Retelling the Classics - Ten Games that Deserve Top Quality Remakes Part I - Features

In this feature, Axel Cushing explores ten games that are deserving of top quality remakes (i.e. not just nostalgia paydays). This is Part I.

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Retelling the Classics - Ten Games that Deserve Top Quality Remakes Part I

As a general rule, I'm highly opposed to remakes of any kind. Too often, they're a cynical attempt to cash in on an older title's legacy. They are "reimagined" to the point where they have basically no actual connection to the original work except perhaps for character names and titles, and even then it's not much of a guarantee even that degree of reference will occur. However, there are some instances where a remake can stand on its own and still capture the spirit of the original work. If movies like 3:10 To Yuma and The Truth About Charlie (a remake of the Cary Grant movie Charade) have shown us anything, it's that a remake can be pulled off without insulting the audience. The trick is to put people with passion for the original work in charge and let them express the burning desire to see it brought back to new audiences to appreciate while still respecting the original work. With that in mind, here are ten titles that I think deserve a stellar remake.

Meat Puppet

The game, at the time of its release, garnered obvious comparisons to the run-and-gun Crusader series. However, the critics were not kind to the game. While many praised the graphics and art style, they equally castigated the frustrating control scheme and somewhat hollow plot. Meat Puppet turned out to be that most unholy of games: the cheap knockoff. Whatever Crusader did well, Meat Puppet seemed to do poorly. For all of that, there's really no place to go but up for this game.

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What To Do Right: Get the controls smoother than glass. Bring everything into 3D and go crazy. You cribbed heavily from La Femme Nikita and Blade Runner, now throw in some elements from The Matrix, Equilibrium, and maybe a little dash of George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails for some literary seasoning. Maybe give our heroine a couple of different pathways to achieve her goals.

What To Do Wrong: Lose any interactivity

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from the environments. Dumb down the AI. Those were two of the biggest pluses for the game. Removing them will not help the cause.

Master of Magic

We get two sequels for Master of Orion (an excellent game, to be sure), but bupkis for Master of Magic? Given the success of Alpha Centauri and the continuing success of the Civilization series, this should be a no-brainer. In some respects, I'd say that Master of Magic was probably a deeper experience than Master of Orion. Sure, conquering the galaxy was fun and all, but it felt a little mechanical. Master of Magic just felt more organic, though I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it was the way the world enchantments were handled. Maybe it was the way that heroes were not just a bonus modifier the way they were in MOO, but an actual unit that could fight alongside the troops and change the outcome of a battle. With other fantasy-themed strategy games like Heroes of Might & Magic, Lords of Magic, and Disciples having gone on to fairly decent success, there's definitely room for the granddaddy of them all to come back big.

What To Do Right: Expand the potential scope of the game. The original had two worlds to conquer. Why not give players the option to conquer multiple worlds? Elemental themed worlds, mirror worlds, alternate "steampunk" worlds, the list is endless. Keep the spell research and world enchant systems, expand them if possible. Maybe put in some Diablo-lite dungeon crawling for when heroes find ruins and caves.

What To Do Wrong: Crib too heavily from Civilization. Try to imitate any of the Lord Of The Rings games that have come out over the last few years. Try to adopt a Total War model for army combat and sieges. Try to adopt a mini-game format for army combat and sieges.

The Guardian Legend

This was a sequel to an earlier title for the NES back in Japan, which I would have never known if I hadn't done some research for this article. The premise was easy enough to understand, yet I can't begin to tell you how many hours I sunk into that game. Part of the reason was one particularly obnoxious puzzle that I never did get around until I picked up a Game Genie, and even then, the end result wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Aside from that one puzzle, I genuinely enjoyed the game. It was a neat mix of shoot'em up scroller and dungeon crawling that really hasn't been done since. That one cart was probably lodged in my NES for six straight months before I applied the Game Genie to it. That's longevity in a game, friends, and I think that it's time to bring it back.

What To Do Right: Keep the shooter/dungeon crawl mix. Look to Zone of The Enders and Metroid Prime for a good example, then put your own spin on it. Add some more RPG-like elements. Let the players trick out the mecha they're going to be running around in. The processing power of consoles and computers these days should give you the opportunity to create some really kickass environments and creatures, so take advantage of that.

What To Do Wrong: Make the game strictly a shooter or an RPG. Keep the annoying puzzles. Keep the infinite respawns of enemies every time you move to a new chamber.

Syndicate

I'm amazed beyond words nobody has thought to try and update this venerable title. Before Grand Theft Auto, Saint's Row, and Mafia, you had this grim and gritty cyberpunk title from Peter Molyneaux and his band of merry miscreants over at Bullfrog. Instead of focusing on a city, you quite literally had to take over the world. To do this, your cybernetically enhanced team of assassins would go into an area and perform a mission which usually resulted in the violent deaths of numerous people, including hired thugs, powerful leaders, and tons of innocent bystanders. Some may argue that Syndicate is not anything like the sandbox gangster games we have around right now, that it was closer to puzzle-strategy games like Commandos than anything else. I'm willing to concede that point. However, the idea of playing as a notional bad guy was fairly unique for its day, and all of the aforementioned sandbox games could not have been done without Syndicate putting the idea out there first.

What To Do Right: Expand the amount of control over how your syndicate makes money, which enterprises (legal or illegal) get funded or cut off, who gets bribed and how much. Expand your R&D options, and by extension, the options for enhancing and equipping your teams. Genetic engineering, nanotechnology, biophysics, on top of the cybernetics research should give players plenty to fool around with. Encourage multiple approaches to completing the missions. Expand the gameplay for taking over rival territories, maybe two or three missions needed to finally wrest control away.

What To Do Wrong: Try to outdo GTA.

Kareteka

Jordan Mechner didn't just create Prince of Persia. He also gave gamers the protypical fighting game before we had the Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, or Soulcalibur franchises. True, the game was fairly simple compared to the packed fighters of today, and there was only the one character. But it was still fun, not to mention incredibly challenging. And there was the alternate ending . . .

What To Do Right: Keep the basic storyline intact, but feel free to embellish it. Before, it was "boy goes to rescue girl." Now, it could very easily be "boy goes to avenge slain master, destroyed village, devastated countryside, AND rescue girl." Remember, the main villain was named Akuma, which any Street Fighter fan or devotee of Japanese folklore will tell you is not a fun and cuddly monster sitting in a white and red ball. Go hog wild on the mo-cap. Make the environments more explorable (a la Ninja Gaiden or Onimusha). Make boss battles feel like a fight to the death (DOA, Soulcalibur).

What To Do Wrong: Make the boss battles feel like a platform puzzle. Shamelessly copy any of the Prince of Persia games.

(August 5, 2009)