[General Discussion] Remakes, Re-Releases

Thoughts on the recent trend of remakes/enhanced re-releases?

As of late we've been seeing a lot of re-releases of older titles on several systems, which is always a plus if you never had a chance to experience the original titles in the first place. However, I did notice some backlash on certain releases based off certain expectations given.

The HD releases of Super Puzzle Fighter and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo for instance. Some players see the gameplay tweaking in Super Puzzle Fighter as a labor of love, while others see the refusal to redraw the character sprites as lazy. Many people feel that Capcom redrawing the Sprites for Super Turbo is a great revitalization of an old classic, others have their criticisms of the art style or just the project in general. A "rehash" of Street Fighter II again.

The idea that a player will have the opportunity to play something I enjoyed and felt was a great game is always appealing on a personal level. Though in some cases there is the obvious progression of time we have to deal with, I still feel that these remakes have merit, in some cases asking for more comes across as ridiculous. I mentioned the Capcom re-releases due in part of the negative criticism I saw. There was a lot of mention on how Capcom could possibly make a new game rather than rehash again, but I think in this case it's just the fact they've garnered so much negative stigma for themselves.

Gaming history looks back on Capcom for franchise milking, so I think it is regretful that this overshadows the positive energy surrounding these projects. A rep at Marvel's video game sector said he was interested in a possible upscaling of the multitude of vs. series games. Imagine an upscaled, redrawn version of Marvel Super Heroes.

The interest these projects generates really makes it hard for me to see them as a bad thing. Even if they are "half-assed" in certain areas. Especially when it gives older players the incentive to come back and touch base with something they might have grown apart from. If only because it became stale for one reason or another.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The thing is that Capcom of America is in charge of these remake projects, as they own the license to Street Fighter now. Capcom of Japan was responsible for Fighting Jam, which would make these two efforts only relative by a company name basis only. Again, I understand why the stigma is there, but it doesn't necessarily give it very much clearance.

The Square-Enix Final Fantasy remakes are something I can resonate with, though. Especially given the amount of times we've seen Final Fantasy I and II re-released with slightly newer content and movies and whatever else. There's no definitive version and the handheld limitations still leave that whole "unused potential" taste in my mouth. It's really just unfortunate in this case. And yeah, the 7 remake would make a killing. As I said in another post in another thread, that is definitely a game that had zeitgeist... and it would have no problem reclaiming it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.