This one isn't a complete remake, per se, but it makes to the list for a few reasons. The first being that the game had a complete retexturing of all the environments and models, the second being that it goes for pretty cheap on XBLA, and the third being that the game includes a robust multiplayer mode that brings back all the fun of the original. Combined together, it's hard to argue against Perfect Dark XBLA being a wonderful, wonderful deal for gamers everywhere. Aside from those aforementioned things, there was also a vast improvement in the way the game runs. Unfortunately, as brilliant as Perfect Dark was when it first released, the Nintendo 64 had its limits. The original Perfect Dark is riddled with slowdown here in there, some not so bad and others that slow to an unbearable crawl. This new version? Smooth 60fps, the way it was meant to be played. The controls have been edited too, so you can play the game with several styles: old school Perfect Dark style, Halo style, or Call of Duty style.
The multiplayer is still a blast in this day and age and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. As far as multiplayer games go, Perfect Dark was one of the best. Today, you have games like Call of Duty which are intricately designed to mimic realism, but for all their realism they just don't compare. There's something so utterly ridiculous and fun about running around smackin' bitches in the face with Joanna's "KARATE CHOP!" or watching as your friends run right into a room completely covered with mines.
It's odd that the best thing related to the Perfect Dark license since the original is a remake, and further more, not even developed by Rare. Go out and buy this one when you get a chance. You won't be disappointed.
This one's really hit-or-miss depending on who you ask. Originally slated to be an uncensored remake of the N64 game, Conker: Live & Reloaded inexplicably ended up with even more censoring than it did under Nintendo's prudish eye. But see, that's the thing for me: I think censoring makes it funnier. I'm totally up for a good dick joke or a beautifully placed obscenity, but sometimes, leaving things to the imagination makes them more entertaining. I find it much funnier to hear Conker's potty mouth being bleeped out with an incomprehensible text counterpart ("#$%*!") than to actually hear him say the word "fuck." The best humor, to me, always teeters on a very thin line of being offensive and being insinuating. It's filling in the pieces that gets me, so for me, Conker: Live & Reloaded had me laughing out loud more than the original ever did.
Gameplay wise, nothing really changed, although to the credit of detractors, the remake is in fact missing a few sections the original used to have. But it's not the biggest deal. The graphics are probably where it shines the most. You can tell the game was a bit of a rushed remake because it has certain odd glitches that Rareware is almost never known for, but it somehow still manages to be the best looking original Xbox game. In fact, the game puts pretty much everything on the Wii and all of the 360's launch titles to shame and the graphics could easily pass off for being part of this generation. It's vibrant, colorful, and incredibly detailed. It has to be said that any game that manages to make me think that an enormous piece of opera singing poo is "beautiful" has really done its job in the eye candy department.
So the game is still fun, it's still funny, and what's best, it looks absolutely gorgeous. Even the tacked on multiplayer was fun for its day. It's definitely worth a purchase, and definitely deserving of a spot on this list.
This is a pretty excellent remake,taking several ideas introduced in Fusion and adding them to better the gameplay of an already spectacular title. I can't count the amount of times that ledge grab saved my ass from dying in this one. It was also awesome being able to relive Samus' original story in better style. It all added a layer of depth and made the game more accessible to today's gamer generation that has been overstuffed with the bloated mess that was Metroid Prime. Zero Mission and Fusion were the perfect counterparts to balance out the suck of the Prime series (minus Corruption), and it's wonderful that a lot of the ideas stuck and made the latest title, Other M, an amazing game to play.
To this day, Zero Mission remains one of my favorite games for the Gameboy Advanced, rivaled only by Fusion and both Golden Suns.
How often do I talk about this one? Yeah, a lot. But can you blame me? Pokemon Silver was my childhood (along with Harry Potter), and to see it remade with such beautiful attention to detail is downright breathtaking. I know it's a bit hard to see in that video and screenshot, but the game is pretty graphically smooth, upgrading every part of the spectacular Johto region. Fighting all the gym leaders again, visiting a beautifully recreated Kanto (my second favorite region), spending countless hours raising my Pokemon, searching for Lugia and Ho-Oh, and seeing all the improvements made me enjoy this one immensely.
This game should be the mother-fuckin'-blueprint on how to do a proper remake. Resident Evil for the Gamecube wins this race by being absolute near perfection. The graphics were and still are incredibly stunning, and while graphics don't a good game always make, Resident Evil is the exception to that rule. The primary reason being that horror games have to rely heavily on atmosphere to get the intended effect the developers want for the players. The ability to play this game with those glorious graphics turned it into an absolutely terrifying experience of the best kind, with enemies that looked frighteningly realistic, and a mansion that just screamed "Danger Jill Valentine! DANGER!" The remake turned Resident Evil from a cheesy B-Game to a Triple-A title deserving of standing with the best or the best ever made, and not just with the best games of its respective generation.
Even with the tank controls the game manages to be the best Resident Evil this side of Code Veronica. Yeah, it's better than Resident Evil 4. I said it! I said it! What's astounding is the amount of work that Capcom obviously put into this one, making sure everything was as perfect as it possibly could be, and then going even a step further and adding a lot of great new content. I miss those days: the days of Capcom actually adding new, wonderful things to their games instead of selling crap ports and charging obscene amounts of money for downloadable content.
To any developer who ever wants to make a good remake, Resident Evil for the Gamecube is a good line of inquiry.
- Kharlo -
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