A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and core story elements of the original game, although some aspects of the original game may have been changed for the remake. [1]
Remakes are often made by the original developer or copyright holder, and sometimes by the fan community. If created by the community, video game remakes are sometimes also called fangames and can be seen as part of the retro gaming phenomenon.
A remake offers a newer interpretation of an older work, characterized by updated or changed assets. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D for the Nintendo 3DS are considered remakes of their original versions for the Nintendo 64, and not a remaster or a port, since there are new character models and texture packs. [1] [2] [3] The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD for Wii U would be considered a remaster, since it retains the same, albeit updated upscaled aesthetics of the original. [4] [5]
A remake typically maintains the same story, genre, and fundamental gameplay ideas of the original work. The intent of a remake is usually to take an older game that has become outdated and update it for a new platform and audience. A remake will not necessarily preserve the original gameplay especially if it is dated, instead remaking the gameplay to conform to the conventions of contemporary games or later titles in the same series in order to make a game marketable to a new audience. [1]
For example, for Sierra's 1991 remake of Space Quest , the developers used the engine, point-and-click interface, and graphical style of Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers , replacing the original graphics and text parser interface of the original. However, other elements, like the narrative, puzzles and sets, were largely preserved. Another example is Black Mesa , a remake built entirely from the ground up in the Source Engine that remakes in-game textures, assets, models, and facial animations, while taking place in the events of the original Half-Life game. Resident Evil 2 (2019) is a remake of the 1998 game Resident Evil 2 ; while the original uses tank controls and fixed camera angles, the remake features "over-the-shoulder" third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4 and more recent games in the series that allows players the option to move while using their weapons similar to Resident Evil 6 . [6]
A port is a conversion of a game to a new platform that relies heavily on existing work and assets. [7] A port may include various enhancements like improved performance, resolution, and sometimes even additional content, but differs from a remake in that it still relies heavily on the original assets and engine of the source game. [1] Sometimes, ports even remove content that was present in the original version. For example, the handheld console ports of Mortal Kombat II had fewer characters than the original arcade game and other console ports due to system storage limitations but otherwise were still faithful to the original in terms of gameplay. [8] [9]
Compared to the intentional video game remake or remaster which is often done years or decades after the original came out, ports or conversions are typically released during the same generation as the original (the exception being mobile gaming versions of PC games, such as Grand Theft Auto III , since mobile gaming platforms did not exist until the 2010s going forward). [10] Home console ports usually came out less than a year after the original arcade game, such as the distribution of Mortal Kombat for home consoles by Acclaim Entertainment. [11] Since the 2000s as arcade releases are no longer the original launch platform for a video game, publishers tend to release the video game simultaneously on several consoles first and then port to the PC later. [1]
A port that contains a great deal of remade assets may sometimes be considered a remaster or a partial remake, although video game publishers are not always clear on the distinction. DuckTales: Remastered for example uses the term "Remastered" to distinguish itself from the original NES game it was based on, even though it is a clean-slate remake with a different engine and assets. Compared to a port which is typically released in the same era as the original, a remaster is done years or decades after the original in order to take advantage of generation technological improvements (the latter which a port avoids doing). Unlike a remake which often changes the now-dated gameplay, a remaster is very faithful to the original in that aspect (in order to appeal to that nostalgic audience) while permitting only a limited number of gameplay tweaks for the sake of convenience. [1]
Games that use an existing brand but are conceptually very different from the original, such as Wolfenstein 3D (1992) and Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) or Tomb Raider (1996) and Tomb Raider (2013) are usually regarded as reboots rather than remakes.[ citation needed ]
In the early history of video games, remakes were generally regarded as "conversions"[ citation needed ] and seldom associated with nostalgia. Due to limited and often highly divergent hardware, games appearing on multiple platforms usually had to be entirely remade. These conversions often included considerable changes to the graphics and gameplay, and could be regarded retroactively as remakes, but are distinguished from later remakes largely by intent. A conversion is created with the primary goal of tailoring a game to a specific piece of hardware, usually contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous with the original release. An early example was Gun Fight , Midway's 1975 reprogrammed version of Taito's arcade game Western Gun, with the main difference being the use of a microprocessor in the reprogrammed version, which allowed improved graphics and smoother animation than the discrete logic of the original. [12] In 1980, Warren Robinett created Adventure for the Atari 2600, a graphical version of the 1970s text adventure Colossal Cave Adventure . [13] [14] [15] [16] Also in 1980, Atari released the first officially licensed home console game conversion of an arcade title, Taito's 1978 hit Space Invaders , for the Atari 2600. The game became the first "killer app" for a video game console by quadrupling the system's sales. [17] [18] Since then, it became a common trend to port arcade games to home systems since the second console generation, though at the time they were often more limited than the original arcade games due to the technical limitations of home consoles.
