My Top Five Games That Need To Be Remade

Panzer Dragoon Saga.

I never usually do lists but I was thinking about games that I really would love to play again but the means or availability of the game do not permit me to experience them. I should explain that I don't think any of the games on this list are flawed and require a remake to justify their existence but I think that while thinking about the possibility of them being ported, might as well talk about the possibility of remakes.

I should also note that these are not an order of my favorite games but in terms of availability against the need for a remake of sorts. There are far more I wanted to add to this list than I could fit in any reasonable way. Games like Panzer Dragoon Saga I would have added but if I start on the Saturn, the list would be more or less a complete list of Sega Saturn games...Sorry.

5.Parasite Eve HD Remake

Easily one of the most exciting action RPGs on the Playstation

Parasite Eve was originally a game not too dissimilar to Vagrant Story, but with a modern setting and more action based gameplay. I feel Parasite Eve was ultimately the superior game. The game is actually a sequel to the Japanese novel by the same name. Aya Brea is a cop for the NYPD and soon finds herself surrounded by people bursting into flames while other creatures into monsters. The mitochondria inside their bodies are evolving and this also gives Aya powers.

Parasite Eve is such an interesting idea with a captivating story that I'm surprised they failed so much with the two sequels that were released.

4.Super Metroid HD Remake

We tried having Samus talk...Can we please go back to 2D now?

The problem with a Super Metroid remake is that there is basically nothing that needs to be changed. I mainly put this on the list so new fans can appreciate what I feel is the peak of the series and hopefully drag Nintendo back into making 2D Metroid games once again.

3.Rival Schools 1 & 2 HD Collection

If you had a Dreamcast you were spoilt for fighting games.

I would love to see a revival of the Rival Schools series. Fast paced, tag team gameplay with colourful and imaginative characters. This is something I can actually see Capcom doing some day. HD lick of paint, with netplay and some balancing and you can pretty much release the games just like that.

2.Shin Megami Tensei 1 & 2 Collection

Religious symbolism makes Shin Megami Tensei a task to localize.

I am a huge fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series but as of yet, the two major games in the series have not reached outside Japan. This upsets me as the dark story of the first two games were something rare to see on the Super Nintendo. Just Balance the difficulty a little bit and add an auto mapping feature and you'd be good to go.

1.Mother Complete Collection

Colourful games...I remember those.

My top spot is something that could never possibly happen but it's something I would very much like to see. Mother on the NES never saw the light of day outside Japan but those in America got to play Mother 2 on the Super Nintendo. Localized as Earthbound, it was a wacky game that broke many RPG conventions. It was set in a reasonably modern time and instead of fighting dragons and slimes you would fight bees and dogs. In place of a sword and shield, you would have a baseball bat and yo-yo. Against your foes you would not throw a magical fireball at your enemy but use your psychic powers against them.

Add Mother 3 to the mix and you'd have the ultimate collection if you're looking for a non conventional RPG. Nintendo could never release these games without some heavy editing as it plays music similar to licensed songs and various other copyright issues. So far there are not even any plans to release Earthbound on the Nintendo Virtual Console, So the likelihood of playing these games by normal means is next to impossible I am afraid to say.

Corpse Party

This should be an interesting game to review. This PSP game marks one of the few times that XSEED has published a game to the UK. It's unfortunately only available in English through the PSN store as quite frankly it's a very niche game at best. So first a little history about the game. Corpse Party was made by a small Japanese group called Team GrisGris. Originally it was made for the PC-9801 in Japan using the RPG Maker Software. It became popular enough in Japan to spawn two remakes. One for Windows and now one for PSP. Now lets get started shall we?

The game makes interesting use of the RPG Maker software as there is no focus on battles. It's a very Japanese style horror but with a conventional RPG look. The beginning of the game starts with a company of around eight friends and their teacher staying a little bit too late after school and at the suggestion of a friend, trying out some occult ritual to stay friends forever. (as you do.) Needless to say that it seems to all go wrong and they wake up separated in the remains of a elementary school building which was knocked down at the site where their current school exists. The friends now have to search for their friends while avoiding death at the hands of murder victims of the now revived school.

Visually the game is a blast for me as I'm a big fan of the 16-bit style and the school setting was never really used back in that era. The game follows a narrative somewhat like a visual novel I guess. There are dead end choices in the game which can net you a rather gross and depressing end to your characters. The game is split into 5 chapters which have their own independent save files and there are some unlockable extra side story chapters too. The game also keeps track of your dead end choices so you can try and see them all if you wish. The game is also mostly voice acted and in Japanese, which probably works better in it's favour. I can't imagine the cheesy screams working with English voices but that's just my perspective.

The main form of action in the game will mostly be escaping from ghosts of children that chase you around the school sometimes and also bits where you must save someone before their demise. It's not always possible to save people which can be frustrating to know which ones you failed to save and which ones you could do nothing about. There is also an interesting element to the game of collecting the ID cards of other people who were trapped in the school and died. Collecting these cards often reveals their fate and it's generally a nice touch to see how they behaved in the situation they were in.

The biggest weak point for some would be it's length. Seven to eight hours for the game without collecting all the endings I would imagine and at an £11.99 price tag, it could be a little much.

Regardless there is nothing quite like it out there and the closest is probably something like Sweet Home for the NES or Famicom Tantei Club I & II for the NES and SNES. Both of which are only in English via a translation patch. While I do recommend this game to anyone who likes RPGs and story heavy games. I only wish it was a fraction cheaper out of principle. 

My Score: An original game which shows just how much you can do with programs like the RPG Maker. 8/10

The People: I don't think there will be an area of people who wont like the pace of the game but fans of Japanese horror films should check it out. 7/10