Neglected Classic Games That Deserve Remakes?

Thanks to GameSpot for its feature discussing neglected videogames that nonetheless deserve remakes. The "games that may have been forgotten but were at least pretty well known in their day" include Roadwar 2000 ("[an] innovative adventure set in the ruins of American civilization"), Biomotor Unitron ("an exceptional game... [that] had the poor luck of being released on the profoundly underappreciated NeoGeo Pocket Color in 1999"), and Xenophobe ("a lighthearted and memorable arcade game... [that] takes itself less seriously than the average alien shoot-'em-up.")

Comments

Commander Keen

[jonadab]

I was greatly disappointed when Duke Nukem got redone as 3D but Commander Keen
didn't. Keen was a much better game than Nukem in almost every respect and
had a lot more vertical action, which would have made for a lot of interesting
possibilities in a 3D version -- platforms up above your head and all that
would make the game play like more than just another Doom clone, as you'd
have to be alert to things going on above (and below) you. Plus, the light,
cartooney spirit of Keen is something the FPS world could really use; I mean,
aren't you tired of seeing skulls and blood all the time? Wouldn't it be nice
to see some weird slugs and neon green slime for a change?

Plus, it would probably be the first FPS to include a pogo stick with
exaggerated bounce. Bonus points if you also get to fly the Beans-with-Bacon
rocketship.

I don't buy a lot of games, but I think I'd buy Keen3D, if it were done well.

Qix

[mistert2]

Qix When I played this on Atari (either 5400 or 7800), it was never the same game twice. You had to think and take risks.

I loved the championship boxing in the article. Does that bring back memories. Xenophobe is a great game. I lost a lot of quarters to that one.

Road Blaster should be on the list, too.

Re:Qix

[I Be Hatin']

Qix When I played this on Atari (either 5400 or 7800), it was never the same game twice. You had to think and take risks.

Qix was indeed a great game. However, I wouldn't really call it neglected. It had a pretty good following back in the day. Moreover, I can't imagine how they could remake it without totally destroying it. I'd imagine that one of the requirements would be that it's 3D, and this would probably end up making it looking way cheesy. With games like Qix and Tempest -- where their simplicity is part of their beauty -- it's probably best to play the originals though MAME...

Re:Speedball 2

[paulcammish]

What, you mean like this? Ok, its on the PSone, but it looks like its still the old game, but with updated graphics.

The most worring thing, is that the Bitmap Brothers site hasnt been updated since May 1st, 2003. However they mention "Speedball Arena" there as being in production.

After a quick look around, it looks like theyre converting the recent Namco title "Kill.Switch" for PC, so they dont appear to be totally dead... which is nice.

Looks like I wont be seeing Gods or Magic Pockets on GBA for a while... damn.

Innovations or Renovations?

[polyp2000]

As much as like the idea of remaking classic games. Why dont we try and concentrate on innovating new ones? The Article says that remakes are good because they excite consumers with "names" they already know.

Thing with remakes, what we a really looking for is good gameplay back in the day it was far more important to have good gameplay than have great graphics. It was often the case that some games had great graphics but dire gameplay, other games had excellent gameplay but dodgy graphics. Those that got the balance just right were hits.

As far as remakes go though, a new Populous game would be much appreciated. And I also wish that David Braben would get the new Elite out the door. And has anyone ever done a Spy Vs Spy for the next generation ?

nicki..

Re:Innovations or Renovations?

[russellh]

As much as like the idea of remaking classic games. Why dont we try and concentrate on innovating new ones? The Article says that remakes are good because they excite consumers with "names" they already know.

The best games are universal and immortal. Chess, Go, etc. They do not deserve to be tied to obsolete hardware, etc. The process of remakes and reinvention and preservation is essential and creative, as no great game ever sprung up fully formed. Hopefully we'll get one great game out of the first hundred years of computing.

Re:Innovations or Renovations?

[johnwroach]

And has anyone ever done a Spy Vs Spy for the next generation

Coming out this year. I saw a couple screenshots in some magazine a couple months ago.

And it has the GREY spy.

one of my fav's on the C64

[Rhinobird]

I'd like to see Paradroid remade. I spent many hours playing that game. It would make a pretty FPS. Take over another robot and be able to use their weapons, be kinda neat to also use thier sensors.

Sundog

[wowbagger]

Sundog:

Synopsis - you are a slave, who's uncle was a free man. He died and left you his spaceship (good), and the obligation to forefill his contracts (bad), which could either free you or doom you and all your decendants to eternal slavery to pay off the forfiture clauses (ugly).

So you have to fly around the galaxy, finding cargo to haul to make enough money to by the items needed by the colony to whom you are contractually bound, all the while fighting off pirates in space, muggers on the ground, and trying to keep your junk-heap spacecraft flying and maybe even improve it.

