Last week's release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD got us thinking: there are scores of classic titles from every era of gaming that would benefit just as much from the HD remake treatment. We rounded up editors from all over IGN to get their picks for what should be next up to get a modern facelift, along with what they could look like on store shelves.
What would your pick be? Sound off in the comments below!
San Andreas hit the pinnacle of what made a Grand Theft Auto game fun and crazy. The final game in the GTA III trilogy featured a greater variety of transportation vehicles (planes and jetpacks ruled!), interesting gameplay features like exercising and the ability to gain weight, customizable cars, and a story that didn’t take itself too seriously but still managed to hit home by the end. OK, maybe in a remake they could axe the exercising stuff, but I digress… A high-definition facelift would really highlight the huge, gorgeous locales represented in the game. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to push the game for as high as $30 if the HD Remake Fairy ever makes this happen.
Stephanie Lee -- Associate Editor, IGN Game Help
The NES classic Castlevania II is beloved by some and tolerated by others, but its infamously bad English localization made it bewildering to anyone who wanted to beat the game without the help of Nintendo Power or a friend on the playground. In an era where sequels deviated heavily from the formulas of the originals, Castlevania II intrigued gamers by combining the series’ classic gameplay with a heavy emphasis on RPG elements, from equipment to leveling, that were previously foreign to the fledgling franchise.
In reality, Simon’s Quest is the precursor to the most famous Castlevania of them all – Symphony of the Night – but it doesn’t get the love it so rightfully deserves because of the few things it does wrong. A remake could finally do the game justice and catapult it back near the top of the best Belmont games – where it belongs. A strong translation, a sharpening of the gameplay and perhaps some other new bells and whistles can make Simon Belmont’s quest to revive Dracula only to kill him again a solid 21st century affair still firmly rooted in the old-school.
Colin Moriarty -- Editor, IGN PlayStation
Rare is a dead shell of their former selves. The most recent release from the company that brought us games like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country, and Viva Pinata was Kinect Sports: Season Two in 2011—a game that, in my opinion was a waste of their talents.
Seeing they’ve already released Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie in HD I would love to see them develop a version of their fighting classic Killer Instinct for Xbox Live. The game best known for an epic announcer who can shout “Ultra Combo!” and “Combo Breaker!” like no other would fit in perfectly in this revived era of fighting games. Evo only gets bigger every year, and an Arcade port of KI with a few tweaks (like online play) would hold up pretty well today.
Destin Legarie -- Editor, IGN Games
Before GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Kazooie, there was Blast Corps – and I’ve been looking for a game like it ever since I reviewed it back in 1997. Rare’s second N64 game after Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corps still stands strong as one of the most unique and intense experiences on the system. Players man the controls of eight different destruction vehicles to clear the path of an out-of-control nuclear missile carrier. It’s a simple premise, but it translates into complete mayhem; frantic switching between vehicles, giant explosions, and really, really sweaty hands. The visuals may be muddy by today’s standards and the controls are definitely unforgiving, but they don’t detract much from the excellent gameplay, smart puzzle design, quirky soundtrack, and punishingly hard, but ultimately rewarding difficulty level.
Blast Corps never enjoyed the same success as Rare’s other efforts in the N64 era (it didn’t even break a million units, despite the lack of new N64 releases back in those days). It’s time to bring it back. With upgraded visuals and Trials-style competitive leaderboards, Blast Corps could become more than just a cult hit for old-school Nintendoheads. “Time to get moving!”
Peer Schneider -- Senior Vice President and Publisher, IGN
Even a decade ago, on-rails shooters were viewed as passé, but such was the esteem felt for the Panzer Dragoon series of the Sega Saturn’s dragon-borne shooters (and one RPG) that, in 2002, an Xbox update was welcomed with enthusiasm. Despite the limitations of the genre, developer Smilebit squeezed in a 360-degree combat arc, plenty of strategic options, a likeable storyline, and even limited exploratory elements via split-rails. But it was the visuals that gob-wowed gamers at the time – the sense of an extraordinary place inhabited by gorgeous creatures. Ten years on, despite the seemingly ho-hum textures and the muddy backgrounds of that long-gone era, you can still feel a sense of grandeur, an adventure that’s begging to be retold with appropriate visual vim. Ultimately, Panzer Dragoon Orta is a head-swiveling thrill-ride, a place to gaze upon beauty and gasp as worlds of color whoosh by. It deserves to be made anew.
