If I could wave a magic wand, I'd...

Bring back some old titles that I feel would and could benefit from a remaster or indeed a sequel/reboot. In this day and age of triple A titles. these games of old still have a pull for me.

Some of these go way back admittedly, and yes, they were bug ridden and often crashed, but heck they were still fun. When they worked, they worked well and got me hooked and I feel they could still do well now if worked on and sharpened up. And yes I expect there are some in this list that will raise eyebrows but here we go...

Ground Zero Texas

One of those interactive movie games that was on the Mega CD, that for once actually was a decent game with smooth controls and a very addictive (for me) one at that. Compared to Night Trap that as truly dreadful, GZT was a decent sic fi game that had a "V' vibe running through it. Humans controlled by aliens at first, that you shot with a stun gun, and then as the game progressed, you saw them as they were; aliens in body armour and packing a meaty punch! But you could get back at them as the weaponry at your disposal got upgraded, and like Doom, you could zap barrels and blow 'em to hell. 

Upgraded graphics and HD presentation, I can see this in my mind's eye as being particularly immersive! Imagine it on a VR set...

 

 

Motorstorm

The first racer on this list and it just begs for a PS4 remaster or sequel. OK Apocalypse was a bit of a let down, but the others in the series were fast, furious and above all else fun! Multiplayer was spectacular and I hear that it took ages for the live servers to be closed down. Graphically it was a feast for the eyes, it's frame rate was razor sharp and smooth as silk and it was just a blast from beginning to end. We all got excited when there were whispers that a PS4 game was coming, but sadly not. Come on, someone pick this license up, it truly is a great waste that this is not getting another outing.

 

Daggerfall

From consoles now to PC, and this is the first game that I invested perhaps 1000's of hours in. Buggy yes, but oh so addictive and player mods allowed some funky stuff indeed, like mounted guards. Yes you can play this on emulators, but come on, with the success of Skyrim etc etc let's see this or indeed it's prequel Arena get another lease of life. It's also the first game I completed more than once because it was just so much fun.

 

 

 

Road Rash

Back to the Mega Drive and another racer that just simply was fun to play and in it's time was the best racer out there. It spawned at least 2 sequels and they too were pretty darn funky although one with sidecars sort of let the side down a little. OK we have 'Ride' but it really is not the same! Melee combat on motorcycles, dodging incoming cars, avoiding the cops...this could still have a place in the market today, even if we have Forza and other racers to compete against.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Void

Buggy as heck yes, but what a story! And when it worked, the combat was intense, unique and frantic. Dodging falling robots as you fought up a sheer cliffside, this wasn't to be seen again until we get to the Uncharted series.

I still play this when the mood takes me, and I still find it entertaining. It's one of those games that flaws aside, engages and challenged the player. Shame it did not have flying saucer/jet pack multiplayer action. Maybe a sequel or a reboot would address this? Anybody listening?

 

 

TimeSplitters

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Overwatch and that title with it's western gunslingers, samurais and futuristic soldiers instantly reminded me of Time Splitters. Three games were in the original series and I have always longed for a fourth with multiplayer action. Even back in the good old days, it was pretty smooth, fun with a decent frame rate and few graphic bugs to mar the fun. (Did it have multiplayer? I cannot remember to be honest) 

It had an intriguing storyline too (even if it was a tad bizarre) and we were left hanging as to how the war ended. Come on, someone pick this one up for one last glorious finale!

 

 

Shining in the Darkness

Another dungeon crawler but on the mega drive and oh my, how it grabbed me. A spin off from the Shining Force series (which I believe is still going?) this had me hooked really quickly. With a random selection of enemies waiting for you, you would battle on until the end and complete your quest. It was one heck of a journey. I still have a mega drive, I still have this and Road Rash...darn why haven't I got this hooked up to a TV?! Seriously a good game bordering on great, another game I invested a LONG time on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alpha Protocol

This was truly an ambitious title and yes, it didn't quite deliver but with it's branching storyline where responses to people effected who liked you and who didn't (like Mass Effect) and a pretty wide and neat set of skills and gear to arm yourself with, it almost captured that Mission Impossible and James Bond feel perfectly. Alas like Dark Void, it often crashed and had graphic glitches but heck it was still a blast (I still have this too)

 

 

 

Project Gotham Racing

Not as smooth as Forza or the GT series granted, but still a neat little racer that captured that street racing vibe beautifully. It had a decent soundtrack, a very nice frame rate and it was a racer that had me well and truly hooked. It took the emergence of the Burn Out series to lure me away from it and the Need for Speed Underground and Most Wanted (The original that is) but it would have me going back to it a lot (and still would!)

 

 

 

Eternal Champions

Perhaps this one comes across as a mix of Mortal Kombat, Streetfighter and some comic book hybrid, but this beat 'em up was one hell of a lot of fun. Sure graphics were not that sharp until that is, the Mega CD version came out. Compared to the cartridge version, it was faster, smoother and the cut scenes looked very nice indeed. There was I believe a sequel called Eternal Champions Shadow, but I never saw that one. A remix would be neat, good fun to be had and it proves that a fighting game need not be as gory as MK to be entertaining.

 

 

 

 

And finally (for now anyway, unless I do a follow up article)...

 

Dead Man's Hand

An Xbox exclusive, this wild west game came before the days of Red Dead Revolver, Redemption and Gun. It was an on the rails shooter, not a sandbox game like RDR,  but it nevertheless was a fast moving tale, with shoot outs galore and arcade style boss fights that were truly testing. It tipped it's hat to the Dollar trilogy, and had a really neat soundtrack as well. This was fun, both and in local head to head play, it's just a shame it didn't have an online mode.

A reboot would in my mind be more than welcome.

 

 

 

That's it for now, but I hope to do a follow up article soon!