Remakes and Remasters and Reboots, Oh My!

A common trend among developers and publishers looking to squeeze a few extra dollars out of an IP is to release a remaster of one of their popular titles from a previous generation. This practice was initially welcomed but quickly came under fire after the onslaught of games devolved into obvious little-or-no-effort cash-ins. I know many people who became disgusted at the thought of buying another copy of a game for full price. We’re looking at you, Skyrim.

Then the N.Sane Trilogy hit and it’s like all of our woes were forgotten. Here stood a testament to the original, carefully preserved and lovingly remade from the ground up. This game is my gold standard for ideal remakes, because it’s not just about faithfully recreating the graphics in a way that suits the source. The Shadow of the Colossus remake is an awe-inspiring work of art, bordering on photo realistic at times, but the controls were as frustrating as I remember. I genuinely hope Agro gets turned into glue. Anyway, the N.Sane trilogy normalized the controls of the original Crash Bandicoot with the rest of the games, an invaluable tweak as any returning fan can tell you.

Finally, we have the reboots. These are the wild cards, in my experience. A reboot can either be uninspired or revolutionary. The new God of War is blowing everyone’s expectations out of the water, but Ratchet & Clank received a lackluster welcome. Once again, it comes down to the faith and effort invested. God of War hits all of the notes I previously mentioned – despite Kratos no longer swinging around the blades the combat still feels very God of War, the music is amazing and immediately sets the mood, and the story line is absolutely solid.

We’ve seen terrible remasters and amazing remakes over the past couple years, and the industry seems all too happy to dig up long-thought dead IPs. With Spyro the Dragon and MediEvil remakes announced, plus the insane reception God of War is receiving, the coming years will undoubtedly contain the return of many more of our favorites from the golden age of gaming. If they adhere to the quality standard which the N.Sane Trilogy has delivered, I see the potential for a lot of our forgotten favorites to experience a Renaissance.