WHEN it comes to movies and TV shows the word ‘remake’ is somewhat tainted.
They are often inferior versions of the original, that fail to capture what kept audiences intrigued.
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The same can often be said of games. Despite technical innovations, not all remakes improve on the originals.
There are remasters that are simple ports to slightly better hardware with marginally nicer textures.
Then there are others that might have been a genuine attempt at improvement, but that feel more like soulless cash grabs due to their quality.
Many of these games, such as Secret of Mana and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, end up worse than the originals due to the number of bugs they introduce.
However, there is a small percentage of remakes that improve on everything the originals tried to do and elevate them to a whole new level.
Not only do they give people a way to play these classic games on modern platforms, but they give fans an excuse to dive in all over again.
We have only just entered May and already there has been a whole host of remakes that have brought some fantastic games back to life.
Dead Space brought more of the brooding fear we remember from the 2008 original, and the Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp breathed life into a strategy game stuck in the early 2000s.
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The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster allowed a younger generation to relive the early games from a still popular series, and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe did the same.
These were all good remakes and yet there are three more which exceeded all of our expectations.
Metroid Prime is more a remaster than a remake, and yet it is one of the best releases of the year.
Prior to its launch, Prime seemed doomed to a solitary life on the GameCube, but now a whole new generation gets to experience its joy.
Similarly, the remake of Resident Evil 4 is an improvement on what was already one of the best games ever made.
Changes have been made to every inch of the game, refining and perfecting every single element.
Another standout of the year is the Live A Live remake, a game that was originally released in 1994 and only in Japan.
Using Octopath Traveller’s HD-2D art style, it keeps all the charm of the SNES original while updating many aspects of the gameplay for modern tastes.
It’s chapter-style storytelling, where choices you make early on will define what you can do in the rest of the game.
There are few games made like it, and it’s tragic that so people had the opportunity to play before the remake.
Remakes can breathe new life into games that people otherwise could not play, and 2023 so far has been an excellent example of that.
There will always be shallow cash grabs and broken ports, but we’re hoping that the trend we’ve seen in the opening part of 2023 shows people what these games could be.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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