After remaking the first Resident Evil game approximately 562 times, Capcom is finally turning its hand to other games in the series and is working on a Resident Evil 2 remake, something which fans of the series have been clamoring for ever since the glorious RE remake on Nintendo’s GameCube.
Watch the announcement trailer for the Resident Evil 2 remake below:
There has been a recent trend in the video game industry that has seen countless games receiving remakes, with the titles that have been granted these overhauls typically having only been released a year or so prior to them getting a current-gen “makeover.” While The Last of Us Remastered and Grand Theft Auto V‘s PS4 and Xbox One ports were undoubtedly popular, many held the opinion that they were given the full retail release treatment as a way to mask the considerable lack of new games being released for the consoles.
But while we’re still receiving remastered editions of relatively new titles, there are many classic games that have yet to receive hi-def makeovers that absolutely deserve it, and unlike many other old-school games they would still hold up today if they received a visual overhaul.
Here are 5 video game remakes that we’d like to see:
The Resident Evil 2 Remake and 5 Other Video Game Remakes We'd Like to See
-
Burnout 3: Takedown
While we'd much rather see a new entry in the Burnout series than a HD remake, with developers Criterion Games working on an untitled new IP we'd happily settle for a remastered version of one of the best ever racing games, Burnout 3: Takedown.
The Burnout series crashed and burned after the release of this PS2/Xbox classic, with further installments in the series failing to reach both the quality and popularity of their 2004 predecessor. It's a testament to the quality of Takedown that there has yet to be an arcade-style racer that has been able to compete with its adrenaline-pumping gameplay, and it's somewhat baffling that other games cut from the same cloth haven't borrowed heavily from its core concept of focusing upon car crashes instead of glossing over them.
If Criterion is going to routinely favor the Need For Speed series over Burnout, then we need to see Burnout 3 running on current consoles.
-
EarthBound
EarthBound should be way more popular with Western audiences than it actually is, but thanks to Nintendo failing to sell it to those of us across the pond from Japan, instead we have to live with our wonderful yet vague memories of playing through the game on the SNES.
Mother 1, as it was known in Japan, is going to make its way to Nintendo's Virtual Console in the near console and bring the first entry in the RPG series to a western audience for the first time ever. But it's EarthBound, known as Mother 2 in Japan, that many of us grew up with and serves as the perfect jumping-on point for the EarthBound/Mother series, with its dry sense of humor and unforgettable cast of characters.
EarthBound still holds up incredibly well thanks to its excellent (and infinitely weird) dialogue, and if Nintendo could sign developer HAL Laboratory up to create a remake (preferably on the 3DS with a visual style similar to Pokemon X & Y), we'd be all over it.
-
Power Stone 2
Nintendo pretty much owns the monopoly on 4-player brawlers with its Super Smash Bros. series, which is strange considering that sub-genre is rife with potential. The Dreamcast's Power Stone series never matched the heights of SSB due to it being released on an under-performing console, but Capcom's arena fighting series deserves to make a return on current-gen hardware and give those who don't own a Wii U a local multiplayer fighting game that can compete with Nintendo's franchise.
Power Stone 2 represents the pinnacle of the series, introducing 4-player brawling (the original only allowed 2-player contests) and a single-player mode that saw fighters being able to team up to take on a variety of enemies and boss battles.
It was great fun and, while games such as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale tried to compete with SSB by essentially copying it verbatim but still somehow being completely inferior, Power Stone actually stood on its own two feet and, in a variety of ways, actually surpassed Super Smash Bros. in terms of gameplay. It's a testament to the game that it still holds up well today, something which can't be said for the majority of old-school 3D fighting games, and we'd love to see it receive a makeover and make its way to current-gen consoles.
-
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
While LucasArts was keen to not make another Knights of the Old Republic game due to it undoubtedly messing up the popularity of its Star Wars MMO The Old Republic, we think that it's high-time we saw a revival of the classic RPG series, starting with a remake of the original game for those who haven't yet experienced it.
Knights of the Old Republic is widely considered the best Star Wars game of all time, and with good reason. It boasts a gripping plot with plenty of twists and turns, dialogue and characters that put those of the prequels to shame and, more so than arguably any other game, actually makes you feel like you're a part of the vast Star Wars universe.
A Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake would go down a storm with old fans of the series and those who have always been curious but never got to play it, with it boasting a timeless appeal that would reach a new audience if given a visual overhaul.
-
Super Metroid
We desperately want a new Metroid game that isn't Federation Force, and if we have to wait until the NX to receive it, then we'll settle for a Super Metroid remake in the meantime.
Many would argue that a Super Metroid remake would be redundant as nothing can compete with the original, and that introducing a new art style would dampen the minimalist design and bleakness of the SNES classic. However, those who have played the wonderful The Swapper will know that bringing a 2D Metroid-style game up-to-date with modern visuals can work, as independent studio Facepalm Games' "Metroidvania" puzzler's unsettling atmosphere was incredibly reminiscent of Metroid, though its gorgeous hand-crafted visuals actually managed to enhance that feeling of isolation in its incredibly lonely world better than 16-bit graphics ever could.
Nintendo would do well to take a few cues from The Swapper's art direction if they were to ever consider a remake of Super Metroid, and though it's unlikely to ever happen, we can't help but dream.
