Between originals and other content, Netflix has a lot of great TV shows on their platform. Better Call Saul, Black Mirror, Bojack Horseman. The list goes on and on. But if you ask me what is the best TV show on Netflix, I would have to say Castlevania, which is based off of the hit video games.
What makes Castlevania so great is that it’s profane, it’s bloody, and it’s so, so well-written, which makes sense since it’s scribed by the famed comic book writer, Warren Ellis. Even though I have always loved the Castlevania video game series, I never knew how much I would love the Castlevania TV show as well. Which got me thinking—what other video games would make for great Netflix TV? Now, I wouldn’t say something like Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog since they wouldn't fit the whole adult-vibe that Castlevania has going for it. So these next few titles would be adult animated shows, much like Castlevania. Game on! Or rather, TV on!
Silent Hill
Horror seems to work really well on Netflix, which is why I think that the foggy town of Silent Hill would be a perfect fit for the streaming service. The video game series is all about psychological horror, and each game—when Konami was, alas, still making Silent Hill titles—was different from the last, with the only continuation being some of the creatures and the world itself.
There were already two Silent Hill movies (one mostly good, one terrible) but I think the games would be better fit for a TV series that’s sort of like American Horror Story in that it’s a different theme and batch of characters each season. And P.T., which was supposed to be the next Silent Hill game, could be its own separate side-story movie. Sigh…P.T. I’ll never get over your cancellation.
Metal Gear Solid
Let’s keep talking about Konami, shall we, since Castlevania is also a Konami title. If there’s one other Konami series besides Silent Hill that people wish would come back to its former glory, it’s Metal Gear Solid. That’s likely never going to happen since Konami and video game director, Hideo Kojima, had a messy breakup, but a Metal Gear Solid show on Netflix would be amazing.
Now, granted, it would NEED Kojima on board since nobody else can write batpoop crazy story lines like Kojima, but I envision a show set in the 1960s a la, Snake Eater, where Snake is out in the woods facing off against crazy characters like The End. It would be a story of deep espionage and could even have Norman Reedus in there somewhere voicing a character, since Kojima apparently loves him some Norman Reedus.
Resident Evil
Like Silent Hill, Resident Evil is the other massive survival horror game with a deep lore. But unlike Silent Hill, which relies more on psychological scares, a Resident Evil show would be a lot more action-heavy if it were ever made into an animated web television series. A Resident Evil show would follow the members of S.T.A.R.S as they try to survive in Raccoon City.
I imagine the show would have all the fan favorites like Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy, Albert Wesker…hell, even Barry Burton. It would be cool if it was set inside the timeline of Code Veronica since that timeline doesn’t get enough love, if you ask me, but any game in the series (Besides 6) would be ripe for the picking. I'd even be down for a Resident Evil 3: Nemesis TV show based off of the upcoming game. Make it happen, Capcom.
Astral Chain
A lot of people would probably choose Bayonetta over Astral Chain as the Platinum Games series that deserves to be brought to Netflix, but Astral Chain is pretty much already packaged as an anime in game form, so it would make the easier transition. The story of police officers who have monsters chained to them to do battle would be an excellent series to bring to Netflix. It would be full of the kind of cool action sequences that would make any anime fan interested.
I could see it being a procedural drama that would have a lot of detective work, just like in the game. And then, each episode could crescendo in a huge enemy encounter, almost like a monster of the week sort of thing. You know you want it.
Metroid
The only Nintendo franchise that I can recommend to get the adult-Netflix treatment is Metroid. Now granted, Metroid: Other M was pretty terrible and I don’t think they should go that route when it comes to storytelling. Instead, I would like a show that went into the origins of characters like Ridley and Kraid. And if it was really smartly-written, it could handle Mother Brain in a way that would make her out to be a lot more complex than she is in the games.
I would love if a Metroid show was slow-paced like Alien, which is where Metroid got a lot of its inspiration from in the first place. Samus Aran would be a great protagonist. It's not like it would ever happen since Nintendo would never allow it, but I would love to hear Samus drop an F-bomb right before she screw attacks Dark Samus straight to hell.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Horizon’s narrative in the game was so compelling that I thought it would be a better show than game all throughout my play-through of it. Granted, Horizon is a very good game, but the story of Aloy in a futuristic/tribalistic society with robotic dinosaurs would be an amazing TV show if they ever made it.
I love the world presented in the game, and I think a TV show could go into the different tribes and how they negotiate hunting and gathering food and robot parts. It could even be like The Witcher in that Aloy doesn’t need to be the center of every episode, very much like how Geralt is kind of flitting in and out of the story in The Witcher TV series. The world of Horizon is compelling enough to stand on its own.
And that’s the list. Sure, there are other great titles I considered putting on the list (Final Fantasy. Strider. Dark Souls.), but these were the six that I thought were absolutely necessary to follow up Castlevania. If there are any others that you feel I missed, sound off in the comments.
