Paige FTW: Worthy Reboots
Reboots, remakes and adaptations are the lifeblood of pop culture in 2018. In a world where “live-action Dora the Explorer” is a real, actual thing, how can you be surprised? The recent flurry of movie and TV reboots (live-action Lady and the Tramp? A “darker” Sabrina the Teenage Witch?) have left video game reboots looking modest and thoughtful.
That being said, this week I think about titles that would actually benefit from a modern look.
Katamari Damacy
The Katamari franchise began strong with its original PS2 titles Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari, but its subsequent forays onto PSP, 360 and PS3 were … lackluster, to say the least. Unfortunately, it seems the franchise itself also ran out of gas, because it has yet to make an appearance on a current-gen console. At this rate, I would be happy for just an HD remaster of the first two titles.
Luigi’s Mansion
Technically, Luigi did get a sequel to the original Luigi’s Mansion in 2013 — but it was a Nintendo 3DS title that attracted very little fanfare. I say Mario’s little brother deserves better. He deserves to be on the Switch (where the Joy-Cons would lend themselves well to his action-heavy style), and I would even be so bold as to say that the title should err on the scarier side.
Parasite Eve
I was a big fan of The 3rd Birthday, the very weird PSP installment of the horror franchise that was very fun but also so painfully difficult that I was never able to finish it. A modern title installment — or even a full remake the original PS1 games — would be welcome on modern consoles.
EarthBound
One of Nintendo’s oldest and least-played franchises, Mother/EarthBound finally got a very quiet Virtual Console release several years ago, but its creator has steadfastly refused to consider a continuation or a remake. It’s too bad — without a bigger title to attract attention, people may only associate heroes like Ness and Lucas with Smash Bros.