In 1985, Sega released a pair of arcade remakes of older home video games. Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (arcade game) was effectively a remake of both the original Pitfall! and its sequel Pitfall II: Lost Caverns with new level layouts and colorful, detailed graphics. That same year, Sega adapted the 1982 computer game Choplifter for the arcades, taking the fundamental gameplay of the original and greatly expanding it, adding new environments, enemies, and gameplay elements. This version was very successful, and later adapted to the Master System and Famicom. Both of these games were distinguished from most earlier conversions in that they took major liberties with the source material, attempting to modernize both the gameplay as well as the graphics.
Some of the earliest remakes to be recognized as such were attempts to modernize games to the standards of later games in the series. Some were even on the same platforms as the original, for example Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness , a 1986 remake of the original that appeared on multiple platforms, including the Apple II, the system the game originated on. Other early remakes of this type include Sierra's early-1990s releases of King's Quest , Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry . These games used the technology and interface of the most recent games in Sierra's series, and original assets in a dramatically different style. The intent was not simply to bring the game to a new platform, but to modernize older games which had in various ways become dated.
With the birth of the retrogaming phenomenon, remakes became a way for companies to revive nostalgic brands. Galaga '88 and Super Space Invaders '91 were both attempts to revitalize aging arcade franchises with modernized graphics and new gameplay elements, while preserving many signature aspects of the original games. The 16-bit generation of console games was marked by greatly enhanced graphics compared to the previous generation, but often relatively similar gameplay, which led to an increased interest in remakes of games from the previous generation. Super Mario All-Stars remade the entire NES Mario series, and was met with great commercial success. Remake compilations of the Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man series followed. As RPGs increased in popularity, Dragon Quest , Ys and Kyūyaku Megami Tensei were also remade. In the mid-'90s, Atari released a series of remakes with the 2000 brand, including Tempest 2000 , Battlezone 2000, and Defender 2000 . After Atari's demise, Hasbro continued the tradition, with 3D remakes of Pong , Centipede , and Asteroids .
By 1994 the popularity of CD-ROM led to many remakes with digitized voices and, sometimes, better graphics, although Computer Gaming World noted the "amateur acting" in many new and remade games on CD. [19] Emulation also made perfect ports of older games possible, with compilations becoming a popular way for publishers to capitalize on older properties.
Budget pricing gave publishers the opportunity to match their game's price with the perceived lower value proposition of an older game, opening the door for newer remakes. In 2003, Sega launched the Sega Ages line for PlayStation 2, initially conceived as a series of modernized remakes of classic games, though the series later diversified to include emulated compilations. The series concluded with a release that combined the two approaches, and included a remake of Fantasy Zone II that ran, via emulation, on hardware dating to the time of the original release, one of the few attempts at an enhanced remake to make no attempts at modernization. The advent of downloadable game services like Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network has further fueled the expanded market for remakes, as the platform allows companies to sell their games at a lower price, seen as more appropriate for the smaller size typical of retro games. Some XBLA and PSN remakes include Bionic Commando Rearmed , Jetpac Refuelled , Wipeout HD (a remake not of the original Wipeout but of the two PSP games), Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix .
Some remakes may include the original game as a bonus feature. The 2009 remake of The Secret of Monkey Island took this a step further by allowing players to switch between the original and remade versions on the fly with a single button press. This trend was continued in the sequel, and is also a feature in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and later in Halo 2 Anniversary as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection .
