A good example is the PS3 version of Shadow of Colossus. It fixes the biggest issue with the original, the framerate, and ups the resolution.
In this case, do you sell/donate your original PS2 copy?
I recent example in my collection is Dragon’s Crown Pro. I owned both PS3 and Vita versions. Dragon’s Crown Pro on PS4 game me 4k resolution, an orchestral soundtrack on other features. I can see the appeal of the Vita version, it’s portable natively. But the PS3 version has been thoroughly outclassed.
Curious what everyone does as I’m looking to trim my collection a bit.
Persona 4 Golden is another example. Persona 4 is great, but Golden just improves it on every aspect, but do you need a PS TV to play on a TV or run your PC to the TV.
I’m also aware of the collector mentally of having all version of a beloved series. I don’t have that hangup myself.
I gave away my copy of Shadow of the Colossus, and ended up buying a new copy a few years later. Even with the jank framerate I like playing it on a PS2, especially on a CRT.
Unless it’s a multiplayer game with a community that migrates like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I have avoided getting updated versions of games on new hardware in recent years. I may eventually break that trend with SM3DW to play Bowser’s Fury, or Xenoblade Chronicles DE to play the additional campaign they made, but certainly not for $60.
I see re-releases as great for people who missed out the first time, but not really something I’m interested in paying for if it’s already on my shelf.
Plus, it’s cooler from a historical perspective, for me, to play the original release. You get to see how the developers balanced the scope of the game for the hardware and constraints they were working within at the time. Sometimes a port is cool for convenience or as a novelty to clean up some issues. But I usually consider the first release to be the “experience.” And anything new takes on that concept afterwards to be a fun “what if” type thing.
Like with the Link’s Awakening remake, it’s obviously very charming and unique and fun, but the original Gameboy release is a more impressive accomplishment that I appreciate more. Especially when you consider just how limited the original Game Boy was.
I don’t really collect games anymore but it depends on the title. FFXII for instance the release of TZA made all versions before it redundant, but it’s my favourite FF and in my top 10 games of all time so I still have my steelbook PS2 copy as well as the International Zodiac Job Edition from Japan.
Transformers Devastation, while 720p on PS360, looks more like a cartoon as tjhe PS4Bone version added extra effects like bloom.
Also Tomb Raider 2013 had its lighting and colouring completely re-done for PS4Bone, I compared and preferred the darker original.
That said, yeah if it’s completely redundant, like say PS360 GTA5, might as well move on, though in most cases I’ve seen in that scenario the original becomes basically worthless anyway, like $5 on ebay.
A long time ago I gave away all of my SNES games to my nephew because my SNES broke (and I wasn’t really into gaming at that time). I’m glad he got some fun out of it because among those games was a copy of Secret Of Mana. The lesson I learned was to never give away old games, because I will surely regret it later.
This is exactly how I go these days, though it is contextual on the game, but there’s been some great examples further down the thread of that!
I hadn’t realised even the HD port of GameCube Resident Evil had its visuals dramatically altered with caveats, the new graphics team just weren’t detail oriented and if that was the version I owned I’d probably get rid of it and pick up the GameCube original instead…
Play the original on a gamecube in 480i on a CRT, it’s incredible.
AFAIK the Wii version is nearly identical but supports 480p and more control options (GC controller + classic controller + wii remote if you want that), but it doesn’t have the charm of being a horror game on two tiny discs on a colorful kid’s lunchbox.
That’s some weird incomprehensible changes there. Looks like they redid the meshes for objects in the scene, but forgot to set the toggles for interacting with the lighting that was already set up for the scene. Not to mention in the case of the mirror, the new asset looks worse then something I can slap together in blender in 10 minutes. The army of free interns strikes again it seems. This should never have passed QA.
It’s time! Only previously had Deadly Silence on DS but didn’t spend much time with it, now I’ve got my PVM I can visit the classic games as they were meant to be seen…
…only problem is PAL GC and Wiis don’t support S-Video!
Haha exactly. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the new art work was outsourced, seems to be the norm nowadays for remasters.
Final Fantasy XII ZE was another disappointment, the original textures were pixel art that looked great at 480 lines, to make it HD they stuck all the art through an upscaling and sharpening algorithm, then slapped on a fine grain layer of dirt/texture to make it look HD. Horrible - all buildings in the game look like they’ve been caked in debris, and the oversharpened grass textures are mush now.
Only games where I’ve seen this artificial upscaling work have been Okami HD and Wind Waker HD, thanks to textures that were never precise to begin with.