Colin Campbell -- Features Editor, IGN
Konami hasn’t done much with the Suikoden series since its Nintendo DS spinoff – and it’s a damn shame. This is one of the best, most underappreciated JRPG franchises ever, and an HD remake of the best of the bunch, Suikoden II, could help change that. Sharpening up the awesome (but now grainy) 2D sprites from the PSOne version would bring this fantastic, deep world and its characters to life. While we’re at it, let’s add VO to those thousands of lines of dialogue. Throw this on Vita, PSN, and/or XBLA for $20 and you’ve got 80 hours of great, gorgeous role-playing.
Mitch Dyer -- Associate Editor, IGN Xbox
The gaming masses have hungered for a Final Fantasy VII remake for... seven years, actually – ever since the "technical demo for PS3" debuted at Sony's E3 press conference in 2005. As one of the most popular entries in the world’s most popular role-playing series, Final Fantasy VII deserves an HD treatment. The actual play has help up immensely well, so all we need is an up-to-date graphical package. In fact, expect a full feature on how we would remake Final Fantasy VII coming soon. Yes, we really want a remake, too.
Ryan Clements -- Content Manager, IGN
Initially written off as a medieval fantasy clone of Doom piggybacking on the runaway success of id Software’s groundbreaking first-person shooter, 1994’s Heretic instead turned out to be a brilliant game in its own right. It was the first game to license the Doom engine and was the title that put veteran developer Raven Software (Hexen, Jedi Knight II, Wolverine, Soldier of Fortune, Quake 4, and many more before doing multiplayer and DLC work on the Call of Duty series) on the map. Fantastic level design, multiplayer that featured clever power-ups (like the Morph Ovum that turned deathmatch rivals into chickens with 1 hit point), and brilliant weapons (such as the rocket launcher-esque Phoenix Rod that would burn enemies alive, be they human or chicken) made Heretic memorable. And it’s never appeared on any platform since. It’s time to rectify that.
Ryan McCaffrey -- Executive Editor, IGN Xbox
If there's any popular game from the Playstation One era that needs to be remade, it's Vagrant Story. Fans have been clamoring for a return to this beloved JRPG for years, and now would be as good a time as any for Square Enix to give them what they want. After all, a remake would also introduce a new generation of players to this PSX classic – players who have either never heard of Vagrant Story or been scared away by its outdated graphics and sound. A boost in the visuals and audio, as well as a few small tweaks to the gameplay to bring it up-to-date could do wonders for this already highly-acclaimed title, and could even bring in a new fanbase. The RPG world awaits, Square Enix…
Meghan Sullivan -- Database Editor, IGN
Young air pirates, aerial ship-to-ship combat, dungeon crawling, powerful gigas to summon, and sweet moon crystals to discover… Skies of Arcadia, with its combination of Jules Verne-esque sensibilities and charming cast and story, was unlike almost everything else on Sega’s ill-fated Dreamcast.
Many games have cribbed from this formula since its initial release almost 12 years ago (most notably Rogue Galaxy), but none have captured the spirit of Vyse and Aika’s quest to stymy the Valuan Empire’s bid to destroy the world. Sega ported Skies of Arcadia to both PlayStation 2 and GameCube, but it’s never seen the light of day in HD (the closest it came was the inclusion of Vyse and Aika in Valkyria Chronicles).
Given the dearth of JRPGs on the current-gen HD consoles – especially on Xbox 360 – a high-def remake of Skies of Arcadia is a no-brainer given its established fanbase and overall appeal.
Casey Lynch -- Editor-in-Chief, IGN Games
Amy Henning is one of the best writers in the industry. Most recently known for her work on the Uncharted series, Henning formerly worked on a few titles about Vampires and Vengeance known as the Legacy of Kain series. The story tells a tale about both Raziel and Kain over a total of five games, any of which are strong enough to stand on their own if remade in HD.
I came into the series with The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, a 3D platformer featuring the introduction of Raziel and the setup for the interwoven journey both he and Kain will go on over the rest of the series. The final chapter to the story is one of the biggest surprises and, in my opinion, one of the greatest revelations I’ve ever experienced in any form of media. The fact that this hasn’t been remade in HD is a shame, as it only limits others from that same moment of realization and surprise I was able to enjoy.
Destin Legarie -- Editor, IGN Games
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