Remasters and remakes on the Nintendo DS include Super Mario 64 DS , Kirby Super Star Ultra , Diddy Kong Racing DS , Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon , Final Fantasy III and IV , Dragon Quest IV through VI , and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded . The Nintendo 3DS's lineup also had numerous remasters and remakes, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D , Star Fox 64 3D , The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D , Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Metroid: Samus Returns , Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions , Luigi's Mansion , and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey . Remasters on both the DS and 3DS include Cave Story , [20] Myst [21] and Rayman 2: The Great Escape . [22]
Games unsupported by the rights-holders often spark remakes created by hobbyists and game communities. [23] [24] An example is OpenRA , which is a modernized remake of the classic Command & Conquer real-time-strategy games. Beyond cross-platform support, it adds comfort functions and gameplay functionality inspired by successors of the original games. [25] Another notable examples are Pioneers , a remake and sequel in spirit to Frontier: Elite II ; [23] CSBWin, a remake of the dungeon crawler classic Dungeon Master ; [26] and Privateer Gemini Gold, a remake of Wing Commander: Privateer . [27] [28]
Skywind is a fan remake of Morrowind (2002) running on Bethesda's Creation Engine, utilising the source code, assets and gameplay mechanics of Skyrim (2011). The original game developers, Bethesda Softworks, have given project volunteers their approval. [29] The remake team includes over 70 volunteers in artist, composer, designer, developer, and voice-actor roles. In November 2014, the team reported to have finished half of the remake's environment, over 10,000 new dialogue lines, and three hours of series-inspired soundtrack. The same open-development project is also working on Skyblivion, a remake of Oblivion (the game between Morrowind and Skyrim) in the Skyrim engine, and Morroblivion, a remake of Morrowind in the Oblivion engine (which still has a significant userbase on older PCs).
The term demake may refer to games created deliberately with an artstyle inspired by older games of a previous video game generation. The action platformer Mega Man 9 is an example of such a game. [30] Although remakes typically aim to adapt a game from a more limited platform to a more advanced one, a rising interest in older platforms has inspired some to do the opposite, remaking or adapting modern games to the technical standards of older platforms, usually going so far as to implement them on obsolete hardware platforms, hence the term "Demake". Such games are either physical or emulated. [31]
Modern demakes often change the 3D gameplay to a 2D one. Popular demakes include Quest: Brian's Journey , an official Game Boy Color port of Quest 64 ; Super Smash Land , an unofficial Game Boy-style demake of Super Smash Bros. ; D-Pad Hero , a NES-esque demake of Guitar Hero ; Rockman 7 FC and Rockman 8 FC, NES-styled demakes of Mega Man 7 and Mega Man 8 , respectively; Gang Garrison 2 , a pixelated demake of Team Fortress 2 ; Bloodborne PSX, a PS1 demake of Bloodborne; and Halo 2600 , an Atari 2600 demake of Microsoft's Halo series. [32] [33] [34] There are also NES-style demakes of the Touhou Project games Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Perfect Cherry Blossom . Some demakes are created to showcase and push the abilities of older generation systems such as the Atari 2600. An example of this is the 2013 game Princess Rescue, which is a demake of the NES title Super Mario Bros. [35]
While most demakes are homebrew efforts from passionate fans, some are officially endorsed by the original creators such as Pac-Man Championship Edition's Famicom/NES demake being printed onto Japanese physical editions of the Namcot Collection as an original bonus game.[ citation needed ]
For much of the 1990s in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, black market developers created unauthorized adaptations of then-modern games such as Street Fighter II , Mortal Kombat , Phantasy Star IV , Final Fantasy VII or Tekken for the NES, which enjoyed considerable popularity in the regions because of the availability of low-cost compatible systems.[ citation needed ]
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one of the first consoles with backward compatibility. It shipped with a different joystick than the 2600-standard CX40 and included Pole Position II as the pack-in game. The European model has a gamepad instead of a joystick. Most of the early releases for the system are ports of 1981–1983 arcade video games. The final wave of 7800 cartridges are closer in style to what was available on other late 1980s consoles, such as Scrapyard Dog and Midnight Mutants.
A platformer is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels with uneven terrain and suspended platforms that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, gliding through the air, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines.
