http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082350/

I just got back to the US after 2 years of Peace Corps service and have been floating in a surreal world of jet lag, premium beer, vermox, and of course 80s movies. I don't believe that I've touched bases with reality yet but last night I took the time to review "An Eye For An Eye" a film from 1981 starring Chuck Norris and with one of my favorite actors, Mako.

I realized that this film would make an ideal video game. The storyline basically deals with Norris' and Mako's character going through San Fran in order to avenge the death of Mako's character's daughter at the hands of drug smuggling triads. The musical score is glorious late-70s-early-80s goodness; it is serene and majestic as Ray Bradbury's Chinese executioner while Chuck Norris runs around throwing roundhouse kicks.

Norris plays an Irish American martial arts cop and Mako an elderly Chinese martial arts instructor. Nearly the entire cast of characters are either Chinese or Irish. In name at least since Norris feels about as Irish as a microwave bean burrito. In the film Norris' character has a custom boat, a custom car, and a super secure house that goes into lockdown mode when someone triggers the alarm system. And that is pretty cool because in the early 80s nobody had an alarm system for their house let alone one that actually put the house into lockdown mode.

In a game you could have a two-player beat-em-up taking place in atmospheric representations of historical San Fran and Chinatown. In order to be interesting I'd think the movie and genre would support a combination of Max Payne like bullet dodging manuvers with a relatively complex martial arts system. There could also be a Metal Gear Solid type stealth aspect since in the movie Norris at one point sneaks onto a boat to examine the cargo and at another point must sneak onto the bad guy's manor. The key thing that would make the game cool rather than just a boring rehash of engines passed is that I feel like the rugged masculinity and megaton-payload roundhouse kicks of Chuck Norris would promote a gritty 70s/early 80s feel to any combat. Today, in games like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry or God of War it's all about running around and throwing a bajillion rapid attacks while backflipping and grabbing floating colored bubbles from the air. However, that's very anime, and not really American gritty. It's not really Sonny Chiba. I'm thinking about how great it would be to have a game like that which had slower, more dramatic, and brutal looking attacks instead of cartoony flurries. That would have more gravitas and require more planning ahead in terms of where and when to attack.

If I were a person of unlimited means and power, in addition to getting all the chicks, I would totally buy the rights to "An Eye For An Eye" and make the most ultimate video game ever out of it. And then I'd shell out all this cash for a Chuck Norris celebrity endorsement and have Norris say all sorts of positive things about his acting back in the early 80s on national TV.