There are so many classic games from the past that have become difficult for new players to experience. The farther away in time we get from these games’ releases, the more difficult it can get to not only get the game itself but also the extra hardware needed to play them. That alone is a major barrier that turns people away from playing games many consider to be some of the greatest of all time. And that’s not even taking into account dated graphics, controls, and mechanics.
Remakes offer a new generation a chance to experience some of the most influential games of the past, as well as give fans of the originals a brand new way to play them all over again. The best remakes take what made a game so great before and modernize it for the current audience without losing that magical spark. It isn’t an easy process, but here are the games that managed to pull it off.
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As a small side note, we will only be including one game from each series rather than have, for example, three Resident Evil titles crowd the list.
Remake vs. remaster
Before getting to the good stuff, we thought it would be worth it to quickly clarify what the difference is between a remake and a remaster so you don’t get mad that your favorite game isn’t on this list. A remake is a game that is built either completely or nearly entirely so from the ground up based on the original game. At a minimum, the graphics and game engine need to be completely different from the original to qualify. The best remakes take it a step further and either change up how the game plays in some way, adds new content or features, or a combination of the two.
Remasters are more like ports. If the game is unchanged except for higher resolution — not to be confused with new graphics, better frame rates, or other technical boosts — but is in every other way identical, it is a remaster. Think of collections like the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection or The Nathan Drake Collection. These are the exact same games, only given a little bump by being put on new hardware. These are still great and do a lot for keeping older titles relevant and accessible, but they are not considered remakes.
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Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre Shooter, Puzzle, Adventure
Developer Capcom Development Division 1, Capcom
Publisher Capcom
Release March 24, 2023
The Resident Evil 4 remake, along with our next entry, were two of the riskiest games to remake we’ve seen to date. Both original games were seen as pioneers for their genre, as well as the industry at large. In Resident Evil 4 remake’s case, it was survival horror. Thankfully, Capcom has been on a roll with both new and remakes of the Resident Evil titles, with Resident Evil 4 remake probably being the pinnacle. This game is stunning visually but plays just as well as you would want. Leon is a little heavy, but can now move and shoot. Everything from the tone, environments, enemies, and even a few new pieces here and there all fit perfectly. As many times as you may have played the original, you’ll probably want to play the remake even more.
Read our full Resident Evil 4 review
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Platforms PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Genre Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer Square Enix
Publisher Square Enix
Release April 10, 2020
The only other contender that can match RE4 remake’s level, or even exceed it, is the long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Just like RE4, this remake completely flipped how the game played from the original. No longer a turn-based, fixed-camera RPG, FF7 R is a fully-3D action RPG with a few unique twists that harken back to its traditional roots. This was a major risk for Square-Enix to take, but it paid off in a massive way. Even giving these beloved characters voices with more personality, especially the lead character, Cloud, was handled about as flawlessly as possible. On a narrative level, Final Fantasy 7 Remake has major benefits and drawbacks. Without spoiling anything, the story of the original game isn’t followed exactly as it was told before. Not only are many concepts and characters expanded and fleshed out, but some events are new or even altered from the original. This game does only tell part of the story, not going beyond the city of Midgar, where the world really opens up. How the following parts, however many more there end up being, handle the rest of the remake may retroactively color how we feel about this first entry, but for now, it stands worthy of the legendary Final Fantasy 7 name.
Read our full Final Fantasy VII Remake review
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Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
Genre Shooter, Adventure
Developer Naughty Dog
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release September 01, 2022
Whether or not you think a game from 2013 deserved to be fully remade in 2022, no one can argue The Last of Us Part 1 wasn’t given full attention and effort by Naughty Dog. While some changes to things like character faces could be subjective as to whether or not they improve the experience, the core gameplay and story are exactly as you remember — only now frighteningly more realized. As is expected from Sony’s star studio, The Last of Us Part 1 might be one of the best-looking games on the console, especially in the fine details that the team is so good at. If you’ve never played the original, or remaster, and want to start this saga off on the right foot, The Last of Us Part 1 is the obvious choice.
