What makes a remake worth playing? When should developers go back and change a game, and how much should they change? This week, the Triple Click crew tries to figure out when remakes work, when they don't work, and why. Plus: Kirk unveils his grand spectrum of Remakes, Remasters, and the Super Turbo Remake Plus.
Kirk’s Remake Spectrum*:
- Re-release (The original game, playable on new hardware)
- Remaster (visually enhanced version of the same game, same tech, etc.)
- Remaster Plus (A visual remaster that makes some changes to the gameplay - e.g. Skyward Sword, ME Trilogy)
- Remake (New engine/tech and new visuals, but makes a point of keeping the gameplay the same. E.g. SotC, Demon’s Souls, Diablo 2 Resurrected)
- Remake Plus (New engine and actual new gameplay/mechanics/etc. E.g. Black Mesa, Tomb Raider Anniversary)
- Reimagined Remake (Uses the original as a template to make major changes, e.g. Resident Evil 2 & 3 Remake)
- Super Turbo Remake Plus (There is only one of these and it is Final Fantasy VII Remake)
- Sequel or Reboot
*Note that these are stops along a continuous spectrum and not a series of discrete categorizations. Many games fall somewhere in between categories.
One More Thing:
Kirk: The White Lotus Reloaded
Maddy: Dark Souls
Jason: The Forgotten City
Links:
Mat Bradley-Tschirgi on why Final Fantasy shouldn’t be modernized: https://www.polygon.com/22648602/final-fantasy-original-ff1-retro-gaming-classic-pixel-version-steam-square-enix
Mike White’s New York interview about The White Lotus: https://www.vulture.com/article/the-white-lotus-finale-mike-white-interview-departures-ending.html
Slate’s Working podcast interview with White Lotus composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer:
https://slate.com/podcasts/working/2021/08/white-lotus-composer-cristobal-tapia-de-veer
Twenty Thousand Hertz episode about the Dies Irae (feat. Kirk): https://www.20k.org/episodes/diesirae
Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/join
Join the Triple Click Discord: http://discord.gg/tripleclickpod
Triple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/
