Anime crossing over into games, much like films and television, has resulted in a grab bag of different video game adaptations to varying degrees of success. Games like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Jump Force captured casual and competitive fighting games, JRPGs like Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth or Sailor Moon, or ARPGs like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and many more encapsulate the spread of genre coverage for games based on popular anime. Even one of the most prolific anime of all time, Cowboy Bebop, has received a video game adaptation previously, though it was not particularly noteworthy among the aforementioned examples of anime adaptations.
However, for being such a well-loved anime, to have only one significant video game adaptation is both surprising and unsurprising. Much like licensed games based on comicbook heroes from Marvel or DC, games based on anime were similarly hit or miss on quality and production value in 2005. Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade (Serenade of Reminiscence) released on PS2 only in Japan, and received a similarly mediocre reception at the time. However, given the potential avenues and worlds a Cowboy Bebop game could explore, a modern adaptation could faithfully explore the world of the anime in a new light, so long as it's done right.
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One of the Most Impactful Aspects of Cowboy Bebop is its World
One of the aspects of Cowboy Bebop that has easily stood the test of time is the degree of worldbuilding and amtosphere that the anime cultivates. Surface level analysis of characters like Jett, Faye, or Spike will show that they most closely resemble genres archetypes like Western or Noir, but the Sci-Fi world of Cowboy Bebop often takes an intentional backseat. Cowboy Bebop's narrative is able to shine and subvert character expectations because of the degree in which it ignores the usual pomp and cirucmstance of the sci-fi genre. Compared to other sci-fi anime like Akira or Evangelion, Bebop's world in comparison often intentionally takes a backseat.
That's really what makes Cowboy Bebop's universe so special in the anime, but a modern video game adaptation could certainly explore these themes even further. An open-world interpretation of the Cowboy Bebop story could have the crew exploring various nooks and crannies throughout the galaxy, Mass Effect style. Bounties could be open to snag across the galaxy for moment-to-moment gameplay, while the narrative and setting has plenty to explore as well. Each world that players visit would have no shortage of places to explore, whether it's the existing planets like Mars or Venus, or it's terraformed moons and colonies like Ganymede or Io.
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A Fine Narrative Line for Cowboy Bebop
Gameplay-wise, a Cowboy Bebop game would likely explore any of the stories and antics that Spike and Jett got into prior to the events of the anime. Either that or the game could be devoted to a time in between the main events of the anime to include all of the main Bebop crew as well. Either way, brand new stories would be the most interesting avenue for a modern Cowboy Bebop video game adaptation, but it wouldn't have to ignore the anime's story entirely. Obviously biggers story beats like details on Spike's past or Julia appearing likely wouldn't make sense, but there could be allusions to their tragic romance that connect the game back to the source material.
Alternatively, a Cowboy Bebop game could potentially add more context to main story beats from the anime, but it would have to be thoughtful and respectful to the source material. Of course, that's an expectation of any licensed game adaptation, but that'd have to be especailly so for the one-season-long Cowboy Bebop anime. Avoiding spoilers here, of course, but there's not a whole lot of leeway for any Cowboy Bebop sequel to exist beyond the ending. The Cowboy Bebop feature-length movie had to perform that same balancing act as well, which resulted in the mixed reception it received, despite taking place canonically in-between Cowboy Bebop episodes 22-23.
Either way, the world of Cowboy Bebop is where the true potential lies in a video game adaptation. Much like the upcoming Cowboy Bebop live action series, a game adaptation would need to walk a fine line in crafting a meaningful narrative that doesn't interrupt or otherwise come at odds with the existing Cowboy Bebop story. To many, Spike and the gang's adventures are often considered part of the best anime series of all time. Any adaptation needs to live up to that legacy, and most live action adaptations of anime have struggled in that regard (Death Note comes to mind. Games have to deal with those same expectations, Cowboy Bebop would be no different.
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