Topic: Nintendo Remakes

Game companies seem to be remaking alot of games these days except the ones that actually matter, so why in the world hasn't the original zelda1&2, or even castlevaina 1&2 gotten some kind of remake by now? Those games would definitely be worth replaying if they were upgraded somewhat. Some people dont wait around for people like nintendo to do it, and end up doing it themselves. This seemed to be the thing with castlevaina II, and some guy remade the whole game with remixed music from the bloody tears sound track for pc the recently. Feel free to look it up, and try it out for yourself

I don't see the point in remaking the very first games from decades-old franchises, especially if they got their start on extremely limited hardware. I'm not terribly fond of NES games as they simply haven't aged well and were mostly a product of their time (I hadn't grown up with them either, so I don't harbour any particular nostalgia for them), however groundbreaking they may have been then. Nintendo has been wise to pay tribute to their long history with new instalments of classic franchises rather than languishing in it like some other companies (cough Atari/Sega).

What exactly will Zelda gain by remaking the first two games? The potential of their core concepts was hindered by the technical/hardware constraints of their time, and while they were groundbreaking in their heyday, unless they radically retell or otherwise redesign these games, so much so that they bear very little resemblance to the originals, then I don't see the point. But if Nintendo were to release a bundle of NES classics with a fresh coat of paint, save states, reorchestrated music, maybe even some new levels/dungeons and the like, then I can see some value in that as a tribute to their long history, but I doubt that these will sell in particularly high numbers. As far as I am aware, none of the NES Remix games have sold over 1 million units, which may have dissuaded Nintendo from developing any further instalments in the series.

Remaking anything from the SNES generation and beyond would make more sense as many of those games have mostly aged well, though they could of course benefit from modern visuals and QoL improvements.

The almost "shot for shot" remakes (so to speak) of Link's Awakening and the Pokémon Let's Go games worked because the games still held up nearly three decades on, but much of Nintendo's earlier output is far too primitive to extend the same treatment to in the 21st century.

@Sisilly_G Personally I think that's a good reason to remake them. I don't really see the point of remaking games that have aged well rather than just re-releasing the original version instead, but dated games that are difficult for newcomers to get into would benefit a lot from a modem remake with their flaws ironed out and new features added. The NES Zeldas would be good candidates for that I think.

@Dogorilla - just playing devil's advocate...

If remaking involves so much work, updating, modernising, fixing flaws, etc with only the plot and (maybe) set-pieces left, is it actually a remake? Or is it a brand new game that happens to share the plot of one of its forebears?

@Dogorilla : @Rambler reiterated my point. Most NES era games are so primitive that any modern "remake" would hardly bear any resemblance to the source material anyway.

Arguably, we already have a "remake" (or a "reimagining", if you will) of the original Zelda in the form of Breath of the Wild, which took so much of what made the original Zelda so groundbreaking back in 1986, and expanded on its foundations, adopted modern design conventions, and broke new ground in 2017.

I would say yes - it's not just the plot and set-pieces that would be left, it would also have the same general gameplay concepts as well as the same world, enemies, etc as the original game. Look at Metroid Zero Mission and Samus Returns, for example. They added new abilities, bosses and areas, but they're still recognisably built on the same skeleton as Metroid 1 and 2 (I think - I haven't played much of the originals) while making their archaic design more approachable.

The difference between 'remake' and 'reimagining' is interesting though. I've noticed a recent trend on non-tendo consoles of remakes that completely reinvent the original game, with changes to the plot and core gameplay: Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII and now Dead Space. I don't think there's anything wrong with that approach, and if you've already played the game it's arguably better because it gives you more reason to play the remake than if it was just the same game again. But it must be confusing to newcomers to those games, especially when the remake has exactly the same title as the original but it's basically a completely different game.

I'd definitely like to see a remake of the original NES Zelda, and it's precisely because it's dated and clunky that I think it would be worthwhile. I've actually often wondered why it's never happened. The original NES Super Mario Bros. games got fantastic remakes on the SNES (and subsequently GBA, etc) with updated graphics and the ability to save, etc. thus making them the far superior versions. The original NES Metroid (a game which is as dated and clunky as you can get) got a complete overhaul with Zero Mission on the GBA, a remake that updates the graphics, adds in a load of Quality of Life improvements and just generally blows the original out of the water in every way. I think it would be great to see the original NES Zelda get the Zero Mission treatment. Like the original NES Metroid, I'm not really a huge fan of the original NES Zelda, so it would be cool to see it really fulfill its potential with an improved, refined remake.

In fact, there are a few old NES games that I've always thought could do with a remake and a fresh coat of paint (like Ice Climber or Balloon Fight). There was a really decent and underrated modern reboot of Excitebike (Excitebike: World Rally) on WiiWare. In fact, I always wished Nintendo would've made a physical version of it, if for no other reason than it's now completely unavailable (yay digital...).