What Are Remasters And Remakes In Video Games

Game Lesson

When you see a game release for the first time, there is a chance that game will get released again years later. The reasons for this are many such as: a port, a different edition, a game collection, a remaster version, a remake version and others. This discussion will focus on Remasters and Remakes of a video game.

Post Discussion List

• What is a remaster?
• What is a remake?
• Are they a good idea to create?
• Which one should be made?
• My top 5 of both versions

By the time you read this, you should know a lot about Remasters and Remakes and what is the difference.

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What Is A Remaster?

Remaster: Is a re-release of a game, that has improvements in certain areas from the original.

A game can have the opportunity to become a Remaster, a Remake or both. Remasters should be better than the original in different parts, that mostly includes: the graphics (now in HD), audio, user interface, certain moments in the game, and sometimes improvements in game play.

The changes in a Remaster are slightly better, in having different textures, better lighting, and improved physics. The biggest thing anyone can notice in a Remaster, are the graphics and how it runs, which deals with Frame Rate. I like Remasters for old games because the visuals are more clear and crisp to see in HD.

Game Example:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD had a part in the game where the Triforce Shards had less maps to track down. This was a convenient change to make that task easier, by saving time.

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Video Example: Here is a good video comparison of the visuals of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X HD Remaster.

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What Is A Remake?

Remake: Is a re-release of a game, that has major improvements in everything. The development is started completely from scratch.

A Remake is just like a Remaster, but a Whole Lot Better. The difference is a Remake is build from the ground up, meaning it starts development from scratch. That’s right, everything from art to music is done all over again. The art is the biggest difference and by playing the game, you can tell it is not the original.

Another good thing is that the developers can change anything that was bad from the first one (you know, learn from their mistakes). For some games, Remakes can add things that the original did not have, whether planned or not. To me Remakes feel fresh because the game is the same, but has a new feeling to it.

Game Example:

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Addition has a new section of the game that was removed from the original, but is in the new Remake version.

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Video Example: This is an example of a Remake version compared to the original of Spyro the Dragon.

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Are They A Good Idea To Create?

YES

They can benefit both the customer and the developer.

Customer

The first reason is nostalgia for old fans. In a player’s point of view, seeing one announced would make that person glad because its a game they like, and would not mind to play it on a newer console.

The other reason are new customers. Its a chance for someone who have never played the original, can have the opportunity to play the new version in the present time. For today this is huge because people who have the new consoles can only play what is available to them thru services, ports, Remasters and Remakes.

Developer

For the game developers, its a good way for them to make more money (looks like extra money to me). Its a really smart idea for the big companies, (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) as a way to have a game to release in the overall release plans for the year.

It is not a new game, but its something they can have in the calendar that people can play. I think having more games coming out is always good no matter what, however that is also a problem. Some people think having Remasters and Remakes are filling in space and is boring because it is not a new game.

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Which One Should Be Made?

This depends on a lot of things, like: is it worth to spend time on, cost to develop, which game would sell more, what fans want, the timing and more. These examples depends on the developer’s business situations and what they think is a good choice. That’s probably why we have never seen certain games get any treatment.

I think which one that would benefit both the company and the customer is best. Most of the time, it would be the first game of a franchise or the most popular game in the past, that also sold really well. Look at the Final Fantasy seven remake. There is a reason why Square Enix chose that Final Fantasy game to get remade like that, instead of a different one.

I noticed that the last decade (2010-2020) was the decade of Remaster and Remakes. There were a lot of games that has done one or the other in the last ten years. Here is a list of games that are a Remaster or Remake.

•  The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
• Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far
• Call of the Duty Modern Warfare Remastered
• Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
• Final Fantasy X & X-2 HD
• Okami HD
• New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
• Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy
• Shadow of The Colossus
• Metroid II: Return of Samus
• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentina
• Resident Evil 2
• Cave Story 3D
• Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Many More

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5 Games That I Want To Get Any Version

Remake

•  Super Mario Land 1&2
• Sonic Adventure or Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)
• The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
• Chrono Trigger
• Kingdom Hearts 1

I made the list based on what I want and not being realistic. I see some of these will not be made, but that’s the fun of it. I would like Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link to do a Remake so the developers can have another chance to make them. I am really interested to see how better they would be.

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Conclusion

Remasters and Remakes purpose is to revive a game that has already been made in the past. Its for players who knows the original game and to get new players interested. Remasters and Remakes are really for the old games, starting from five to ten years or older. As for the future of them, I don’t see this stopping at all.

That’s all I have for this post. Tell me in the comments what games do you want to have a Remaster or Remake, and do you like the idea of them. I know there is controversy in this topic because some people actually prefer the original.

The reasons are the visual changes looks worse for Remasters, and the debate on should Remakes be close to the original game or should they try something different. Hey, that’s a topic to make for a post.

My First Blog Post

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Examples I can think of are: Is this too much information, is the structure of topics good, is there too many or too less images and videos, should the sections be their own blog post and anything else you can come up with that is a better idea. I would appreciate it.

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