The gaming industry has made huge leaps and strides in its technology. Goals that were pipe dreams years ago, like rendering huge crowds, impressive destruction features, and life-like animations, are now commonplace. As far as the industry has come, the industry has also left some things behind.
The games that founded this industry have been left in the dust, and as the timeless saying goes, the video game industry giveth and the video game industry taketh away. Today, we’re shouting to the heavens for these industry-defining games to make a return. These are the top 10 franchises that need a remake or remaster.
Star Fox 64
Franchises That Need a Remaster or Remake
Star Fox 64 was a monumental title for the Nintendo 64. The introduction of the “Rumble Pak” to create vibration feedback while playing, branching gameplay paths with two different endings. The list goes on as to how influential Star Fox 64 was and how it set up Star Fox for a bright future.
That was 25 years ago, and since then, Nintendo hasn’t really done anything with Fox McCloud. Honestly, you could say Ubisoft has done more for our piloting fox with 2018’s Starlink: Battle for Atlas including him in a notable capacity. The franchise has been on hold for quite some time due to a series of missteps, and Twinfinite has plenty of articles detailing the pain of not being able to experience a good Star Fox title.
Now’s the perfect time to do a barrel roll Nintendo.
Sony’s Greatest Hits
Franchises That Need a Remaster or Remake
Let’s just be honest for a second and talk about how Sony is sitting on a treasure trove of classic titles that they don’t seem like they want to bring back. Whether it’s Insomniac Games’ Resistance series, Naughty Dog’s Jak & Daxter, Sucker Punch’s Sly Cooper and Infamous series. Sony is sitting on a pile of certified bangers.
For any and all PlayStation gamers, you know the value these titles hold. There was a day when these games were what defined Sony and the PlayStation platform. Jak & Daxter was an incredible 3D platform blend, Sly Cooper was insanely good at delivering the heist vibe, and the Resistance games gave us some really good alien versus human content blended with the Insomniac formula. You also can’t omit the legacy the Infamous games created as a superhero facing a morality scale.
To be fair, a lot of these studios wanted to work on other titles. Naughty Dog probably didn’t want to work on Jak & Daxter forever, especially after the success of The Last of Us, despite talking about a potential Jak 4. Insomniac Games most likely didn’t want to commit to Resistance in light of Ratchet & Clank and the explosive success of the Marvel Spider-Man games. Sucker Punch wanted to explore new frontiers with Ghost of Tsushima instead of continuing the story of the Infamous series.
There are plenty of studios with fresh ideas for these titles that deserve a chance Sony. Heck, even HD ports for these titles will serve. Please just make them accessible for gamers beyond the realm of PlayStation Plus.
Rockstar’s Classics
Franchises That Need a Remaster or Remake
Much like Sony, Rockstar is sitting on two major titles that they have put on the back burner: the first Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto 4. Rockstar’s case is a little bit more difficult to tread through.
Nine years of Grand Theft Auto 5 has proved to be a significant money maker for Rockstar. With Grand Theft Auto 6 on the horizon in the next couple of years, Rockstar’s attention is most certainly focused on the next entry. It most certainly will be some time before we get to experience GTA 6, so why can’t GTA 4 be the filler in the meantime?
On the other hand, Red Dead Redemption would’ve been nice to have leading up to the launch of the sequel. After completing a playthrough of the sequel, you almost have to go back and replay RDR 1 to see the story from a different point of view.
The word on the street is that there were plans to remake these titles, but the release and reception of the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition spoiled those plans. If that’s true, it’s sad to see as both of these titles are Rockstar at its absolute peak.
Dragon Age: Origins
Franchises That Actually Need a Remaster or Remake
It feels pretty rare for a new game to succeed on its first attempt without the need for a sequel to push it over the edge. The first Assassin’s Creed was good and Assassin’s Creed 2 was spectacular. The first Halo was game-changing and Halo 2 was world-defining. It just feels rare, but somehow, BioWare managed to hit the nail on the head.