7 Best Video Game Remakes

If you’ve got a stomach for an imagination, the word “remake” could very well mean stepping into a time machine and taking technology a good ten years back to see what it stirs up. This here, applies to those perfect formulas that backed some of the most sore thumb inducing games, only because we could play them through and through for years.

Who’s really “stepping into the time machine”, here are game publishers and developers who know how to appreciate an all time favorite every now and then and reinvent it, as a gentle reminder that it’s legacy will live on. Herein lies a risk of entirely ruining the same but the below mentioned 7 are what’s keeping us really optimistic about the trend:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

Publisher: Capcom.

Platform: PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade.

Developer: Backbone Entertainment.

Original on: Arcade, SNES.

Just how do you refresh the Street Fighter experience, a whole 15 years down the line when we’ve got arcade fanatics who know every blistering combo sequence to precede every obliterating special attack at the back of their D- pads? Capcom’s solution: Throw in the word ‘remix’ and boast all new move sets and attack enhancements, bringing back those that were ignored in the first place to the forefront. This is madness, this is Capcom and we have learnt the good wholesome versus beatdown way that they leave no room for gimmicks. Ryu’s faking fireballs, M. Bison is dishing out “psyche-out” sliding kicks and you can note down 17 uniquely powered character’s move sets in all that have been reworked and bundled in the “Remix Mode”. But we are steering way past the point which is the game being presented in truly awesome HD! Comic publisher UDON have made that very clear adding a crispy edge to the characters and animations, carefully escorting the game to new graphical realms and leaving its straightforward fighter spirit intact. For as long as you can tolerate words like “FIGHT” and “KO” bellowed by a rather enthusiastic announcer over a booming microphone, Capcom assures the Street Fighter series will never die.

Prince of Persia.

Publisher: Ubisoft.

Developer: Gameloft.

Platform: PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade.

Original on: MS-DOS, Apple-2, NES, Atari ST, Mega CD, Mega Drive, GB, GBC.

Once upon a time, video games were plain difficult and brutally unforgiving, and that’s right about the time we were introduced to the first Prince. Remember the whole one-hour time limit, the mad rush to the end? Some like a challenge, some won’t stare at a Game Over screen more than twice before they realize rescuing a pixelated princess-in-distress is pretty overrated. So developer Gameloft souped up the remake, to serve the former with a different ending over the latter who would go way past the time limit to settle for the milder gaming course, due courtesy to the newly added checkpoint system. Everyone’s a winner, see, and when that’s settled you can stop and appreciate the brilliant use of slick graphics and tweaked game play, making for swift and lifelike movements within greatly defined backdrops and environments. Even that odd mess of a colour scheme mass for a prince has been given a solid makeover to resemble the prince from the newer games. While the game stays true to the traditional side scroller format (quick sliding doors, ready-to-drink-potions, deadly pitfalls, quick sword fights and the works), it makes up for the absence of an overly dramatic music score by actually using silence to its advantage. Executing that long jump is ten shades more terrifying when all you hear is the sound of prince barely grabbing the ledge and breathing heavily. The game would have been perfect if it included the original version as a bonus but there’s a good bet going that your computer technician has left the PC version lying somewhere around your hard drive if you’d bother to look.

Super Mario All Stars.

Publisher: Nintendo.

Developer: Nintendo EAD.

Platform: SNES.

Original on: NES.

For every two people that think the original Mario game is pure 8-bit gold and should be kept in a time capsule for preservation, there’s about ten that upload various versions online for free play. Then we shouldn’t make a fuss if Nintendo decided to tamper with it back then. Mind you, Nintendo knows like most of us, there’s no point changing what we love about one of the most timeless games in history so all they did is fill its skies with twinkling stars. No, literally, the backgrounds were given all that extra 16-bit charm and the characters sprung to liveliness with a few tweaks in the game engine. For that final touch, Super Mario Kart composer Soyo Oka recomposed the music replacing crude synthesis with brilliant orchestration via sampling and filling up even those portions of the game that were once condemned to an awkward silence in the process. Sparkling fresh.

Metal Gear Twin Snakes.

Publisher: Konami.

Developer: Silicon Nights.

Platform: Gamecube.

Original on: PSOne.

The first 1998 MGS stealth classic revolutionized the genre, which had deep roots in the more cinematic experience. This alone was enough to keep things fresh for the future of the series. Most would then, go right on to labeling this remake as a mere copy of a masterpiece. Well a copy is by all means is what it is, but Konami intended that impression on the surface whilst brilliantly upping the ante in a select few areas. While the game’s challenge aspect is just about right this time, the inclusion of a first person view to give headshot fanatics they are due, is what really showcases Konami’s ability to preserve a good games legacy and still make it an essential second run through for its religious fan base. If that doesn’t work for you then let me throw another fancy Japanese name at you, in this case, action film director Ryuhei Kitamura who directed some truly extreme cutscenes to take this game’s action quotient over the edge. For all its worth, this is just the well aging of another classic in gaming history.

