Why Do Video Game Remakes Exist?
Remakes are a big part of the video game industry, that's for certain, but do they deserve to be? Just why are so many games revived from the dead for this generation?
It's a difficult question to answer. A lot of games actually make for fantastic remakes. Take
Final Fantasy IV for example. It was a fairly decent RPG for its time but it wasn't available to everyone, whether it was because they were too young, weren't born at that point, or couldn't afford to get into gaming. It was released several times after that, on PlayStation and Gameboy Advance, with very minor changes. However,
Final Fantasy IV was later released in 2008 on DS with vastly improved graphics, CGI cut-scenes and even voice acting, allowing gamers to experience it on an affordable and portable console, with a new and refreshing appearance.
Playing
Final Fantasy IV is almost like playing a totally new game, while keeping the same battle system and style that made the original so fantastic. What was the final verdict on the game? Fans of the original loved it, yet
still considered the original SNES version to be superior, proving that no remake can really give fans the same feelings as the original.
Some remakes just shouldn't have been made in the first place. If you ever have the chance, don't check out
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. Probably one of the worst remakes I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. A remake of the excellent 360 version, and built from the ground up for the Wii,
Chop Till You Drop does everything wrong. The ability to take photographs was completely removed (which is odd, considering that the protagonist, Frank West, is a photographer...), the amount of zombies on-screen at one time was reduced from approximately 800 to 100 or so. It's unfortunate that such an awesome game received such a poor remake treatment, but considering the limitations of the Nintendo Wii, it's not too surprising that it doesn't match up to the Xbox 360 version. I like to think that Capcom learned a lesson from this, considering the lukewarm reviews it was given.
Top: Pokemon: Heart Gold (NDS)
Bottom: Pokemon: Gold (GB)
More great examples of fantastic and recent remakes are both
Pokemon Heart Gold and
Soul Silver. The original games,
Pokemon Gold and
Silver, were loved and cherished by thousands of fans, including myself. The originals were undoubtedly brilliant games, and considered the best in the series. So were these remakes worthy? Somewhat. The games added enough content to the series to keep them fresh and slightly different than the originals. Take a look at the image on the right. The remakes do look pretty nice compared to the horribly outdated originals. However, the games were merely created to feed off a fan's desire to see their favourite games with spiffy graphics.
That's exactly what a developer strives for when remaking a game. They lure in the same old crowd of fans using the same game, with a new coat of paint and some more bells and whistles for a fresh experience. Sure, it'll hook in some new fish, but the target audience are still gamers longing to replay their favourite games without being appalled by the outdated graphics.
Video Game Revivals Make Fans Happy
Anyone who has played the
God of War Collection will know how great remakes are done. Although the original games aren't very old, the PlayStation 3 remake of two PlayStation 2 games in one, cheap package, is an amazing deal. Recently announced were the
Sly Cooper Collection, and
Shadow of the Colossus/
Ico remakes for the PS3. The games looked pretty fantastic in the first place, and would benefit greatly from high definition. They also include a 3D option, for those of you with the money to splash out on a 3DTV. These sorts of remakes are safe, and it's difficult to upset anyone when all you're doing is making a game shinier. It does make me wonder what sort of 'Collections' we can expect in the future. A
Metal Gear Solid Collection? A
Kingdom Hearts Collection? Maybe even a
Devil May Cry or
Silent Hill Collection! The possibilities are endless, considering how many PlayStation 2 games exist, and Sony's refusal to put backwards compatibility back into the PlayStation 3.
Video Game Reboots Make Fans Angry
Announced at the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, the fifth
Devil May Cry game was revealed. Simply titled
'DmC', the new game showed off a young man in a red coat fighting off demons with dual pistols and what appeared to be a halberd/axe/scythe/whip hybrid. The reactions were mixed at first, but the overall reception to Dante's new appearance was negative. As a
Devil May Cry fan myself, I was somewhat shocked to see that they had taken one of my favourite characters in gaming and turned him into a sleazy-looking punk. It's a great example of how developers can turn series fans against them by merely changing the main characters appearance. We weren't even shown game-play, for all we know the game could be amazing. His appearance change alone was enough to cause outrage amongst fans.
