remakes of the classic games

[inextremis staple]

with some of the remakes of the classics like frogger, asteroids, and centipede that have come out for the newer consoles like PSX i was wonderin what you guys thought of em and if youd like to see more

i personally would like to see a remake of bezerk in a first person shooter style with more guns and robots and somethin else besides a blasted happy face for otto

and of course thered be a way to get to the classic games

[StanJr]

mostly me no like. The charm of a game like Frogger or Pac-man is that its a 2-d game that is VERY simple and requires skill to play. Most of the modern adaptations just take the character from the classic game and put them in some "modernized" game that VAGUELY resembles the original. They tend to overdo it and lose the charm. I've not played a classic remake yet that I have liked that much, and NONE that are better than the original.

 

Downer Stan

[krisjohn]

Cynical exercises in name recognition.

 

Asteroids for the Gameboy Colour (or "color" ) was an okay remake. You can unlock a classic-looking version in there too.

 

I prefer things like the Namco Museum, Sonic Jam or Game and Watch Gallery. Must include decent historical info though.

 

Even more modern sequels are suffering. Metroid as a FPS - ick. It's tempting to get a Gameboy Advance and modify it for TV out just to play modern 2D stuff on a big screen.

[Noble Kale]

I don't mind one of the versions of joust for the gameboy. It's part of an arcade classics series, and you can have the original version or the modern version. The modern version is exactly the same, but for one thing: it's zoomed in.

They didn't screw with the gameplay by adding powerups or crap, they just made it look a little different, which I find to be a nice way to play (and the fact that the original version is available is extremely good).

[inextremis staple]

i agree totally with you guys that nothing can compare to the original games

however, sometimes its fun to see your classic games given more life

they can be given more depth, more story, another chance to connect with the youth of today

it gives a way for new gamers to bond with the old gamers and for the classic titles to live on

mario was fun game, why are there so many more mario games?

because it was enjoyable and the programers kept making more so that one day the kids playing mario now could relate to the kids playing mario then

and how many of the atari games are enjoyable?

ive played the namco museums and the gamboy arcade classics and i enjoyed the 3d tour of classic gaming and the different ways i could play joust or defender but i guess i just want more from my old titles

[NE146]

If you guys LIKED the Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits for the GBA then something is really wrong because those translations are HORRIBLE. Oh man does it stink. I really hope you aren't talking about that one. (this one: http://pocket.ign.com/articles/167/167145p1.html)

 

However having said that, the older cart with Joust/Defender are actually pretty good, and when played on a GBA it even stretches the screen out so it looks even better. It's not *exactly* like the arcade but it does definitely capture the essential gameplay etc. (like this one: http://pocket.ign.com/articles/154/154146p1.html)

 

Finally, one thing I REALLY recommend which wasn't mentioned above is the KONAMI ARCADE CLASSICS. Now this collection rocks! I love playing Time Pilot, Scramble, and Gyruss on the go. Also the games do have graphic updates to them (and in the case of Time Pilot, and extra "B.C." Stage). but these are just an option. Of course you don't have to activate the updated graphics if you don't want to, and if you do you have to enter in the old Konami code (up up down down left right left right b a start). Pretty cool.

[Scott Stilphen]

I wouldn't mind seeing remakes of some arcade 2600 ports, especially since most of the bigger titles (Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, etc) are only 4K.

[krisjohn]

mario was fun game,  why are there so many more mario games?

I never really "got" Mario, but I'm not a huge fan of most platform games. The only thing with Mario in that I've really enjoyed is Super Smash Brothers.

 

I've written rants about 2D v's 3D before, so I won't repeat that here.

 

I don't what the concepts and base gameplay of Atari age games really offer modern gaming technology. I'm playing through ICO at the moment, and really it just wouldn't work on older hardware. Being delicate and beautiful is kind of part of the whole thing. I guess it could have been done in 2D, but from what I read the AI for Yorta simply requires too much processing power for her to have been anything but annoying on an older console.

 

Most old video games that were based on old real-world games continue to be updated for modern consoles with little or no controversy. More stylised games, even if it's just a slight stylisation like Spy Hunter, tend to have a specific feel tied heavily into the original platform and do not translate well into the current games environment -- due most likely to clueless company executives rather than programmers.

 

Personally, I grew up on Sierra adventures, Accolade "simulations" and arcade shoot-em-up conversions. Of the latter, Panza Dragoon and Rez probably give the best modern 3D version of 2D reflexes and mindless destruction. Gauntlet Legends rocks too. Simulations have evolved particularly gracefully, since they were always originally trying to be as much like a real life experience as possible. Adventure games split into RPGs and 3D platformers. FFX or Tomb Raider. ICO is the first modern puzzler/adventure/platform-esq things that I've enjoyed in a long, long time.

