The 10 Most Unexpected Games To Get A Remaster

Remasters, as well as remakes, happen all the time now. This often comes from demand and people legitimately wanting to play these titles on their newer system. This is likely why Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door got a Switch remaster. You can also improve things like framerate, resolution, and even include additional content.

8 Horror Games That Need To Be Remastered

A taste of fear from a generation now passed.

Remasters are a good thing, most of the time, but that doesn't stop you from being baffled by the games selected to get the treatment. It could be due to the low demand, a weirdly long gap in time between the original and remaster, or license issues that could lead to pure bewilderment.

10 Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water

This Wii U Exclusive Is Coming To All Platforms Now?

Fatal Frame was one of the great survival horror series back in the day. The original trilogy was phenomenal, and while the further instalments were still fun, they tanked in popularity, even in the survival horror community. Fatal Frame 4 was only launched in Japan, and 2015's Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water was a Wii U digital-only exclusive.

The fifth instalment definitely came and went without much fanfare, which is why it was so surprising to see a remaster come to all modern platforms in 2021. Not a lot of people were asking for this, but it ended up working out in the end. The remaster proved successful enough for the fourth instalment to finally be released worldwide in 2023.

9 Onimusha: Warlords

Just The First One?

A big Capcom series on the PS2 was Onimusha. There were five instalments on the platform, but after that, the franchise seemingly disappeared. Then, out of nowhere, Capcom announced a remastered version of the first Onimusha set to release in 2019. It seems like Capcom was testing the waters to see if Onimusha still had drawing power, but why just the first game?

If people knew an Onimusha remaster was coming, they'd probably assume the original trilogy would be put in as that completes Samanosuke's story. This remaster isn't a huge leap either, like Metroid Prime, so it doesn't feel justified being sold on its own. Since the further games never got remasters, this release feels even more odd today.

8 Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

Your Remastering Banana Blitz Of All Things?

Another franchise that seemed dead for a long time was Monkey Ball. The first two entries on the GameCube were some of the platform's greatest games, but starting with Banana Blitz on the Wii, the series went downhill for most fans. Sega wanted to bring Monkey Ball back, though, and they remastered Banana Blitz for modern platforms in 2019.

This isn't what the fans expected or wanted. They wanted the GameCube titles or the PS Vita hidden gem Banana Splitz. Like Fatal Frame, this was a blessing in disguise as not only did the remaster improve the original game tenfold, but it ended up being successful enough that the fans finally got what they wanted. A full remake of Monkey Ball 1 and 2.

7 Ghostbusters: The Video Game

A Movie-Licensed Game Remaster?

The 2009 Ghostbusters game was a big treat for series fans and a solid title overall. It was a lot of fun to play, the writing was good, and although it's rather short, the quality is so high that it probably won't bug you. The next generation later, Ghostbusters: The Video Game got remastered.

11 Remasters That Perfectly Capture The Original Experience

Here are the best remastered video games that will take you back in time!

You'd assume this came out around the time of one of the future movies, like the reboot in 2016 or Afterlife in 2021. That is not the case, as it was launched in October 2019. That's primarily why the remaster was so unexpected, as well as movie-licensed game remasters being incredibly rare in the first place.

6 Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner - Mars

Lowkey, The Best Thing To Come Out Of Konami In 2018

One of the most underrated and overlooked games of all time has to be Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. Made by Kojima Productions, its action, combat design, and supersonic speed make it one of the greatest action games ever made. Unfortunately, not a lot of people have played it, including hardcore Metal Gear fans.

Out of nowhere, in 2018, Konami made a remaster of Zoe 2 for the PS4 and PC. Considering the series was dead at this point and its very, very small fanbase, the announcement was shocking. The remaster ended up being incredible and the definitive version. It had PSVR support, which is nice to see, although, with a game this fast, you'll likely get motion sickness very quickly.

5 Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

It's About Time After Seven Years

After DMC: Devil May Cry, the franchise was sort of in limbo because it was uncertain if the reboot series or original universe would continue. DMC4 came out in 2008, which is why it was so odd to have a Special Edition version come out seven years later. This wasn't a normal remaster, as it has many additions, including brand-new cutscenes with mocap work and everything.

You just didn't see that for a game this old without it being a full-blown remake. If this was a standard remaster, like Fatal Frame 5, it would be nothing unusual. However, a full Special Edition with so much new content after seven years is what made this very striking at the time.

4 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game

A Remaster People Wanted But Had No Hope It Would Actually Come Out

Xbox Live Arcade was a stellar marketplace with so many great smaller-budget titles. One of the big fan favorites was Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. It was a fantastic co-op 2D brawler with RPG elements and a banger soundtrack. Just four years after the game was launched, however, it was delisted from all storefronts.

This was a huge bummer to a lot of people who wanted to check the game out, and due to licensing issues, hopes were incredibly low for a remaster. Thankfully, a Complete Edition version of the title arose in 2021 for modern platforms to the rejoicing of fans worldwide.

3 Catherine: Full Body

Another Weirdly Long Wait

Catherine was one of the only non-Persona games developed by the Persona team at Atlus. It was a sizeable cult hit, although nowhere near the popularity of Persona even at the time, but especially now. Catherine was first launched in 2011, and after eight years came a remaster with Catherine: Full Body.

10 Wii Games That Need A Remaster On The Switch

These games deserve a second life.

Like DMC4 SE, Catherine: Full Body has a ton of additions, including a third romantic interest in Qatherine. This is just odd for an eight-year wait between releases. It would have made sense in 2015 to 2016, but after that most people would probably assume the title wouldn't get any further releases.

2 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

Not A Safe Bet

There's plenty of nostalgic 90s FPS games, and while Turok is one of them, it's not a title people still hold up in high regard like GoldenEye 007. The games have aged extremely poorly, though the weapons are still pretty badass. This and the failed 2008 Turok reboot seemed to imply the series was never coming back.

However, that was wrong, as the original Turok game was remastered by Nightdive Studios in 2018. It's cool the original game is back along with its sequels, but definitely unexpected, as those titles just aren't on the same level as Shadow Warrior or Blood in terms of modern popularity.

1 Plumbers Don't Wear Ties

What The Hell

Full-motion video games are ripe for so bad it's good material, and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties fits the bill. It's not even an FMV game, as it's just a series of pictures, and the presentation is so amateurish. Cited as one of the worst games ever made, it gained a lot of notoriety due to the Angry Video Game Nerd episode on the title.

Even with the notoriety, nobody would ever think this game would get a remaster today. In 2023, though, Limited Run Games announced a remaster set to launch in March 2024. The fact you can natively play this title on modern systems is just unbelievable.

10 Best Full Motion Video Games

A genre full of history and great games but overlooked most of the time, here are some great FMV titles.