Another example of a reboot for a series is
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Hardly rebooting the series, it's merely a re-imagining of the original game, but it's still taking a concept and messing with it and risking fan disapproval. Personally, I loved the game. I've come to terms with the fact that it takes place in an alternate reality. If I didn't think too hard about how it isn't the same as the rest of the series, it was a great experience from start to finish. I'm hoping that
DmC will be the same.
So, What Does the Future of Game Remakes Hold?
Top: Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded (NDS)
Bottom: Kingdom Hearts: Coded (Cell)
Although rebooting an already well-established series is generally a bad move, remaking old games is actually fantastic for the industry and gamers alike. Not only are some of the best old games remade or updated for this generation of fans and newcomers to enjoy, but it also expands the universal library of games to choose from.
It's difficult to tell. Square Enix seem to be keen on remaking their old and new games.
Kingdom Hearts Coded was a cellphone-exclusive game in Japan that actually followed on from
Kingdom Hearts 2. Fortunately, Square are releasing it on Nintendo DS with the title,
Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, so Westerners will have a chance to play it. The original cellphone game used 2D sprites against a 3D background, while
Re:Coded will make the most of the Nintendo DS' 3D graphics. In a recent Twitter post, Hajime Tabata stated that if he were to remake one game for the
upcoming Nintendo 3DS, it would be
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, another cellphone-exclusive that never made it to our shores. However, where does that leave Square Enix fans that have been waiting for a
Final Fantasy VII remake? A remake was teased for PS3 a while ago, only to be labelled as a tech demo and later appearing in
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Teasing fans like that isn't the way to go, guys. Now, Square Enix refuse to remake
FFVII time after time, instead focusing on less popular games. Do they hate money? Are they not aware of how ridiculously popular
Final Fantasy VII is? Are they afraid they could soil its crown? Or perhaps they just don't feel like it? These questions will remain unanswered for the time being, but fans of the game will always hold their breaths in hope.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode One will be released later this month, with more episodes being released later. Although it's technically a sequel to the very original three on the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, it could be considered a remake, seeing as it's returning to the roots of the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 features 2.5D graphics and the same style as the originals, unlike the recent absolutely atrocious games in the series -
Sonic Unleashed and
Sonic and the Black Knight should never have existed. Hopes are high for
Sonic 4. If it succeeds, it could draw in a new generation of decent remakes. In addition,
GoldenEye 007 will be released November 2nd this year, exclusive to the Nintendo Wii and DS. The original was, and still is, an extremely popular game with a large cult following and an equally large risk of upsetting fans. If it sticks to the same mechanics as the original, which it looks like it will, it should be an amazing remake!
So, Questioners, what are your opinions on companies remaking games? Do you agree with it, are you firmly against it? Which games would you like to see remade in the near future?
I guess it's all down to opinion, but I grew up on Sonic (dunno if you did too) back in the megadrive days, and loved it in its format. Playing Unleashed, I felt that it was just... wrong. Not just the obscure and ridiculous plot, but the fact that it even had 3D sections which didn't play to how I'd like. On top of that, I preferred Sonic when he was racing around mindlessly. Not changing into werewolves and fighting shit with a sword. But again, it's all down to opinion. I don't expect everyone to like the same games, life would be boring like that. :)
Also about DmC, it's nothing to do with Capcom of America. The Capcom team that made the rest of the series actually authorised Ninja Theory to redo Dante, so technically they did have something to do with the change - they allowed it. I disagree with your point about Dante changing with each game though. Yes, he did change per game, but to be quite honest, it was just him ageing - he always retained his trademark red jacket, and long white hair. He was... hip. Not an emo punk.
The new Dante is part of a reboot to the series and not in the same canon. It may actually stand on it's own two feet gameplay and story-wise, but it just won't be a Devil May Cry game to me, seeing as it's not part of the main series. Much like how I consider Silent Hill: Shattered Memories to be a good game in it's own right, but not part of the Silent Hill canon. ^^
And on your final point, I don't think it's a time concern considering how many games Squeenix have remade in the past. Cheers for mentioning FF8 tech demo though!! I actually had no idea that existed. I'm a HUGE FF8 fan too, it's my favourite game in the series. ...Now I'm disappointed nothing became of it. :<
Thanks for your comment. :)