Remakes, remasters, and re-releases are coming at us constantly. Many publishers are more than happy to join in, such as Capcom with their Resident Evil series and Sony with their first-party games. Even Xbox can’t avoid this path; just look at the Halo remasters and the Master Chief Collection. Ultimately, we ourselves have a big influence on this, because as long as we keep accepting it without complaint, major publishers will continue to see easy money in these re-releases.
But even for mainstream games it may seem like developers have been opting for the easiest route more often in recent years with remasters or re-releases, but this is not something that only happens nowadays. Publishers have been rehashing their hits since the early days of gaming. Take Doom, for example; there’s hardly a console or device imaginable on which this mother of the boomer shooters hasn’t been released since the original PC release in 1993. Even recently, a Doom game was brought to modern systems yet again, this time to Xbox Game Pass, featuring a newly released “enhanced combo pack” of Doom 1 + 2. But the question is: are we, as consumers, actually waiting for this?
When I look at myself, I generally do enjoy these re-releases. Especially because these games now come with an achievement list, which provides me with extra motivation to revisit these classics. In my brief career as a guest reviewer for XBNL and editor for Retrolike, I’ve already reviewed several remasters of games close to my heart. Games like Wizardry, Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, Broken Sword Reforged, Chrono Cross, and the Atari 50th Anniversary Collection are just a few of the classics I’ve been able to relive.
And to be honest, I can’t get enough of it. I find myself more often preferring to play these classics than newer games nowadays. Why? I think it’s largely due to the nostalgia these games bring me. At 38 years old, I’m no longer the young gun in the gaming scene. The busy life with kids, work, and all other responsibilities often makes me long for the “good” old days, when I had all the time in the world and could play my games undisturbed. I used to spend hours with a friend on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, where we took turns completing missions or just causing mayhem and evading the police.
But perhaps it also has to do with the difficulty level nowadays. Recently, I played Super Mario World on the SNES Mini with my son (6) and his cousin (6). A game that was released when I was 6 years old, and I had many hours of fun with. After a good half-hour of playing, both boys still hadn’t completed the first level. Because, of course, there are no quality-of-life features like in a game such as Mario Odyssey. “What a dumb game, I just keep dying. And this controller doesn’t respond to my input,” were their words. I felt disheartened. Are those old games really that difficult, or are we just spoiled nowadays with all these quality-of-life features?
As many know, I’m not afraid of a solid difficulty level. I prefer a challenging playthrough rather than breezing through a game effortlessly. That doesn’t mean there aren’t games that suit me. Most soulslike games captivate me, and Cuphead is one of my favorite games of recent years. Yet, I still enjoy playing those classics more nowadays, especially on my trusted Xbox platform.
Fortunately, we’re seeing more of these oldies coming to the Xbox platform, which they initially skipped. Look at the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, which until recently was only available on PC, PlayStation, and Switch. Xbox seems to be making efforts to ensure that team Green can also play these games, which I can only appreciate.
Many of the remastered games we’ve seen recently come from Nightdive Studios. This studio from Vancouver, Washington (United States), gained fame with the remastered versions of System Shock 1 and their well-received remake of the same game. They were also responsible for the remasters of Xbox’s own id Software games, like Doom and Quake. The Turok trilogy and the remaster of Star Wars: Dark Forces also come from their stable. These are all games I’d love to play again or have already replayed.
When the remasters of Soul Reaver 1 and 2 were announced during the latest PlayStation State of Play, I was as happy as a child. So many memories came flooding back, and I’m really looking forward to playing those games again. Aspyr Games, the company behind these remasters, has been making waves in the nostalgia market lately. They brought the much-praised remasters of Tomb Raider 1-3 to Xbox, as well as Star Wars Episode One Racer. And to top it all off, last week they also announced the remasters of Tomb Raider 4-6. You can understand that Aspyr Games has quickly earned a place in my heart.
I’m very curious to see which remasters we’ll see in the near future. At least I know I’ll be busy with these classics for the coming months. And I almost forgot to mention that in November, we’ll also be able to enjoy the remasters of StarCraft 1 and 2 on Game Pass! ❤️❤️
