What are your favourite game remakes?

[TelHybrid]

Title says it all. What games do you feel were represented well through a second (or 3rd/4th/5th/etc) release? What was it about the remake you liked? Could it have done better in some ways?

One remake that gets played a fair bit in my gaming collection is the Xbox 360 version of Burnout Revenge. It looks nice, handles brilliantly, great frame rate, and has extra content. The newer hardware than its original release allowed for greater draw distance which for a fast paced game like Burnout is so beneficial!

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - MGS1 with MGS2 quality visuals and Snake's MGS2 moveset? Oh hell yes! I must have played through that about 12 times by now. I regret selling my copy a few years back so much, but yet I can't bring myself to pay £40 for it. I wish it was part of the MGS HD Collection!

Sonic the Hedgehog for Android - I bought this for my Galaxy SII, and touch screen controls suck! They really suck! Fortunately, I do have an Ouya (I can't imagine many people have said this), and I can sideload. I took advantage of this and it worked wonderfully. Widescreen HD support and playable Tails and Knuckles were wonderful additions to this classic. I also kinda like the changed special stage movement speed. Makes them challenging for this Sonic veteran.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded - I really really really wish the local multiplayer in this game featured bots! Despite this, me and my friends have enjoyed this game so much!

Edit - My personal definition of a game remake is a re-release that adds something new and significant to the original. It could be improved visuals, or extra content, or changed gameplay. The experience is still true to original form but with some form of change to the experience.

 

[josemlopes]

Perfect Dark If you liked the N64 Goldeneye and the original Perfect Dark then this remake for the Xbox 360 is just perfect with everything intact running at 60fps, lots of content to mess around with.

Duke Nukem 3D for the 360, sadly it doesnt bring the expansions but with that said its a very good remake with some cool added features like integrated co-op and the rewind time thingy.

Halo: CE Anniversary, the fact that you can switch the visuals with the press of a button is a godsend even if the new visuals look great too (for anyone that thinks visuals dont matter see how much the Silent Hill re-releases sucked because of the changes in the visuals).

Serious Same HD They look great and still play great, the amount of players that the game lets play in coop is just crazy

 

[aozgolo]

King's Quest I, II, & III Redux by AGD Interactive. Simply put, this company did an absolutely amazing and phenomenal job recreating the original classic 3 King's Quest games from their text parser 8 bit (if that) color palette to a breathtaking high quality point-and-click adventure game that breathes new remarkable life into one of the best Adventure game series EVER. It includes top notch graphics and animation, great voice acting, is amazingly true to the original source material, and best of all... all three games are completely FREE. You really can't beat that for a remake...

Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI for the Nintendo DS, while I only had the privelege of playing Dragon Warrior IV before these remakes, I can't see how they are anything but an amazing improvement. They are simply a joy to play with great charming graphics, fun gameplay, and each one with it's own amount of amazing extras and special features. I am very happy to say I own all 3 of these lovely games and am really hoping to one day see a Stateside port of DQ VII and VIII's remakes as well.

Final Fantasy I & II These have been remade on several machines, for PS1, Gameboy Advance, and PSP, they're actually variants of the same port, but the PSP one is my favorite as it's the more recent with the best graphics. They faithfully recreate both these classic games, one of which we never got state-side in it's original release. The new graphics are very easy on the eyes, and it includes a very robust and extensive bonus dungeon to extend your game play even further. It also fixed little annoying bugs in the original release, like characters wasting a turn in combat because their target is already dead.

Lunar Silver Star Story Complete Originally a Sega Saturn game, I got the special limited edition PS1 version that remade the game 100 times better with better graphics and sound, full anime cutscenes, extra content, and an expanded story overall. There was another remake for the PSP called Silver Star Harmony but I can't recommend it as much, even though it's very pretty, it was made almost insultingly easy.


I would love to give honorable mentions to the likes of Baldur's Gate I & II Enhanced Editions as well as numerous PS3 HD Remakes, specifically Ico & Shadow of the Colossus but as these didn't really "remake" the original game, and simply enhanced the original I didn't give them full credit, but they are still very worth looking into.

