Every new generation of gaming technology has clear and obvious benefits that afford themselves to their users. Updated graphics, updated engines that add to the experience and enhance the story, all things that immerse the player into a world that makes them forget their own average and normal reality. But with all the comings of new, there are many things that must be left behind, resulting in the forgotten titles that new demographics of gamers will never get to experience.
Remaking classic titles has long since been a topic constantly debated. There are those that claim a remake would tarnish the memories created by those ground-breaking games that impressed us then for their time and changed our views on what we expect from games today.
“are HD remakes and remasters a good thing?“
But are remakes and remasters nothing more than a way to tidy over gamers until more unique titles are available for their consoles? Are games best left to their generation in order to be remembered for the way they made us feel back then? Should we let the past be as it was in order to make way for new, exciting, and original titles? And most importantly, are remakes and remasters simply just a way for publishers to cash-in on titles that did well for their time? The big question here is, are HD remakes and remasters a good thing?
Whether you have asked these questions yourself, or even gone so far as to ignore and avoid titles because of some sort of sour feeling toward the idea of remaking of one of your favorite games, you should probably get over it. Why? Because remaking classic titles in most cases affords newcomers to that particular franchise a change to experience what you did once yourself, creating new fans in the process.
Though some titles do not need to be remade (Silent Hill and Devil May Cry come to mind), there are some games that were met with joyous praise like Shadow of the Colossus and the Kingdom Hearts Remixes. Even Microsoft combined Halo 1-4 on a single disc with ODST being added later and Halo 5’s Multiplayer Beta available at the time of this writing (though they sort messed up big time with their online matchmaking, yikes).
What makes remakes great is that nowadays, developers understand that gamers want to revisit the classics without losing their classic feel. But new gamers want updates like visuals and sound which are added carefully and meticulously so as not to lose the earlier generation. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is the perfect combination of both, giving players everything they remember from the games’ original forms, with an option to toggle between old graphics and sound to new during mid-game with the press of a single button on the fly.
Even Nintendo saw fit to re-create their older classics in NES Remix, a series of games that kept their old school vibe but made available on the Wii U and 3DS/2DS platforms.
As large as game files can be, disc space has certainly expanded enough to where multiple titles can fit onto a single solitary disc, with of course no similar issue for digital downloads. Here are some games we think should be taken into consideration and added to the ever-growing list of HD Remakes.
God of War
God of War, God of War II, and God of War III, were the three primary installments in the long-running franchise, with a few other titles scattered across mobile devices. The series of games would make a great addition to the PS4 library for any gamer, and could amass plenty of hype to the franchise prior to the release of God of War IV.
Prince of Persia
The Sands of Time series of games is easily the most recognizable in the franchise. Ubisoft’s four titles including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, The Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, were a lot of fun to play adding the elements of time reversal to save the player from certain doom, or fast forwarding to get through tough puzzles. PoP paved the way for parkour and scaling games, much like the Assassin’s Creed series.
Dead Space
One of the most thrilling franchises to date, Dead Space 1, 2, and 3 provided enough shrills, thrills, and chills running up our spines through the long hours of the night we spent playing on the hardest difficulty. Gore is never enough to provide scares, but a creepy ambiance with odd sounds, and eerie music make Dead Space a blast to play, even now. The three titles in the franchise would great to re-visit with updates prior to the release of any potential future sequels.
Resident Evil
The first Resident Evil game is slated for an HD remake coming this month on January 20, though the games that followed the original would be great to have in 1080p. With the player taking hold of Leon in RE4 and later Chris Redfield in RE5 for their feature titles, these two games alone deserve their own remaster due to excellent storylines, tight controls, and excellent character development. RE2 and RE3 are at least a definite possibility down the road and certainly a remaster we would like to see some day if Resident Evil’s remake does well in sales. RE6 saw the return of Chris and Leon with newcomer Jake Muller, though the game was met with mixed reviews due large in part to too many plots, not enough character development (Jake in particular was a bore), and weak gameplay. The menu system was also a pain to deal with, and as a result of these shortcomings, RE6 doesn’t need to be a part of the remaster.
Kingdom Hearts
The KH franchise is one of the most adored within gaming, amassing followers of Disney and anime fans alike all across the globe. A loving story that mixes two unexpected properties in the best way, KH is emotionally moving and a lot of fun to play. As a PS exclusive up until the upcoming multi-platform KH3, Xbox owners are in for a treat, though they miss out on valuable story if they never owned a PS2 or PS3. The six titles combined into four playable games on two separate remasters for the PS3, Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, and unplayable 358/2 Days (unplayable, cinematics only) on the first and Kingdom Hearts II, Birth by Sleep, Re:coded (unplayable, cinematics only) came relatively recently, but would be nice if they were released once more for Xbox owners to catch up. Though a PS4 version would also be nice.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Shadows of the Empire and Rogue Squadron were two games that many of us have spent countless hours playing on the N64. Both games make our golden list for titles on the 64-Bit console, and would be excellent on something more current. Though both were exclusive to Nintendo, polish both of these games up a bit with some 1080p for multiple platforms, add some new content, and maybe a sequel to both, and you have yourself a smash hit. Now if only we can get a sequel to Knights of the Old Republic. Don’t even get us started on Battlefront.
Have a title that you think should be on this list? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Shadows of the Empire would be an excellent remake. Add Pokemon Snap to my list of requests.