Game franchises that have been profitable 20 years ago have started to come back in the form of remakes. This isn’t a new trend, it seems like people forget that virtually everything started out somewhere, and most ideas aren’t original, but I digress. Remakes have been around for as long as I can remember, and with news of Final Fantasy VII getting a remake (I totally called it by the way) I thought I’d make a list of remakes people have suggested to me over the years, and what I think of them. This has been a platform for discussion since I was a schoolboy, so there was a lot to choose from, so trying to just make a list of 5 was near to impossible, but I did it! So in no particular order, here are 5 of the remakes I’d love to see, that haven’t already been made:
1. Double Dragon – Yeah, there was the Double Dragon Neon game fairly recently, but this NES classic was a tough game. There were no expectations for this game since we didn’t have anything to go on, except maybe the movie Double Dragon, but it was clearly not about the movie. This was a game I played to death as a kid, and playing it recently brought back some fond memories. Just next time throw in a 2 player co-op like they did with DD2 & 3.
2. Zombies Ate My Neighbors – This was a game I played at my friends house, and holy heck was it awesome. You play as one of two kids trying to save your neighbours from being killed by Zombies, mummies, vampires, blob creatures, killer dolls, lumberjacks and giant babies. This game was a crazy game to get your head round and it really wasn’t an easy game to beat first time playing. If you were like my friend who had learnt where all the secret areas are, then it can be made a little easier, but I’d love to see this get a remake.
3. Super James Pond – A strange platformer where you play the role of a secret agent, who is a fish that needs to save Christmas. Do I really need to say much more than that? Such a random but fun game, frustrating, but still fun. It actually did get a sequel, but in today’s market I feel that more people would take to such an obscure idea.
4. Castlevania – Not the new games, the older ones, I’m talking Castlevania, side scrolling action at it’s best. In fact, the first game did get a remake, on Playstation called “Castlevania Chronicles”. It had some pretty awesome music remixes, but nothing beats that classic 8 bit music. I want a side scrolling Castlevania that isn’t just another Symphony of the Night.
5. Resident Evil: Outbreak – One of Capcom’s finest moments with this series, and it was all brought to grinding halt when it was released for PS2. The technology just wasn’t quite there yet, and Sony had made the PS2 to be able to go online, if you brought the extra network adapter and actually found games being hosted. I was one of the unfortunate saps that wasted my time and money trying to get this to work in the UK, but it just wasn’t going to work. Now that online gaming is practically in every game that comes out from a big studio, why not bring this series back? It had a lot of promise with survivors working together to survive the outbreak in Raccoon City.
These are just a few ideas I’ve had sitting around with friends over a game or two, but there are hundred I could think of. A few that would have made it onto a list of some sort have already been done in recent years, some were okay, others…not so much. Years from now, when we’ve completed Final Fantasy XXXIII and Star Wars episode 10 is getting a touch up with lots of lens flare, we’ll look back on some of the games and movies we’d like to be remade then. But until then, enjoy the now, we’ve had a good ride so far, but now is where it’s at.