 

[The Madman]

I'm quite fond of Tomb Raider: Anniversary myself. Even though I know some of the story tweaks annoyed fans of the original I never found them obnoxious and the level design in Anniversary with the redone versions of the originals already excellent design are spectacular. Game even looks nice with a good cartoony aesthetic and some surprisingly solid animation for Lara. If I had any complaints to be made it would be about the quick-time stuff they threw in at a few spots, but considering they're never exactly either hard or frequent I don't mind it nearly as much as I have in other games.

 

[Ultress]

Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver,taking games that introduced most of the concepts that Pokemon still carries to this day and giving them the proper space to spread their legs. Giving the rival a more established story,expanding the relations between the regions, and re-working the trainer rematchs.It also just adds tons more to do that the originals didn't have like the Battle Frontier.My only problem with this one is that Kanto lacks structure with the levels of the wild mons being all over the place.

 

[SomeGuyOnHisComputer]

Hmm, hard to think of ones that aren?t just basically ports ...

Tomb Raider Anniversary was aright. I definitely prefer the original game though. It's beautiful and there is a certain novelty to seeing the levels retouched, but it feels like every bit of subtlety was drained and the level design was simplified and overhauled to the point where it's a completely different game with a different audience in mind. Honestly, I'm one of those people who thought Core's initial remake attempt looked much better. It is not terrible and definitely worth playing, but a substitute for the original, it is not.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well, Persona 4 Golden is the best right now

Does the new DmC count? Though that's technically a reboot not a remake I suppose. 'S basically DMC3 but good. *Flame Shield activate*

I never really liked any of the HD remakes i've played, not so much to do with the "remake" part exactly, it turns out I just don't like Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Solid in general.

However I will very likely enjoy Devil Survivor Overclocked once I get the money to buy it. It's definitely my kind of thing.

 

[stroopwafel]

I never really liked any of the HD remakes i've played, not so much to do with the "remake" part exactly, it turns out I just don't like Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Solid in general.

Those are some of my favorite games but if you never played the originals when they originally came out I can more than understand this. Controls, interface, camera etc. is way more archaic than in modern games. I had the same thing with Deus Ex. I loved Human Revolution so couldn't wait to play the original(espescially with all the praise it gets) but couldn't get into it for the life of me. Had I played it 10 years earlier and before Human Revolution I probably would have enjoyed it.

Anyways my personal favorite remakes are probably Resident Evil and Ocarina of Time 3D. In both cases I think the remake actually made the classic game even better. I'd put Shadow of the Colossus in here as well thanks to the steadier framerate although the 'remake' bit isn't as extensive as Ocarina or RE(which is like an entirely different game altogether).

 

[Someone Depressing]

Devil Survivor OverClocker. Think of Devil Survivor... with voice acting, and now Yuzu's route, the worst one, is now the... best ending? Atlus has like blown my mind or something.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I never really liked any of the HD remakes i've played, not so much to do with the "remake" part exactly, it turns out I just don't like Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Solid in general.

Those are some of my favorite games but if you never played the originals when they originally came out I can more than understand this. Controls, interface, camera etc. is way more archaic than in modern games. I had the same thing with Deus Ex. I loved Human Revolution so couldn't wait to play the original(espescially with all the praise it gets) but couldn't get into it for the life of me. Had I played it 10 years earlier and before Human Revolution I probably would have enjoyed it.

Anyways my personal favorite remakes are probably Resident Evil and Ocarina of Time 3D. In both cases I think the remake actually made the classic game even better. I'd put Shadow of the Colossus in here as well thanks to the steadier framerate although the 'remake' bit isn't as extensive as Ocarina or RE(which is like an entirely different game altogether).

Oh god I had the exact same thing with Deus Ex. I played it before Human Resources came out just to prepare for it and "dated" doesn't even begin to describe it.

You know I think a true classic has to have a massive * on it saying "must not look like absolute wank several years after" y'know like Okami or Persona 4 or anything else that bothered to think up a unique artstyle. On that note, the new Deus Ex looks freaking amazing. Who even thinks of a Gold/Black colour scheme? Nevermind making it work perfectly.