Resident Evil.

Publisher: Capcom.

Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4.

Platform: GameCube.

Original on: PlayStation, Windows, Saturn.

When Resident Evil arrived at the shores of mainstream gaming entertainment bringing the entire survival/horror genre with it, it was a nothing short of a cluttered mess. Poorly rendered graphics aside the FMV sequences were amateur and awkward, perhaps in the true spirit of B-movie horror if you’d shed a little optimism, but inexcusable nevertheless. Seeing it as a shame to continue with the stellar sequels alone, the legendary game designer Shinji Mikami ran a rescue mission to pull the original from the cold grasp of mediocrity and bring it to the GameCube platform, and how. For the first time in this list comes a remake in truest sense of the word. While were talking words, what happens here in all brilliance, is the segregation of storytelling, where we get the same original story, but told to us on another level. To keep up with the modern script and photorealistic graphics that set the seriously dark tone for the series, the game is infested with all new puzzles, plots, subplots and environments. You bet Capcom threw in generous amounts of unlockables.

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X.

Publisher: Capcom.

Developer: Capcom.

Platform: PSP.

Original on: SNES, MS-DOS.

Only Capcom (who’s featured for the third time on this list because they are just that unavoidable) know how to make a little blue guy shooting bullets out of his hand a truly epic video game experience. It’s probably because the game featured the most memorable set of boss fights to ever grace the side scrolling blasters, or just the brilliant weapon and armor upgrade system for the time, but whatever it was it worked best with the original debut SNES format. Period. So it made perfect sense for X to go back to his roots with the latest addition to the PlayStation Portable system. Nostalgic value intact, the graphics were lifted to a more relevant 3D presentation and seamlessly at that. Every anime aficionado had their day made when the game went on to feature cutscenes straight out of Mega Man’s anime universe. Initial ones played out in bits to simply tell a story better, but the final sequence was a glorious 24-minute long running unlockable that dwelled on the back-story of the game. Also worth mentioning in the department of unlockables is Capcom’s famous “beat the game and play as your arch nemesis” bonus, in this case the relentless maverick hunter Vile you face off a number of times in the game. Thankfully, this isn’t just Mega Man with a fancy change of clothes but a whole new unique character gifted with a much larger arsenal of weaponry, and that wraps up the entire package.

Tomb Raider.

Publisher: Eidos Interactive.

Developer: Crystal Dynamics.

Platform: PS2, PSP, Windows.

Original on: PlayStation, Sega Saturn, MS-DOS.

All credit goes to Core Design for creating what the Guinness Record Books recognized as the “most successful human videogame heroine”. Sure Lara Croft did her fair share amongst a majority of testosterone driven lads found at any cross section of the gaming populous. But, you can’t help but notice the Derby-based developers fell right out of it at a certain point and more or less plagued their “claim to fame” status with the Tomb Raider series (Angel of Darkness maybe?). But that’s right where Crystal Dynamics lifted off from, firstly by re-imagining the beautiful miss Croft and secondly by pleasing the Gods of relentless adventure gaming with the breakthrough Tomb Raider: Legend. All that was left really was a need to celebrate Lara’s 10th anniversary and you bet the developers went back a whole ten years back to show Core how its done. Though released within the limits of the PS2, the game achieved graphical wizardry with its steep polygon count. Expect the lush environments from its Crystal Dynamic predecessor with a few additions to the design that directly target the hardcore fan base. The levels themselves present the player with multiple paths and the developers seem content keeping that thin line between familiarities with the original and a whole new world. They sure know how to treat a lady and as a consequence, gamers have learnt to respect the more realistic Lara Croft image as much as they will appreciate the next bold step in the evolution of the series

For a final note, let’s hope the industry keeps the trend locked to games that stand the test of time as much as the above mentioned seven and not every run of the mill title capable of producing a mild shock in sales. In a way, it’s a lot like a well-deserved plastic surgery minus the side effects. Facelifts? No. Remakes? Yes.

Xbox Natal is Also Next Console from Microsoft?

At this year’s E3, there were many big announcements such as the PSP Go. And among those, was Microsoft’s controller-free gaming method. Dubbed Project Natal, it is a sensor device which can recognize faces and “understand” what users say.

Now 1UP speculates that the Natal will not just be an add-on to Microsoft’s existing Xbox 360, but will also be an entirely new console. Just as well, since there have been reports like the one from EA’s VP, Patrick Soderlund, that the Xbox 360 has been ‘maxed out’.

The video game website goes on to guess the name of this new console and a release period for it. They think it could be called the ‘Xbox Natal’ and would release next fall. They also say that sources have confided in them that the new console would just be a minor upgrade and not totally new, in terms of hardware. Plus this ‘new’ console could be announced as early as next year’s GDC.