Read our full The Last of Us Part I review
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Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre Simulator, Sport
Developer Vicarious Visions
Publisher Activision
Release September 04, 2020
Swinging wildly in terms of tone, the Tony Hawk 1 + 2 remake is like an injection of pure nostalgia straight into your veins. This series seriously fell off after the THUG series for most fans, so skepticism was high for this bundled remake. The biggest concern was with the licensed music, which was as much a part of the experience as all the flips and grinds. Thankfully, the team pulled off a near miracle and managed to get nearly every single song from the originals back. Every level, trick, and pro skater is back, plus a few modern tweaks that are more than welcome additions. Arcade skating never stopped being fun, and Tony Hawk 1 + 2 proves it.
Platforms Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Genre Shooter, Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer Crowbar Collective
Publisher Crowbar Collective
Release March 06, 2020
It’s hard to understate just how influential Half-Life was on gaming when it came out in 1998. It helped modernize modern FPS design, narrative, artificial intelligence (A.I.), and puzzles like no other game had done before. Heck, it even spawned a ton of amazing mods that turned into their own franchises, like Team Fortress and Counter-Strike. It was the game that put Valve on the map, leading to the even more popular sequel and the invention of the biggest PC marketplace of all time in Steam. Black Mesa is a fan project that began in 2012, looking to remake the original release on the Source engine. After getting approval from Valve to make it a full product, the game was released in early access in 2015 and finally finished in 2020. Beyond a much-needed facelift, Black Mesa included new puzzles, better A.I., more story elements, and a complete rework of the original Half-Life‘s final chapters. The Xen levels in the original were considered to be the only downright bad parts of that game. It was ugly, boring, and just not fun to play. Black Mesa completely remakes the ending of the game into something worthy of a game of that level.
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Platforms Nintendo Switch
Genre Shooter, Platform, Adventure
Developer Retro Studios
Publisher Nintendo
Release February 08, 2023
Whether you agree or not with Nintendo that it’s a proper FPS, Metroid Prime Remastered is the best shooter you play from a first-person perspective on the Switch. This remake remains very true to the original and just shows how solid Retro’s game design was back then. The improved controls are the real star here, considering the original didn’t even support dual analog. They call this a remaster, but it goes beyond that into full remake territory in our opinion in the same way Shadow of the Colossus does. You won’t find new content or new levels, but environments that look like they were made today, and running at an incredibly smooth frame rate. Not only is this a great primer (get it?) for the series, but makes us that more excited for whenever we do get Metroid Prime 4.
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Platforms PlayStation 5
Genre Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer Bluepoint Games
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release November 12, 2020
When Dark Souls hit cult-classic status and evolved into a mainstream hit, the series had already gone multiplatform, so anyone who wanted to could go back and experience this new style of game. Demon’s Souls, the true origin of the formula that Dark Souls would iterate on, was not so fortunate. This game was locked on the PlayStation 3, which severely limited the number of people who could go back to see where the Souls formula really began. Fast forward three Dark Souls games and one Bloodborne and Sekrio, and the hunger for anything and everything made by FromSoftware remains at an all-time high. It was the perfect opportunity for Sony, who owns the Demon’s Souls IP, to have the talented team at Bluepoint games remake the game for the launch of the PlayStation 5. And boy, does this game take full advantage of that new hardware. Aside from looking stunning, minor quality-of-life improvements were made, a new fractured mode was added, and even a few new secrets were tucked away for players to discover. Bluepoint knew not to mess with what made that game special, though, and didn’t touch anything related to timing, difficulty, A.I., or story.
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Platforms Nintendo Switch
Genre Adventure
Developer Grezzo
Publisher Nintendo
Release September 20, 2019
The Zelda franchise, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Nintendo in general, is no stranger to remasters. It is slightly more rare to see a full-on remake from the big N, but that’s exactly what we got with Link’s first handheld title in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Originally a Gameboy title, which also saw a remaster in the form of the DX release, this game was a kind of mini Link to the Past, but with a much stranger narrative filled with unique characters and dungeons. It took more than two decades, but this cult hit of a game was finally remade in a charming new art style for the Nintendo Switch. The combination of the console being handheld and playable on the big TV is perfect for honoring the legacy of this once black-and-white, two-button game. Now brimming with color and personality, new collectibles, and even an experimental dungeon creator, Link’s Awakening came back to show the world that a smaller 2D Zelda experience can still be fun. If only it ran a little better and wasn’t so expensive, it would be an instant recommendation.
