[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.

I am obviously waiting for FF4 DS. This will be more than a simple remake. There are so many ideas being added. The new graphics are great, too.

I like the idea of enhancements so far... it would just depend on how well they do.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Borg1982

I am obviously waiting for FF4 DS. This will be more than a simple remake. There are so many ideas being added. The new graphics are great, too.

I like the idea of enhancements so far... it would just depend on how well they do.

Well, I admit that FF4 is indeed my favorite FF game of all time, but how many times does Square expect me to buy it? Apparantly the SNES, PSX, and GBA versions just were not enough. No I intend to pass on the DS version with intense prejudice. (This is also due to the fact that I did not like FF3 DS at all and it is being built on the same engine.)

Remakes are fun every now and then but I really wish developers would spend more time developing new content that I haven't already played. And if they are going to do a remake, it would be nice if it was for stuff that didn't see a huge print the first go around. The VP remake for PSP is a good example of this.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It really depends for me and part of the Capcom hate is due to crap like Capcom Fighting Revolution. That game was terrible, it was another game where they slapped together characters from different games and used recycled sprites. But it also was worse then any of the vs games and had far less characters. It was a game made with the idea that "Hey people will like any 2D fighter we make no matter how lazy we are with it."

Another thing about remakes that bothers me is when you got a company like square, who won't quit remaking the same game. Not only won't quit remaking the same game but refuses to release games on the Virtual Console and not just games they're remaking, but also popular games they will probably never remake simply because they might change there mind later. Even though we know they won't.

Like someone said, how many systems does Final Fantasy 4 need to be on? I bet they're gonna remake it for the PSP eventually too knowing them.

In some cases remakes are really good or would be really good. If they remade Final Fantasy 7 for example. Now 7 isn't my favorite Final Fantasy, but it's graphics look the ugliest to me now. I have no problem playing old 2D games, but earlier 3D graphics looked horrible. 7 could greatly benefit from updated graphics and we all know it would sell.

The other thing that bothers me about remakes is that too many of them are for handhelds which I detest.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The sad fact is, Remakes and Re-Releases are easier since it requires less work, and for some game designers, it allows them to faithfully create a more accurate vision of their story or gameplay or whatever, which was restricted before due to a control scheme (As future games on the Wii I expect to branch out to new areas) or to graphical or simple processing power (Final Fantasy XII would have been very difficult to make in the playstation generation, and FFVII is graphically begging for a remake).

For OBSCURE games that never made it to the US in a large dose, I welcome it. Games like Panzer Dragoon Saga, the Dragon Quest/Warrior games before VII, Mother 3, and so forth have been shown to have an audience in the US/Europe and we have the technology now to deliver those games for cheap (Nintendo's Virtual Console and the 360's Live Marketplace are great examples of this), so Its a double-edged sword: Its nice to play an old game in a new limelight, but it can get overfilled when the company loses sight of WHY they were releasing these remakes and re-releases in the first place (I'm looking at YOU, Square-Enix!).

I was speaking idiomatically.

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm fine with remaking and rereleasing games, even if there are several iterations coming out, such as the Final Fantasy series. Sure it may annoy fans but it could also introduce more people to the games who haven't had a chance to experience it because they weren't around at the time, weren't into the game at the time, missed out on the game for whatever or any other reason.

Remakes are great for taking solid ideas and adding to them either due to time constraints, budgetry constraints or hardware limitations. If developers can improve and add what they wanted to the game, then that would work out in the better. I'd still love to see a remake of Demon's Crest.

FELIPE NO