Koei Tecmo and Omega Force kind of struck gold when they first created the Dynasty Warriors series back in 1997. It was such a simple formula that, despite being criticised by some for being TOO simple, found itself a very devoted fan-base. Nowadays there are so many bloody spin-offs of not just the main series but also ones centered around other franchises like Fist of the North Star, The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem to name a few.

I personally don’t have much experience with the series but I’ve enjoyed what games I have played because they’re flashy, satisfying and just overall fun to play. So naturally I want to see other franchises get a similar treatment. Let’s run through five of them right now, shall we?

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I’m not necessarily a fan of the pizza-loving reptiles myself but, when I was coming up with ideas for this list, I realised that this IP would be a perfect fit for a Warriors-style game. All four Turtles are trained in ninjutsu but have their own specific weapons and fighting styles that all lend themselves well to this formula.

Not to mention that the franchise has a massive cast of characters aside from our four heroes to fill up the roster. Splinter, the Shredder, Casey Jones, even April O’Neil has shown she’s capable of kicking ass in some media. Maybe even go a little bit more obscure and bring in some of the lesser known faces like the Rat King. As for enemies, there are whole swarms of mutants and alien races that the Turtles have duked it out with like the Malignoids and the Triceratons.

They wouldn’t even need to tie it in with whatever current cartoon or movie may be out at the time. Have it in its own original universe with some cool new character designs or something, like what Platinum did with their TMNT game. I feel like this is a nostalgia gold-mine that’s waiting to be found.

2. Transformers

Speaking of nostalgia, why not make a Warriors game with Transformers. I promise this is the last one on the list that Platinum also made a game about. In fact, Transformers Devastation proved that, with the right gameplay and aesthetics, even the lovably goofy G1 era of Transformers can seem bad-ass.

Just like the TMNT example, you wouldn’t necessarily have to base it on any of the existing brands or eras of the series. It could either feature completely original interpretations of the characters or even be a big generational crossover. For example, you could have Optimus Prime from the original cartoon, Bumblebee from Transformers Prime, Rattrap from Beast Wars – there’s a lot of potential here. Plus, unlike Devastation, we could actually get some playable villains this time.

Maybe, unlike most Warriors games, characters could have two different movesets – one that’s unique to them for close combat and one for long-ranged weapons that any character can equip. Koei Tecmo and Omega Force are no stranger to making these kinds of games with giant robots (i.e. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam – in fact, they made three of them) so if I’m not gonna get a sequel to Devastation, I’d be more than happy to take this as an alternative.

3. Yakuza

Some might argue that Yakuza already has its own enjoyable combat system so turning it into a Warriors game is unnecessary and may not fit, but this is my imaginary videogame list and I’ll write what I want. And I honestly think Yakuza would be a pretty good fit.

For starters, the series is inherently goofy anyway, with the core combat becoming progressively more over-the-top with every new game released. And with the series being about, well, the yakuza, you could have the premise be about a full-on mafia war between different families. Instead of capturing keeps, you capture city districts or something.

It’d also be a great opportunity to play as even more members of the series’ cast. Granted, the games have allowed you to play as characters aside from main man Kiryu, like Majima and Akiyama, but this could allow us to take control of certain franchise antagonists for the first time. With how many characters there have been in the series so far, this could be a prime opportunity to throw in plenty of cool fan-service for long-time players. And if Yakuza can get a zombie game spin-off, I don’t see why it can’t get the Warriors treatment either.

4. RWBY

OK, hands up if you saw this coming. In fact, when I was coming up with ideas for this list, RWBY was the first one to immediately come to mind. I mean, high-octane, crazy action is what many best know RWBY and it’s creator, the late Monty Oum, for.

RoosterTeeth have made their own RWBY game already which, from what I’ve seen, is a bit like a Warriors game. Different playable characters with their own fighting styles and skill trees all working together to fight hordes of monsters – sounds a lot like one to me. But imagine if they had Koei Tecmo and Omega Force backing it with the same budget that, say, Fire Emblem Warriors got.

Not only would it be graphically impressive and more closely resemble the recent animation style they introduced in Volume 4 (or even better looking?), but we’d be able to play as characters from the extended cast outside of Team RWBY and Team JNPR. And there are a lot of cool characters to choose from. I can’t be the only one who’d love to take control of one of the more villainous characters. It doesn’t even need to be canon or have a story at all; the concept alone would be enough to sell this.

5. Super Mario

This one may seem like a particularly weird choice and, admittedly, I wouldn’t have even considered it if it wasn’t for the fact that Koei Tecmo have actually expressed interest in working on Mario. And now I super want it.

Mario’s no stranger to doing cool shit but I don’t think he or his fellow cast members have ever done the kind of flashy, almost anime-esque action that the Warriors games have done. It’s almost hard to imagine seeing as most Mario characters don’t wield weapons and those that do don’t exactly use the traditional sword or spear. Which is exactly why I’d love to see it. It’d just be so surreal.

Not to mention there’s a great variety of characters to choose for the roster, aside from the usual faces like Mario, Luigi and Wario. You could get the princesses in there (don’t act like seeing Peach doing anime fighting shit wouldn’t be the hypest thing ever), villains like Bowser, maybe even branch out to some of the characters from the RPGs, like Prince Peasly or Antasma. There is a lot of great potential for this one.

And, unlike the other entries on this list, this one actually has a decent shot of happening. Nintendo already have a good working relationship with Koei Tecmo thanks to Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors and they’ve certainly been more open to allowing Mario and friends do much crazier and outlandish things, like teaming up with Ubisoft’s Rabbids. Here’s hoping that, someday, at least this mad and wonderful idea comes to fruition.