E10
Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre Platform, Adventure
Developer Toys for Bob
Publisher Activision
Release November 13, 2018
We could’ve put both this and the Crash remakes on the list, but we decided to give this spot to the Spyro Reignited Trilogy instead. Both remade three classic PS1 platformers, but Spyro just holds up much better. For one thing, the new graphics and animations are top-notch. Every world from the originals feels more alive and fun to just be in than ever before. Coming from the flat, warped textures of the early 3D era, this remake feels like technology finally caught up to what Spyro was always supposed to look like. It is a testament to the gameplay that not much, if anything, had to be changed for this platformer to feel satisfying to play three console generations later. Running, breathing fire, and gliding all hold up great. Compared to Crash, where the whole running toward the camera thing never really felt great, Spyro’s entire trilogy is just a more satisfying package from start to finish. Hopefully, this remaster will lead to a revival of the series in the same way we got the great Crash 4.
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Platforms PlayStation 4
Genre Platform, Puzzle, Adventure
Developer Bluepoint Games
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release February 06, 2018
Back again are the masters of the remake, Bluepoint Games, with their first remaster of a beloved and highly-regarded game. Shadow of the Colossus was clearly pushing up against the limits of the PS2 back in the day. The game world was massive and lonely by design but suffered from repetitive and low-quality textures. Each of the Colossi essentially had bosses, levels, and puzzles all wrapped up into some of the most massive creatures ever seen up until that point. Fighting them was a thrill unlike anything else, even when the frame rate chugged to keep up with the action. Wander, the main character, also had a few odd choices when it came to controls. After remastering the game on PS3, Bluepoint was given the opportunity to present this powerful title the way we all remembered it in our minds. Graphically, there’s nothing else to say except that the forbidden land has never looked so beautiful. A minority of people think the new graphics lose the atmosphere of the original, but in our minds, it only enhances the emotions we originally felt riding our horse across the vast plains. A new control scheme was added, and all technical hiccups smoothed over, making this remake the definitive way to revisit one of the most artistic games of all time.
E10
Platforms PlayStation 4
Genre Shooter, Platform, Adventure
Developer Insomniac Games
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release April 12, 2016
Of all the major mascot platformers Sony had on the PS2, including Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter, none were as successful as Ratchet and Clank. This duo had a successful string of games all the way through the PS3’s life cycle and then … nothing. The series went silent from 2013’s Into the Nexus all the way until Insomniac remade the first game for the PS4 in 2016, the longest time between games in the history of the series. With so many sequels and spinoffs under the name, and an attempt to push the characters into the mainstream with a movie tie-in, it only made sense to go back to the beginning and remake the original for new fans who might want to jump in. Just like Spyro, Ratchet and Clank were always meant to be something of cartoon characters. The PS4 hardware not only gave the guns, weapons, and environments more life to them with more fluid animation and effects, but every character and enemy looked and moved as well as they did in the feature film. The only real fault with the game is that some parts of the plot rely on the player having seen the film, leaving it a little disjointed in certain places for anyone who only wanted to play the game.
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Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox 360, Xbox One
Genre Shooter
Developer 343 Industries
Publisher Microsoft Studios
Release November 15, 2011
This game is one of the most unique on the list because it is actually both a remake and a remaster. The original Halo was a flagship game for the Xbox but also ushered in a new age of first-person shooters on home consoles. It is hard to properly articulate just how massive this game was when it was first released. Even decades later, that original game is still solid. 343 Industries knew this but also recognized that a launch title from 2001 couldn’t visually hold up and lacked some modern additions players expected. Instead of just remaking the game, Halo was made in such a way that players could toggle, on the fly, between the remade graphics and classic visuals. The classic style was still improved to be in HD and widescreen, but no other remake had ever even attempted to let players swap back and forth between the remake and remastered originals before. The only new additions, aside from the graphics, were some new terminals and skulls to find, achievements, and the ability to play co-op online instead of just in local split-screen. Halo 2 would get the same treatment when The Master Chief Collection launched later, but it all started with the original.
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