Happy Retro Month!
During the month of January we are diving deep into past generations to give fun insight on games that we obsessed over in our childhood, and games that we were told were good and we’ll just have to trust them. While going over what we could (and still might) run through, we reminisced over games we loved and wished they would get the remaster/remake love that has plagued the gaming community for the past few years. Come on y’all. Indulge us please. We don’t ask for much.
Kyle – Before Sam Fisher, action espionage aficionados indulged in the tales of Gabe Logan. Before every game latched to a cover-based shooting system (and this series did eventually succumb to it), the PS1 Syphon Filter trilogy combined first-person shooting and lock-on target based third-person action with a few drops of stealth and a bevy of characters intertwined into a rather hefty plot that sunk in deep within the trials and tribulations of the Agency.
While the target lock-on system may feel dated to current genre staples, it feels fantastic in a game that requires on-the-fly decisions and constant movement in its race against time. A remaking of the trilogy would be a welcome way to spark interest in the franchise, or maybe Sony can finally just pull the trigger on the often-rumored Syphon Filter 4.
Demetri – With Hitman content getting pumped out on the regular and MGS being completely off the horizon I could definitely see a Syphon Filter reboot filling a void in the market. Some of us are ass garbage at stealth games and want going loud to be viable, y’know? Imagine that ridiculous taser in 4K. Actually, maybe don’t, that sounds terrifying.
Demetri – Okay fine it’s nowhere near dead as a franchise, but we haven’t had a Paper Mario in the vein of Super Mario RPG/64/TTYD in almost two decades. Every time a new one rolls around fans scour the trailer and promotional images for any evidence that it might be a return to the games that made the series great and every time we end up disappointed. The devs have mentioned that Nintendo’s taken some of their creative freedom away meaning we wouldn’t get whole new worlds like TTYD, but surely we could go back to the JRPG roots the series came from?
Kyle – Funny story: I’ve never played a Paper Mario before. So, uh. Yeah this is awkward.
Kyle – “But Kyle,” you ask, “SSX already got a remake, what gives?” Yep, you are right. But the hilariously bad idea of making SSX a survival-sport in Deadly Descents was laughed out of the club and hastily remade to try and be more of the crazy freestyle it was known for. Unfortunately, SSX-R still was haunted by the ghost of Deadly Descents with very little changed map wise, but the world was given a very bright slap of paint and contained a weird plot that did not have quite the charm that had synthesized with its addicting gameplay in previous titles.
Even though I love SSX 3 (and personally think it’s the better game), focusing on the spirit of SSX Tricky by making a variety of fun characters, giving them a ton of customization, and making a solid 10-12 tracks that can be enjoyed with actual legitimate online multiplayer, unlike SSX-R’s pseudo score attack multiplayer, would steer this franchise in the right direction and would actually make EA a pretty penny: which I know is the only reason it hasn’t been seen in almost a decade.
Demetri – Trick-AYYY. I honestly don’t know why they haven’t taken another shot at SSX, even with the last reboot not performing. In a post-Tony Hawk 1+2 Remake world I can only imagine how amazing a similar treatment would be for the greatest snowboarding game of all time.
Demetri – For all the use F-Zero’s aesthetics have been seeing in crossovers like Smash and Mario Kart there sure hasn’t been any mention of an actual new game. GX was that last truly great F-Zero entry (RIP Amusement Vision) selling approximately 1.5 million copies despite the property being less popular then than it is now, and that was on the GameCube which had a smaller install base to begin with. People have never been more aware of the F-Zero “brand” than they are today. A Switch game that lets 30 racers spin attack each other in online races seems like a no brainer.
Kyle – I still have F-Zero GX on disc with no GameCube in sight at my house. It’s a piece of treasure at this point. In a perfect world, I could see the new non-handheld Switch having the extra juice to really handle a true to form F-Zero, and it would sell like fucking hotcakes.
Demetri – If you have a GC or Wii laying around you really owe it to yourself to pop that in and give it a go. Holy shit it’s a rush.
Kyle – A once forgotten relic from Radical Entertainment (yeah, the Radical that made the Prototype series and helped make Destiny), players played a futuristic game of Territories ala Halo and used power-ups to gain advantage against and dis-advantage their opponent. Its single player campaign had an enduring, campy B-Movie style, it had a killer soundtrack and was tense and fast-paced, especially when enjoyed with another player via splitscreen. Bringing it back with online multiplayer, smooth 60FPS framerate, and weekly arena changes in power-ups and rules would give this game the fresh start and continuity it always deserved.
Demetri – I love finding out about cool multiplayer stuff like this. Capture the flag mixed with tag in the future? Slick. I absolutely would have run this in mystery game tournaments back in the day.
Demetri – Given the recent tease the Def Jam social media team sent out only to reveal exactly nothing this seems unlikely, but let’s talk about how ridiculously good Fight for NY was. A massive roster, deceptively deep combo and throw systems, tons of customization, loads of interactable stages, and several albums’ worth of licensed music? FFNY is an INCREDIBLE game that we’ll almost never see the likes of again, but I can dream of bringing back my boy Bonecrusher. YOU WILL BE DESTROYED. YOU WILL BE. DESTROYED. AHAHAHAHA
Kyle – So I got to play a very small tournament of FFNY two years ago (C.O.M.P., plain and simple bitch, get yo brain and temple hit) and went in green and it came back to me in like two matches and forgot just how absurdly fun it is. This game would push bonkers sales if they just remastered or even just ported it to newer consoles, but I can’t imagine how awful the re-licensing will go given all the hands in the pot. The only way this franchise comes back is with fresh faces who’re okay with seeing themselves get their ass beat, and with the current crop of hip-hop artists: I don’t see it happening.
Kyle – In an era where fighting games are seeing somewhat of a renaissance, it’s disappointing to see Bloody Roar left out of the mix. Buttery smooth gameplay with ridiculous combos and the teensy additional detail of turning into fucking beasts mid-fight to ramp your damage up was tons of fun.
With how titles like Killer Instinct have been revived and maintain a decent audience even 7 years deep into its remake, Bloody Roar could easily enjoy that kind of success with the new age of fighting eSports. Though with Konami currently holding the game’s rights: don’t hold your breath.
Demetri – There’s been some rumors floating around about a Bloody Roar reboot for a bit now, but Konami’s about as reliable as hitting the jackpot on a pachislot machine. BR holds up crazy well even today. I just played some BR2 recently actually, and it felt more responsive than a lot of modern 3D fighters. It also reminded me that Stun is one of the most satisfying grapplers in a 3D fighter.
Demetri – Let’s do a deep-ish cut: a horror game from the 90’s that never got a proper sequel (but is kind of responsible for Bloodrayne so that’s…something). Nocturne has one of the greatest hooks of all time: you work for a government agency called the Spookhouse that was established by Teddy Roosevelt after he discovered monsters are real by killing a werewolf. Your character, The Stranger, is an old school badass with a swooshy duster that drops lines as cold as JC Denton. The game has several distinct chapters in totally different locations with time gaps in between meaning you get all kinds of 1920s-30s pulp horror goodness. It may have the standard horror fixed angles and lighting but my god do you get to rip and tear through tons of monsters from every horror setting imaginable. I’ve never seen another game balance badass combat and atmospheric storytelling quite like Nocturne and would love to see it get another chance at life.
Kyle – Whenever we go back to play old games, you may have to pull this one off from the side so I can check it out, almost sounds like a better Nightmare Creatures on paper.
Demetri – It’s not quite as beat ’em up-focused as Nightmare Creatures but otherwise yeah. Really wouldn’t mind seeing that series come back either. I’ll take as much action horror as I can get.
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