Enhanced remake
Encyclopedia
A remake typically shares very little of the original assets and code with the original game, distinguishing it from an "enhanced port," or partial remake.
Definition
A remake offers a newer interpretation of an older work, characterized by updated or changed assets. 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 dated and update it for a new platform and audience. Remakes almost always include new graphics, but may also include expanded stories, and altered gameplay, often 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. For example, Sierra's 1991 remake of Space Quest, the developers used the engine, point-and-click interface, and graphical style of Space Quest IV, replacing the dated graphics and text parserText parser
In an adventure game, a text parser takes typed input from the player and simplifies it to something the game can understand. Usually, words with the same meaning are turned into the same word and certain filler words are dropped .The parser makes it easier for the game's author to react on input...
interface of the original. However, elements that had not become dated, like the narrative, puzzles, and sets, were largely preserved.
Games that use an existing brand but are conceptually very different from the original, such as Battlezone (1998) and Defender (2002) are usually regarded as reboots rather than remakes.
A port is a conversion of a game to a new platform that relies heavily on existing work and assets. 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. However, a port that contains a great deal of remade assets may still sometimes be considered a remake.
History
Early on, remakes were generally regarded as "conversions" 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 FightGun Fight
Gun Fight, known as Western Gun in Japan and Europe, is a 1975 arcade shooter game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Midway Games in the United States. It was a historically significant game, and a success in the arcades. It was later ported to the...
, Midway
Midway
Midway may refer to:*Midway , a place at a fair or circus where rides, entertainment, and booths are concentrated-Midway Atoll and the Battle of Midway:...
's 1975 reprogrammed version of Taito
Taito
Taito may mean:*Taito Corporation, a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware*Taito, Tokyo, a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan*Taito, also known as matai, paramount chiefs according to Fa'a Samoa...
's Western Gun
Gun Fight
Gun Fight, known as Western Gun in Japan and Europe, is a 1975 arcade shooter game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Midway Games in the United States. It was a historically significant game, and a success in the arcades. It was later ported to the...
, with the main difference being the use of a microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
in the reprogrammed version, which allowed improved graphics and smoother animation than the discrete logic of the original.
In 1985, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
released a pair of arcade remakes of older home games. Pitfall II was effectively a remake of both the original Pitfall!
Pitfall!
Pitfall! is a video game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It is the second best selling game made for the Atari 2600, with over 4 million copies sold.-Gameplay:...
and its sequel with new level layouts and colorful, detailed graphics. That same year, Sega adapted the 1982 computer game Choplifter
Choplifter
Choplifter is a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Brøderbund. It was ported to other home computers and, in 1985, Sega released a coin-operated arcade game remake, which in turn received several home ports of its own...
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 Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
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
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, the same platform the source game originated on. Other early remakes of this type include Sierra
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
's early-'90s releases of King's Quest
King's Quest
King's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
, Space Quest
Space Quest
Space Quest is a series of six comedic science fiction computer games that follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, as he campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice and really clean floors"....
and Leisure Suit Larry
Leisure Suit Larry (series)
Leisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
. 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
Retrogaming
Retrogaming, also known as old-school gaming, is the hobby of playing and collecting older computer, video, and arcade games. These games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via emulation, or on modern hardware via ports or compilations...
phenomenon, remakes became a way for companies to revive nostalgic brands. Galaga '88
Galaga '88
is a 1987 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. It is the third sequel of Galaxian . It features significantly improved graphics over the previous games in the series, including detailed backgrounds, larger enemies and more ship details. Although it was well received, fewer units of this game were...
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. In the mid-'90s, Atari released a series of remakes with the 2000 brand, including Tempest 2000
Tempest 2000
Tempest 2000 is a 1994 remake by Jeff Minter of the Dave Theurer 1981 arcade game classic, Tempest. Originally an exclusive to the Atari Jaguar, the game received critical praise for its 3D graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay.-Gameplay:...
, Battlezone 2000, and Defender 2000
Defender 2000
Defender 2000 was a game developed for the Atari Jaguar in 1995 by Jeff Minter. Considered by many to be the true successor to the original, it sold fairly well—but not as well as his prior creation for the console, Tempest 2000....
. After Atari's demise, Hasbro continued the tradition, with 3D remakes of Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
, Centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
, and Asteroids.
The 16-bit generation
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
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
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars, known as in Japan, is a collection of platforming video games that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It contains enhanced remakes of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels , Super Mario Bros...
remade the entire NES Mario series, and was met with great commercial success. Remake compilations of the Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden
is a series of video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side-story" in Japanese, even though the Ninja Gaiden series is not a spinoff of a previous series...
and Mega Man
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Mega Man: The Wily Wars, released in Japan as is a video game compilation by Capcom for the Sega Mega Drive. The game features remakes of the first three Mega Man games that were originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Wily Wars was released in cartridge format in Japan and...
series followed. As RPGs increased in popularity, Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...
, Kyūyaku Megami Tensei
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
is the first game of the popular Megami Tensei series of console role-playing video games. Although Atlus has published a majority of the series, the first two games were created by Namco , after it bought the video game rights to the Japanese horror novel series by Aya Nishitani, the first named...
