HD Remasters/Rereleases

[bartre]

So we all know that we're firmly in the realm of remasters, but which ones are worth it and which ones blow?

For my money, the one that pops to mind is the steam rerelease of Sonic Adventure DX.
It's a retouched version of the Xbox Live Arcade version.
Which is a port of the 2003 PC release.
Which is a port of the Gamecube game.
Which is a port of the Dreamcast original.

not to mention the load of odd graphical downgrades that occurred between DC and GCN, which were all carried forward to future versions.  This includes reduced detail on buildings, a removal of water effects, and a complete change (and downgrade, IMO) of the lighting engine.

good news, there's mods to fix a lot of this stuff, but neither PC version is perfect.

another one that pops to mind in the *almost* awesome category are the Kingdom Hearts remasters for PS3 (haven't tried PS4 yet)

all the content is there, and it's the final japan-only releases, bundled in with some of the spinoff stuff. sounds great, right?
welllllllllll, first off, glitches.  I came across these somewhat frequently when I played them, but it's been a minute, maybe they've been patched.

Then there's loading times. ugh.
it doesn't have nearly the effect in #1, since there's not much in the way of active loading, but in #2 when you use certain specials (like the Drives) it will load mid-battle.
As an extra problem here, the added load times remove the free combo you'd get from activating the special, as the shockwave knocks enemies up in the air, and in the PS2 game it loaded fast enough that you'd be on your feet and ready to attack before they hit the ground.

[LostFlunky]

HD remaster of Daytona USA on PS3 is freakin amazing.  As is Nights.

[crazydean]

The Ico and Shadow of Colossus collection for PS3 looks pretty great. No complaints there.

[Gypsy]

Yakuza Kiwami. Really no reason to play the PS2 version anymore.

[jtucci31]

The Ico and Shadow of Colossus collection for PS3 looks pretty great. No complaints there.

I love those too, that's how I first played both of those games and they hold up so well.

Funny enough, though, they're remaking the remake of Shadow of the Colossus for PS4 now. (and I'm still pretty excited for it. It's maybe one of my favorite games ever, I'm a chump)

[NightWolve]

Both amazing games, epic final battle in Shadow of the Colossus, loved every bit of it, Sony gave the PS2 a great send off with it. I didn't know they were being remade, but they deserve it!

[crazydean]

Since they are remaking the game, I hope they add in some of the crazy colossi that got dropped in the final version. There was a cool spider and a Phoenix!

http://teamico.wikia.com/wiki/Spider

[jtucci31]

Both amazing games, epic final battle in Shadow of the Colossus, loved every bit of it, Sony gave the PS2 a great send off with it. I didn't know they were being remade, but they deserve it!

So far they've only announced that they're remaking Shadow of the Colossus, not Ico.

[TDIRunner]

Ico and SOTC were already mentioned, but they are so good, it's worth mentioning again. 

The Tomb Raider Trilogy is also a nice set which includes HD remasters of Legend and Anniversary along with Underworld all on one disc (and usually for under $20).

If you are a God of War fan, God of War Saga includes HD remasters of 1 & 2 on one disc along with 3 on a second disc.  It also includes download codes for HD remasters of both PSP games.  Another big set for usually under $20.

[bartre]

I hate Shadow of the Colossus.
I've said it elsewhere, but I hate it enough that it bears repeating

[jtucci31]

I hate Shadow of the Colossus.
I've said it elsewhere, but I hate it enough that it bears repeating

What a shame. Why is that? THe controls?

[bartre]

I hate Shadow of the Colossus.
I've said it elsewhere, but I hate it enough that it bears repeating

What a shame. Why is that? THe controls?

It's so boring and so empty.
like, all there is to really do is kill lizards or colossi.
only one of those is necessary.

also, I don't care for the art style, it just looked washed out to me.

[Gredler]

Wind Waker and Twilight Princess got pretty good HD upgrades on Wii U.

I like the Raiden Project on PS1 - does that count?!

[schweaty]

The 3ds version of ocarina of time is perfect example of how to do it.  It's a complete remake graphics-wise but retains all the same gameplay.  The kind of update that makes a somewhat dated looking game fit right into today almost 20 years later

[Groover]

Resident Evil REmake was a great rerelease of a rerelease. Then Capcom has rereleased RE0, RE4,RE5,RE6, RECVX.

REmake is my favorite and I was thrilled when it got released. There is a RE2 remake in the works. That has been silent since its announcement.

[bartre]

Resident Evil REmake was a great rerelease of a rerelease. Then Capcom has rereleased RE0, RE4,RE5,RE6, RECVX.

REmake is my favorite and I was thrilled when it got released. There is a RE2 remake in the works. That has been silent since its announcement.

Since you bring it up...
Resident Evil 4 HD, at least on PC, as an interesting issue caused by the increased framerate.
it gives you roughly half the time to respond to QTEs.
this means that I couldn't do most of the mashing sections....

[SignOfZeta]

I don't really like many remakes. Galaga '88 aside, of course. Most of the ones I've played seem to lack something from the original. This is to be expected I guess. Unless the original had some genuine flaw it can't be exciting to make the same thing again and usually the work is outsourced. This is true of almost any port of  great game.

