Video game remake

• 1. Defining Remakes And Remasters

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  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS stands as a clear example of a video game remake. It features new character models and texture packs that distinguish it from a simple port or remaster. The original game on the Nintendo 64 used fixed assets, while this version rebuilt the visual experience entirely. In contrast, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD for Wii U retains the same aesthetics of the original, merely upscaled to fit modern screens. This distinction matters because a remake offers a newer interpretation of an older work through updated or changed assets. A typical remake maintains the same story, genre, and fundamental gameplay ideas of the original work. However, some aspects of the original game may have been changed for the remake to suit contemporary audiences. The intent is usually to take an older game that has become outdated and update it for a new platform. One such remake was OpenBor's adaptation of Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage. It features now different character sounds and edited sprites compared to the source material. Sierra's 1991 remake of Space Quest utilized the engine, point-and-click interface, and graphical style of Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers. Developers replaced the original graphics and text parser interface but preserved narrative elements like puzzles and sets. Black Mesa serves as another extreme case, built entirely from the ground up in the Source Engine. It remakes in-game textures, assets, models, and facial animations while taking place in the events of the original Half-Life game. Resident Evil 2 (2019) is a remake of the 1998 game with significant changes to movement mechanics. While the original uses tank controls and fixed camera angles, the remake features over-the-shoulder third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4.

• 2. Early Conversions And Hardware Adaptations

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  In the early history of video games, remakes were generally regarded as conversions rather than nostalgic revivals. Due to limited and often highly divergent hardware, games appearing on multiple platforms usually had to be entirely remade. These conversions included considerable changes to the graphics and gameplay, yet they were distinguished from later remakes largely by intent. An early example was Gun Fight, Midway's 1975 reprogrammed version of Taito's arcade game Western Gun. The main difference being the use of a microprocessor in the reprogrammed version allowed improved graphics and smoother animation than the discrete logic of the original. In 1980, Warren Robinett created Adventure for the Atari 2600, a graphical version of the 1970s text adventure Colossal Cave Adventure. Also in 1980, Atari released the first officially licensed home console game conversion of an arcade title, Taito's 1978 hit Space Invaders. The game became the first killer app for a video game console by quadrupling the system's sales. Since then, it became a common trend to port arcade games to home systems since the second console generation. At that time, these versions were often more limited than the original arcade games due to technical limitations of home consoles. In 1985, Sega released a pair of arcade remakes of older home video games. Pitfall II: Lost Caverns was effectively a remake of both the original Pitfall! and its sequel with new level layouts and colorful, detailed graphics. That same year, Sega adapted the 1982 computer game Choplifter for the arcades, taking the fundamental gameplay of the original and greatly expanding it. This version added new environments, enemies, and gameplay elements before adapting to the Master System and Famicom. Both of these games were distinguished from most earlier conversions in that they took major liberties with the source material.

• 3. Modernization Trends In The Nineties

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  With the birth of the retrogaming phenomenon, remakes became a way for companies to revive nostalgic brands. Galaga '88 and Super Space Invaders '91 were both attempts to revitalize aging arcade franchises with modernized graphics and new gameplay elements. They preserved many signature aspects of the original games while updating the visual presentation. The 16-bit generation of console games was marked by greatly enhanced graphics compared to the previous generation but often relatively similar gameplay. This led to an increased interest in remakes of games from the previous generation. Super Mario All-Stars remade the entire NES Mario series and was met with great commercial success. Remake compilations of the Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man series followed shortly after. As RPGs increased in popularity, games in the Dragon Quest, Ys and Megami Tensei series were also remade. In the mid-90s, Atari released a series of remakes with the 2000 brand, including Tempest 2000, Battlezone 2000, and Defender 2000. After Atari's demise, Hasbro continued the tradition with 3D remakes of Pong, Centipede, and Asteroids. By 1994 the popularity of CD-ROM led to many remakes with digitized voices and sometimes better graphics. Computer Gaming World noted the amateur acting in many new and remade games on CD at that time. Emulation made perfect ports of older games possible, with compilations becoming a popular way for publishers to capitalize on older properties. Budget pricing gave publishers the opportunity to match their game's price with the perceived lower value proposition of an older game. In 2003, Sega launched the Sega Ages line for PlayStation 2, initially conceived as a series of modernized remakes of classic games.

