Video Game Remakes: Value or Scam?

Mario’s 25th Anniversary stirs up conflicting emotions in most twenty- and- thirty-something gamers. On one hand, it makes them feel good to know that a franchise they’ve loved since childhood is still going strong. On the other, it’s been 25 years. Time will not make an exception for them; they are aging.

But getting older isn’t just about mysterious skin tags and the slow rebellion of one’s joints. It’s also about having kids, or taking care of nieces and nephews. Suddenly, Mario isn’t ours alone. He belongs to them, too.

Nintendo knows it. The company has a talent for making nostalgia accessible for everyone. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for instance, is classic 2D platform-hopper (for the adults) that is easy to grasp (for the kids). The upcoming Donkey Kong Country Returns will also utilize the same mix of new and old-school.

And Nintendo is set to dole out more of what it knows best with the Super Mario All-Stars collection coming to the Wii in December. Yes, these are the same games that were bundled into one cartridge and released for the Super Nintendo in 1993; for a time, Nintendo even gave it away with every new system. Super Mario All-Stars dressed up the 8-bit Mario games with 16-bit graphics and upgraded sound. It also included the “Lost Levels,” a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros. that North America missed out on thanks to the game’s blistering difficulty level (our version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was actually the Japanese game Doki-Doki Panic given a coat of Mario paint). The Wii version of Super Mario All-Stars will essentially be the familiar version, but with an added CD soundtrack and a booklet that chronicles the history of Mario.

Given that we’ve played these games before–not to mention the subsequent Mario re-releases that ended up on the Game Boy Advance–shouldn’t Nintendo be trying something new with this remake? Rendered graphics in the style of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for instance? Otherwise, aren’t we dealing with another quick cash-in?

A graphics overhaul in the more modern Mario style would make sense, but maybe it’s crossed Nintendo’s mind, too, and the company decided against it. It’s taking a pretty sensible approach to its re-release of Super Mario All-Stars, an approach that other developers with long-lived franchises might want to consider as well.

Despite its upgraded graphics, the physics in Super Mario All-Stars is almost spot-on compared to its source games, and it’s a very solid title to begin with. Shoddy emulation is a big complaint with remakes. There’s no point in replaying an old favorite if the remake is sloppily put-together.

Then there’s the matter of graphics. The new Super Mario All-Stars collection will feature sprite-based graphics, something that younger audiences are gradually becoming less familiar with as polygons and rendered character models get center stage. Parents might not be happy to see the artwork of their childhood dumped in favor of a more generic, common style (or what they perceive as more generic and common). And parents are instinctively driven to pass down the things they grew up with to their kids–even if it’s something as seemingly insignificant as a video game experience. The new Super Mario All-Stars will even let kids experience something they’re not familiar with: A silent Mario. Nothing against the boisterous, fun-loving voice acting work done by Charles Martinet, but it’s nice to slide back into a time when game characters were incapable of saying anything except “boing.”

There’s also the matter of price. The new All-Stars collection will run at $30.00 USD. That’s pretty good for an already-great game and its bonus content.

There comes a point when remakes and re-releases become cheap, obvious pandering to a generation that’s homesick for an era gone by (how many times do we need to play Sonic the Hedgehog?). But they’re also an affordable, effective way to show the younger generation how the pastime of gaming has evolved.

Not to mention they’re just plain fun to indulge in.

About Nadia Oxford
Nadia is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She played her first game at four, decided games were awesome, and has maintained her position since. She writes for 1UP.com, Slide to Play, GamePro and other publications, and is About.com’s Guide to the Nintendo DS.

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