SpawnStaff Picks: HD Remakes We Want to See

So far this generation we’ve seen quite a few HD remakes. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition has already made it out to market, Metro: Redux, and The Last of Us Remastered aren’t too far off the horizon. It doesn’t seem like the trend is going to end any time soon, so this week we decided to put together a list of the games we desperately want to see HD remakes of.

Alana Fearnall – Seaman

The Dreamcast is my favorite console. It is, arguably, the most innovative and best console we will ever see. I attempted to fit a list of great games that were all on the Dreamcast here, but it would of taken up the 2 paragraphs that are supposed to be dedicated to Seaman.

Seaman is creepy, frustrating, and one of the most awkward games you will ever play. Which is why you should all go pick up a copy and demand an HD remake… for everything. 3DS, PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC, I don’t care. If it plays video games, I want a Seaman remake on it. Make one for the NES and I would probably play it. But no, really, this game is very messed up and, chances are if a site is making a list about the weirdest games of all time, Seaman will be on it.

The idea behind Seaman is to raise these creatures through different stages of life. They start out as Mushroomers, which proceed to inhabit Nautilus like creature after they kill it. As they grow into Gillmen, you will be able to talk to the messed up little buggers all you want. Don’t expect them to understand much of what you are saying, though. It was released at just the beginning stages of voice recognition. You are in control of the air and heat in the tank, so you’d have to be sure to check in on your precious little Seamen everyday. Did I mention Leonard Nimoy is one of the voices in the game?

Totally worth it.

Reuben Williams-Smith – TimeSplitters 2

HD remakes are only really necessary when a game’s mechanical foundation is rock solid but the actual polygons could do with refreshing for the 1080p era. With this in mind, there can be no better candidate for a graphical upgrade than TimeSplitters 2. From the art style to the atmosphere, the character design to the multiplayer, everything about this game makes me happy. And it’s not just nostalgia talking either, I’ve played it very recently and it’s still as wonderful as ever. Hailing from an age when local multiplayer was the norm, the deathmatches are frenetic, fast paced and exhilarating, as a variety of colorful characters battle with a selection of ludicrous weapons across a wealth of exotic and very well designed locations.

TimeSplitters 2 is easily one of the best FPS ever made, from this or any other console era. And now, 12 years after its release the only thing stopping TimeSplitters 2 from enamoring a whole new generation with it’s ridiculous magic is the graphical fidelity. The art style might fit the tone perfectly but even the greatest sense of nostalgia can’t disguise the fact that graphics have come a very long way in the last decade. Since the TimeSplitters licence is owned by Crytek, makers of some of the most visually stunning games in the history of ever, the prospect of seeing Duckman Drake or R-109 (look them up) rendered in CryEngine 3 is enough to make my inner 10 year old giggle with delight.

Matthew Kline – MechAssault 1 and 2

I still want to see MechAssault and MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf brought back to life. I remember when I first got the original Xbox, MechAssault was one of the first titles I bought. I was so excited to get home and put it in the console. Being a huge fan of giant robots and things like Mobile Suit Gundam, I sat there and played it for hours, just running around and blowing up other mechs. I couldn’t get enough.

Being younger at the time, I didn’t keep up with much video game news. I ended up at GameStop one day and there I saw MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf; I had to pick it up. It was even better than the first, you could get out of your mech and get in other mechs, travel huge maps and it looked even better graphics-wise. Both really introduced me to the concept of destructible environments and I’ve been in love ever since.

Tony Chavez – Mega Man Legends

Thinking on it, there are so many games from every era of gaming that I could easily of tossed out into this feature. I’m going with Mega Man Legends, though, on the basis that it’s easily still one of my all-time favorite PS1 games. I’m also picking it because Capcom totally screwed us all out of Mega Man Legends 3 and I still haven’t gotten over it.