 

Non-shooter arcade favs of mine include Bubble Booble and Double Dragon. A 3D re-make of either, so long as it has the same fixed camera angle would probably look pretty nice. Whether anyone would buy it is a different question.

 

Wow, that was a long post.

[+Cafeman]

Mostly the new versions aren't that great.

 

That being said, I like Q*bert on the PSX. It not only has the original (the first time I have ever seen a perfect emu on a console) but it has the new 3D engine too, and it's pretty fun with 2-player options too.

 

I never played Centipede or Missile Command; they looked like 'me too but not as good'.

 

That being said, who didn't like Tempest 2000? That game set a perfect example for how to keep the essence of a classic game yet update it into an equally (or, perhaps I say superior?) game! It's still Tempest but the rockin' tunes and flashy trippy visuals really add some life to it.

 

You want to know what I'd like to see an update to? Zaxxon. I'd love to see an update that would also have Zax and Super Zax on the disc.

[MagMax667]

I like Xeveous 3D for the PSX. It's a pretty short game, but a pretty good 3D conversion. The game also has the original Xeveous, Super Xeveous, and Xeveous Arrangement. Those are all pretty good emulations of the originals.

 

The new remakes don't interest me. Playing the new games are not like playing the originals.

[inextremis staple]

The new remakes don't interest me. Playing the new games are not like playing the originals.

 

thats kinda the point

its not supposed to be like playing the originals

its to give it a twist and a fresh new feel

theyre supposed to be new games but still the games we love

[ATARIPITBULL]

I think they could do a real nice remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, or one of the other Indiana Jones movies, that would look great on these new systems.

 

[inextremis staple]

i cant believe we all forgot about the pitfall remake pitfall the mayan adventure for snes

i myself never played but have only heard rave reviews about it and i do know that it did have a secret so you could play the original pitfall

and i do believe theres been a raiders remake for the snes too

i think it came as a cart with big scenes from the other movies

i never played that one either and dont really know how much of the movie it covers

[StanJr]

The Pitfall 3D for PSone was WAY better and also had a feature to unlock the original game with some fun quirks.

[Mindfield]

It may be designed to be a new twist, but the least they could do is make it at least as fun as the original. Some work, most don't. Some examples?

 

The Ones that Worked...

 

Asteroids 3D (Activision). But then really, how wrong can you go with the Asteroids theme? More to the point, it was just another in a long line of Asteroids revamps that didn't add anything very new.

 

Combat (Atari/Hasbro). This is probably the only updated classic that really benefitted from the migration to 3D. Thankfully, they kept the concept fairly close to as simple as the original, thus preserving much of the fun.

 

Q*Bert (Atari/Hasbro). Yeah, I loved Q*Bert back in the day, and I have to admit the remake was pretty decent. Cheap, but decent.

 

Frogger 3D (Atari/Hasbro). Another cheapie quickie. It was cute.

 

>...and the Ones that Didn't

 

Battlezone (Activision). It has tanks. However, that's precisely where the similarities end. Activision's Battlezone is a combination action/RTS gig which bears little enough resemblence to the original that it should have been given a new name. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed this game. I just think it had nothing to do with Battlezone proper.

 

The New Pong (Atari/Hasbro). How much wacky weed do you have to smoke to think it would be a good idea to anthropomorphize Pong paddles and give the game a plot? If I had to guess, I'd say the drug dealers in Rhode Island were very happy, indeed.

 

Tetris Worlds (Hasbro). Despite the length of time between the two, I'm convinced that this is the second evil birth of the same brainfrying session that brought The New Pong into this world. Hey, if you can anthropomorphise Pong paddles, why not Tetris blocks?

 

Warlords 3D (Atari/Infogrames). Take Warlords. Remove nearly all playability. Further cripple it with useless, even detrimental "power-ups." Now, convert it to 3D, but don't actually change the perspective. Welcome to Warlords "3D."

 

Dig Dug Deeper (?). Wow. This was just ... bad. No, I mean it. This was really bad. Words cannot express how utterly, utterly useless this remake is. The designer ought to have been flogged. And it had the cajones to retail for US $19.99 -- money better donated to the Church of Scientology...

 

Ms. Pac Man: Maze Madness (?). Same folks that did DDD. And yes. It's just as bad.

 

Galaga: Destination Earth (?). First, play in 3D with a 2D perspective doing the usual Galaga things without as much fun as the real Galaga, then switch to a 3D perspective to do some very un-Galaga-like things. Oh, and power-ups in a remake are, apparently, mandatory. Sorry, just didn't like this one at all.

 

Missile Command 3D. Okay, 3D Missile Command for the Jag's VR unit was a good idea. Doing it on the PC without the VR unit however is just a little bit pointless.

 

There's probably more... just didn't feel like typing anymore. Too depressing. :-)