The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. Spacewar! was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such games on a video display. The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games were Computer Space and Pong. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang up to capture Pong's success in both the arcade and the home by cloning the game, causing a series of boom and bust cycles due to oversaturation and lack of innovation.
Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures, like turtles (Shellcreepers) and crabs emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game to be developed by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.
Crazy Climber is a vertically scrolling video game produced by Nichibutsu and released for arcades in 1980. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. Ports for the Arcadia 2001 and Atari 2600 were published in 1982, followed by the Famicom in 1986 and X68000 in 1993.
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program was originally designed for. The term is also used when software/hardware is changed to make them usable in different environments.
Missile Command is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and later licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game Tempest from the same year. The game was released during the Cold War, and the player uses a trackball to defend six cities from intercontinental ballistic missiles by launching anti-ballistic missiles from three bases.
Balloon Fight is an action video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released for arcades as VS. Balloon Fight, with the console version releasing in Japan in 1985 and internationally in 1986.
Excitebike is a motocross racing video game developed and published by Nintendo. In Japan, it was released for the Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades as VS. Excitebike for the Nintendo VS. System later that year. In North America, it was initially released for arcades in 1985 and then as a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System later that year, becoming one of the best-selling games on the console. It is the first game in the Excite series.
Lode Runner is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to Space Panic from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in a level and get to the end while being chased by a number of enemies. It is one of the first games to include a level editor.
Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco in 1982. It was released in Japan by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces before they destroy all of mankind. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: a zapper to destroy flying craft, and a blaster to bomb ground installations and enemies. It runs on the Namco Galaga arcade system.
Donkey Kong is a 1981 arcade video game developed and published by Nintendo. As Mario, the player runs and jumps on platforms and climbs ladders to ascend a construction site and rescue Pauline from a giant gorilla, Donkey Kong. It is the first game in the Donkey Kong series and Mario's first appearance in a video game.
The following article is a broad timeline of arcade video games.
Spelunker is a 1983 platform video game developed by Timothy G. Martin of MicroGraphic Image. It is set in a cave, with the player starting at the cave's entrance at the top, and the objective is to get to the treasure at the bottom.
The Virtual Console is a defunct line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on past home and handheld consoles and were run in their original forms through software emulation, therefore remaining mostly unaltered, and could be purchased from the Wii Shop Channel or Nintendo eShop for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points, or using real currency, with prices depending on the system, rarity, and/or demand.
Double Dragon is a 1987 beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for arcades across Asia, North America and Europe. It is the first title in the Double Dragon franchise. The game's development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and it is a spiritual and technological successor to Technos' earlier beat 'em up, Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986), released outside of Japan by Taito as Renegade; Kishimoto originally envisioned it as a direct sequel and part of the Kunio-kun series, before making it a new game with a different cast and setting.
In video gaming parlance, a conversion is the production of a game on one computer or console that was originally written for another system. Over the years, video game conversion has taken form in a number of different ways, both in their style and the method in which they were converted.
Halo 2600 is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Ed Fries and published by AtariAge for the Atari 2600, a video game console released in 1977 that ended production in 1992. Inspired by the Halo video game series, the game sees players control Master Chief and fight through 64 screens with varied enemies. Completing the game once unlocks a tougher "Legendary" mode.
The first hobbyist-developed game for the Atari 2600 video game console was written in 1995, and more than 100 have been released since then. The majority of games are unlicensed clones of games for other platforms, and there are some also original games and ROM hacks. With only 128 bytes of RAM, no frame buffer, and the code and visuals closely intertwined, the 2600 is a difficult machine to program. and many games were written for the technical challenge. Emulators, programming tools, and documentation are available.
Nintendo 3D Classics is a first-party series of NES/Famicom and arcade games updated for the Nintendo 3DS, with added stereoscopic 3D functionality and updated features while retaining their original art style and graphics.
There is a version that just works, without an emulator, and it's free. [...] A madman by the name of Paul Stevens spent six months, eight hours a day, writing 120,000 lines of what he calls "pseudo-assembly language" to rebuild it in C++. And then released the game and source code for free. Can he do that? I've decided that yes, he can, which legitimises my promoting it to you.
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