Remasters need to strike a fine balance between making an older game accessible on modern hardware, while also justifying their existence through visual (and sometimes mechanical) enhancements.
This can create a situation where certain games never get this kind of attention due to having too small of a potential audience – a scenario that Atari CEO Wade Rosen is all too aware of.
Speaking to VGC, Rosen spoke of the three remasters that he’d like to work on the most, as well as the potential logistical issues they could pose.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Originally conceived as a major competitor to the Final Fantasy series, the initial acclaim of Panzer Dragoon Saga died down in following years, becoming an obscure title.
Sales of the game were low, though the reasons offered for this – such as idiosyncratic design decisions less concerned with mainstream appeal – have also helped the game to achieve cult classic status in recent years.
It garnered praise for its battle mechanics, which for the time was considered unique compared to other games in the same genre. However, those who formerly worked on the original project have repeatedly seen a remaster as a risky investment
Ogre Battle
The first of the five-game Ogre Battle series was subtitled The March of the Black Queen and was released in 1993.
This tactical RPG title has arguably had the smallest impact on audiences among these three games, lending credit to Rosen’s remark about the uncertainty of how feasible remakes can be.
He said: “I mean, I don’t know if it would do well, but I’d probably push it through and make sure we did it just because I would love to work on one of those. But it all has to be in a balance. If this company just became like ‘what games does Wade want to work on?’ We would not be around too long.”
Snatcher
Some might recognise Snatcher as the often-forgotten early work of acclaimed auteur Hideo Kojima.
While elements of the gameplay might seem somewhat dated by today’s AAA standards, in 1988 the game was thought of as groundbreaking, due to its mature subject matter and atmospheric world, drawing significant inspiration from Blade Runner which had been released six years earlier.
Fans of Kojima, who are hosting a 10th anniversary showcase on September 23, might be used to this cinematic inspiration, but back in 1988 this was very novel.
