Top 10 Video Games that DON’T Need a Remake/Reboot EVER
Note that this list is subjective, but I felt I had to make it because we are living in the age of remakes and reboots. And just like some movies don’t need a remake, neither do timeless video games.
1- Chrono Trigger - It’s not for nothing this game not only aged well, but also stands as one of the best plot driven games with time travel as its theme. It also introduced the concept of the same game having multiple endings and the “NewGame+” mode. While remastering it would be fine, the game is already emotive, fun and advanced as it is and doesn’t need a remake or to be turned 3D (shudder). Let’s not try to improve upon perfection.
2- Mother (1, 2 and 3) - Considering the themes these games have are really from their time which was the 90s (especially the alien invasion concept), you really can’t remake them or make them like new without changing everything to the point where it just isn’t the same game anymore. You might as well just make a sequel rather than attempt to remake an existing instalment and pretend it is the same when it isn’t. Plus, the pixelated and 2D look ADDS to the charm of the game. When you take it away, it just isn’t the same.
3- Sonic the Hedgehog (1, 2, 3, CD and Sonic & Knuckles) - Like Mother, these games are games of their times which would translate very poorly in 3D and everything that makes them fun to watch and play would be lost. While remasters and fixing the bugs in these games would be fine, we don’t need to give it the 3D treatment. There are enough 3D Sonic games as is.
4- Super Mario World - Like the classic Sonic games, there are enough 3D Mario Bros games. Let’s keep the classic ones as is with just a remaster at best. Plus, side scrollers are such a lost art now. Do we really want to erase the last of them?
5- Tetris - It’s bad enough we tried to make a sequel that no one asked for when it comes to this game. Does it really need a remake? The thing that makes Tetris iconic is its simplicity. There’s nothing to remake because there’s nothing to add. It has everything it needs. Period.
6- Street Fighter 2 - If there is one game that should finally stay retired and be remembered as is, it’s this one simply because it literally died of over-rebooting. There’s Street Fighter 2 Alpha, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Street Fighter 2 Arcade Edition, Super Street Fighter 2, etc. Yeah. While doing that helped flesh out the iconic characters, let’s stick to just making sequels. We exhausted the remaking and rebooting process enough with this instalment. Let it rest in peace.
7- Team Fortress 2 - This is online player game meaning it evolves and expands on its own. There is no need to reboot it because game like this simply don’t work out with being rebooted. By the time the game is not popular anymore, it is because the craze has passed and even if does get rebooted, no one will buy it. The smarter thing to do is to wait a while and then just make a sequel just like how TF2 is in fact just a sequel. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great game, but rebooting just isn’t its style.
8- Any video game based on a celebrity - I think it is obvious why we shouldn’t waste our time rebooting video games like this. Unless it was an exceptionally amazing game and the celebrity is STILL popular, nobody of newer generation will play it simply because they won’t know who these people are. Plus, these games were not a hit even when they were new simply because people would rather play fantastical fiction characters than grounded real people even if they are celebrities. So, just don’t, folks.
9- Any video game that is based on a movie, show or product - Just as movies based on video usually fail, so does the reverse. Plus, as with most of these entries, these video games were games of their time based on stuff that was popular at the time. When the newer generation sees these games, they’re going to much prefer watching the movie, watching the show or using the actual product. The only case of which the game will be worth their time is if it based on the movie or show while expanding on it by adding to the lore, filling in gaps and being its own story while still being a great game like Alien Isolation. Other than that, it’s not worth it.
10- Any game that was best left forgotten - Sadly, some video game are just bad not because they were too ambitious, too ahead of their time or had too many bugs. They were just lackluster and didn’t leave an impression. They were bad ideas and rebooting them with better graphics and fancier features won’t suddenly make them good. Sometimes, it just makes it worse. If you’re going to use time, energy and money to reboot something, do so on something people want to see a comeback of. Otherwise, just make a new game.
Bonus - Other honourable mentions here I will add are every Legend of Zelda (just make a sequel), every classic Mario Bros game, Final Fantasy 1 to 6, every Pokemon game since every new game is technically just a reboot of the first two (Red and Blue) that started it all, Word of Warcraft, Starcraft, the Sims, the Phantasy Star series, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana which technically did get a reboot and it stank, every Mortal Kombat since it always gets a sequel anyway, and every Simulation, Hidden Object and Tycoon game.
