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.")

Speedball 2

[cjthompson]

from the Amiga 'nough said

Re:Penguin Adventure

[torpor]

but, but ... thats tuxracer [sourceforge.net], no?

close enough ... wouldn't be hard to finish the Penguin Adventure maps in Tuxracer format, anyway ...

Rocket Jockey.

[Jeffool]

Every time this topic is brought up (or every time I bring it up,) I have to mention Rocket Jockey. One day I'm going to get tired of complaining and program it myself. But until then, I'll keep complaining!

With the main controls being 'left grappling hook', 'right grappling hook', and 'drop the lines', today's controllers with shoulder buttons are perfect. And with quick online play, the game would be unbeatable. Hm. Speaking of which, anyone know if theres a good way to play Win95 games on XP? The 'Compatability Wizard' sucks. Don't tell me I'm going to have to make a 95 partition to play this.

Jeffool.

None of them?

[molafson]

In my opinion, modern remakes of classic games seldom capture the magic of the originals. Instead, they exploit our nostalgia for marketing/licensing purposes, and often piss on the legacy of the original game.

Nintendo is one of the main offenders here, shoe-horning a Mario-themed game into every possible genre without regard for the gameplay of the original Super Mario. Personally, I can't stand any 3D Mario platformer (not to mention any Mario sports and puzzle games). Super Mario 64 may be a decent game in its own right -- but it's not really Super Mario as far as I'm concerned.

I don't even think Super Mario World (considered by some to be the best Mario game) recaptured the awesomeness of the original Super Mario.

The key to many classic games is simplicity. Adding tons of slick graphics, new moves and power-ups, and worst of all, 3D perspective doesn't improve game play, it ruins the perfect balance achieved by the original.

On another note, a GTA 1/2/3 pack for the GBA would be super sweet (with GTA 3 made to play in the top-down 2D mode of the originals).

Kid Icarus

[Guppy06]

And they should make a Kid Icarus 3 while they're at it.

Star Control of course!

[HerbieTMac]

Star Control 1 was a good game. Ahead of its time, excellent gameplay and good graphics.

Star Control 2 was, at the time, the greatest game ever written. Gameplay, depth, graphics, sound, in every part, the game was so far ahead of the competition that there could be no realistic challenger. Indeed, the ending left so many strings for a sequel that quite literally from the month it came out, there was anticipation for Star Control III.

Then came Star Control III. Ugh. Accolade took the game to new developers and it was clumbsy, uninteresting and not fun to play. The sub-plots were meaningless and the story was unengaging. Gameplay took a step backwards.

You can help!

Sign the Petition [gamespy.com] Ask Accolade to re-make Star Control III with the original developers at Toys for Bob.