Game remakes

[Nebagram]

The recent announcement of the FF7 remake has got me thinking: how often do you see games that are completely rebuilt from the ground up, the way FF7 is apparently being, as opposed to simple spit & polish HD remasters? The only other ones I can think of are (ironically enough) Final Fantasies 3 and 4 on the DS, but there are surely others in gaming history?

[Tanooki]

I think this was done with the Mac version of Wing Commander and also Super Wing Commander. Unofficially entirely but Star Control 2 was redone under the Ur Quan Masters fairly recently into an HD format using both the PC and 3DO assets and then some. Ocarina of Time and Majora for the 3DS would fall into this group too as they were entirely redone, but I'm not so sure with Starfox 64 3DS as it has the N64 mode but it also has a 3DS one too which differs some, but it still mostly is just a graphics and audio bump. Super Mario 64 DS would fall into this, and it even added Luigi, Yoshi and Wario as players to use along with some other fluff and areas.

How about the work square did on Final Fantasy Type0 for the PSP going into the PS4? I've never played the handheld one to know if that one qualifies at all. I think though their GBA lineup of FF games would all count. FF1+2 clearly were entirely redone given they were on the NES/Famicom, and then FF4-6 unlike on the PS1 were also remade entirely down to the retranslation and inclusion of omitted stuff on the old carts on SNES/SFC.

[kupomogli]

The recent announcement of the FF7 remake has got me thinking: how often do you see games that are completely rebuilt from the ground up, the way FF7 is apparently being, as opposed to simple spit & polish HD remasters? The only other ones I can think of are (ironically enough) Final Fantasies 3 and 4 on the DS, but there are surely others in gaming history?

It really depends on how you view it. I'm also surprised a lot of these games I'm about to list didn't come to those who posted previously.

Graphical remakes like Final Fantasy Origins, Final Fantasy 2 Anniversary Editions, and Final Fantasy 4 Complete Collection upgrade the graphics. It's not just a standard port, it's not remastering the same graphics at a higher quality, it's brand new graphics that represent the original game. The Final Fantasy games usually add extra dungeons but the rest of the game is identical.

Here's a list of graphical remakes that I can think of off the top of my head.

Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy 2 Anniversary Edition
Final Fantasy 4 Complete Collection
Super Mario All Stars
Dragon Quest 1 and 2
Dragon Quest 3 GameBoy Color
Dragon Quest 3 Super Famicom

Then there are remakes that are both graphical remakes, but also changes the overall game, which I assume Final Fantasy 7 will be under. Some more than others, but all of the titles listed below have some changes that make them completely different than the game they're based off of, even though they're the same. Don't agree? Name a game and I'll point out why there are major differences that make it different from the original.

Brigandine Grand Edition - Remake of Brigandine Legend of Forsena
Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles - Remake of Rondo of Blood
Super Castlevania 4 - Remake of Castlevania
Castlevania Chronicles - Remake of Castlevania
Dragon Quest 4 Chapters of the Chosen
Dragon Quest 5 Hand of the Heavenly Bridge
Dragon Quest 6 Realms of Revelation
Dragon Quest 7 3DS(Never played, but from what I've seen.)
DuckTales Remastered
Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls and 1 Anniversary
Final Fantasy 3 DS
Final Fantasy 4 DS
Lufia Curse of the Sinistrals - Remake of Lufia 2
Lunar 1 and 2 Complete - Remake of Lunar 1 and 2
Lunar Legend and maybe Silver Star Harmony - Remake of Lunar (Haven't played Silver Star Harmony.)
Resident Evil Gamecube remake
Star Ocean First Departure - Remake of Star Ocean
Sword of Mana - Remake of the first Seiken Densetsu/Mana game
Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together - Remake of Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together(non graphical other than a filter.)
Tomb Raider Anniversary - Remake of Tomb Raider
Wild ARMs Alter Code F - Remake of Wild ARMs
Ys 1 and 2 Chronicles and others - Remake of Ys 1 and 2
Ys Oath in Felghana - Remake of Ys 3 Wanderers of Ys
Ys Celceta Sea of Trees - Remake of Ys 4

Then there are reboots. Self explanatory. Same name, different game. Just some examples.

DmC Devil May Cry
Ninja Gaiden
Tomb Raider

*edit*

Added a few others. Not sure why I didn't list Ys 1 and 2 and Ys4 remakes in the first place. There's also Military Madness Nectaris which I didn't add as I didn't play and don't know if it's actually made any major changes or if it's just a graphical upgrade.

[celerystalker]

I can think of a handful. Super Mario All-Stars added some features like saving on top of new graphics

The majority of the Sega Ages 2500 line on PS2 completely remade several Sega classics. Most suck, but some, like Alien Syndrome and Gain Ground, were pretty awesome.

Cave Story 3D was a heavy overhaul of the original.

Super Mario 64 DS was a large-scale remake.

Impossible Mission on DS had the original and an overhaul.

A Boy and His Blob on Wii was a complete reboot.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask both got pretty big revisions on 3DS.

