The last few years have seen a new trend of re-releasing old games for modern hardware. Just check out the news lately about Mafia and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skaters remasters! The advances in consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One mean that classic titles can be reborn. Even games from just the previous generation can look dated when compared to recent tiles. So it’s no surprise that publishers look to improve them with far better graphics and performance.
While there have been a lot of remasters recently, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a couple more. In fact, there are plenty of great games from the last 20 or so years that would benefit from being reworked for today’s players. Here are the games that are most deserving of a remake.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011) is perhaps the most recent game in the franchise that the fewest people have played. However, that’s not because it is a bad game. Rather, it is a result of the game releasing near the end of the Wii’s cycle and requiring the MotionPlus. The game was already given a slight upgrade when it re-released in 2016 on the Wii U. But a full remastering for the Switch would be better, bringing the title to a whole new audience.
Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Conker’s Bad Fur Day (2001) is one of the few adult-orientated classic platformers from the age of the Nintendo 64. Despite the colorful graphics and seemingly cute characters, the title is a hilarious and depraved experience. Now that Microsoft owns Rare and its properties, they could easily remaster the title for a modern generation. Platformers tend to hold up reasonably well in terms of gameplay. Of course, the visuals would need a lot of work. Although the effort would be worth it as a lot of older fans would want to revisit Conker.
Splinter Cell
The Splinter Cell series is one of Ubisoft’s best Tom Clancy properties. The franchise redefined the stealth genre when it released in 2002 and led to a series of sequels. Yet, Splinter Cell has been dormant since 2013. While other properties such as Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon have seen new titles released, that is not the case for Splinter Cell. So, rather than risk creating a brand new game, Ubisoft could mitigate much of that risk with a remaster. Bundling HD remakes of the first three games, which are widely considered to be the best, makes perfect sense.
Silent Hill
Along with Resident Evil, Silent Hill essentially began the trend of survival horror games when it released in 1999. It defined how to create terrifying stories within a game and how to build the atmosphere effectively. Since the P.T. demo by Kojima Productions in 2014, there’s been no word on a new Silent Hill Game. However, if the recent remasters of Resident Evil 2 and 3 have shown us anything, it’s that fans love revisiting classic horror titles. The first three games could also use some of the same improvements to the camera system and voice acting.
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country was revolutionary in its day, with impressive visuals for 1994. Unfortunately, they have not aged that well and now look very dated. That’s a real shame because the platformer remains one of the best ever created. Considering how Nintendo has been willing to re-release games on the Nintendo Switch, it makes sense to remaster it. Even more so when recent Donkey Kong Country titles have similar gameplay but more modern graphics.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger is widely considered to be one of the best role-playing games of all time. Unfortunately, outside of fanmade versions, there is no HD remake of the original 1995 classic. There would certainly be a lot of appetite for a remastered version. Especially when you consider the fact that the game originally released on the SNES and has very dated visuals. A new version could even have modern gameplay and cutscenes.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Although there have been dozens and dozens of Star Wars games, few have been as good as 2003’s Knights of the Old Republic. The turn-based RPG introduced many new elements to the franchise. This included setting the action thousands of years before the main Star Wars films and introducing new areas and characters. The success of the first game led to a sequel, but both games now look quite dated. With rumors of a third game being in production, now would be a good time to remaster the older titles. This would help drum up interest in the possible sequel and be a certain winner for EA.
Mass Effect Trilogy
While Mass Effect: Andromeda may have been something of a letdown, the first three titles are acclaimed hits. The popular RPG trilogy, which kicked off in 2007, took players into the not-too-distant future and introduced a variety of alien races. Yet, the titles are now more than a decade old and could do with updating. EA has resisted the urge to create remasters so far. But surely everyone would be interested in playing through the original trilogy with upgraded visuals one more time?
Which games do you most want to see remastered? Tell us in the comments below!
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