Crash Bandicoot and Spyro have single-handedly proved that the real profit is in rehashing old titles. Naturally, gamers would rather put their hard-earned free-time into replaying some of their favourite games from yesteryear, and undoubtedly the market will slowly adapt to providing for those who thrive on nostalgia.
Microsoft are certainly ahead of the curve with their backwards compatibility and quite frankly PlayStation’s streaming service, PS Now, isn’t quite on par with simply inserting your old copy of Oblivion and losing yourself for several hundred hours. Nevertheless, there remains an opportunity for both gaming tycoons to hammer out some remasters. Just a few simple tweaks to the game’s graphics engine could make for an entirely new, gratifying experience. Most remasters sell themselves as a total overhaul of the original game, despite being the exact same content but some able to run smoother on 4K and HD televisions.
With that in mind, here are five titles from the not-too-distant past which could make some waves if they were to be remastered on today’s leading consoles. Some of these are indeed available to those with access to PSNow, or have backwards compatibility with Xbox Live, but do they deserve just a little more love and attention from devs, most definitely.
Have any in mind? Why not leave us a comment and we can all fanboy over how amazing old games are.
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
The Revivaling? Recurrances?
Raiden. What did you do to deserve this amazing title that so many were quick to eat their words on. Metal Gear Rising shocked the world by actually turning out to be really fun to play. Taking a step away from the typical Metal Gear shenanigans of tactical stealth, and hammering home with the beat-em-up, slasher style, fans were both pleased and stunned with this take on the franchise.
The visuals hold up almost a decade since release, and could lend itself nicely to the current gen. Fans of Gear could really go for something positive since the debacle that was Metal Gear Survive. If you slept on Rising the first time around, then should this ever get a re-release, get on it. Despite thoughts on Raiden as a protagonist, he really came into his own in this game. Come out of your comfort zone and have a good time with this one. Please Konami, let everyone give it a second chance.
2. Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tekken 7’s great and all, getting their guest characters to shock the world and all that, but who can say no to that hench roster we saw in Tag Tournament 2. TTT2 was the quintessential Tekken game, taking place outside of the canon and therefore not taking itself too seriously. Everyone’s favourite made it into the game (unless your favourite was Gon) and we were treated to a variety of game modes that could keep you coming back when in need of a fighting game fix.
This was a relatively late addition to the PS3/360 library, so wasn’t really lagging behind in the graphics department. It should be a simple port for Bandai-Namco to make – and would probably give Tekken 7 a boost in sales in the meantime.
Plus, I just really need Doctor B back in my life.
3. Max Payne 3
If John Wick and The Matrix merged into a piece of art, it would be Max Payne 3.
Max Payne 3 has been touted as one of the best shooters of the past decade, still talked about today as the bar for action-adventures. The focus was on tactical gameplay, introducing bullet-time to make shootouts both cinematic and a load of fun. The game is gorgeous and has enough replayability value to make a re-release worth putting some money into.
This franchise didn’t deserve to be this amazing — nobody saw it coming, which made it all the more satisfying.
4. Fallout: New Vegas
Throwing myself to the dogs here: I never actually finished New Vegas. In fact, I barely scratched the surface with the story. New Vegas is often argued to be the best entry into the series, shadowing the efforts of 3 and 4. Many traditionalist fans look at New Vegas as what the Fallout franchise should aspire to be. The freedom of any good RPG is there, the character and charm of the Wasteland is here and there’s an interesting cast of characters and factions which can keep you invested for the best part of the story and then some.
From someone that has been meaning to go back and plough through the rest of the main quest, New Vegas would go down a treat for players on the modern-day consoles. It would certainly fill the gap left behind by 4 on our way to the upcoming MMO.
Alternatively, why not re-release Fallout 3? Give everyone a trip back to Vault 101 – which for most people would have been their first memories of Fallout.
5. Grand Theft Auto 4
GTA 4 was one of the most successful video games of all time, up there with its successor – GTA5. Pretty much everyone owned a copy of GTA 4, and if they didn’t, then it was probably because their parents were too prudish about the 18 rating. A spectacular game, aesthetically and practically.
Niko Bellic and the rest of the strange troupe of Liberty City will always hold a special place in my heart that I’ve been meaning to revisit for quite some time. I feel that we’ve all got a little too comfortable with GTA5 and it’s time to give some love to the foundations.
If any video game from the previous generation deserves recognition and a few extra thousand dollars in revenue, then it’s Rockstar’s instant classic. But please, never patch the swingset of doom.
Honorable Mentions:
– Mass Effect (1, 2 and 3)
– WWE All Stars
– Rockband
– Red Dead Redemption
– Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
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