Top 10 Needed Video Game Remakes & Remasters (Pt. 3)

In another installment of my previous articles on video games that I feel should either receive full-on remakes or dedicated remasters, I come here today with more selections that might be really fun and endearing if they were given the proper care and attention. As before, this list will range from games simply needing a little touching up and optimization (remaster) to ones arguably requiring an entirely new set of graphics and gameplay (remake).

10. Puppeteer: Encore Edition

I’m placing this here since I’d primarily just like to see the very entertaining (but now extremely overlooked) platformer title Puppeteer made available again since it’s been effectively marooned on the PS3 and (as far as I know) has never been re-released after its debut in 2013. Obviously, the game would receive a notable visual remaster for PS5 optimization, but I wouldn’t really recommend much else except for potentially tightening up the controls; however, if possible, I’d suggest the inclusion of any available archival bonuses detailing Puppeteer‘s own pre-production and development history.

9. 3D Dot Game Heroes…Return!

As with the entry above, I’d primarily just like to see the wonderfully retro-styled 3D Dot Game Heroes made available again due to being “stuck” on the PS3 since 2010, with it receiving a minimal visual remaster for current-gen platforms (as well as a few minor gameplay tweaks for quality-of-life improvements). Because of the game’s purposeful throwback to older titles like The Legend of Zelda and Hydlide, I’d be very hesitant to make any major changes as not to detract from that style (though I suppose additional character customization and editing options wouldn’t be too obtrusive).

8. Mega Man & Bass -Redux-

Here, I’d take the 1998 Super Famicom game Rockman & Forte (a.k.a. Mega Man & Bass) and completely recreate it in 2.5 graphics on par with Mega Man 11 (incorporating full voice-acting and a rearranged soundtrack) – but also featuring a newly localized version of the original SFC game as a bonus (in lieu of the not-so-great 2003 GBA port). And, as an additional treat, I’d also include a full 2.5D remake of Rockman & Forte: Challenger from the Future as an unlockable second campaign.

7. Parasite Eve: The Rebirth Collection

This collection would consist of faithful “enhanced remasters” of Parasite Eve and Parasite Eve II with both graphical and gameplay changes to put it on par with the presentation of The Third Birthday (of course, with much higher visual and mechanical complexity than TTB). As with TTB, the games would also receive full voice-acting and other cinematic flourishes that their original PS1 versions weren’t capable of (but those still being included as unlockable “classic mode” bonuses).

6. Siren & Siren 2: Forbidden Edition

In a similar vein to the previous entry, I’d propose another collection bundling together full-on (but relatively faithful) remakes of cult survival horror games Siren and Siren 2, with both given highly overhauled visual and mechanical upgrades (even more so than Siren: Blood Curse). Major quality-of-life improvements would include the streamlining of the first game’s “Link Navigator” system to directly match the simplified version presented in the second (but with “classic difficulty” options).

5. Hyrule Adventures: Zelda’s Journey

Serving as a conceptual follow-up to my previous idea for Hyrule Adventures: Faces of Evil & Wand of Gamelon, I’d like to completely remake the third (and even lesser-known) Phillips CD-i entry Zelda’s Adventure as an official game done in the graphical and gameplay style of TLoZ: A Link Between Worlds (but, as before, with some elements from Echoes of Wisdom mixed in). Again, this title will have an entirely different look and feel to it, while also given a relatively more serious tone and writing style (but still including “winks” to the original release’s much campier presentation).

4. Castlevania Legends -Revisited-

And making a “trilogy” out of my previous ideas to rework non-canonical Game Boy entries from established franchises, I propose a dedicated remake of Castlevania Legends done in the same presentation as Adventure ReBirth and Haunted Castle Revisited from developer M2. Aside from obviously better graphics and gameplay, the “Revisited” version of Legends would also see additional enemies and bosses, longer and more complex stage routes, and new power-ups and in-game mechanics (but, again, would maintain its non-canonical status as a “What If?” alternate narrative).

3. Silent Hill: Origins -Unveiled Torment-

Since I already talked at length in another article discussing how I’d provide numerous hypothetical “improvements” to Silent Hill: Origins, I’ll give a short rundown of what I primarily wanted to see adjusted in the game’s story and gameplay. These included: a complete revamping of the original’s poorly implemented melee weapon system, redesigns for multiple monsters (especially the heavily Pyramid Head-coded “Butcher”) to distance them from existing ones in SH2, additional locations to increase playtime, and heavy rewrites to address key storyline contradictions with the canon of SH1.

2. Grandia III: New Horizons

As much as I’ve talked about the Grandia series in previous articles, I’ve only really spoken more about the first two mainline games in the series, with only a passing mention of Grandia Xtreme and Grandia III as being “enjoyable but not as polished” compared to the former titles. Truth be told, I was actually very (and still am) disappointed in Grandia III‘s notoriously short length and linear plot progression and would love to see an expanded remake that not only revamps the story and characters but also incorporates new areas that were shown (yet inaccessible) on the overworld map.

1. Sonic Heroes: Reloaded Edition

In another entry that will also probably become its own longer article in the future, I’d like to see a full-fledged, starting-from-scratch remake of Sonic Heroes to address its various gameplay-focused criticisms, with a primary focus on cutting down and reshuffling the levels needed to be completed between the individual “team” campaigns (and maybe having certain stages and bosses now being exclusive to each team). Furthermore, I’d make heavy rewrites in the story regarding the “return” of Shadow the Hedgehog after Sonic Adventure 2 (which I’ll be saving for that potential longer article).