We’re several months into the next generation of console gaming and we’ve already seen quite a few standout titles and some fantastic reboots, two of which were developed by Double Helix. Seeing a franchise you love get the attention and support it deserves is a truly magical feeling. For this week’s round of Nerd Wars! we want to know what series you’d most like to see rebooted for Xbox One or PS4.
It’s already shaping up to be a fantastic generation for reboots. Strider and Killer Instinct have proven that Double Helix has gift when it comes to breathing new life into forgotten franchises and it was recently announced that pre-ordering the new Wolfenstein gives player access to the Doom 4 beta, which is simply being titled Doom.
Here is a small list of titles I’d love to see revamped and revitalized on the new gaming consoles. These are the games that defined my childhood and shaped my taste in video games.
Silent Hill – The original Silent Hill took survival horror to the next level. It was a game I could only handle for 20 minutes at a time because I was too terrified and stressed to play any longer than that, but I kept coming back every day. The last several entries in this series have been mediocre at best and it’s time a new, passionate developer took control and unleashed a re-imagining of this beloved franchise.
Legend of Mana – Secret of Mana and Legend of Mana set the standard for great action RPG’s on the Super Nintendo and PSOne. In my opinion, Legend of Mana is one of the greatest games ever made and to this day, few RPG’s have offered the same depth and player progression as this Playstation classic. It’s sad to see this series fall into obscurity. Dawn of Mana was received with with lukewarm reception on the PS2 and besides a few DS spinoffs, there has been no mention of the franchise since.
Tenchu – When it came to ninja games, nothing beat Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. Few games offered the same level of freedom and detail as the original Tenchu. You were basically the James Bond of ninjas. From Software tried a reboot of the series on Xbox 360 and PS3, but it did nothing better than the original game and it ultimately failed. Now that the company has seen huge success with the Dark Souls series, I’d love to see them give Tenchu another go.
This is only a small selection of my fantasy next-gen reboot list, but I hope it inspires you to think about some of the games from you childhood you’d love to see revisited. So back to the burning question at hand… What is your dream next-gen reboot or reboots?
What's Your Tag? 
First game that comes to mind for me is Earthbound. One of my favorite games of all time for my favorite console of all time (SNES). The quirkiness and humor drew me in but it also had very solid RPG elements.
If they rebooted Earthbound, I’d have a reason to dust off my Wii U.
The release on the virtual brought hope to many Nintendo fans, but it’s sounding like it isn’t something we should really expect anytime soon. We’ll get another 30 Mario’s and Donkey Kongs before we get another Earthbound haha.
Double Helix nailed Killer Instinct and Strider perfectly. I’d really like to see another Ghosts n’ Goblins game that is actually a side-scroller. I know Maximo was a spiritual successor, and I dug those games, but I want the classic 2D platforming with punishingly difficult levels that make me want to break controllers. Panzer Dragoon is another favorite, but Crimson Dragon is close enough to make me happy. I’m totally with you on Silent Hill, though. Homecoming was awful but I enjoyed Downpour pretty okay. I’d still like to see a reboot of the original though.
If I could have a reboot of any game though, it would be Xenogears. Such an amazing RPG back on the PSone.
Have you tried Rogue Legacy on Steam? Of course it’s in the roguelike category but it is a side-scroller similar in style to Ghosts n’ Goblins. Maybe even harder too. Plus its graphics have a semi-retro pixel look to it too.
Rogue Legacy was definitely one of my favorite games of last year. It was a total love letter to classic Castlevania and Ghosts N Goblins. So brutally difficult too!
Yeah, I played Rogue Legacy on PC a bit last year. It’s fun =).
Xenogears was incredible. It was like playing an RPG that also made you feel really good at Street Fighter. I loved memorizing the combos for each character to unlock special moves.
Have you seen that ridiculous looking Ghosts N’ Goblins MMO that came out in Korea? It looks rather strange, but I would play it hard if it came stateside.
I loved Xenogear’s combat a ton. Never even heard of the GnG MMO lol. Sounds.. painful.
Silent Hill for sure, Now if they made an Assassin’s Creed game set in feudal japan then that would probably be the closest thing to a Tenchu reboot you would see. The lastest editions of the whole Tenchu series developed by K2 and From Studios were all together not bad, but enough of a difference to put me off the game. I would really like to see a reboot of Altered Beasts, nothing beats an old school side scroll beat-em up game.
ALTERED BEAST!!!! Now that’s something I’d love to see make a comeback. Give it a brutal overhaul and make it just overly gore-tastic. You add some minor RPG elements and co-op and BAM! You’ve got a solid reboot.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Darkstalkers reboot. I know Capcom wasn’t exactly happy with the sales of that HD Resurection package, but with just about every other fighting game franchise making it back, I think it’s time for it to make a proper return.
I’ve always loved the characters in Darkstalkers. You don’t see a lot of fighters that are horror themed and it’s something that could be really rad if Capcom just ran with it.
Star Wars Battlefront!
That’s been confirmed though =D
Maybe a 3D Wario-Land on the 3DS?
I played number 3 on the GBC, that was good fun, never found the general view of the community though…
*checks IGN*
Actually, I played number 2.
Battlefront 2 was one of my favorite Xbox games. Oh man! A few friends and I would play so much split-screen on that game!
I’ve been saying for years that I want Skies of Arcadia to come back, in some form. There were rumors a short while ago that Sega and Nintendo were getting in bed together, and I still think that if Skies of Arcadia 2 was a WiiU exclusive, I’d buy one right this goddamned minute.
There’s also a weird part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing Jade Empire make a comeback. The original never lived up to KOTOR’s lofty expectations, and I know Bioware’s got their hands full with other projects, but I had a really good time with that game regardless. The martial arts combat was a lot better than I expected it to be, that’s for sure.
What else, what else… how about a new Crash Bandicoot?
I’d love to see Crash Bandicoot make a comeback! The first three games were incredible and now that Naughty Dog has one of the best track records in gaming, I’m sure they could anything they wanted in terms of funding for the reboot.
1. Knights of the old Republic
2. Shenmue 3