Apparently the new console will run all existing games and also future games a little better than the current line of Xbox 360s. This raises a doubt as to whether developers will only make games for the new console leaving owners of the existing hardware, stuck with downgraded ports.

Eurogamer got Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Microsoft to comment on the developments. Greenberg said, “I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary.”

This was very different from the general ‘We don’t comment on rumor and speculation’ response we are always greeted with.

Gears of War 2 for PC Coming?

Gears of War is the highly acclaimed third person video game from Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games, and the Windows PC version of the game was release about a year after the Xbox 360 version. Now IGN reports that website Beantown Games has put up the PC version of Gears of War 2 for pre-order.

When they contacted Microsoft for comment, a company rep told them, “Gears of War 2 is a great franchise for the 360, and so we are putting all of our attention into making sure that it stands out on that console. There are no plans to bring the game to the PC.”

The site offering the pre-order also lists December 4, 2009 as the release date for the Games for Windows version of Gears of War 2. They also say that the limited edition version will come for 59.99 USD (approx. Rs. 2,850) and includes a PC DVD-ROM, a 48 page book called ‘Beneath the Surface: An Inside Look at Gears of War 2’ all in a special case, plus a gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle for online play.

The Sims 3 is EA's Best-Selling PC Launch

EA’s The Sims 3 comes with full online and community features and at the same time does not have DRM protection, which can be a pain. The game was released to retailers on June 2, 2009. Now we have word from EA that The Sims 3 has sold over 1.4 million copies for PC and Mac in its first week. This is the best-selling PC launch in EA’s history, and so far there have been over 7 million downloads of content created by players, including houses, stories, and even Sims. The Sims 3 for the iPhone and iPod Touch hit the number one spot on the Apple App Store on the first day of its launch and hasn’t renounced that spot yet.

“The Sims 3 for the iPhone and iPod touch soared to the number one Top Paid App position in the U.S. Apple App Store in just 18 hours of its launch and reached the number one Top Paid App position in 37 countries worldwide within two days of launch, making it EA Mobile’s 3rd game launched at $9.99 to reach the number one Top Paid App position,” VP of Worldwide Publishing for EA Mobile, Adam Sussman stated. “The game’s sales success along with its strong critical acclaim demonstrates that The Sims 3 mobile experience is a worldwide hit with our customers.”

“With more than a dozen press awards, strong reviewer scores and positive feedback from The Sims community, we are thrilled with the success of The Sims 3 launch and the early sales indicate that we have another hit on our hands,” Head of the EA Play Label, Rod Humble commented. “The volume of items created with The Sims 3 and downloaded online is a testament to how passionate The Sims players are. It’s their world now, we can’t wait to see everything players create and share.”

The Sims 3 allows players to create Sims with unique personalities and character traits and take them anywhere in the neighborhood. Players can also enjoy many online and community features, and visit The Sims 3 Store to purchase clothing and furniture for their Sims. The game even allows Sims fans to make Sims movies using the clips captured while playing the game, in conjunction with editing tools provided. These movies can then be shared across the community.

5 Most Disappointing Video Games Based on Movies

All right, let’s divide us into two groups for the sake of convenience. Everyone who gets so stoked watching 300 and runs out of the theater yelling and kicking people into ditches goes into group number one, while everyone who would rather get their kicks out of a corresponding video game can settle for group number two. With the way video game publishers handle movie licenses today, we’re going to have to excuse you if you flinched for a second about joining group number one. You see back in the 16-bit era, game developers would just cram the entire movie experience into 1 of 50 odd side-scroller formats but brand spanking newer console technology has more or less, no wait definitely more, eliminated all excuse.

Games like God of War which fall out of the “movie based” sphere are as cinematically gripping so why can’t a movie based game be the movie on a whole new interactive level. Well, the big gaming corporations know that if you don’t join group one and land up dead or arrested, you are left with an urge to purchase anything that lets you come close to virtually living the movie hype and to that “cashing in” end, they have churned out the most mindless pieces of code ever, the video game equivalent of zombies really.

Here are 5 of those that would probably die walking into each other, in no particular order of course:

Fight Club.

Publisher: Vivendi Universal.

Developer: Genuine Games.

Release Date: 2004.

Fight Club rule # 9: Never let Fight Club be beaten to death mercilessly by Vivendi Universal. Fair enough, escorting the hit 1999 movie to the realms of the glorious fighting genre was quite a plan, but being perfectly serious, the average gamer can beat the games arcade and story mode in their sleep, taking for granted the average gamer can repeatedly hit the punch button in a state of unconsciousness. Why developers would reduce a spectacular array of combo possibilities and fighting mechanics to the heavily repeated dull punch, kick and yay! execute throw format is beyond the disgust of us all. If the mentioned average gamer managed to stay awake he’d probably appreciate a handful of uninspired finishers, mildly intense cut scenes or more simplistically the blood-splatter-on-screen-effects, but all’s appealing just once and what if you still pull through? Well, the games idea of rewarding any further attention towards it is an unlockable Fred Durst, the most annoying rap rocker this generation has witnessed which sort of has us running back to the need for getting some good combo beat downs in this one.

