Remake Heaven

Who needs sequels when you can take the franchise originator -- almost always the most superior in quality, whether you're talking games or movies -- and slap on a fresh coat of paint for a new generation to enjoy?

Ubisoft and Sierra are pulling out the fan service for two older titles, one of which is fairly recent, with the other going way, way back to 1989.

I speak of course about The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and Prince of Persia Classic.

Slap that jump for more information...

Assault on Dark Athena is the upcoming, extended X360 remake of the highly-acclaimed The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Developer Starbreeze Studios is slapping on a fresh coat of paint, adding a developer's commentary audio track and adding a sort of epilogue chapter that was not included in the Xbox version of the game. Oh yes, and online multiplayer will be included as well.

Overall, I think this is sweet because I missed the boat on Butcher Bay and I've heard nothing but high praise for it. The original Xbox version is not due for a backwards-compat treatment either, so if we are to take this next-gen remake in lieu of that, I can only say: Why Not?

Going back further into our past, we have Ubisoft's reimagining of Jordan Mechner's classic platformer, Prince of Persia. Released in 1989 for the PC, this game pretty much took the 2D side-scrolling adventure game to whole new levels and influenced many games in the years since. The remake is being handled by cellphone games developer, Gameloft and as you can see from the above screenshot, it is looking stunning. Aside from the cosmetic update, Gameloft is pretty much leaving the level designs untouched, with a few welcome tweaks to the combat system to make those sword fights even more exciting. The game is due out on Xbox Live Arcade sometime this summer and will likely sell for 800 MS points.

I know it's still too early to tell how good prince of Persia Classic will be, but I'm just going to make a confession to Microsoft right now. I will gladly pay 800 MS points for ANY retro title you release, so long as it is updated lovingly to conform to today's higher production standards. Just pick a good classic (no Xevious garbage, please), hand it over to a competent developer, let them work their magic and slap the 800-point sticker price on the final product. Sold. Done.

On a similar note, I would love to see more next-gen remakes done of old games or games created by defunct studios. For example, I want someone to step up and do a X360 version of the first Deus Ex. Or how about some next-gen love for Thief or the original Half-Life? There's nostalgia to be mined and money to be made, people.

Of course, one could argue that remakes are a mark of laziness and even a lower form of cranking out sequels to cash in on a successful IP. I can sympathize with that perspective, if the remakes were done poorly or based on a truly crappy old game. I'm just talking about revitalizing a great, classic game and exposing it to a brand new audience. They would also be pleasing the veterans who experienced the greatness the first time around but want another taste.

As it stands, I'm looking forward to both the Riddick and Prince remakes very much. I hope they succeed and inspire more publishers to not simply reissue, but reimagine and enchance tried-and-true classic games of the past.