We've seen them. We heard of them. Some of us may have even played a few. But they exist. I kinda wanna ramble about them for a bit.
The basic concept behind these is to take a game, and put in on an HD console. This isn't quite emulation, however; this is actually porting the game to a newer console, and making the code run on it natively.
Now, I believe there is merit to remastering old games; to give those who wanna play an old favorite in true HD a shot at doing just that, while giving those who missed out on the game the first time around a chance at trying out a game. Some of these come out as part of a promotion for a sequel; this gives those who missed out a shot to try out the original on newer hardware.
Now, as with all porting jobs, there are good ones, and there are bad ones. The good ones can make a game shine, while the bad ones can make one wonder how the game can run worse on more powerful hardware.
Let me start with the bad; I haven't played it personally, but I hear the remastering job on the Silent Hill HD Collection is pretty bad, even putting into account the new voice acting, thanks to some glitches and such that didn't exist in the originals. This is thanks in part to the original source codes being gone, but I have heard there were ways around that that the developers did not take advantage of.
And if you want an example of a remaster I experienced, the PS3 versions of the Sly Cooper trilogy were not as good as the originals. They're certainly playable, but there are audio and gameplay glitches that simply did not exist in the PS2 originals. It's obvious Sanzaru wasn't the best company suited to porting this; I hear they did it to be able to make a fourth installment (and to be fair, the resulting game was fantastic). I think it shows. I hear the PS Vita versions weren't so great, either. In other words, the PS2 originals remain the best way to play these great games, in my opinion.
But that's not to say there aren't any good remasters. Some of the best ones come from Bluepoint Games, who seems to have a team of people who are so good at porting, they were able to make Titanfall run on the Xbox 360 as well as it did. But their remasters include the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, the God of War remasters, and Gravity Rush Remastered. Basically, these guys have a very good track record, and I wish they had made the Sly Cooper HD Collection instead.
And of course, I hear Okami HD is also good. Good enough for Hideki Kamiya himself to give it his approval despite not working on this version of the game.
For ones I personally played, I found the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection good. I honestly wondered how SotC could even run on PS2 hardware. Answer; the PS3 version actually fixed some technical issues found in the original.
Now, I'm considering Gravity Rush Remastered. I prefer physical copies, but the American ones go for a lot of money. Fortunately, the Asian English and UK releases seem cheaper, and as far as I know, they should run fine on my PS4 without mods, so I'm considering doing it that way instead. I actually prefer the cover the UK got.
What are your thoughts? What remasters have you played, or are thinking about playing, and what is good and what is bad?
The basic concept behind these is to take a game, and put in on an HD console. This isn't quite emulation, however; this is actually porting the game to a newer console, and making the code run on it natively.
Now, I believe there is merit to remastering old games; to give those who wanna play an old favorite in true HD a shot at doing just that, while giving those who missed out on the game the first time around a chance at trying out a game. Some of these come out as part of a promotion for a sequel; this gives those who missed out a shot to try out the original on newer hardware.
Now, as with all porting jobs, there are good ones, and there are bad ones. The good ones can make a game shine, while the bad ones can make one wonder how the game can run worse on more powerful hardware.
Let me start with the bad; I haven't played it personally, but I hear the remastering job on the Silent Hill HD Collection is pretty bad, even putting into account the new voice acting, thanks to some glitches and such that didn't exist in the originals. This is thanks in part to the original source codes being gone, but I have heard there were ways around that that the developers did not take advantage of.
And if you want an example of a remaster I experienced, the PS3 versions of the Sly Cooper trilogy were not as good as the originals. They're certainly playable, but there are audio and gameplay glitches that simply did not exist in the PS2 originals. It's obvious Sanzaru wasn't the best company suited to porting this; I hear they did it to be able to make a fourth installment (and to be fair, the resulting game was fantastic). I think it shows. I hear the PS Vita versions weren't so great, either. In other words, the PS2 originals remain the best way to play these great games, in my opinion.
But that's not to say there aren't any good remasters. Some of the best ones come from Bluepoint Games, who seems to have a team of people who are so good at porting, they were able to make Titanfall run on the Xbox 360 as well as it did. But their remasters include the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, the God of War remasters, and Gravity Rush Remastered. Basically, these guys have a very good track record, and I wish they had made the Sly Cooper HD Collection instead.
And of course, I hear Okami HD is also good. Good enough for Hideki Kamiya himself to give it his approval despite not working on this version of the game.
For ones I personally played, I found the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection good. I honestly wondered how SotC could even run on PS2 hardware. Answer; the PS3 version actually fixed some technical issues found in the original.
Now, I'm considering Gravity Rush Remastered. I prefer physical copies, but the American ones go for a lot of money. Fortunately, the Asian English and UK releases seem cheaper, and as far as I know, they should run fine on my PS4 without mods, so I'm considering doing it that way instead. I actually prefer the cover the UK got.
What are your thoughts? What remasters have you played, or are thinking about playing, and what is good and what is bad?
