[Top 5] Games That Deserve Sequels and/or Remakes

Sorry for being about two weeks late with this latest Friday update.  I've had a lot on my plate in college land.  Hopefully this little article will appease you and get rid of any hard feelings.  No?  Oh well, I'll post it anyway.

Normally sequels and remakes are an atrocity and the people behind them deserve to be drug out into the street and shot.  Sequels suck and are made to cash in on a previous success without requiring much thought or effort.  The only constant exceptions are planned sequels, trilogies, and series.

On the same note, most remakes are just “get rich quick” schemes that take classic games, update the graphics, maybe throw in some extra features like expanded multiplayer, an extra weapon, new costumes, or a super cool and horribly overpowered weapon.

However, there are some games that truly deserve a sequel or a remake, and I plan on bringing some of those games to light.  If you disagree with me then go ahead and let me know in the comments section.  If it turns out that such a game has already been made, also inform me of this so I can go out and buy it.

5. Comix Zone

Comics, action, sunglasses, and ponytails.  Comix Zone is truly a representative of the '90s.

Comix Zone is an older game from 90s that proves that you don't need a sensible or plausible story line in order to make sense.  In fact, most games seem to follow that line of thought, so maybe it's better if you just ignore what I wrote.

I don't remember much of Comix Zone, aside from the fact that I was a kick-ass comic book artist that was dragged into a comic by its main villain.  Once inside, I proceeded to kick ass and take names until I got to this one pit I could never get across.  Ever.

Seriously, I spent about 80% of the time playing that game at the freaking pit where I would constantly die because I couldn't jump far enough.  I don't even think I managed to make it out of the first Episode, that's how hard the game was, or how bad I was.  Given that I was only 7 or 8 when I played Comix Zone, it wouldn't surprise me if I was just bad at video games.

Sega, or whoever controls this game now, please revisit this gem.  I know that it can be downloaded on Steam, but you can do better.  Toss in some more episodes or extra endings or improve the game play through more combos (although that might bring it too far into the fighting genre).

Or maybe release Comix Zone 2 where Sketch has to go back into his comics for some reason and kick the ass of an ever stronger villain than Mortus.  You know what?  A sequel sounds a lot better than a remake.  Make a sequel!

4. Gauntlet

From the Golden Age of gaming where you still had to go outside to play.

When I heard that "Gauntlet" was going to be released for the Nintendo DS I just about shit myself in sheer joy.  I'd be able to play one of the classic dungeon crawl games with friends (because when I little I didn't have friends, clearly) and better graphics.

Then Eidos Studios delayed the game's release.  Then they delayed it again.  Now, four years after its "initial release," Gauntlet DS hasn't hit the shelves and in all likelihood has been cancelled.  My hopes and dreams were crushed, and I would never be able to play Gauntlet with my friends.

Me when I'm old and still haven't played Gauntlet with my friends.

Eidos Studios or Backbone or whoever owns the rights to the game, just release it already.  Everything I read made it sound like you almost finished the game anyway.  If you don't feel like doing that, then hopefully someone else will.

All I really want is some classic hack'n'slash dungeon crawling game that I can play with 1-4 people on a Friday night when all of the cool kids are out drinking and talking to the ladies, is that too much?  I'll even take the smart-ass narrator that loves to remind me over and over again that "The wizard needs food badly!"

I AM AWARE THAT I'M HUNGRY, THANK YOU!

3. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift

Dear Square Enix, please give me the hundreds of hours I spent playing your games back.

The Final Fantasy Tactics Advance series did two good things for me: introduced me to small-army tactics games (as opposed to Advanced Wars, which is all about amassing a relatively large force), and get me into the Final Fantasy series (although the only other Final Fantasy game I ended up playing was FF3).

The games were beautifully designed, the combat was solid, and the storylines were pretty good.  As a brief recap, in FFTA you were Marche, a kid growing up in the town of St. Ivalice that suddenly found himself in the magical kingdom of Ivalice.  Marche’s goal is to return home with his friends and younger brother, most of whom do not wish to return to their hum drum lives (would you?).  Eventually he convinces everyone that living in Ivalice is a form of escapism and that it’s not healthy to run away from your problems all the time.  End Story, roll credits, applause.  Was Marche the hero, or was he a villain?  FFTA left quite a few unanswered questions.

FFTA2 has a much more upbeat storyline and a happier character: Luso Clemens.  Luso also lives in St. Ivalice with his worrisome aunt.  One day after school, Luso has to serve detention by cleaning up the library.  He finds an old book and is transported to Ivalice (apparently the real one this time).  Unlike Marche, Luso has no intentions of returning home, he’s going to explore and generally have a good time.  However, as fate would have it, Luso needs to step up to the plate and prevent the big bad evil lady Illua from destroying or rewriting the world in her own image (it’s been awhile, okay?).  In the end Luso succeeds, we end the story, roll the credits, and applaud.

