New games are great, but there is nothing like seeing a beloved title that was once long lost to time re-emerge in a delicious remake. One of the best examples of that was this year’s Resident Evil 2 remake. On a smaller scale, being able to play collections like the Mana one for Nintendo Switch, also from this year, was great, too.
Whether we are talking about full remakes, collections, or ports, there are a few things that we would like to see implanted in all of these games going forward. The following is a wish list of sorts from art galleries to rom hacks. We thought of it all... probably. Here are 10 features that need to be in every video game remaster.
10 Save States
NES games were brutal back in the 80's and 90's. This was mostly due to limited lives and because checkpoints could be far and few between. We’re looking at you, Ninja Gaiden! This meant players had to retread levels over and over again. Thankfully, that hiccup was curved thanks to emulation, which introduced Save States.
Having the ability to save anywhere is a must for all retro collections going forward. When it comes to the NES, SNES, and other older games of this era, they are usually included. However, it would be nice for modern collections to get this feature, too.
9 Rewind And Fast Forward
Another feature that coincides with Save States is having the ability to fast-forward and rewind time. The best implementation of this was in the SNES Classic, which constantly recording small snippets of gameplay.
This meant that players could go back in time in case they died without having to rely on a Save State. The fast-forwarding feature, to our knowledge, has not really been implemented as much. The most notable one in recent memory was the remaster of Final Fantasy XII, which allowed players speed up time, which made the grind easier to swallow.
8 Art Gallery
This bonus may not be for everybody, but a lot of people would probably be interested in an art gallery. The two Mega Man collections are perfect examples. There is box art from different regions along with sketches of content on the game along with some cut stuff as well.
In the first game, there was going to be an enemy called Bond Man. That’s the kind of revelations that we want from art!
7 Multiple Versions
On the subject of seeing box art from around the world, it would be nice to play alternate versions of games too. Mega Man X provided both the North American and the Japanese releases of all eight games. Unfortunately, not a lot changed in between the original and the Western releases, but it was still a nice touch.
There are better examples of this, but they haven’t been in any re-releases collections. For example, Super Mario Bros. 2 was completely different in Japan. We wrote about this subject in greater detail a while ago.
6 Photo Mode
One of the coolest additions to this console generation, including the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, was adding in ways to capture video and screenshots. As writers, it has helped us out a lot. As good as those features are, this is one mechanic that surpasses those and it differs from game to game.
We’re talking about Photo Modes. Some of the best most recent examples include Marvel’s Spider-Man and God of War. Being able to pause the game and shift the camera around for epic shots is such a good idea.
5 Documentaries
To coincide with video game releases, companies have starting releasing documentaries both prior to and post launch. God of War, to bring it up again, has a great post game documentary. One of the best out there is Double Fine’s production of Broken Age.
These two examples are all free on YouTube, which is great, but packaging them in games would also be a nice plus. Dare we further wish for audio commentaries?
4 Graphical Switching
Not many games have tried this out and for good reason. The Halo remasters of the first two games allowed players to swap between the new graphics and the old ones to see how far technology has come. It is neat, but it also presented problems.
That is to say this meant 343 Industries could not alter the original games to fix problems present before. That’s kind of why the release of that collection was steeped in difficulties. Some company can surely figure out to do this better though, right?
3 Cheats
Using Save States and using time manipulation can only get people so far. That’s why cheats also need to make a return. In the heyday of the 80s and 90s most console games had hidden codes players could input for extra lives, or other bonuses.
The best example of this is the infamous Konami Code. There were also cheat devices that could offer better advantages like with the Game Genie. Allowing access to those codes in Mega Man, for example, would make hard games like that easier to get through for those having troubles.
2 Commercials And Trailers
Another museum type addition that would be lovely would be to add video game commercials and trailers. Let’s also make sure they cover multiple regions as well because Japan has and always will have better ads for video games. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past’s Japanese commercial is a great example.
Like the documentary example, YouTube has made it so that this feature does not have to be on a disc, or cart. The digital age is great, but having a hard copy of said material is always a plus too. That is definitely a generational thing though.
1 Rom Hacks
The hardest wish for this list to grant would be companies allowing rom hacks to exist on their collections and ports. The biggest reason that would lock this up is legal in nature. Do these companies owe the creators money for their hacks even though they are based on their games?
It's muddy waters to cross, just like emulation in general. That won’t stop us from crossing our fingers though. Nintendo kind of tried it with NES Remix so there is hope.