Re-made games-different than film re-makes?

[celerystalker]

Recent talk about the Secret of Mana re-make has me thinking about why we don't react similarly to announced film re-makes.

Personally, I feel a lot of retread fatigue across the board. I don't feel like I need reboots of Spider-Man, Batman, Ghostbusters, etc. I feel the same way about most games, but I feel like we're more forgiving with video games, using less scrutiny in our approach to similar announcements.

I fall into the same trap even. While I instantly felt annoyed at the Secret of Mana announcement, I was more forgiving about the Metroid II re-make coming out shortly. Part of this may be a larger perceived gap for improvement, and the original Game Boy game has a lot to gain from proper color alone compared to a robust SNES game. At the same time, I don't feel that way about black and white films having a lot to gain from a retread.

I know that if they announced a new re-make of Star Wars starring the Rock as Han Solo, I'd be irritated. Are classic sprites and chip tunes less important than original actors and effects?

Curious to hear thoughts.

[Aussie2B]

I feel like the most significant difference between video game and movie remakes is that, in my opinion, the average video game remake is of much higher quality than the average move remake. With the latter, I typically feel movie remakes range from mildly worse to hugely worse, and thus they feel pointless and like an insult to the fans of the older version. It's rare that I feel a video game remake surpasses the original, but I often feel game remakes are about on par and are worthwhile for offering a slightly different experience.

Video game remakes are sometimes faaaaar more faithful to the source than the average movie remake. Such is the case with these Mana remakes. Adventures of Mana is literally Final Fantasy Adventure in 3D, except with just a few minor conveniences like attacking diagonally. You can use the same maps and walkthroughs for Final Fantasy Adventure with Adventures of Mana. You suggest that developers are treating the original sprites and chip tunes as unimportant, but I think it's just the opposite. I think many have a huge amount of respect for the source material. Secret of Mana retains the exact same art style, just in 3D. In fact, some remakes use their more advanced technology to be MORE faithful to the original character designs than the original version of the game could be in simplistic sprites. Such is the case with Final Fantasy remakes and better replicating Amano's designs. And with the music in the Mana remakes, you can switch on the fly between the new arrangements and the old tracks, and the original composer of Secret of Mana, Hiroki Kikuta, has been brought back to work on the arranged score in the remake. Most creative types (composers, artists, writers, etc.) hate when a much older work of theirs is treated as their masterwork, as if nothing they could make in the present could possibly be as good. In their minds, they've only improved since those days, so I'm sure somebody like Kikuta relishes the opportunity to revisit this much-loved older work of his and show what he can do with those compositions these days.

There's also the matter of access. Most older movies aren't particularly difficult to access. They're still played on TV, available via streaming services, and they're often available on Blu-ray or at least DVD. With video games, legal access to older titles gets a lot trickier. For those of us who already own dozens of retro systems and hundreds or even thousands of retro games, access is no big thing. But let's say somebody wants to play Secret of Mana right now without already owning it. If they don't have a SNES, they're looking at likely spending $125 just to get the system and a loose cart of Secret of Mana. They could try to get a SNES Classic, but good luck with that. If they still have a Wii kicking around, it's on Virtual Console (it's not on any more modern Nintendo system's VC, as best as I can tell). And if you're really desperate, you could settle for the mobile release. All of these options have issues, in my opinion, and this is an example of a retro game with far more buying options than most. But with the upcoming remake, people can pay $40 at full price (but it'll surely have a Steam launch discount and be on sale on PSN eventually), which is cheaper than buying the SNES cart or getting a SNES Classic, and they'll be able to play it on Vita, PS4, of PC, all modern platforms. The Vita version in particular is nice because it offers the first legitimate handheld version of the game (smartphones are portable but not true handheld video game systems). So even if us curmudgeonly retro gamers want to pooh-pooh all remakes just because they're different, there's no denying that they're wonderful for introducing whole new generations of gamers to the classics we love.

Finally, there's also the rapid technological advancement in games versus that in movies. The evolution of the latter doesn't feel nearly as swift, so combined with the easier access, old movies don't feel so "old". Remakes of movies seem less warranted and like they have less to offer in terms of a worthwhile difference. Despite that, they sometimes come even faster than video game remakes. The 00s Spider-Man trilogy feels like it came out just yesterday to me still, and there were only 5 years between the third movie of the 00s trilogy and the beginning of this decade's reboot. In comparison, there will be nearly 25 years between the release of Secret of Mana and its remake. Even longer between the two versions of Metroid II.

I don't really understand why you describe it as a "trap" not to look at a remake cynically. Why is it a bad thing to be excited for a remake? And why is it praiseworthy to be annoyed by a remake announcement? If I could, I wish I could be excited for and enjoy every remake. When I can't, I strive for simple disinterest. Life is too short to waste time being annoyed by something that has no negative impact on the source material you love. The Secret of Mana remake certainly isn't going to make the original version of Secret of Mana cease to exist. I also certainly don't want to deny others the opportunity to enjoy remakes just because, for me, they may seem unneeded. Personally, I feel opposite about the Secret of Mana and Metroid II remakes than you. It's the latter that I'm worried about. I'm cool with the idea of a Metroid II remake, but I don't think Nintendo ever should've passed it off to MercurySteam. They've already tarnished the Castlevania franchise with their junky games, and I worry they'll do the same to Metroid. From the video footage, I also feel like the Metroid II remake isn't capturing the same kind of creepy atmosphere as the original, whereas the Secret of Mana remake looks extremely faithful.

[celerystalker]

I don't mean a "trap" so much as praise for cynicism so much as a personal inconsistency in the way I react.

