5) Tomb Raider Anniversary
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Eidos
Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Why we picked it: Lara Croft, gaming’s original vixen, fell from grace in tandem with the gradual decent of her creators at Core Design, yet she rose again in fine form at the hands of Crystal Dynamics with the 2006 game Tomb Raider: Legend. After her return to the forefront, the 10th anniversary of the series was quickly approaching, so Crystal Dynamics and Eidos decided that it was time to celebrate the rebirth of the series with a faithful re-imagining of the original game utilizing all the gameplay advancements that have come to light since the series inception.

Though Tomb Raider Anniversary was primarily developed on the outdated PlayStation 2, the results were so astounding; critics and gamers alike had a hard time caring. Lara herself had over 7,000 polygons—over three times the number Solid Snake had in his last PS2 appearance. The gameplay was completely overhauled with a more natural free running system, leaving the ancient grid-based movement of the early games back in the stone-age where is belongs. New areas were added, and all of the original content was recreated with the utmost attention to detail, paying homage to all the little details that only series fans would notice. There were also multiple paths through levels, bringing the gameplay to over 15 hours in length. Though the remake is actually a bit shorter than the original, the ride is so much more satisfying, making Tomb Raider Legend one of the most complete and enjoyable remakes of recent years.






4) Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Platform: GameCube
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Silicon Knights/Konami

Why we picked it: With such a cinematic gaming masterpiece as Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid, a remake was of little surprise, but the developer and home console for the project was. Solid Snake was at one point the defining character of the PlayStation console, so it came as a bit of a shock when it was announced that a remake of arguably the PlayStation’s defining game would be appearing on GameCube at the hands of then-exclusive Nintendo second party developer Silicon Knights, under supervision of gaming idols Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miyamoto.

Silicon Knights recreated the game from scratch using the gameplay style introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2 (including some first-person shooting), and Konami handled the recreation of the legendary cinematic quality cut-scenes under direction of Japanese film director Ryuhei Kitamura. The results were astounding in both cases. The game was historic for polishing up what is already considered one of the greatest titles of all-time, as well as being Silicon Knight’s last collaborative project with Nintendo before their departure to exclusive Microsoft development. Whether you find Twin Snakes or the original PlayStation classic to be the superior choice, it can’t be denied that Twin Snakes is one of the most ambitious and historical remakes of all time.






3) Metroid Zero Mission
Platform: Game Boy Advance
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Intelligent Systems

Why we picked it: 2002’s Metroid Fusion literally came out of nowhere when it was announced, and was a welcome surprise to the 2D starved Metroid fans who hadn’t gotten a sequel since 1994. After its warm welcome, Intelligent Systems saw fit to remake the first game in the series with an overhaul fit for a king. The original 8-bit forefather has aged terribly over the years, both in gameplay and graphics, so this was more than welcome.

Director Yoshio Sakamoto (of Super Metroid fame) reproduced the original core atmosphere of the classic 8-bit game with similar map layouts, and the same general structure, but he and his team were also able to incorporate nearly every advancement that had been introduced into the 2D series since the original title, and all brilliantly interwoven into the original storyline. We were given a deeper look at the world of Zebes during the course of Samus’s first mission. New bosses were added, the visuals pushed the meager GBA to its limit, and the modern save system was brought into the equation, with a completely revitalized soundtrack. Also rounding out this killer update was an artwork section (something rarely ever seen for any cartridge game) and a full emulation of the original NES version of Metroid available either to relive the old times, or see just to compare to the remake. No matter how you look at it, Metroid: Zero Mission is one of the best remakes ever released, portable or not.





2) Final Fantasy III
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix/Matrix Software

Why we picked it: Final Fantasy III is the one game in the series canon that never left the homeland. Because the NES was near death by the time the original adventure was finally released outside of Japan, the other two 8-bit adventures never quite made the cut. Though II would eventually catch a late train to North America, III never would. Since the original game was far too dated to release on anything but mobiles, a remake was in order to introduce this forgotten classic to the rest of the world.

Square considered bringing the game to next-gen consoles, but turned that option down due to cost. The PlayStation 2 was considered, but due to the success of the portable remakes on GBA, Square took a gamble and brought the complete remake exclusively to the Nintendo DS. The gamble would pay off thanks to the unprecedented record-breaking success of the handheld since then as the Japanese market began to sway towards handheld gaming. The final results are simply astounding. Though the map layouts and dungeon designs are relatively close to those of the original Famicom game, everything else has been reworked from scratch to use the full power of the handheld. Under direction of original Hiromichi Tanaka (one of the main designers behind the original version), full motion video was crammed into the tiny DS card to accentuate important story points, a Wi-Fi mail system was included to aid in unlocking secret jobs, and all the visuals were redone is beautiful 3D. It is truly a sight to behold, and as warm of a welcome that could possibly be given to a game that is just now making its debut to the rest of the world. Few remakes are as complete as this…except for one.





1) Resident Evil
Platform: GameCube
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4

Why we picked it: There is no doubt that the original Resident Evil was a landmark game; not to mention the fact that it was also the survival horror’s first major step into the mainstream gaming populace. But in retrospect, it was also a low-polygon mess of ugly pre-rendered graphics, “Engrish” filled script writing, B-movie quality voice acting, and cheesy live-action FMV. That’s why when the legendary Shinji Mikami brought the game to GameCube, the entire experience was re-imagined from scratch. Though the graphics were still pre-rendered, everything was on the brink of photorealism, and all of the original cheese-ball FMV was redone in fully animated CGI with the more modern and serious tone the series had later become known for in those six years since its inception. Though the story was the same, the telling was vastly superior with a newly rewritten script. New endings, rooms, puzzles, subplots, and unlockable surprises were crammed in for good measure.

The gameplay was also re-imagined to be consistent with the new visuals and presentation. The 180 degree turn from later installments was added (along with body language), and the running style was updated. Resident Evil was more than just a remake. Though veterans could see the similarities with the original, it was practically a whole new game. Rather than overhaul or tweak a flawed formula, Capcom completely renovated, rethought, and reproduced a game not only worthy of serving as the root of the long lived series, but also worthy of being called the best remake of all time.




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