Castlevania: Rebirth on Wii Ware was a total remake

Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai on PS3 was a total rebuild of the PCE/Famicom classic with a metric ton of bonus content.

The Falcom Classics collections on Saturn are great big remakes of great games. Y's has been remade so often.

Speaking of so often, Lunar has been remade at least 3 times.

The more I think of this, the more spring to mind, so I'll stop it there.

[Scissors]

To add to what kupomogli posted, Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V had two remakes each. DQIV on PS1 and DS, DQV on PS2 and DS.

The Super Famicom game Romancing SaGa was also remade twice, on Wonderswan Color and PS2.

The original SaGa (AKA Final Fantasy Legend) was remade on Wonderswan Color too.

SaGa 2 and 3 got DS remakes.

[Leo_A]

Super Mario 64 DS was a large-scale remake.

Not really...

Lost a few effects like the layer of mist that you can see in Jolly Roger Bay on certain stars and grass in a level was modified to look like Fall, but the additions are quite minor.

-Three playable characters were added, none of which really changes up how you play to a major degree.
-A handful of minor areas were added, mostly in the three new areas where you unlock Mario, Luigi, and Wario.
-A few minor stars were added to bump the count up (Usually, secret stars handed out by talking to Toads or timed switch stars in the 15 existing worlds).
-A few existing stars were modified slightly to mandate the use of a different character (Like encasing one in ice so Yoshi must be used to swallow flames from a nearby bonfire to melt the star out).
-Rabbits are everywhere once 150 stars are collected, which the player must catch to unlock minigames outside the main game.

While a fine conversion, I really feel like it's quite incorrect to refer to this one as a remake. Does a disservice to efforts like Metroid: Zero Mission that aren't just ports with a few minor enhancements and differences.

Here's a list of graphical remakes that I can think of off the top of my head.

Super Mario All Stars

I rather like the modern term of remastering for a case such as this one, where it's almost an exact 1:1 conversion of the originals with just a new graphical skin and polished up audio for the primary modifications.

[celerystalker]

Not really...

Lost a few effects like the layer of mist that you can see in Jolly Roger Bay and grass in a level was modified to look like Fall, but the additions are quite minor.

-Three playable characters were added, none of which really changes up how you play to a major degree.
-A handful of minor areas were added, mostly in the three new areas where you unlock Mario, Luigi, and Wario.
-A few minor stars were added to bump the count up (Usually, secret stars handed out by a Toads or timed switch stars in existing levels).
-A few existing stars were modified slightly to mandate the use of a different character (Like encasing one in ice so Yoshi must be used to swallow flames from a nearby bonfire to melt the star out).
-Rabbits are everywhere once 150 stars are collected, to catch to unlock minigames outside SM64DS.

That's adding what was 25% of the original star count. That's a lot to me, as is quadrupling the number of characters. That's quite a bit of content to me, but we quibble over semantics. It's a remake with new content, the degree of which I guess is subjective.

[Leo_A]

That's adding what was 25% of the original star count.

Like I said though, the 30 added stars are almost all minor deals that lack any substance.

Take the added star to World 1 (Bob-omb Battlefield). It's what's called a Silver Star challenge, something that was added to Super Mario 64 DS. To get it, you simply collect five silver stars that are bouncing around the level, made even more basic and pointless since the map on the touch screen shows you exactly where they all are.

Another tasks you to collect 8 red coins scattered around the castle's small courtyard that serves as an entrance to the ghost house world. Many others are switch stars that you activate and then run before the 15 second or so timer expires and the star disappears. And so on and so on...

I've beat the DS conversion fully so much that I've deleted saves numerous times just to clear a new save slot to use. While a great effort that works surprisingly well with the d-pad, the additions and modifications are quite minor here in my opinion (like the additional 30 stars that sound much more appealing on paper than they are in practice).

The appeal here is that it's a handheld port of Super Mario 64. Anyone expecting a remake of the 1996 N64 classic was in for a disappointment as I see it. At best, while it's much more a port than anything else, I'd say referring to it as a remix is more accurate than calling it a remake.

[celerystalker]

I get it, and I agree that it's not nearly the scale of Zero Mission, which is absolutely top flight, but what you call minor details added a lot for me, as I played the original through at least 15 times collecting everything, but hey, to each his own. I do agree that it's nowhere near the scale of Zero Mission, but it adds at least as much to talk about as many of the Final Fantasy remakes such as the Wonderswan port. A few name changes, some graphical upgrades, but not a total reimagining like Zero Mission, but it's a remake all the same.

[sfchakan]

Metroid Zero Mission is a fantastic game.

[Flojomojo]

Sid Meier's Pirates! has been been redone many times. The original, the Gold! version, the modern one with 3D graphics, and the many portable and touch versions of that one that have come alone.

Many Star Wars games have revisited the events of the films, especially the trench run and the battle on the ice planet.

Also, roguelikes!

[The 1 2 P]

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary wasn't a typical HD port remake. 343 went all out on the visuals and added a lot of stuff not in the original such as skulls, terminals and kinect voice support. And the ability to switch back and forth between the old visuals and new ones showed just how far the remake had come.