[Aussie2B]

That inconsistency is only natural, I'd say. It'd be more bizarre for someone to be excited about literally every single game remake or disinterested in literally every single one. Just like with game announcements in general, some are going to look appealing and some aren't, and which are which will vary from individual to individual. I definitely wouldn't say it's any kind of flawed judgment to feel that way.

[celerystalker]

I agree that it's natural, for sure. I just wonder, at least within myself, why it is that I have very different attitudes toward different media. Music and movies tend to draw more immediate criticism, whereas games, where I am most opinionated, also tend to get the most open mind. I suppose it's different for everyone, which is where I appreciate hearing opinions like yours.

Within the spectrum of games, I think I tend to evaluate different franchises or companies on different curves. For instance, I don't have a lot of faith in Square Enix to produce something I'll enjoy these days, but Nintendo, while I've not liked much from recently, I give a more 50/50 approach. Granted, personal history is going to carry bias alongside it, but even my negative reactions toward games are soft compared to other media.

Not really a concern so much as a ponderance.

[kupomogli]

One thing to add about game remakes over movie remakes, is that in these video game remakes you're getting the exact same character. As you stated, in many remakes you're getting an entirely different actor, in the game remakes you're getting the exact same character and many times it's the exact same voice actor, and if it isn't, the voice actor has a similar voice(or alters the voice to sound similar.)

Now I will admit after hearing about the Secret of Mana remake, I got a little annoyed because of it, but it's not because of the remake itself, it's because everything announced lately is a remake rather than a new game. Within the year we'll be getting releases of or have received an announcement of Secret of Mana, Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Crash Bandicoot, Dissidia Final Fantasy, Metroid Samus Returns, and that's not even counting the remasters that are still announced daily. I guess it still irritates me that remasters are still being announced this day and the fact that remakes aren't exactly new games.

Despite being annoyed at first, I'm actually excited for the remake of Secret of Mana, it's a game I've enjoyed that's hopefully not going to be ruined by Square Enix. The game isn't going to be the exact same game remastered in higher resolution, it's going to have new graphics whether they're in 2D or 3D(in this case it's 3D) and I'll be able to play it on current hardware on an HDTV. Yakuza 1 is the exact same game with additional lines of dialogue in the Yakuza 0 graphics engine, Yakuza 2 is going to be remade in the Yakuza 6 graphics engine, Metroid Samus Returns is being remade using the Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate engine, and gameplay mechanics are completely different from any past Metroid. Crash Bandicoot was remade for the ground up, and while it's the same game, it's on next gen hardware with next gen graphics rather than the same games on PS1. Same thing can be said of past remakes like Final Fantasy 4 Complete Collection which is a graphical upgrade, Dracula X Chronicles which is a 3D graphics upgrade with changes to enemy AI and slight level design changes, along with one completely brand new level, truly the definitive version of Rondo of Blood imo, etc. These games are much more than remasters, even if they have only a graphics upgrade, I feel that they're worth the purchase as I'm not just buying the exact same game just with higher resolution. You've then got games like Ys Oath in Felghana which is a remake and the gameplay goes from 2D side scroller to a complete 3D world, and with Ark of Napishtim and this game, it's when I really became a fan of the series. The third one had different gameplay from the original two and the gameplay to the remake just completely changed everyone's opinion on the exact same game from the black sheep to the favorite in the series.

*edit*

Video game reboots are pretty much what movie remakes are, and while movies are only based on story, video games will also offer different gameplay. While I personally don't dislike movie remakes or video game reboots as long as they're good, you've got a lot of people who will bash on them simply because they're reboots. DmC Devil May Cry was going to be a failure to many people regardless of how good the game was(and as a DMC fan it's actually my personal favorite in the series, would highly recommend anyone with a PS4/Xbox One picking up the definitive edition,) because "emo Dante," etc, when in reality, the original four games had some pretty poor storyline with characters that were incredibly one dimensional with Dante being full of one liners, while DmC Devil May Cry combined the third games storyline along with the cult classic They Live and had characters who were more relatable, etc. Lords of Shadow got a lot of hate as well for being called Castlevania, but people became a bit more accepting of this one when they found out how good it was.

That being said, as reboots, video games still have their gameplay to fall back on, and people know that a reboot is going to be a different game, whether the storyline is similar or not. Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox and PS3 had nothing in common with the NES version for instance, the gameplay to Lords of Shadow was an action adventure type similar to Castlevania Lament of Innocence, but a very different game altogether, with a storyline that's nothing like any of the past games in the Castlevania franchise.

[Aussie2B]

Considering how poorly received brand new Mana games have been received for a long time now, it makes a lot more sense to produce faithful remakes, especially when they also offer the prospect of possibly getting the first ever Seiken Densetsu 3 localization. I think few people have any faith in Square Enix to create a new Mana game, or even a heavily re-imagined Mana a la Sword of Mana, that won't suck.

Yakuza Kiwami is another one I have preordered that I'm excited for. I think it's sorely needed. The original localization of the first Yakuza is an embarrassment, with cringey English dubbing. Later releases retained the Japanese voices and were subtitled. Now we have a remake that will match those later releases, allowing for a more seamless and enjoyable experience going through the series. Yakuza 6 is coming, and Yakuza 0 came out not terribly long ago, so we're not lacking in brand new Yakuza games either.

A Metroid II remake seems warranted too. While I think the assessment is hogwash myself, I can't count the number of times I've heard people describe Metroid II as "unplayable". They wish they could play it, but they rule it out on the basis that it's in black and white and has no map. For those reasons, many people find it too confusing and easy to get lost. A remake will address and resolve those complaints. I wish we could see a brand new side-scrolling Metroid game, which we haven't seen since Fusion, but there is Metroid Prime 4 on the way for those who want brand new Metroid games. I just can't play the Metroid Prime games myself because most first-person games give me motion sickness.