I've always felt there needed to be a sequel, after you won your freedom, to try to incite revolt among the slaves and overthrow the system.

(And for all those of you who remember Dungeon Master - remember Zed, Duke of Banville? Guess what game he came from.)

Re:Classic EA titles

[BladesP9]

You can't think remake without thinking:

M.U.L.E.
Seven Cities Of Gold
Heart Of Africa
Archon
Legacy Of The Ancients
Questron II
Pirates! (which I think was remade once and may be remade again)
Silent Service

I could go on for days.

I loved the old ACS. I still have the original for my Commodore 64 which is sitiing in storage......... WITH my commorode 64 until I find room in my house for everything :) There used to be a big club where people who made adventures could send them in and others could buy (to support the club). It was a great thing. All of the EA "Adventure Contest" winners were put in that too. I remember working with Ken St. Andre (Wasteland designer - the father game to the current Fallout series I'm told) to produce the group's newsletter and I even worked on some tools for that one.... ah.... the memories of 6502 assembly programming.

Things to Consider

[eyempack]

I find most modern games don't have a sense of humor that is "funny" Games like Super Hero League of Hoboken were amusing not because they were racy but because they were hair brained. That is the kind of game i would love to see remade.

Kickle's Cubicle

[Mmm coffee]

Anyone play the NES game "Kickle's Cubicle" by Irem? Not many have. It was this action/puzzle game that slightly resembled the Lolo series. It was made in a super-cute kiddy fashion (complete with hearts, etc), and was admittedly hella easy up until about the 3rd or 4th world. But after that it started getting more and more difficult and thus more fun. After you beat it you get to play more puzzles that become borderline impossible, and you get hooked hard.

I would LOVE to see that game updated, especially with two player levels. The thought of a quasi-DM/CoOp game using the KC engine makes me laugh -- the thought of two people trying to complete a puzzle together while trying to kill each other at the same time is quite cool.

Oh, and if you haven't played Kickle's Cuble then GET IT. The first few world will mildly entertain you, but as you progress you'll be cussing like a sailor at this kiddie game and loving every second of it.

Paperboy, too!

[Jeffool]

Darn this no 'edit button' crap. But yeah, Paperboy. Sure, why not. With nifty Max Payne-ish 'bullet-time' so you can hit those front door steps without slowing down! And it doesn't even have to be Paperboy. Just call it Special Delivery and you've got a little more room to work around with. Start as a paper boy, go on to small parcel delivery, or if you choose the darker path, drugs, or even Mafia involvement! It's genius!

You're a delivery boy in a decent sized consistent city, delivering parcels from place to place while doing other mini-adventures along the way. You can't miss with this! :D

Jeffool.

M.U.L.E.

[ru-486]

What about M.U.L.E.. I can still hear the game music in my head on quiet nights. Mule Midi version here

Joust Joust Joust

[VashSpaceCowboy]

There could be a whole universe created on the concept of Joust. I'm not sure how you would joust in 3d, but riding ostriches into the air is just screaming for an action-rpg remake of the thing. It would only work though if they seriously endowed the story to flesh out the universe we only got a small glimps of in the original release.

Also, what's with Zelda being on the remake list. Isn't that done once or twice with every Nintendo system that get's released. How can they remake it any more than they already have other than doing a pixel-pixel conversion of it??

Vash the Space Cowboy

Robotwars

[Jim Hall]

There was a game for the old Mac ... I think it was called Robotwars. It was turn-based. You had a small set of robots in a play field, and you'd play out a "script" for them: Go over there, hunker down, and scan that area for enemies (shoot if you see any). Last player with any robots standing wins.

It was a great game, but simple in concept. Graphics were's too great (isometric view) but not any worse than, say, any GBA game. Your opponnents were only visible if one of your robots could see them.

It would take some work to re-do Robotwars for anything other than a PC, but it would make for a great GBA game.

NO NO NO -- You Don't Want This

[krazykong]

Off the top of my head i can think of 3 games

• Pitfall
• Spy Hunter
• Tron

What do these games have in common? They were once classic games, that were re-released in a format that had nothing to do with the gameplay of it's original. Unlike, for example, the super mario franchise, a franchise that has evolved game by game over the past 20 years, these games have been completely abandoned, then basically repackaged with new fangled technology, creating a brand new game (one that sucks). Instead of letting this game sell itself, they've slapped an old classic name on it and have called it a sequel.

Do you really want this?. Basically some developer just has to to create a badly designed toon shaded alien shooter, with awful control and an unfunny storyline. Once the producers of this game realize that the game won't sell, they can simply, buy the rights to Xenophobe, and just call it a sequel. Please stop asking for this. This is not good for us.

