predator: Hunting Grounds."

No! That's not what I'm talking about. I'm looking for a single-player Predator experience, something where the Predator hunts down Arnold and company one-by-one and has to use their arsenal and instincts to be the last hunter standing. I want to know what it's like to be a Predator in a single-player setting and capture why the Predator was originally such a cool idea.

Road House - TJ Denzer, Senior fan of mullet martial arts

Road House is a movie that very likely inspired a wealth of beat-’em-up media, be it games, comics, TV, and other entertainment. It is filled to the brim with ridiculous fights and brawls. It only makes sense that a movie this good deserves a beat-’em-up inspired by it. I’d trust Dotemu, Tribute Games, Retroware, or other quality crews that know their way around retro brawler design to make a good side-scrolling beat-’em-up featuring the likes of the Swayze and Sam Elliott as James Dalton and Wade Garrett respectively.

Heck, I’d even take a mix of fighting/business management sim where you need to keep the business and money flowing through the Double Deuce while also keeping bad man Brad Wesley’s goons from mucking up the place. That could even include elements like Dalton training and exercising in minigames to keep in fighting shape for his job as a cooler. I imagine something like a Fight Night structure where improving and maintaining your physical prowess is just as important as the fighting itself would be great. Just look at the highlight reel of fights above and try to tell me that Road House doesn’t deserve a game but The Toxic Avenger somehow does.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins - Asif Khan, Shacknews CEO/EIC/EIEIO

I struggled picking just one 1980s film that I would like to see adapted to a video game format, but after eliminating some very solid contenders like Cannonball Run, The Running Man, and Iron Eagle I determined that Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins should be turned into a video game. Not just one video game either, I believe that the story could continue for years to come. The Remo Williams franchise should be bigger than Mission: Impossible and this would be our chance to right the world. The video games industry needs Remo Williams and that bullet-dodging Asian man. Make it so.

Highlander by FromSoftware - Bill Lavoy, Pike Connoisseur

This answer doesn’t need an explanation because it’s objectively correct. But, you know, we write words and stuff for Shack Chat.

Anyway, Highlander is a series of movies where immortal sword wielders cut each other’s heads off until there is only one left. It spans hundreds of years. It’s also being remade with Henry Cavill and Chad Stahelski, the dude who made the John Wick movies, so that’s awesome.

But yeah, imagine if FromSoftware made a game based on the Highlander films. FromSoftware has already nailed the sword fighting gameplay loop, and the boss design loop. The game already exists, you just have to rename it to Highlander really.

Highlander - Sam Chandler, There can be only one

Highlander is one of those films that has aged like a fine wine. It’s such a great concept: there live among us immortals who only die when they are beheaded. They’ve been hunting one another down, beheading their foes, all in a bid to be the last man standing. Take this movie setting and inject it with the soul of Dark and Darker and you’ve got yourself something special.

Die Hard - Donovan Erskine, Yippee Ki-Yay

Die Hard is the quintessential 80s action movie, and one that would translate beautifully to video games if given a big-budget adaptation. I imagine it as a third-person over-the-shoulder action game, à la Uncharted or The Last of Us. As a matter of fact, just give it to Naughty Dog. Give us all the action, emotion, and spectacle of the Nakatomi Plaza attack, and then use the sequels to explore some of the other events of the franchise (but make them good!).

Predator - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host, Get to the Choppa!

I have to go with Predator as the answer to this question. I think it would be cool to put a different spin on the series rather than just hunting for the Predator or getting hunted. It could be like a dating sim, where you find out which member of the platoon you’re suited to fight with. Answer questions the right way to pair up with Mac or Billy. Everyone does an Arnold impression from Predator so you might need it to survive. The better impression the player makes, the more/less likely it will be that the Predator hears you and kills you. As a final twist at the end of the game, you try to stop Predator 2 from getting made because that movie is trash and needs a video game hero to destroy it.

Those are the 80s action flicks that we would love to see get a modern video game adaptation. There are certainly plenty that we didn't mention, so give us your picks in the Chatty!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.