Remakes in the movie, television and video game industries are very common, but they are often unsuccessful. Did you know that ABC Family is making a “10 Things I Hate About You” sitcom?
“The Italian Job?” Great. “Godzilla?” Terrible. What about “Psycho?”
The trend follows in video games. Prince of Persia and the Final Fantasy III remake on the DS were epic successes. But pretty much every attempt to recapture the addiction we found in Contra has been an epic failure.
Here’s, in no particular order, a list of Five NES games that haven’t — but should — be remade in the modern era:
The Adventures of Bayou Billy – Konami, 1989
An absurdly difficult game, but so ahead of its time. The Adventures of Bayou Billy featured shooting, fighting and driving.
And some of the most catchy music and SFX of its era.
Billy hasn’t been since his 1989 debut.
Kung Fu – Irem, 1985
How many times can you save Sylvia?
The game that never ends saw a sequel in Japan but nothing in the modern era and nothing in US since it came out in 1985.
Bubble Bubble – Taito, 1988
The Bubble Dragons Bub and Bob journey to the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girls from the evil Grumple Gromit.
Why haven’t we seen this since? Bubble Bubble is easily an NES top 20.
Crystalis – SNK, 1990
Crystalis did have a port made on the GBC in 2000, but now that it’s been 20 years since this top-down RPG was released, we should get to experience it all over again.
The game has great elements of post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk. It’s a sleeper in a world of Final Fantasy and even, at its time, the Phantasy Star series on the Sega platforms.
Faxanadu – Falcom, 1989
Faxanadu is an obscure little title from the late 1980s.
In Faxanadu, you return the Elven castle town of Eolis after many years to find it a near ghost town. Meteors have fallen to Earth, bringing “The Evil One” with them. It’s up to you to destroy evil.
Very similar feeling to Zelda II.
What did I miss? Leave comments!
These are all amazing suggestions.