• 4. The Digital Distribution Revolution

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  The advent of downloadable game services like Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network has further fueled the expanded market for remakes. The platform allows companies to sell their games at a lower price, seen as more appropriate for the smaller size typical of retro games. Some XBLA and PSN remakes include Bionic Commando Rearmed, Jetpac Refuelled, Wipeout HD, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. These titles demonstrate how digital storefronts changed the economics of revisiting old franchises. Some remakes may include the original game as a bonus feature after completion. For example, the 2004 remake of Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission, contains the original game as a bonus after beating the game once. The 2009 remake of The Secret of Monkey Island took this a step further by allowing players to switch between the original and remade versions on the fly with a single button press. This trend was continued in the sequel and is also a feature in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and later in Halo 2 Anniversary as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Remasters and remakes on the Nintendo DS included Super Mario 64 DS, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Diddy Kong Racing DS, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Final Fantasy III and IV, Dragon Quest IV through VI, and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. The Nintendo 3DS's lineup also had numerous remasters and remakes including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.

• 5. Community Driven Fan Projects

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  Games unsupported by the rights-holders often spark remakes created by hobbyists and game communities. An example is OpenRA, which is a modernized remake of the classic Command & Conquer real-time-strategy games. Beyond cross-platform support, it adds comfort functions and gameplay functionality inspired by successors of the original games. Another notable examples are Pioneers, a remake and sequel in spirit to Frontier: Elite II, and CSBWin, a remake of the dungeon crawler classic Dungeon Master. Privateer Gemini Gold serves as a remake of Wing Commander: Privateer. Skywind is a fan remake of Morrowind running on Bethesda's Creation Engine, utilizing the source code, assets and gameplay mechanics of Skyrim. The original game developers, Bethesda Softworks, have given project volunteers their approval. The remake team includes over 70 volunteers in artist, composer, designer, developer, and voice-actor roles. In November 2014, the team reported to have finished half of the remake's environment, over 10,000 new dialogue lines, and three hours of series-inspired soundtrack. The same open-development project is also working on Skyblivion, a remake of Oblivion in the Skyrim engine. Morroblivion represents another effort, a remake of Morrowind in the Oblivion engine that still has a significant userbase on older PCs.

• 6. Demake Phenomena And Retro Styles

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  Although remakes typically aim to adapt a game from a more limited platform to a more advanced one, a rising interest in older platforms inspired some to do the opposite. Modern demakes often change the 3D gameplay to a 2D one to fit obsolete hardware standards. Popular demakes include Quest: Brian's Journey, an official Game Boy Color port of Quest 64, and D-Pad Hero, a NES demake of Guitar Hero. Rockman 7 FC and Rockman 8 FC are NES-styled demakes of Mega Man 7 and Mega Man 8 respectively. Halo 2600 stands as an Atari 2600 demake of Microsoft's Halo series. Some demakes are created to showcase and push the abilities of older generation systems such as the Atari 2600. An example of this is the 2013 game Princess Rescue, which is a demake of the NES title Super Mario Bros. While most demakes are homebrew efforts from passionate fans, some are officially endorsed by the original creators. Pac-Man Championship Edition's Famicom/NES demake was printed onto Japanese physical editions of the Namcot Collection as an original bonus game. There are also NES-style demakes of the Touhou Project games Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Perfect Cherry Blossom. Super Smash Land serves as an unofficial Game Boy-style demake of Super Smash Bros., while Bloodborne PSX offers a PS1-style demake of Bloodborne. Gang Garrison 2 provides a 2D pixelated demake of Team Fortress 2.