It’s easy to look back on the past and see it as better than the present– potentially even the future. Maybe that’s why so many video game publishers turn to remakes and remasters, yet it more than likely has to do with how safe beloved franchises are from a profit standpoint. Recreating these long-lost childhood memories does have its pros, like revisiting a graphically-updated Racoon City, but not all video game remakes are designed with the same love, care, and detail. While some do offer a chance return to days long remembered, when gathering orbs in Jak and Daxter or dismantling Shinra Corp. in FFVII were the only concerns, others become money-making devices with an outer shell designed in the guise of nostalgia.
Though remakes and remasters differ, in that the latter is simply an updated version of the original while the former is a completely restructured experience of its namesake, they still both go hand in hand when underscoring why most remakes are pretty beat.
The Good
Final Fantasy VII Remake amassed immediate acclaim, not just for its reworking of the story but also for its newly beefed-up combat system. Before it came last year’s Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, which was celebrated for its tweaks on core mechanics. Then, there’s Resident Evil, a franchise that has been delivering exceptional rebuilds since 2002’s GameCube REmake. The most recent release of Resident Evil 3 and last year’s Resident Evil 2 further proves there is some precedence for returning to the past.
Of course, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil remakes aren’t the only examples of well-made nostalgia trips. One of my all-time favorites would have to be Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. They are exemplary of the video game remodel, bridging just enough from the originals while also updating graphics and adding more content to the adventure with the Sevii Islands. Link’s Awakening also stands among the best video game remakes of all time, next to Shadow of the Colossus and Counter-Strike: Source. I’m most excited to see how some of the most anticipated upcoming remakes, like System Shock and Black Mesa, fair in quality and performance since not all of them are as beloved as their originals.
The Bad
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is always a delight to revisit, but not in this 2003 offshoot. After just two years, EA went ahead and re-released, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for GameCube, Xbox, and PS2 systems. This sad remake doesn’t offer anything in the way of additional content, updated graphics, or even better controls. It simply sits there as a brutal reminder of how remakes can be utilized by publishers to stoke nostalgia for better profits.
Other examples include Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, Goldeneye 007 Reloaded, and Medieval. These games, though excited to be revised and revisited by their fans, simply came and went. They prove that a remake or remaster can be brought to life without any love or care for the franchise it represents. Chop Till You Drop is up there among the worst video game remakes of all time, but have you ever experienced Dead Rising 2: Off The Record? Don’t, it’s simply not worth it. And, if you thought things couldn’t get worse from there, think again…
The Ugly
Let’s talk about Silent Hill. More specifically, the franchise’s well-hated HD Collection, which is comprised of Silent Hill 2 and 3. It’s probably one of the worst remastered video game iterations ever conceived. First and foremost, where is the original Silent Hill? Second, the updated graphics ironically only downgraded the experience. Poorly re-recorded voice acting coupled with a smog animation that reveals the surprise ending from the very beginning, the Silent Hill HD Collection is, plain and simple, an ugly mess of a remaster that should never have been made.
As in the case of Silent Hill, time and money spent devising this HD collection could have probably been better spent simply making a new title. Similarly, there’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD and the infamous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Some games are best left in the past. Look no further than Capcom and its beloved string of recent Resident Evil remakes. Despite the acclaim for their remade nostalgia trips, it’s clear nobody wants a Resident Evil 4 remake. Especially when a developer or publisher can better utilize those assets to deliver something fresh and intriguing within the same franchise universe, why remake a title that’s already good as it is?
While there may be some truly god awful remakes out there, remakes do offer younger generations a chance to enter long-forgotten worlds. Yes, either the controls are off, the sound isn’t right, or the reworked content just doesn’t cut it. But the experience itself is still enough to warrant more. Let’s face it, most video game remakes are beat. But, at least they cement in multiple iterations the best the industry has to offer in a long line of unforgettable interactive experiences.
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