Old School Classics in Need of New School Remakes

Everything old is new again when a new generation of game consoles rolls around, giving classic series of yesteryear a second lease on life in the form of reboots, remakes and re-envisionings.

While the most recent generation saw its fair share of these reinstated classics and HD remakes, a new console generation could mark the perfect time to bring back heroes, villains and worlds that gamers haven’t visited in more than a decade. From the Blue Bomber, to a frantically spinning marsupial, it’s high time some familiar faces make a triumphant return on the Wii U, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Mega Man for Wii U

The original Mega Man stormed onto the scene back in 1987, featuring a kind-hearted robot (if robots can have hearts, kind or otherwise, of course) on a quest to save the world from the eight diabolical creations of the evil Dr. Wiley. Since then, Mega Man has appeared in dozens upon dozens of games but, for the core series, the formula has always remained the same: pick a themed level, battle your way to the boss by jumping, sliding and shooting through hordes of robot enemies, then overthrow the boss in order to gain a new ability that will help you progress even further into the game. During the PS3/Xbox 360/Wii era, Mega Man fans saw the introduction of two new games, 9 and 10, that were basically built to be pixel-perfect homages to the Nintendo games of old. But how about a new Mega Man for a new generation? A proper next gen sequel is beyond due, offering updated graphics, finely-tuned mechanics, a soundtrack that blends old and new, and a brand new adventure that reminds gamers what made the Blue Bomber such a legendary character in the first place.

Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation 4

Most modern gamers know developer Naughty Dog for their work on the PlayStation 3 hits Uncharted and The Last of Us. Where the studio really got its foothold in the Sony line of consoles, however, is with the Crash Bandicoot series. The original PlayStation’s answer to Mario, Crash Bandicoot was all about running, jumping, spinning and collecting various items through imaginative worlds requiring quick reflexes and expert timing. The original Crash trilogy holds up to this day and, let’s face it, the most recent console generation has proven that smaller, less costly games can be just as exciting and rewarding as a AAA masterpiece. Wouldn’t it be great to see a small team at Naughty Dog break off for about a year to build a brand new Crash Bandicoot game for the PlayStation 4, offering all of the platforming goodness that made the series so wonderful 15 years ago with 1080p graphics, leaderboard integration and perhaps some sort of fun co-op or multiplayer component?

MechAssault for Xbox One

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from movies like Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim and popular games like Battlefield 4, it’s that modern media fans love giant robots and shooting things. The original Xbox sported a great action series called MechAssault that put players behind the controls of a giant robot that, appropriately enough, shot things. With the Xbox One in need of some new titles and gamers clamoring for more multiplayer options, a downloadable MechAssault reboot would be perfect for this new generation of consoles. No need to worry about a single player campaign here, just some solid mech controls, plenty of destructible maps to explore and all of the modern trimmings including shiny HD graphics, clan support, stat tracking, leaderboards, etc. Microsoft is slowly but surely pushing for second screen experiences too, and this type of game would be perfect for an off-screen companion app featuring a live map, inventory and the like.