, and Ys
Ys
Ys , also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ker-Ys in French , is a mythical city that was built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed by the ocean...
were also remade.
With the rise of brand new genres and 3D gameplay, remakes became somewhat less common in the late 1990s, with notable exceptions like Doom 64
Doom 64
Doom 64 is a video game for the Nintendo 64 released by Midway Games in April 4, 1997. It is part of the Doom first-person shooter video game series.-Features:Key differences from the computer games in the series include:*32 exclusive new levels....
and Lunar: The Silver Star
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, originally released in Japan as simply , is a console role-playing game developed by Game Arts and Japan Art Media as a remake of Lunar: The Silver Star...
. Emulation made perfect ports of older games possible, and compilations became 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
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
launched the Sega Ages
Sega Ages
Sega Ages refers to a number of compilations or re-releases of classic video games from developer and publisher Sega.-Saturn version:Sega-AM2 released several Sega Ages games for the Sega Saturn in Japan:...
line for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, 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
Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa
is a Sega Master System game created by Sega in 1987. It was later ported to the arcade, Famicom, and MSX, and was remade for the System 16 hardware on a PlayStation 2 compilation in 2008. It was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America on June 29, 2009. Like the first Fantasy Zone,...
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
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
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
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bionic Commando Rearmed is an enhanced remake of the 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bionic Commando. It was developed by GRIN and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade and was released on August 13, 2008...
, Jetpac Refuelled
Jetpac Refuelled
Jetpac Refuelled is a video game developed by Rare for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. It costs 400 Microsoft Points .-Gameplay:...
, Wipeout HD
Wipeout HD
Wipeout HD, trademarked and stylised as WipEout HD, is the eighth title in the Wipeout racing video game series, developed by Sony Liverpool for the PlayStation 3 console...
and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services...
.
Recently, Bluepoint Games
Bluepoint Games
Bluepoint Games, Inc. is an independent video game developer located in Austin, Texas. Their management team includes gaming industry veterans who have worked on multi-million selling titles...
released the God of War Collection, a high-definition remaster of the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
God of War games
God of War (series)
God of War is a series of action-adventure video games based on Greek mythology.The main trilogy—God of War I, II, & III—in the series were developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division , with Ready at Dawn Studios developing the PSP and Javaground the mobile phone installment...
on PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. At E3 2010, it was announced that a remaster of all three Sly Cooper games for the Sony PlayStation 3 will be available around Christmas 2010.
Some remakes may include the original game as a bonus feature. The recent remake of The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by the same company after its name was changed to LucasArts. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series...
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 on the new remake Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, also referred to as Halo: Anniversary, or Halo: CEA, is a first-person shooter video game set in the Halo universe and is an enhanced remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Microsoft announced the game along with Halo 4 at their Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 press...
.
The Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
's early lineup has been padded with numerous remakes, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
, Starfox 64 and Cave Story.
"Demakes"
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, adapting modern games to the standards of older platforms, sometimes even programming them for dead hardware.Modern demakes are typically whimsical in nature and often combine the gameplay of the original with nostalgic genres like platform games and beat 'em ups. Popular demakes include Portal's Flash version; Rockman 7 Fc and Rockman 8 Fc, NES-styled demakes of Mega Man 7
Mega Man 7
Mega Man 7, known as in Japan, is a video game developed by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the seventh game in the original Mega Man series and the first and only title in the main series to be featured on the 16-bit console...
and 8
Mega Man 8
Mega Man 8, known as in Japan, is a video game released by Capcom. It is the eighth installment in original Mega Man series, and was originally released in Japan on the PlayStation on December 17, 1996. The following year, Mega Man 8 saw a release on the Sega Saturn and was localized for both...
; Gang Garrison 2
Gang Garrison 2
Gang Garrison 2 is a freeware, open-source, indie video game "demake" of Valve Software's Team Fortress 2. Inspired by the 3D graphics of Team Fortress 2, it takes place in a 2D, 8-bit environment, while retaining its online multiplayer gameplay. The game was started by TIGSource.com users...
, a pixelated demake of Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
; and Halo 2600
Halo 2600
Halo 2600 is an action-adventure video game developed for the Atari 2600 video game console, inspired by the Halo series of video games.Halo 2600 was written by Ed Fries, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft,...
, an Atari 2600 style demake of Microsoft's Halo series.
For much of the 1990s in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, black market developers would create unauthorized adaptations of modern games such as Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII (Famicom)
Final Fantasy VII is a Chinese unofficial, unlicensed remake of the 1997 console role playing game Final Fantasy VII, originally developed by Square for the PlayStation. The two-dimensional "port" was developed and published by the Chinese company ShenZhen Nanjing Technology for the SUBOR...
or Tekken
Tekken
is an arcade fighting game franchise created and developed by Namco. Beginning with the original Tekken arcade game released in 1994, the series has received several sequels, as well as various home conversions and spin-off titles released for consoles...
for the NES, which still enjoyed considerable popularity in the region because of the availability of low-cost black market systems.