Now to the main part of this entry: I want to see Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 3.  The Nintendo 3DS came out not too long ago, so the fine people at Square Enix should be falling all over themselves at the chance to call it Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 3DS: Talisman of the Ancients or something like that.

However, I don’t want the same old “boy finds book, boy is transported to Ivalice” story.  I want a girl to find the book (it’s 2012, we can have female protagonists now), but I want the main character to be a native of Ivalice, not someone from our world.  Make the story about him trying to help the girl, who’s scared and alone in this world, get back home.

Basically, I want this.

2. EA Games’ The Lord of the Ring Trilogy

The Lord of the Rings is probably the best-known modern fantasy series out there.  No, forget I said that.  It is the best known modern fantasy series out there.  Without J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, we wouldn’t have modern fantasy.  There would be no Dungeons and Dragons, which in turn means that the fantasy video games based off of D&D (note: all of them) wouldn’t exist.  Tolkien made it possible to like elves, dwarves, dragons, and hobbits.  Then almost 50 years later Peter Jackson came along and made it cool to like elves, dwarves, dragons, and hobbits!

EA Games took The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and turned them into three fairly successful games that I quite enjoyed.  It doesn’t get much better than being an elf archer bringing down mumakil and trolls with well-placed arrows (or more accurately a barrage of well-placed arrows) or taking on a small army of orcs and Uruk-Hai as Samwise the Brave.

Samwise Gamgee.  Best hobbit, or best hobbit?

Not to mention that the games looked awesome when they were released (which was back when the GameCube, Playstation 2, and original Xbox were the consoles to have).  Compared to today, they look like crap and they don’t offer nearly enough game play.  Today’s gamers are used to have hundreds of hours of game play in a single game, something that the three LotR games together can’t offer without replaying levels several times.

I’m thinking that EA Games should get together and have another look at their video game trilogy.  Update the graphics, add a little more to the combat to make it more cinematic (even if it’s just the “kill cams” that have become so popular lately), make each of the levels bigger in terms of space and game play, and make the leveling system feel more complete.  Maybe “borrow” some things from Skyrim, making various perks and abilities available to the different characters rather than simply having the players buy the same set of combos and health upgrades over and over again for different characters.  And let us play with our friends either online or in the same room.  Or both.  Yeah, make it both.

Oh, and definitely let us play as the entire Fellowship without having to unlock characters just to play them on already completed levels.  Aragorn was playable in each of the games, but I wasn’t able to play as Merry or Pippin until I had already thrown Gollum into the fires of Mt. Doom.  I want to be able to play as Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir (and I suppose Faramir for when Boromir kicks it) without having to jump through hoops!  Am I acting like an entitled gamer?  Maybe a little, but these are main characters!  I’d gladly have to unlock some characters, but make it secondary characters like Eowyn, Arwen, and Haldir (and I guess Boromir after he dies).

EA Games, I beseech you.  Take your LotR game trilogy and turn it into one super game that tells the entire story of The Lord of the Rings from the Shire all the way to Mt. Doom.  Give me the games I loved with improved graphics, more levels, and overall better game play!  Please?

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

If the Skull Kid's creepy laugh didn't immediately play in your head, you need to turn you N64 back on a play some more.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is my all-time favorite Zelda game.  I’m not entirely sure why, but I found the idea of running around wearing magical masks as a 10 or 11 year old kid endearing.  Maybe it’s because the masks I ran around wearing at those ages were boring pieces of cardboard and plastic that were no more magical than my toenail clippings.

I Googled “Magical Toes” and got this.  No, I don’t understand the connection either…

 In fact, I love this game so much that I want to get a permanent tattoo on my body (which is a temple, mind you), from this game.  And not the typical Triforce tattoo that most Zelda nerds get.  No, I’m talking about Darmani’s tattoo.

What?? It means "loyalty" and "brotherhood" to me.  And also that I'm a giant nerd.

 So yeah, there’s that.  Anyway, Nintendo recently released The Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, and while I haven’t played it, it looks stunning for a handheld game.  I’m not entirely sure what they changed and what stayed the same aside from the graphics and some game controls that were altered to fit the 3DS platform.  However, I trust that Nintendo hasn’t killed Ocarina with its remake.

Nintendo, if you remake Majora’s Mask for the 3DS, I will buy your newest handheld just so I can play that game.  If you aren’t aware, Nintendo, I haven’t purchased anything from you console-wise since my Nintendo DS Lite I got about four or five years ago.  The last game I bought was probably the Fire Emblem remake, which is sitting in my dresser while I play and replay Advanced Wars DS and Mario Kart DS.

Suffice to say, Nintendo, getting me to buy something from you would be a pretty big deal for me.  Not because I haven’t wanted to (believe me, not owning Skyward Sword hurts my soul), but because there are other things I have to buy first.  Like food.

Unlike some of the other games, I have no requests as to what you do with Majora's Mask save two, Nintendo.  One: remake it for the 3DS, and two: don't completely fuck it up.