The What Ifs in video game history keep the lights on in gamers’ heads and the imaginations burning. The thought of the number of concepts that never see the light of day is staggering.
With over 40 years of consoles and games in video game history to look back on, Old School Gamer Magazine picks five comic book characters that could have made awesome retro games.
Iron Fist: In the 80s alone, this would have made an awesome beat-em-up. Hell, even a reskin of Kung Fu or Shinobi with some story elements added could have made for a fun comic book tie-in.
Plastic Man: This would have been a blast on the Sega Genesis. Dhalsim’s attacks in Street Fighter, mixed into a Comix Zone type adventure? It would have been amazing.
Namor: This dude deserves his own game. He can fly. He can swim. He can fight. This has so many possibilities. If a team like BlueSky (known for Vectorman) worked on something this ambitious during their heyday, it could have been great.
Jonah Hex: 16-Bit consoles needed more light gun shooters and Jonah Hex could have delivered. Add in some story elements and gameplay that made titles like Revolution X sexy and this game practically makes itself.
Ghost Rider: Imagine this- part Road Rash, another part Castlevania. Dan Ketch already had a chain in hand. He’s fighting demons. Driving-based objectives and Metroidvania levels after, with Mark Texeira-inspired art and a metal soundtrack? Take my money. For what’s worth, it would just be a scaled down version of the underrated PS2-game.
Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by top publishers the likes of Nintendo, Deep Silver, Disney and EA Sports. His book series, "The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Game Developers," from McFarland and Company, has earned praise from Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Daily News and MSG Networks. He is also a former editor at NBC and National Video Games Writer at the late-Examiner.com