I'm not even saying that we should let Xenophobe die. It was a great game. If they want to re-release it, GREAT! Remake it. Make the sprites cleaner. Make the control tighter. Make it playable on line. Shit, ad a few wacky cut-scenes. Just keep the original gameplay intact. Just don't make a brand new game and call it xenophobes, that would be an injustice. Don't make Raid on Bungling Bay a flight Sim. Don't make Splatterhouse or ESWAT a FPS. Don't make JB Murder Club another resident evil clone. These games are masterpieces and should be respected, not whored out because a game developer needs a hook.

Some ideas..

[rhetoric]

1) Pirates!

from

this review of the CD-32 version: "You are a pirate (of course). The object of this game is to retire with high social standing, having amassed a large fortune. How do you do this? To acquire wealth, you sack towns and other ships, and search for buried treasure. To acquire social standing, you play the game of politics with the governments in the game (England, France, Holland, and Spain). This might involve getting married to a governor's daughter, doing missions for the government, and attacking that government's enemies."

2) Kid Icarus

"Immediately after Kid Icarus' debut alongside Metroid, the two games were about equally popular, but gradually Metroid began to pull ahead. NES players clamored for sequels to both games, but Nintendo strangely left both series stagnant for years, finally resurrecting them on the original Game Boy of all places. Kid Icarus: Of Myth and Monsters on the Game Boy was a respectable outing for Pit, but sadly it was to be his last. Metroid, of course, went on for further sequels on the SNES, GBA, and GameCube. Additional Kid Icarus installments have never appeared despite persistent rumors to the contrary. One wonders why Nintendo doesn't make another KI sequel in this age of remakes and rehashes. Certainly there are plenty of people who'd welcome a return to Angel Land. But until a new sequel emerges, we'll have to content ourselves with halcyon memories of this wacky place, forever filled with plucky angels and evil eggplants."

3) Blaster Master

"Jason had a pet frog named Fred. One morning Fred started to jump around in his fish bowl and was making a lot of noise. Jason woke up and took Fred out to see if he was ok, but when he did, Fred made a dash for the door. Jason chased after his pet. Fred was on the move, he was heading for the swamps, once out there he saw a huge radioactive chest. As Fred got closer and eventually jumped on it, he started to change, he was getting bigger. It didn't take long before Fred and the chest both fell through the earth. Jason, wanting to get his pet, jumped in after him. When Jason landed he found himself. alone, next to a huge armoured vehicle.

As Jason looked over the car-like-tank a girl stepped out with long red hair and a freckled face. She said her name was Yvtrkizj, her Earth name was Eve and that she was from a planet called Signar-el. Eve gave him a radioactive protection suit and invited him into the tank. She told him the name of the vehicle was SOPHIA The 3rd: NORA MA-01. She told him about the Plutonium Boss, and what he had done to her home planet.

He lived underground, growing more powerful with the peoples wastes. Once he had grown powerful enough, he attacked the people, and destroyed them, but with them gone, his source of food was decreasing. He set out from the planet in search of another, and found Earth. Eve had taken the last of her planets weapons, SOPHIA The 3rd, and came to try and destroy the Plutonium Boss before he could destroy Earth.

This wasn't just about getting his pet frog, Fred, back anymore, this was about saving the Earth. Jason set out on a journey to save Earth from certain doom."

4) Strider

"The Striders are a global organization of infiltration specialists who work to combat villainy and keep the world safe. From their orbital space station, the Blue Dragon, they are able to quickly reach anywhere in the world.

Hiryu is one of the top striders. He is given the task by Vice-Director Matic, of finding another captured strider, Kain. But rather than mount a rescue, Hiryu is told his assignment is to kill

Re:Some ideas..

[August_zero]

Blaster Master

The original is still one of my all time favorite games, and while there were a handful of sequels none of them were even close to as good. Tough as nails too, granted I was only like 10 when I got the game, but it took me off and on over a year to get good enough to beat it.

I fire it up on my emulator every once and awhile and its odd, but I still know the correct path through all of the stages, its imprinted that hard on my brain. That is the mark of a great game.

And I agree with your Strider nomination as well. I may be lonely with this opinion, but I liked the NES version of strider far more than the arcade or genesis versions.

BallBlazer

[Dr. Wu]

Or for that matter, any classic LucasFilm game (Rescue on Fractalus, Koronis Rift, Eidolon?).

But I would kill for an Xbox-Live enabled version of BallBlazer, maybe even adding 3 or 4 player options.

Dr. Wu
If you want to win, you have to go for the 3 points over-the-horizon shot

don't REMAKE, but RE-RELEASE

[bstil]

we've assembled the Games That Should Be Remade feature

Don't REMAKE the games, RE-RELEASE the original games.

Games like Asteroids and Pac-Man have a zen-like balance between controls and playability. The so-called "low tech" graphics actually reduce the game to its essential play-and-feel.

Has anyone seen those awful remakes of Pac-Man in 3D? Geez! Re-release the original and let people play.