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With an excellent remake of Dead Space now available and Resident Evil 4’s remake on the horizon, now is a great time to look at the games that have set the gold standard for what a revisit to a beloved property should offer. While a remaster takes an existing game and spruces it up with crisper visuals, sound design–and if you’re lucky–all of the premium DLC that accompanied the original release, a remake has a much bigger job to do. It has to recreate the appeal of the original game, modernize it, and still find a way to draw in a whole new generation of potential fans with its mix of classic and modern sensibilities.
The video game industry has a great track record when it comes to remakes, with the last decade alone being responsible for numerous fresh takes on fan-favorite properties. We’ve seen Square Enix chart a brave new direction for Final Fantasy VII with 2020’s retina-searing Remake chapter and go back to the PSP past with a new take on Crisis Core; Capcom has raised the bar for remakes with its multiple returns to Raccoon City; and Nintendo is no stranger to compelling you to pay twice for the same game.
We’ve gathered up 25 of the best video game remakes below. Each one is a unique showcase of nostalgia, successfully reborn for a new age.
