10 Classic Video Games That Deserve an HD Remake
Battletoads had a reputation for being one of the hardest platformers on the original Nintendo. The game, released in 1991, followed three toad siblings -- Rash, Zitz and Pimple -- on a quest to save a princess from an evil queen. Although the game was created to cling to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hype, it became a huge classic in its own right, spawning several sequels and tie-in games.
The game's cheeky humor and over-the-top action would translate perfectly to a virtual console game, and the already-great visuals would really benefit from a 2D makeover. It'd be worth it to get another generation hooked on this NES classic.
he Earthbound series has had a tough life in the States. Only the second game was released in America for the Super Nintendo. Its predecessor and sequel were released in Japan under the name Mother. Earthbound tells the story of a young psychic boy named Ness who was tasked with saving the world from aliens. The game was a classic RPG, set in the Japanese vision of '90s America, complete with fast food and rock music.
Earthbound has never been re-released beyond its original SNES drop in 1995. Many speculate it's because the game is so full of potential copyright lawsuits, and it would be too much work for Nintendo to secure all the rights. It's a tragedy that such a great game is trapped in old cartridges and ROMs for the foreseeable future, without even the chance for any updates.
Final Fantasy VII brought the popular RPG series into the third dimension in 1997, and boosted sales of Sony's PlayStation as the console struggled to take on Nintendo. Unfortunately, games that made the leap into 3D in the late '90s look terrible when replayed now. Fans have been clamoring for years to see the epic story of Cloud versus Sephiroth remade. Isn't it time Square Enix gave it to them?
With the redone versions of The Secret of Monkey Island and brand new point-and-click games like The Walking Dead debuting, adventure games are becoming popular once more. Isn't it time for another classic point-and-click adventure to get the same treatment?
Grandia was an off-the-beaten-path series of RPGs; the original was released for the Sega Saturn and then ported to the PlayStation in 1999. It's set in a futuristic, technology-dependent world where a boy named Justin must try learn why an ancient society died out.
The game was unique for its combat system, which relied on your party's position and the timing of attack. Well timed attacks could even do critical hits.
A game like this was inventive enough to warrant further exploration, but the sequels never picked up much steam. While it's available for download on the PlayStation Network, the graphics and control could use some retooling for modern consoles.
Mutant League Football pits teams against each other for some good ol' fashioned gridiron fun. Sort of.
The game reskinned the Madden '93 engine with teams comprised of zombies, skeletons, monsters and aliens. It was also a lot more about pummeling your enemies than playing fairly. Land mines, toxic waste or holes that drop you into space litter the playing field.
The concept was brilliant, and although the game was released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable, it really deserves a full makeover. The graphics could go anywhere from realistic to cell-shaded and still do service to the fun gameplay. Online multiplayer modes would be killer.
While rhythm games have been a hit in Japanese arcades for decades, Parappa the Rapper, released in 1997, was one of their earliest forays into the American marketplace. Players must hit a sequence of buttons with the correct timing to rap their way through ludicrous situations, like getting to the front of a bathroom line.
The game spawned commercials and a cartoon series in Japan, but was only re-released as a downloadable game for the PlayStation Network in 2006. While the concept is great, the controls don't hold up to modern gameplay standards. PaRappa the Rapper may need its programming reworked in addition to a graphical tuneup, but it would be worth it. The nostalgia some hold for the series is strong enough for an HD gambit.
Many games have been inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons' universe, but few are so fondly remembered years later as 1999's Planescape: Torment. This dark role-playing game was overshadowed in popularity by Baldur's Gate, but received a lot of critical acclaim. The plot and writing were unique and more immersive than many role playing games at the time, and was much less combat focused. You play The Nameless One, a character who has lived hundreds of past lives that he cannot remember. Your struggle in the game is to find pieces of his memories spread through many dimensions.
The good news is that this game might get a remake sooner than the rest on this list. Overhaul Games is currently working on the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition for mobile, but they said they want to tackle Planescape: Torment next. Fingers crossed.
Although the popular BioShock franchise is supposed to be the "spiritual successor" to System Shock 2, very few games warrant a remake more. The first-person shooter/role-playing hybrid had a great story and was probably one of the scariest games to come out in the late 1990s. Your unnamed soldier must fight off a psychic alien host that has infected his fellow troops and the ships that are carrying them.
Despite critical acclaim, the game didn't originally make its sales goals. That means a lot of people spent time trying to install an aging game on PCs years after it came out. With the success of BioShock, and the upcoming release of BioShock Infinite, we can only hope that EA would let this one out of the vault too.
We've seen plenty of entries into the Star Wars gaming universe, but when TIE Fighter came out in 1994, it was the first time you could play as the Galactic Empire. The space flight simulator was the sequel to its antithesis, Star Wars: X-Wing, and put you in the driver's seat as an Imperial recruit.
Along with having a great interface, the game has a fun plot where you can become one of Emperor Palpatine's inner circle by completing additional objectives on each mission. This is what we wish Star Wars games were still like, and would be worth seeing remade -- though without any Jar Jar Binks thrown in, please.
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