Since we already have a thread for retro re-releases, I thought it’d be a good idea to dedicate a thread to remakes, reboots and reimaginings as well.
In contrast to re-releases, where faithfulness to the original games is the goal – sometimes with added bells and whistles, mind you –, remakes, reboots and reimaginings are usually built from the ground up. These can offer completely different experiences in comparison to the original releases, for better or worse.
Let’s take a look at the remakes, reboots and reimaginings heading our way in the near future!
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac
Release date: Today
I’ll be honest with you guys: I really don’t like the art style of this one. It just looks cheap. There doesn’t seem to be a way to switch to pixel art graphics (like in the Alex Kidd and Dragon’s Trap remakes), so I’ll be giving this one a pass.
Interesting… the remakes are really getting deep into the bucket now huh… was Joe and Mac ever a good game? I certainly don’t remember ever liking them.
The gameplay is simple but fun, like most of Data East’s output. I remember being blown away by the big, cartoony sprites and vibrant colours when I played it for the first time in a seaside arcade while on holiday in Italy.
I haven’t played too much of the other games in the series, even though I own a couple of those on the Switch and the Evercade. Gotta give them a whirl again to see if they hold up.
Speaking of remakes and Data East, more than a year ago Forever Entertainment (the company behind the Panzer Dragoon and House of the Dead remakes) announced a remake of the gloriously gory beat 'em up Night Slashers.
Not a single bit of information has been divulged since the game’s announcement, though, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it’ll stack up to the 1993 arcade version.
Or, you know, just include the original game, just to be sure. Even the worst remake is worth a try if the game it’s based on is unlockable, at the very least.
Just having the original game is good enough!.
Their house of the Dead remake is good but there is one major issue with it, the audio. I really don’t like the new music. It’s terrible compared to the original.
Akka Arrh is a prototype game that went unreleased until it resurfaced very recently in Atari’s 50th anniversary collection. Now, Jeff Minter is developing his take on this obscure game and it looks every bit as psychedelic as Minter’s other works.
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Atari VCS
Release date: February 21st, 2023
Colossal Cave (1976), one of the very first pieces of interactive fiction, is being reimagined as a 3D adventure game by none other than legendary husband and wife duo Ken and Roberta Williams (King’s Quest, Phantasmagoria).
Platforms: PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release date: January 19th, 2023
Classic platformer Montezuma’s Revenge is being remade by Handcrafted Mystical Games (yeah, I haven’t heard of them either) for consoles and PC. A previously unreleased Director’s Cut of the original game will also be included.
I suppose the 2021 remakes did well enough to justify this… I’m not usually a visual novel fan, but I played through those games and was totally charmed by them. The audio and visuals are so delicately realised, and the stories are pretty good too.
I’m excited for this! I wonder if they are still being made in cooperation with mages, rather enjoyed the remakes of the first two games that they put out.
I bought Castlevania Dominus Collection mostly for the remake of Haunted Castle.
…I’m not hugely impressed with Haunted Castle Revisited.
It certainly looks the business - think Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth on WiiWare but in widescreen and with bigger sprites. But I feel the designers overcorrected the frustration that the original arcade release brings to players.
A good Castlevania game always keeps you on your toes, rewarding consistency and punishing sloppy play. Your understanding and intuition of the enemies, traps, your items, and how that all works in tandem is what carries you through the game.
Yet the first half of the game (need to pick up from stage 4) is a complete pushover:
Level traps aren’t a threat - the chandeliers that fall in stage 3 hit the ground before you walk under them!
I was only overwhelmed by enemies once, and even then it was easy to deal with them
The first boss can be beaten through blindly whipping before you run out of health
The second boss changes directions every few hits…so you never get pinned into a corner. Again, you can blindly attack it and win
The third boss can also be beaten through blind attacks, and the checkpoint is right before it.
I received two chickens in the space of one minute in stage 3, so I could have just played the level sloppily without penalty…
The original Haunted Castle also had the classic jumping physics, where you have to commit to a jump upfront. This has been changed to mimick Super Castlevania IV, unlike Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth, which had both (the original, more difficult jumping behaviour was a separate mode).
Just finished this. I still can’t believe it exists! While the main case was a tad disappointing in how it comes together at the end, the epilogue game floored me. I can’t believe Nintendo chose to persue a much more costly medium to deliver that segment of the story, and it certainly helped tie up a lot of loose ends.
This sort of game from Nintendo doesn’t come along often, so hopefully it does well.
Let us know what you make of it! Now that the dust has settled I can’t say I’d play it again, which is damning for a Castlevania…
The rest of collection has potential but the scaling options for the DS game ruin the presentation. I feel M2 is just spread too thinly these days to get details like that spot on as they used to.