I think the controller has a lot to do with it. If I've already spent 50 hours controlling a thing with another thing then that thing is forever part of my memories of that game. Since Sony doesn't change their controller I can see a lot of things moving from PS to PS4 and feeling more connected to the original because the controller is too. If I played something first on one pad then unless it was a shit pad (3DO, Dreamcast) then adapting to the new pad is usually going to be the first thing on the agenda...usually trying to figure out which three of the 14 damned buttons you need to keep track of, often times.

I do like Galaga '88 a lot though. Donkey Kong '94 is all-time great. I like Final Fantasy 1 for Wondedswan. I know there are some others...

[TDIRunner]

I definitely agree with the comment about using a different controller.  That was the biggest thing that kept me from enjoying Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes.  The GameCube controller does not work well for that type of game. 

Speaking of which, the Metal Gear HD remakes aren't too bad either and they tend to come with a lot of games packed together for a decent price.

[ClodBusted]

I agree regarding the remake of Resident Evil 1 on the GameCube. I'm still shocked (positively
 speaking) by how good it looks for today's standards. Also, it plays pretty well even on the GameCube controller with the tiny d-pad. Even though I used the Hori Digital Controller most of the time.

The Perfect Dark remaster on Xbox 360 stays very true to original game. The framerate has taken a big step forward, being now steady instead of the stuttering known on the N64, which helps a lot with aiming and reacting to enemy movements. Still, I'm not 100% confident on the dual analog controls, since I've put more than 100 hours into the original game and am very used to use the C-buttons for strafing and aiming while moving. The remake offers a variety of control schemes, but none of them replicates the original scheme.

I fucking love Twin Snakes. I see the shortcoming of having no select button and no clicky analog sticks on the GameCube controller, but it is still easy getting used to the controls, answer codec calls and drop uncocked weapons in FPS aiming mode like a pro.

I think you can call Valis 1 on PCE Super CD a remake made very well.
The same I can say about Super Mario All Stars on SNES - even though it is more a port with graphical enhancements, similar to Perfect Dark and those numerous HD remasters/ports on PS3 and PS4, which aren't really remakes in the sense I'm talking about.

I'm not so sure about Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo DS - I haven't played it yet, but I have a hard time thinking about how this game plays with a d-pad only, no analog joystick at hand.

The GoldenEye remake looks shamefully uninspired to me. I've played the demo and had a look at a Youtube longplay, and I can't get me to like it.




Remakes I usually do not care for are those that simply port 2D sprite based games into 3D polygonal environments. They look worse that way and do not play as pixel-perfect like the original ones. There are countless examples of this style out there, and I guess you've all experienced them one way or another.

[seieienbu]

I generally like it when older 3D games are rereleased mostly the same but with higher resolution graphics and changed from 4x3 to 16x9 where applicable.  Final Fantasy 10 springs to mind here; the HD Remaster looks incredible when compared to the original.  You could see the texture maps much better as they fade into the distance, the characters looked much less jagged and cleaner, and

On the other hand, I generally don't like when 2D games are redone in a similar fashion.  Street Fighter 2: HD Remixis the first game I think about here.  Rather than the classy backgrounds and sprite work from the original SF2 you have weird looking artwork that just doesn't quite work.

[TDIRunner]

The GoldenEye remake looks shamefully uninspired to me. I've played the demo and had a look at a Youtube longplay, and I can't get me to like it.

I enjoyed GoldenEye Reloaded on the PS3, but I have a hard time calling it a remake.  To me, it's more of a modern FPS that was inspired by the original.   Fun game, but hard to compare to the original.

[ClodBusted]

You have a point there.

[nopepper]

I hate Shadow of the Colossus.
I've said it elsewhere, but I hate it enough that it bears repeating

What a shame. Why is that? THe controls?

It's so boring and so empty.
like, all there is to really do is kill lizards or colossi.
only one of those is necessary.

also, I don't care for the art style, it just looked washed out to me.

Although I didn't necessarily hate it, I did lose interest halfway through and find it very overrated. I reckon it is mostly loved by people who played it upon release, when it was a novel concept, so nostalgia plays a role. I first played it in the PS3 remake right after beating ICO and found it way too barren and ultimately, boring.

Now Ico, on the other hand, that game is great, with beautiful art style, clever puzzles and perfect length.

I played through Resident Evil 4 Wii remake and thought it was excellent. After adjusting to the controls, I find it hard to go back to the Gamecube version.

[LostFlunky]

I'm not so sure about Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo DS - I haven't played it yet, but I have a hard time thinking about how this game plays with a d-pad only, no analog joystick at hand.

It was the first 1st party Nintendo game for the DS that I absolutely hated.   The control scheme made the game unplayable (IMO).  It uses the touchscreen as an 'analogue' controller and fails miserably...

[Medic_wheat]

Well the PS4 seems to have 50 re-releases and HD ports or remasteres.

Some just PS VITA ports.

Bet there is a sizable list there.

Not including GOY and Definitive editions.

[bartre]

I'm not so sure about Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo DS - I haven't played it yet, but I have a hard time thinking about how this game plays with a d-pad only, no analog joystick at hand.

It was the first 1st party Nintendo game for the DS that I absolutely hated.   The control scheme made the game unplayable (IMO).  It uses the touchscreen as an 'analogue' controller and fails miserably...

I recall back when the DS first came out, a friend of mine had a wrist strap with an oddly shaped bit on the end.
it was to go between your thumb and the touchscreen so that you could use it via the analog stick.
other than obviously having to stretch your hand, it made the DS game a lot better.

i'd still rather play Sonic Adventure though.