My HD Wishlist

Man, do we look pretty hot with this improved graphics

The coming months have their pants full of some real quality HD remakes. From Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill, God of War, and the newly announced Final Fantasy X (yesssssssssssss!) the list just goes on and on and then on some more. I can see how some people are a little bothered by the idea since the movement for re-releases not only shows a lack of new ideas, but reeks of cash-ins, asking gamers to pay for games they probably don't own. But, honestly, I'm not bothered by it. These HD remakes are great excuses to go back and play the classics for yesteryear and only feed the imagination of what the next game will be to get a makeover and rerelease. Below are my personal top 5 games I'm dying to to see a HD remake of.

Take that, biatch!

5. Road Rash
From: 1994

Like the Dos Equis guy, I don't play racers often. But when I do, I choose one where I can mess someone up. Road Rash was just one of those titles that was a great mix of racing and bashing a dude with your fist going 120 MPH. The graphics were top notch for the day and the soundtrack really helped add to the experience. I would love to sink my teeth into a similar experience, and even remember that a reboot of the series WAS in the works. There are some screenshots and videos still out there on the interwebz, so that's a decent sign that the franchise hasn't been totally forgotten. We'll keep strong.

Crap, is that what obscurity looks like?

4. Legend of the Dragoon
From: 2000

In the wake of all the success RPGs were having in the lat 90s, Sony jumped into the fray and released their own big budget role playing game. Following Dart as he tries to find the monster that killed his parents and save his childhood friend, Legend of the Dragoon was, like the tagline from Scott Pilgrim, an epic of epic epicness. Spanning 4 discs, I sucked this game up with a spoon over 4 discs and loved every second of it. The graphics were great, the story was thrilling an engaging, and the timed hit combat system was a nice change up. When Lavitz died...don't get me started. It wasn't an Aeris moment, but it was close. On the flip side, there wasn't a lot of side quests and changing into dragoon mode in combat was basically as useful as putting pants on backwards and having to take a leak (ahhh, that's my second pants reference. What is the universe trying to tell me?!) but all that's small potatoes in the long run. The game also got a lot of flack for being "generic," but it still holds a whopping 9.4 from fans on Metacritic, so I know I wasn't the only one to really enjoy it. I would definitely be down to take a trip across Endiness once again. Oh, and Meru was hot.

 

Shhhh, he's coming

3. Metal Gear Solid
From: 1998

Snaaaaaaaaaaake! Because it's apparently extremely difficult to port and make changes to PS1 games, Metal Gear Solid missed the boat on the upcoming HD collection of the series and will probably never get improved again unless it's made from scratch, which is highly unlikely. But why not! I haven't played Peace Walker yet(which everyone says is the shiz) but Solid remains my pick for the best in the series, and definitely in my personal top 5 of all time. The story was extremely engaging and, despite its complexities, I think I actually understood 95% of it (which is pretty damn good for a Metal Gear game,I'd say). It was one of the first stealth games I ever played and my heart was racing every time one of those damn neo whatever soldiers came poking their head around the corner. It was stylish, unique (when Psycho Mantis read my memory card, I crapped I brick) and certainly among the greatest of that generation, if not holding the crown. I probably would do some terrible things to unwilling people for a chance to fight Sniper Wolf in HD snow.

Jumping to lightspeed ain't like dusting crops, noob

2. X Wing Alliance
From: 1999

From the sea of Star Wars games released, X Wing and TIE Fighter were among the ones that...you know, didn't suck. The series though always lacked any real sense of continuity until X Wing Alliance showed up as the big finale. Putting you in the role of one of the most original named characters ever, "Ace," you watch as your family's business is taken down by the Empire and then join the fight, the narrative slowly becoming interwoven with the trilogy, culminating with the attack on the Death Star near Endor. The mission types were pretty varied and you got to jump behind the wheel of tons of different ships, as well as this cool looking Millennium Falcon looking thing that your family owned called the Ortana. Since it's on the PC, the mod community still releases things every now and then, but a new version from scratch with today's graphics capabilities would be sweet. 

You knew I was going to show up eventually, right?

1. Final Fantasy VII
From: 1997

Was there really any doubt? I know people love to call the game overrated, and I'll concede it probably is. The Awesome Series had a nice jab at it that made me chuckle. But any claim that Final Fantasy VII isn't up there in terms of greatest of all time, then I just say "you crazy!" Playing through this game as a young and impressionable teenager was one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life and I would kill to go back and relive the epic once again. It brought the Final Fantasy series to the masses and really cemented it as a recognizable name. It's just the complete package. Great story, great characters, solid combat, tons of side quests, it's all there. This is the game that everyone wants remade. Just freaking do it, Square!