10 Video Game Remasters That REMOVED Things Fans Loved
It should have been so easy.
On paper, remastering a beloved game should be an easy win. The work has literally already been done for you, and in theory developers only need to provide a few touch ups to the original title and call it a day.
Of course, that's not how video game development works, and the desire to improve on what came before or, even worse, "modernise" aspects of a game can result in changes that actually make fans pine for the older version without all the new bells and whistles.
There are multiple reasons why a change may be implemented. Maybe the new director had a different artistic vision, maybe the team simply underestimated how important a feature was to the fanbase, or maybe the devs implemented a fix that removed a charming blemish that gave the original a bit of personality.
Either way, a misjudged tweak can cause the whole house of cards to come crumbling down, and that's exactly what happened to the following games.
Now, just a note: we're going to be using "remaster" and "remake" interchangeably here, essentially covering any makeover a game may have received. Just to avoid any confusion.
10. Skateboarding Physics - Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD
Now, the thing about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is that the original games are so good, they have actually been remade twice. Unfortunately, it was second time's the charm with this project as the first crack at it, a 2011 remake by developer Robmodo titled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, is up there with GTA's definitive editions as one of the worst re-toolings of a classic franchise ever.
Where to even begin with what the team got wrong? Dreadful graphics, slow, dull gameplay, and a litany of glitches dragged this title down and made it a complete laughing stock upon release. The whole game feels like it was made for a fiver, by people who had only played the original once, twenty years ago.
The worst part was that this was an Xbox 360 remake that somehow felt worse to play than the original PS1 release. When you're making a skateboarding game, you kinda need to nail the feel of the skateboarding, and this title, with its needless changes and wonky physics, felt like a cheap imitation - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater At Home.