And yeah I couldn't stand the gameplay in DMC. Sorry, but Bayonetta basically out-DMC'd DMC >.<

[sub][sub]That dodge mechanic yo'[/sub][/sub]

Also the jump has a load of invincibility frames so you can just mash the hell out of Helm Breaker to win everything. God that was annoying, I tried not to abuse it but I only have so much time.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

So... Wait, are we talking remakes? Or Re-releases? Or both?

Do HD re-releases count?
Do non-edited re-releases count?
What do you call stuff like Final Fantasy III and IV for the DS?
Or Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the Gameboy Color?
Or Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES?

 

[Casual Shinji]

What little of it I managed to play, REmake.

Now I never played much of the original, and I didn't like it much, but REmake surely was one fine looking game. Still is.

I hated the Metal Gear Solid remake, due to the change in voice acting, and introducing over-the-top silliness in the most grounded of MGS games.

 

[Strain42]

I'm trying to think of actual remakes and not just enhanced ports... (if we are talking enhanced ports, I think Persona 4 Golden, Devil Survivor: Overclocked, and Persona 1 all did very good jobs at taking the original game and making it well worth the second purchase)

As for actual remakes, while it does change a few things from the original that I thought were for the worse, I think Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver were very well done remakes That did way more good than harm, and I imagine the inevitable remakes of Ruby/Sapphire will probably be similar.

Hmmm...I'm not sure. Truth is, I haven't played all that many bonafide remakes.

Oh, another great one I have to give credit to is the GBA remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, better known as Sword of Mana. That was an incredible remake. I can't believe I almost forgot about it.

 

[TelHybrid]

So... Wait, are we talking remakes? Or Re-releases? Or both?

Do HD re-releases count?
Do non-edited re-releases count?
What do you call stuff like Final Fantasy III and IV for the DS?
Or Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the Gameboy Color?
Or Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES?

I guess I was pretty vague. I added a bit more elaboration to my original post, hope that helps.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Shadowrun Returns is a pretty good remake, in my opinion. I've only played a little bit of the original, but I like it.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Ocarina of Time 3D. All around great way to remake a game. Huge visual upgrade, without sacrificing the feel of the original. It also gave a lot more to look at in the game, the insides of regular buildings were a joy to look at.

The Pokemon remakes(Fire Red, Heart Gold etc.) are all done very well. If we are lucky, we'll see the Hoenn remakes soon.

Halo Anniversary, just a pure visual update adding a few cool things into the mix, a great way to bring an older game into a new generation without removing what made it great in the first place. I'm still hoping for a Halo 2 remake, that game has not aged well.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Sonic Generations more specifically Modern Speed Highway and Chemical Plant.

And of course the champion of all game remakes, Resident Evil REmake.

 

[laggyteabag]

Halo: CE Anniversary is the pinnacle of remakes for me, most remakes just bump up the aspect ratio and resolution (to make it technically HD but still let it look like ass) and of course change the code to make it work on whatever platform the remake is for, however Halo: CE Anniversary did all that as well as redo pretty much all of the assets aside from the voice acting. What this did for Halo: CE Anniversary is it made a game that came out in 2001 look like a brand new game for when it came out (2011). Also the feature that allowed the game's visuals to revert back to their original state with the press of a button was an amazing inclusion that I found myself using countless times just so that I could see what 10 years of graphical advancements could really do for one of my favourite games.
<spoiler=Halo: CE Anniversary to Halo: CE comparison pictures>

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I know it's recent, but Wind Waker HD has been impressing me. All these little fixes like having the Wind Waker linked a button permanently that wasn't used in the Gamecube version, the sail is just activated on command when in the boat, way less diving in and out of equip menus. Visually, it's gorgeous and you can tell a lot of love was put into it.

 

[bafrali]

Black Mesa is pretty good, keeping original mostly intact. There are a few slip ups here and there like the soldiers with super senses that is OK. Though it still is not finished. What are they waiting for. The rapture?

capctha: stop wasting time

Indeed.