This week, we got a closer look at Mass Effect Legendary Edition. For years, BioWare’s amazing trilogy has been at the top of my list of games I want to see retouched with modern technology. Granted, it is more of a remaster, but the enhancements and adjustments seem like enough to make a new playthrough feel fresh regardless. But that got me thinking: If I assume that a full Mass Effect remake is completely off the table now, what are the other games that I want to see get rebuilt from top to bottom?
It’s a tricky question to answer, because everyone has a different idea of what makes a good remake. In some ways, it’s about recreating a classic experience – but remakes should also be free to veer off the previous path and explore some new directions (like Final Fantasy VII Remake did). The original game should also be old enough to see a clear benefit from new technology. With those ground rules in mind, here are my picks for the 10 remakes I want to happen.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
You can’t improve on perfection, and A Link to the Past is basically a perfect game. In fact, in Game Informer’s 300th issue, it took the number one slot in our list of the top 300 games of all time. If you want to let this 16-bit treasure remain untouched in your memory, I get it. But I’d also love to see this classic vision of Hyrule brought to life in a full open world (not Link’s Awakening-style), complete with light and dark realms, pink-bunny Link, and plenty of dungeons to explore. At the same time, one of fun things about Link to the Past is how approachable it is; it isn’t a daunting 70-hour epic that takes weeks or months to finish. Keeping the dungeons and puzzles compact and streamlined would call back to the old-school Zelda experience, but with gameplay and visuals that make it feel modern.
Knights of the Old Republic
Rumors of this happening seem to rise and fall like Skywalkers, but that doesn’t make me want it any less. Knights of the Old Republic has some of my favorite characters in the Star Wars universe (and also Carth), and it would be amazing to see them – and the worlds they inhabit – brought up to the visual standard for contemporary Star Wars tales like The Mandalorian. But I think BioWare’s original work needs more than just a graphical pass; when KOTOR first released, I loved its pause-and-play combat, but that system feels antiquated now. I’m not saying a remake should go fully action-based, but some sort of hybrid that leans on tactical thinking without being strictly bound by turn-based rules is what I’d like to play.
Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Putting two games in one entry may be cheating, but the case for a remake here applies to both of these games. Though I played through both of these early Metal Gears (thanks to their inclusion in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence), I have no particular attachment to them in terms of their mechanics. After all, the main reason people are interested in them is more about how they fit into the larger Metal Gear saga. I think Konami would be smart to let players get the full story of these games without making them endure the ancient stealth and obtuse puzzles; I want to experience these events with modern graphics (like we had in The Phantom Pain) and have the gameplay them blend more seamlessly with the gameplay of the 3D Metal Gear titles. Yeah, I know the odds are low. Let me dream.
F-Zero
Simple, arcade-style racing is fun – especially when you’re driving cool hovercars. Even so, Nintendo is obviously reluctant to resurrect this dormant franchise. That’s okay, because I don’t want an actual sequel; sequels usually add new things and try to innovate, but that isn’t what F-Zero needs. I replayed it recently on the SNES Classic Edition, and there’s a beautiful simplicity to the size and scope of the original SNES game that stands on its own. Instead of worrying about how a new F-Zero can push the formula forward, just take what’s already there and remake it. The same tracks, the same cars, but rebuilt to convey the sense of acceleration and speed that Mode-7 couldn’t provide. I want that Golden Fox looking amazing as it pulls out in front of me at the starting line, and I want to see Captain Falcon’s shocked face as I sideswipe him in my Fire Stingray. No need to reinvent the wheel here – just make that wheel look very good and go very fast.