10 Video Game Remakes That Butchered The Original
Look at how they massacred my (game) boy...
Game development has advanced dramatically over the last several decades, to the point where old-school platformers, beat 'em ups, and RPGs look like they're from the Stone Age by today's standards. Although Final Fantasy VII was lightyears ahead of its time when it was first released in 1997, it looks blocky as hell to the modern eye. As a result, it's understandable why more and more classics are being redone, with FF7 one of the most notable gaming classics to get the remake treatment in recent years.
In theory, giving a video game a makeover should be easy money. The remasters of Crash Bandicoot, Metroid Prime, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door were successful, despite being the same as before with minor touch-ups.
Of course, remakes don't always pan out. If developers try too hard to modernise the property, they can lose sight of what made it special in the first place. By attempting to "fix" the former's problems, they can indirectly create a slew of new issues. Other times, the creators bungle the project so badly, the end result ironically feels more dated than the old game.
If anyone purchased the entries on this list under the impression they would recapture the magic of the original, they were left heavily disappointed...
10. System Shock
Nightdive is responsible for remastering a ton of FPSs, including Turok, Doom 64, Quake, and Shadow Man. Since they helmed System Shock: Enhanced Edition, a remaster of LookingGlass' revered cyber-shooter was inevitable.
During development, it was decided to turn the project into a remake from the ground up. It spend so long in development hell, there were times where it felt like System Shock Remake would never be released. But in 2023, the long awaited title finally saw the light of day.
Although the music, controls, and graphics were refined for modern standards, other elements were clearly stuck in the past. A lack of identifiable markers may have been the norm in '90s shooters, but players of today expected System Shock Remake to give them some idea where to go to avoid wandering around aimlessly for hours on end.
Weapons are dropped with such regularity, ammo rarely needs to be conserved, making the combat anticlimactically easily. Even if the ammo was scarce, the fights would be a breeze, since the enemy AI is almost catatonic. The protagonist can effortlessly overpower the biggest adversaries, simply by hiding behind a wall.
If these issues were tightened up, System Shock Remake could've come a lot closer to matching its predecessor.