2021 was a big year for game remakes, remasters, and rehashing the past. Video games are a unique medium, where the ever-moving goalposts of graphical fidelity mean that older games can be seen as outdated very quickly. Nobody is watching The Wizard Of Oz or The Little Mermaid and remarking how rubbish the graphics are, but those mediums operate differently from video games.
As much as some films get harder to find, playing a 100-year-old movie on your brand new TV is easier than playing a game from the 80s on your PS5. Also, titles like The Lion King are getting rehashed in much the same way, where the carrot of nostalgia is dangled in front of audiences, many of whom want something comforting, familiar, and safe. It doesn’t matter that the original, superior, versions of The Lion King, Aladdin, and many more films are all available to watch with ease. Nostalgia is an easy win for big studios, as the recent, lifeless, CG Lion King proved when it made a billion dollars.
Video games aren’t new to this trend, but it’s picked up significantly recently, perhaps as remasters seemed an easy and quick win when release schedules were decimated by COVID delays. 2021 saw The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Quake, Sonic Colours: Ultimate, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition, all falling somewhere in the line of ‘remaster’ and simply adjusting the original games faithfully for modern hardware. Meanwhile, titles like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 and Mario Party Superstars represent the game remake side of the camp, where classic games are more the framework for revolutionary transformation.
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