Revamped classics offer plenty of fun and nostalgia
Summer has quickly become a time for old games, but don’t call these titles retro.
They aren’t the hard-tofind discs one finds on eBay for hundreds of dollars, nor are they games that can be found on emulators. Publishers have revamped older games or in some cases reproduced the look of classics, and in the process, they’ve given players a new reason to pick them up.
At the top of this list is “Sonic Mania Plus.” Although the game looks like a lost sequel of the Sega Genesis generation, this entry to the “Sonic the Hedgehog” saga was released last year. It has all the charm of the older games, but the “Plus” aspect in this entry refers to the extras that have been added since the release.
These include new characters Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. These obscure “Sonic” characters are available in Encore Mode, a remixed version of the original game. It features the ability to switch between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the other heroes. In addition, “Sonic Mania Plus” has several other tweaks to the competition and speed run modes.
Although these extras are nice, the main course is the story mode, which delivers a heavy dose of nostalgia for Sonic fans.
The game may look exactly like the ones from fans’ childhoods, but as players delve further into the 12 worlds, they’ll encounter modern touches that mix gameplay from other genres or add creative twists to familiar level design.
“Sonic Mania Plus” is for those who may have missed the original last year and want a physical copy for old times’ sake.
Not to be outdone, Capcom has released its “Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2.” For the uninitiated, the X series is a continuation of the original “Mega Man” series. It doesn’t star the original Blue Bomber, but a new robot named X who is activated 100 years in the future.
Although it never garnered the same acclaim as “Mega Man” on the NES,
the “Mega Man X” series has its own charm that has only grown over the years. This collection features eight chapters in the series, and in a way, it shows the franchise’s evolution at a time when the 2-D side-scrollers were growing out of fashion and polygonal worlds were coming into vogue.
More than a decade later, the “Mega Man X” series still holds up with gameplay that doesn’t stray too far from the original formula. Players choose which renegade Maverick bosses to battle and they gain their abilities as they defeat them. It’s a concept that has stood the test of time.
“Dark Souls” may not seem like an old game, but one has to keep in mind that it was released almost seven years ago. The release, which along with
“Demon’s Souls” pioneered a new kind of adventure game, was revamped for the latest generation of consoles.
“Dark Souls: Remastered” is essentially the same game, but the developers have boosted the frame rate, increased the detail of the graphics and offered some quality-of-life upgrades.
All of this makes a game with a legendary level of difficulty easier to play. Players don’t have to worry about jittery animations or difficult-to-see adversaries. The game runs smoothly and beautifully on the latest hardware. Now, fans can understand the kind of despair and perseverance it takes to venture into the world of Lordran.