My own personal qualms aside, in my head the Legends series in general is rather over-ripe for a HD re-imagining. But let’s start slow and focus on the first game, as on it’s own it’s just the sort of visually colorful fare that would absolutely pop in a higher resolution. It’s also chock-full of wacky characters, cool weapons, awesome boss fights, and the villains are a goddamned rag-tag gang of airship pirates. Plus, I swear some of the underground dungeons in the first game went on literally forever. Or maybe I was running in circles, but considering that I had fun doing it, I think the point is that Capcom doesn’t enjoy me throwing my entire wallet at them, else this would already be a thing by now.

Chris Vellucci – The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Nintendo is not one to do HD remakes, in fact it’s not one to do any sort of remakes. So after we saw Ocarina of Time come to the 3DS every Zelda fan has been waiting with bated breath for the announcement of Majora’s Mask for the 3DS. Unfortunately, we’ve had no such luck.

We saw the capability of the Wii U and it’s HD prowess with The Wind Waker. The cel-shaded art style definitely aided in showing off the HD capabilities of the console. We haven’t seen a realistically styled Zelda installment since Twilight Princess and the upcoming Zelda for Wii U will follow the cel-shaded path that The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword paved. Majora’s Mask HD could be Nintendo’s chance, once again, to boast their artistic skills especially with the vast array of environments present in the game.

Majora’s Mask boasts a vast swampland, snow-capped mountains, a murky sea, and a creepy canyon. In the swampland you’ll encounter exotic animals and flowers that all bath in a poisonous purple pool. In this section you play as a Deku, who has to battle a colorful menace, Odolwa. In the mountains, you are a Goron bashing crystalline ice to fight the mechanical beast, Goht. In the sea, you swim through the water as a Zora to battle the giant fish, Gyorg. Finally, you traverse the canyon using all three masks to battle the gargantuan insect, Twinmold. After all of that is finally completed you then call upon the giants to stall the moon from destroying Clock Town so that you can enter the eerie, serene, land inside of the moon to battle Majora’s Mask, once and for all, in all its forms and colors.

All of these characters and environments would be truly majestic in HD. Nintendo creates some of the most creative and surreal locations known to gaming. If Majora’s Mask is never given a HD make over, there will forever be a sense of emptiness within my gaming heart that no other HD remake could ever fill.

Buddy Acker – Final Fantasy XII

Karl Dodds – Crash Team Racing

I’ve been a fan of Crash Bandicoot ever since the marsupial made his first appearance on the original PlayStation. I played every game in the series on the PS1 and still regularly go back to them on my PS Vita. Part of the reason that I can go back to these games again and again could very well be attributed to nostalgia, but the fact of the matter is they’re still incredibly fun to play. The one game that I keep going back to the most however is Crash Team Racing.

I’ve played CTR  for countless hours across every PlayStation platform it’s been available on. And while I have no qualms playing it in it’s original state, I’d still love nothing more than to see it recieve a HD remake. The Crash Bandicoot franchise has been left idle for too long at this point. A HD remake of CTR  would help bring in new fans to the dormant franchise and I’m sure it would please old fans alike. I couldn’t think of anything better for the franchise, barring a new entry entirely.

I was never big on Nintendo growing up. Instead of being blessed with countless iterations of Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing was all I had. For me, it’s the most iconic kart racer. I still know each track off by heart, where all the short-cuts are, when to boost most efficiently. Being able to whiz round the tracks in full glorious HD would be a dream come true. Deep down I know it will never happen, but if Abe’s Oddysee can get a HD remake why can’t Crash!?

Sean Mesler – The Operative: No One Lives Forever

I’m showing up with a late contribution: The Operative: No One Lives Forever. Though I don’t really want a HD remake as much as I want the original game with a full make over for current gen consoles. Made by Monolith, No One Lives Forever was highly lauded way back in 2000 when it released and for good reason. Not only was it an excellent FPS which had great stealth mechanics, non-linear level design and a great art style – set in the 1060’s with a satirical coat of paint – it was damned funny too.

Rumor has it a re-release is coming, but legal issues seem to be holding it back. Not sure if today’s audience would respond well to it, but I honestly don’t care. I just want to play this game again, damn it.

Let us know some games you’d like to see get a HD make over below!