Top 10 Reboots of 1990s Video Games
There are a lot of cliche phrases that explain this sort of phenomenon - "everything old is new again," "the more things change, the more they stay the same," etc. - but they all refer to the same…
There are a lot of cliche phrases that explain this sort of phenomenon – “everything old is new again,” “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” etc. – but they all refer to the same thing in cultural media: the reuse, recycling, and redefining of once-old concepts. As evidenced by recent video game releases such as Thief, it’s happening in abundance in the realm of gaming. But what’s notable about the most recent wave of this trend is the particular time period that’s being mined for content – the nineties, where many franchises and settings beloved to gamers have originated. There’s a variety of reasons why the decade of the 1990s is being combed over: sure, exploitation of gaming nostalgia for profit is one of them, but the 1990s could also have been considered a creative peak for video games, in both story and gameplay.
Regardless of why the nineties are being exploited, like any trend in video gaming, it has its good and bad aspects, and of course its good and bad games. In honor of the most recent of 1990s video games reboots, the new Thief, this top 10 list will show you the better examples of 1990s reboots, which exemplify this crucial period in the history of gaming rather than simply triggering memories.
[promo title=”10) Rise of the Triad”][/promo]
The original Rise of the Triad was a cult classic in more ways than one. In this classic 1990s shooter, players played the part of a United Nations commando assigned to gun down scores of neo-Nazi cultists occupying San Nicholas Island before they launch their next terrorist attack. The 2013 reboot of this cult favorite of that time period has as much of a focus on humor as it does violence and FPS action. The game had a bit of a rocky launch at first, but the developers have since listened to player feedback and made a number of fixes that make this game ludicrously fun.
[promo title=”9) Shadow Warrior”][/promo]
Shadow Warrior is a relic of the BUILD engine era, that is, of games that were built on the BUILD engine developed by 3D Realms, creators of the Duke Nukem series of games. The original Shadow Warrior was full of Asian mythology-inspired scenery and enemies, ridiculous weapons including the requisite katana, and crude (some might say racist) humor, especially centered around the name of the main character, Lo Wang. The 2013 reboot has the first two aspects of the original in abundance, but the writing and plot are much improved (and actually funny this time around). Also added were some upgrade systems for your character, giving the 2013 remake much-needed depth and replay value over its predecessor.
[promo title=”8) XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within”][/promo]
This remake of the classic 1990s strategy game at first drew some apprehension from fans, who feared it might be turned into “yet another FPS clone,” and while an FPS of this series was made (The Bureau: XCOM Declassified – never speak of it again), the lion’s share of development resources were devoted to creating a mostly faithful turn-based strategy game that remained true to the spirit of its predecessor. It found success in today’s market via a variety of factors, from the pedigree of the development team assigned to it (its developers previously worked on the Civilization series) to new graphical touches such as dynamic camera angles and downright thrilling effects.
[promo title=”7) Persona 2: Innocent Sin”][/promo]
Released in 1999, this installment of the Persona series of JRPGs almost never saw the light of day in the West; while it’s sequel, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, was released in the West soon after its original release in Japan, Innocent Sin never saw Western shores until publisher Atlus released an enhanced remake of the game for the PlayStation Portable in 2011. The remake had a number of new features over the original game, such as remastered graphics, new difficulty levels, and a new soundtrack.
[promo title=”6) Brutal Doom”][/promo]
Brutal Doom is a fan-made creation, and what it does is update the original Doom games with new features that are in modern games! These features include mouse-aiming (and therefore head shots can now be made!), new abilities (such as jumping, stealth kills, and rescuing fellow marines to fight for you), and, to take advantage of modern-day processing power, lots (and I mean LOTS) more blood. Seriously, Brutal Doom is not for the squeamish, but it could be the most badass fan creation ever made.
[promo title=”5) Black Mesa”][/promo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul60ixy_40
Another fan-made creation, Black Mesa is a re-envisioning of the original Half-Life, updating the classic first person shooter released in 1998 with new graphics (via the Source engine), new voice acting, and new music, among other things. It’s been in development for years and isn’t quite finished yet, but a playable version is now available through the Black Mesa Source website, containing 14 chapters and 8 hours of gameplay.
[promo title=”4) Quake Live”][/promo]
Quake Live is the freemium version of id Software’s Quake 3 Arena released in 1999, but don’t let the freemium aspect of this newer version fool you – Quake Live is quite the technical achievement, condensing the Quake 3 Arena experience into a downloadable format and delivering it as a free-to-play game for the masses! And the freemium aspects are quite reasonable, as they are not in the form of “pay-to-win” game upgrades, but rather are subscriptions that give you access to more features like exclusive maps, game modes, and other stuff for the hardcore Quake enthusiast.
[promo title=”3) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds”][/promo]
Although billed as a sequel (the game’s storyline takes place six generations after the original The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in 1992), there are enough clever reinventions of the gameplay found in its predecessor for this game to make the list. The overworld of the original is still in this game, but the dungeons are all brand new, and the player has to jump between levels in order to complete them! A Link Between Worlds was originally conceived as a remake of A Link to the Past anyway, with the game eventually taking off in its own direction.
[promo title=”2) Final Fantasy Tactics: the War of the Lions”][/promo]
If there was a 1990s JRPG that needed a revamping in the modern era of gaming, Final Fantasy Tactics was it. While the original 1998 Final Fantasy Tactics was a great game that could stand on its own, its remake, the War of the Lions, had more competent translation and localization of the original Japanese text, a difficulty level more in line with the original Japanese version, and gorgeous new animated cutscenes.
[promo title=”1) Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes”][/promo]
If any reboot took the original game and made it into an over-the-top experience eclipsing the original, it would have to be the Twin Snakes edition of Metal Gear Solid, which was originally released in 1998. The Twin Snakes saw the original Metal Gear Solid updated to use the same gameplay mechanics of its sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and the developers even hired action movie director Ryuhei Kitamura to redo the cutscenes. And redo them he did – the cutscenes featured in the Twin Snakes are ridiculously action-packed, featuring physics-defying gunfights and even more melodrama than the original. No kidding. The Twin Snakes is probably the dictionary definition of a reboot, even if it wasn’t really all that appreciated by the fans.
