Summary

Anime and video games have a weird relationship. Some anime deserve better games than they get.Some anime deserve video game adaptations and never get one. Some anime even spawn entire game series, like Dragon Ball or Naruto, and some anime get really good (or at least really interesting) video games that leave us wanting just a bit more.

There’s any number of reasons a game can deserve a sequel, be it because they’re fun to play, or simply could have taken more advantage of the source material the first time around, these are the anime games that deserve a second outing.

Characters from the anime Demon Slayer hold dice in front of a long wooden hallway where characters in-game are playing a minigame.

10Demon Slayer: Sweep The Board

Forget 3D Brawlers, Give Us More Party Games

Yes, this really is a Mario Party style video game featuring the cast of the hit animeDemon Slayer, and it’s exactly as goofy as it sounds. In addition tobeing comedy goldfor fans of the show, each of the boards in Demon Slayer: Sweep The Board feature a day and night cycle ala Mario Party 6, and, as you’d expect, that mechanic still works like a charm here.

There’s just one tiny little issue: there areonly eight total minigames.No matterhow good your minigames are, eight is never enough for a party game. Add a few more to the sequel, and we’ll gladly pick up Demon Slayer: Sweep The Board 2.

A little boy and a white dog look onward in a strange, steam punk style city at sunset.

9Shin Chan: Shiro Of Coal Town

Finish Out The Trilogy

The first game in Kaz Ayabe’s delightfully relaxed take on the traditionally rambunctious adventures of Crayon Shin Chan was already a slam dunk for fans of the Boku No Natsuyasumi series, and the follow up title, Shin Chan: Shiro Of Coal Town, is even better.

So what needs to happen now is twofold. First,we need this game released in the West.Second: we need a solid final entry in the Shin Chan summer vacation series to round out the perfect trilogy of Kaz Ayabe’s new age Boku No Natsuyasumi games. This entry might not appeal to everyone, butIneed another Shin Chan game, and that’s reason enough.

A girl with pink hair holds a camera and smiles, surrounded by family and friends.

What makes this frustrating is that an official English translation of Shin Chan: Shiro Of Coal Town already exists! The non-Japanese, Asian multi-language release of the game features a professionally done localization, so why the game isn’t already available to Western fans is anyone’s guess.

8Spy x Anya: Operation Memories

More Slice Of Life Goodness, Please!

Spy x Anya: Operation Memories is a real treat for fans of the original show. It’s just a bit of a shame it’s not more approachable to those who aren’t familiar with the anime. The game sees you play as the fan-favorite Anya, whose latest school assignment requires her to submit a journal of her life at home.

The game is a delightfor cozy game fansas it is, but it’s clear that there’s a lot more Bandai Namco could do with this style of gameplay loop. The game needs a sequel that’s more fleshed out, and maybe a little more newcomer friendly, too.

Box art showing a powerful demon is shown above an English logo reading “Devilman”. To the right, a dark hallway in a haunted manor has a single man walking through it.

7Devilman

Clock Tower Meets Resident Evil

The Japan exclusive PS1 adaptation of Go Nagai’s magnum opus Devilman isn’t exactly an accurate translation of the source material, but the final product is genuinely a good time, and it’s so different from the manga that it’s easy to view as its own thing.

Now that’s not to say the game is perfect. Everything past the first chapter, which sees Akira and Ryo trapped in aResident Evilstyle mansion and plays like a classic PS1 survival horror game, is admittedly a bit of a mess, but that’s exactly why we need a sequel that keeps things a bit more consistent and lets us explore the demon house to our hearts content.

Maka Albarn faces off against enemy forces using a scythe. On the right, the game’s box art, featuring Death the Kid, Maka Albarn, and Black Star on a white background.

6Soul Eater: Monotone Princess

One Of The Wii’s Best Hidden Gems

Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is arguably required gaming if you’re a fan of the anime, since it contains official canon story content not seen elsewhere, and features over 15 minutes of fully 2D animated cutscenes done by the same crew who brought us the anime adaptation.

The game itself is also an action RPG developed by Square Enix, which is why the fact that itremains exclusive to Japanese Wii ownersis so baffling. Given how popular Soul Eater has become since then, a sequel to this game with the same staff onboard would make for an incredible experience for fans both in Japan and overseas.

A young blonde girl swings a pickaxe at some small furry animals in a grassy field with some mechanical devices in the far distance. Key art of an explorer girl with blonde hair and green eyes is shown to the right.

5Made In Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness

What Goes Down…

Made In Abyss is an IP that screams “video game adaptation”. Spike Chunsoft’ssurvival adventure game, Made In Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness, was a great start for the series, but the game did feel a bit janky, and the semi-open world with its myriad of loading screens between areas made the whole experience feel just a tad on the dated side back in 2022.

It gave us just enough of a taste of the abyss to make it clear just how much potential this anime has, but with a sequel, the game should expand the scope a little with a bigger world, and more importantly, a bigger budget.

A pixelated sprite of Kaneda sitting on the iconic red motorbike from the film is pictured next to the word ‘Akira’ in bold red font.

4Akira

Modern Hardware Does What The Famicouldn’t

Akira has a very dated, very clunky, Famicom exclusive open world action RPG with visual novel elements. It’s very ambitious, it’s trying very hard, and it’s clear the people making it really, really wanted to give fans the theatrical and cinematic Akira experience in a playable format at home. Unfortunately, the game was ahead of its time, and the Famicom’s hardware limitations really hurt the final product.

That doesn’t mean the game doesn’t do a wonderful job of proving that Akira’s world has got serious potential for a modern hit, though, and if Famicom Detective Club can come back 30 years later, a legendary IP like Akira can, too.

A bold white Japanese logo is seen next to Guts from Berserk. He’s covered in blood and scarred from battle.

3Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki No Sho

And While You’re At It, Remaster This One

There are a few Berserk games out there, but the one that most desperately needs to return to us is ASCII’s Millennium Empire Ark adaptation on the PlayStation 2. The game playsnot too dissimilarly from a Souls game, and if you know Berserk you know that is the perfect fit for a video game adaptation.

It would be next to impossible to cover the entirety ofBerserk’s epic taleor expansive world in game format, but games likeElden Ringhave come pretty close, and with how good this game feels to play as is, a follow-up on modern hardware could make for a masterpiece.

A girl with long black hair shoots at a group of enemies with a large gun on the left, and official art of the girl, showing her radiant blue eyes as they glow is on the right.

2Black Rock Shooter: The Game

An Incredible Action RPG That Left Us Wanting More

Black Rock Shooter: The Game feels a strange amount like playing the more intense segments of Nier: Automata. It’s not exactly the same, but it feels vaguely familiar if you’re coming into this one after putting a lot of time into adventuring around as 2B.

The Black Rock Shooter anime isn’t for everyone, and can at times be a bit hard to follow, but the game is a good time regardless of how you feel about the show. Engrossing combat and high-octane action are the name of the game here, with tons of customization options between stages allowing for a variety of playstyles. It’s pure action game bliss, which makes it really hurt that it’s all stuck on PSP.

Luffy and Zoro posing after battle in the One Piece Odyssey video game

1One Piece Odyssey

The One Piece Is Real, And It’s This Game

One Piece Odyssey is a fantastic turn-based JRPG. If you like the Dragon Quest series, and also happen to love One Piece, this game will make you very happy, and keep you feeling that way for a long long time.

A whole series of games on this scale that collectively cover the story of the manga is a fantastic idea,if one that would take a long time to complete. Even if the main story is out of the cards, with Odyssey this polished and engaging as is, we can’t help but want a sequel, no matter where it takes us.