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Tags: blog banter
Welcome to the latest installment of Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza created by bs angel and coordinated by Game Couch. Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deep insight to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!
From Zath!, Which game would you like to see a modern re-make of and why?
Just one? I have a whole list. Thinking about this topic, I made a list of games and saw that they fell into two categories.
The first group are games which I’d just like to play again — no remake needed. This includes the X-wing series, Syndicate, and Shadowrun (the SNES version). Aside from shadowy areas of the Internet, these games are lost to time.
I seriously wish there was a concerted effort to port classic games (other than Myst, Doom, and Zork) to modern systems. Syndicate and Shadowrun, especially, are DS-ready.
The second group were games which could actually benefit from today’s technology.
The Punisher (1990) attempted to present a realistic New York City. It had three modes of play: a first-person driving portion, a top-down shooter, and a side-scrolling diving sequence. Even back in the day, the design overshot the graphical capabilities, but the missions made for compelling gameplay.
Rama (1996), based on Arthur C. Clarke’s series of books, attempted to render the interior of an alien spaceship with a combination of Myst-like static screens and FMV. While acceptable for its time, the game never captured Rama’s sense of scope — or even strangeness. Plus exploration was hampered by presenting the player with a series of math problems leading me to learn far more about Base 8 than I ever needed to know.
However, the one game I’d really like to see remade is Tass Times in Tonetown (1986). Tass Times in Tonetown is an graphical adventure game with interactive fiction elements. The short version of the story is that you’re sucked into an alternate dimension where guitar picks are money and your dog is a celebrity. You’re trying to find Gramps, who may have been taken by Franklin Snarl. Like most games of that era some puzzles were inscrutable and instant death was always an option, but the world was so wonderful it deserves to be rediscovered.
Participants:
Lou Chou Loves You: Blade Runner
Zath!: Sid Meier’s Re-Colonization
XboxOZ360: Eternal Darkness
Silvercublogger: Mario Paint
Unfettered Blather: Mech my day
Save in Progress: Earthworm Jim
MasterKitty’s Weblog: Zelda: A Link to the Past
Game Couch: Tass Times in Tone Town
Crazy Kinux: The modern re-make of a game
Delayed Responsibility: Crossover Triples, Taking You to School
Silvercube:
These are all excellent choices, because many gamers have never even played many of these games before.
The Tassle Times game sounds cool. I have never played that game before, but from reading your article, it sounds like it would be an awesome game! A bit quirky, for sure – but I do love those quirky games :)
Silvercube:
Why is my comment awaiting moderation? Is this a new feature? 0.o
Terry:
Interesting question Cube. Moderation kicks in if someone flubs the captcha test. Nothing personal.
CrazyKinux:
Some great games listed here. Never knew they’d made a game based on Rama. I never got into the Myst game play, so definitely Rama “the game” could benefit from a re-make.
Hey when are you going to resend the link email so that I may add my article: The modern re-make of a game? That be really cool!
Silvercube:
Lol, okay!
I’ll flub all of these captcha things now. XD
Lou Chou:
FMV, FTW!
The box art for Tass Times in Tonetown looks like a nightmare I had once. Particularly the part where a dog shoots electricity out of its anus.
Silvercube:
Hey Terry, sent you an email :)