Remakes... The Good, The Bad, And The Downright Rotten

deathrider

I, unwittingly, picked up the remake of Bionic Commando the other day, and was sorely disappointed by it. It's simply and awful game, and it does the old version little or no justice. This got me thinking about some of the great remakes over the last few years. Tomb Raider: Anniversary always sticks out for me, as it's plays so well, ans so close to the original.

Anyways, in a world where remaking/ rebooting games seems to be all the rage, what ones do you love, and what ones can you simply not stomach?

gizmo

Bionic Commando isn't so much a remake of the original but a re-imagining but to be honest, it wasn't that bad, certainly not a classic but definitely not terrible either. The demo on the other hand, well that was one way to turn potential customers off.

As for the a proper remake of BC, try BC: Rearmed on XBLA and PSN, now that's an awesome remake.

In terms of other games, I'm actually struggling to think of remakes/reboots which aren't simply direct sequels. Here's a couple that spring to mind though:
New Devil May Cry is looking, aesthetically speaking at least, ****ing awful.
New Castlevania is surprisingly fantastic.
New Sonic (Sonic 4) is a mixed bag but certainly far inferior to what they could achieve.
Going back a bit, Prince Of Persia Classic was fantastic.

The next big remake will be Goldeneye for the Wii which, while I'd like to see it turn out well, could go either way from what I've seen.

Retr0gamer

Thought the new Bionic Commando was a great game myself and way too harshly judged. Thought it was silly it got marked down for being non-linear as if that was a crime?

deathrider

Really not enjoying it much myself. However I'm still ploughing through it (I paid for it, so I'll beat it! Lol). I might check the XBLA one out.
I have to agree with what was said about he upcoming Devil May Cry game. It's not a path I think the series should take at all.

That vid of a 3D(ish) Sonic And Knuckles looks fantastic. Made me think "Wow. If only..."

Blatter

Th resident evil 1 remake on the gamecube and wii are probably the best remakes I've ever played.

EmacB

Havent played the newest one but i thought return to castle wolfenstein was pretty good!

K.O.Kiki

Final Fantasy III on DS (with more bobble-headed 3D graphics) kinda left me cold.

I couldn't get into it at all.

pasta-solo

The Gamecube remake of Metal Gear Solid was interesting but it ruined parts of the game by being able to shoot in 1st person and some of the mega-stylish slo-mo action cut-scenes were unnecessarily overblown, even for Metal Gear Solid!

Retr0gamer

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Final Fantasy III on DS (with more bobble-headed 3D graphics) kinda left me cold.

I couldn't get into it at all.

It's actually a really good remake and very faithful to the original. the problem is that it's a very archaic game and FFV came along and showed how the job system should be done properly. The battle load times didn't help.

Don't let it put you off the FFIV remake which is fantastic. They changed up the battle system so that the boss fights are much more strategic and FF4 is still a great game to play even now.

MGS Twin Snakes is a poor remake as well. The FPS aiming makes it too easy and the new cutscenes are beyond retarded.

Bionic Commando Rearmed is one of the best remakes ever, fantastic stuff.

After playing System Shock 2 after bioshock it's obvious Bioshock was a poor remake of system shock 2. Great game but system shock 2 is god tier.

deathrider

Personally, I'm really looking forward to the remake of Splatterhouse. I know it's not going to blow me away, or be anything out of the ordinary, but it looks like good mindless fun, which is exactly what I'm looking for from this particular title.

GTR63

Is Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past on GBA any good of a remake. I had it in my hands on two seperate occassions but never bought it.

Retr0gamer

It's not a remake, it's a port of the original game. Damn good game but i prefer the original on the big screen.

BlitzKrieg

remakes are not as big of a deal I find on games as they are for films. You tend to find they are less prone to gutting the original of what made it great for the remake

The worse thing that can sometimes happen is the games are made easier though this is a mixed bag (Rearmed is not dumbed down or made easier by a long shot.)


besides its not like movies where continuity is always expected from title to title so remakes really dont have the same bite. Games can get away with a franchise just moving on with little or no connection to the original. While a movie franchise can get only so far before they are forced to wipe the board clean and start over a new.