The Remake Debate

Street Fighter II

A couple of weeks ago I discussed whether or not fans of arcade games should use emulators and ROMs to play their favourite classics.  It's one of arcade gamings hottest topics and one where the arguments will continue forever more.  One of the other hot topics is remakes.  Now before I continue, I should point out the differences between ports, remakes and reimaginings.

• Ports are where the art assets, sound banks and code from one games machine are merged with code written to work with another games machine. 
• Remakes are where new art, sound and code is used to create to a new game that matches the original as closely as possible.  Often remakes take advantage of more powerful hardware, but where possible the gameplay is left intacted.
• Reimaginings are neither remakes nor sequels.  They are new games, with not only new art, sound and code, but new ideas about how the game should play.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

All three have their pros and cons.  Ports should be identical to the original game, however things often have to be changed to work with the limitations of the target machine, which can render them unplayable.  Remakes should look and play great, however purests may not like to see their favourite games changed in any way.  Reimaginings are the ones most at risk as derision, for exactly the same reasons as movies based on books that change characters and plot elements.  What all this comes down to is the further you stray from the source material, the more likely you are to upset the very people most interested in playing it.

After Burner II

Now, you may think I'm against remakes, but quite the opposite.  Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation
Network are home to a number of fantastic remakes, which in my opinion not only look and sound great, but serve as wonderful homages to the original.  Some of the best examples include:

• After Burner: Climax 
• Arkanoid Live
• Bionic Commando Rearmed 
• Final Fight: Double Impact (which contains Final Fight and Magic Sword)
• Outrun Online Arcade
• R-Type Dimensions (which contains R-Type and R-Type II) 
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

After Burner Climax

So next time you are presented with a remake of one of your favourite old games, give it a go, you may even find it gives it a whole new lease of life.

MTW