X-Men Game.

Publisher: Activision.

Developer: Z-Axis.

Released in: 2006.

This one was essentially that “occasional intermediate” between a hit movie and its sequel, in this case the happenings of the second and third X-Men movies. So Activision decided to take three popular characters from the films, Wolverine, Night Crawler and Iceman, ignoring Cyclops because he is too smug perhaps, and wrap them up in a mind numbing beat-em-up package. They’ve probably got a lot of Iceman posters up at Activision’s headquarters because he’s the character you get to have the most fun with, what with flying around and shooting ice projectiles in sync with most rail shooters. But that just makes it all the more duller returning back on land as the other two X-Men, stringing together no-brainers to get past a repetitive sea or rather hordes of uninteresting baddies, all while pointlessly getting smacked by bullets. As an added curiosity towards the games of infatuation with Ice Man, he also gets health regeneration! Way to piss off all Wolverine fans. Pure blasphemy.

Jaws.

Publisher: Majesco.

Developer: Appaloosa.

Release Date: 2005.

Once upon a time Jaws developer, Appaloosa came out with the “Ecco the Dolphin” games, which were considered the best underwater-based games at the time, featuring a cute little dolphin embarking on epic quests. Charming, but they knew that would piss off our bloodthirsty generation so they dug up the hit classic film Jaws with its “killer shark mindlessly devouring human” ethics. Now that’s good enough for a “what if” gaming segment but actually going ahead with the idea is pure stupidity. The scope for said shark is pretty limited considering he’s neither a) cute b) saving the earth in any way. The game sort of mocks this limited scope by keeping things open ended and letting you float in the pointlessness of its missions. Sure you’re having mild amounts of fun chewing people here and there but it’s not long before the games deadly mix of awkward controls and shaky camera angles wholly devour your patience, complete with a ripping headache.

Iron Man.

Publisher: SEGA.

Developer: A2M.

Release Date: 2008.

In the movie, you get just a couple of minutes to catch your breath from the moment Robert Downey Jr. dons the slick metallic red and gold suit to the point he’s just ripping past the infinites of the sky. Of course, you’d love to know what it’s like which is why this game gave you just that, a lot of that and pretty much that. But you can’t hit targets at that speed hotshot so your going to have to keep flying back only to realize there’s tons more of enemies to handle this time over. Your only option now is to get over the awesome flight gimmick and hover in one area shooting bolt after bolt after laser after bolt after, oh, a few missiles and lasers, then bolt again to do the needful. You get one chance to drop the controller when things get too repetitive, otherwise you are punished with the latter half of the game that turns out being frustratingly difficult and that by no means points towards the missions getting any more interesting or miraculously posing some sort of a challenge. The game has one last saving grace i.e. the grappling feature that lets you tear through tanks and helicopters for a few kicks, but once you realize its more hassle than utility you will have to get right back to the hovering and the bolt after bolt after… you get the point.

Enter the Matrix.

Publisher: Atari.

Developer: Shiny Entertainment.

Release Date: 2003.

To be perfectly fair, this game isn’t all that bad but it’s a burning example of great expectations gone wrong so it falls right into this dimension. Fans of the Matrix Reloaded can dig in for a healthy share of decent cinematics and visuals (exclusively shot for the game at that) and for all other purposes, it’s probably worth more buying a slick set of shades and doing your best Neo impression. But this game isn’t about Neo either and it stands concurrent to the movie, centering around what Niobe and Ghost were really upto. Once again, fairly good concept but too much is taken for granted while we are left with a rushed and structurally weak storyline, remnant’s of what could have been so much more rather. All the third person combat and shooting action in the game put together won’t distract you from the objectives totally lacking depth, so much so they don’t fit into the story or just have you wondering what the deal is in the first place. However awesome if you consider the cinematics, it is still annoying when you go in for that daring jump and an in engine cut-scene well, cuts in and robs you of your right to aesthetic gaming pleasures. The animations are riddled with inferiority as much as the AI is riddled with stupidity and the good ol’ Matrix bullet time trend won’t raise eyebrows, considering Max Payne beat them to it. Go watch the FMV sequences on You Tube and call it a day.

There’s a whole lot more from where these abominations came from and many more to come, so long as there’s big movie licenses to feed on. If it is way past the “hype mark” for the shelves, game distributors will slap a pretty yellow discount “best price” sticker on them and let that be your warning, then ‘The Movie to Game’ invasion is here and it shows no signs of stopping.