4 of the most unnecessary remasters of all time

The gaming industry is releasing more and more remasters as the years go by, and we have our share of good and bad ones. There have been some very well-received and justified ones, such as finally getting Metroid Prime playable on a modern console. On the other hand, we’ve been seeing some strange ones that leave us scratching our heads about why it was remastered in the first place.

I’m spotlighting four of the most unnecessary remasters, but there are almost certainly more out there. Keep in mind I’m not going to list any remakes here as those are different than remasters, but it’s easy to mistake the two. It’s also important to note that while I think these are pointless remasters, it doesn’t mean I don’t like the games.

1 Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo Switch)

A missed opportunity

This is a weird example because, on the surface, it’s a good thing that Super Mario 3D All-Stars brought three beloved games, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy to a modern platform. On the other hand, Nintendo decided to do it in the strangest way imaginable by making it a limited-time release, and once it left storefronts, both digital and physical, it would no longer be available.

These are three very good games, but Nintendo did the bare minimum in porting them to the Switch. Having them on a modern console is nice, but the fact they are no longer for sale is the worst part. The games themselves got a nice coat of paint and widescreen support, but artificial scarcity poisoned the well for me. These are three of the most important Mario titles ever made, and there’s no way to play them all on modern platforms unless you pay an inflated price on eBay or bought a copy of 3D All-Stars when it was in stores. It’s a strange decision from Nintendo, but it’s one we have to live with. What should’ve been a slam dunk remaster ended up being an underwhelming one for what seems to be no reason at all.

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2 Warcraft III: Reforged

So much went wrong

Blizzard

With Age of Empires 2 getting a new lease on life following its Definitive Edition release, Blizzard remastered the classic Warcraft III seemed like a no-brainer. Oddly enough, the remaster created more problems, and it received tons of backlash due to its plethora of technical problems. To make matters even worse, Blizzard delisted the original Warcraft III upon the release of Reforged, making the remaster the only option available.

With many missing features, broken promises, and necessary changes, it essentially replaced a perfectly functional and beloved version of a game with something people despise. A remaster, if done well, would’ve been welcomed, but the final product left a ton to be desired. Players have been working on mods to fix many of the problems, but it’d be nice to just have a way to play the original version without having to pay for an old disc.

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3 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition

Good games but poor remasters

Rockstar

A common theme with the remasters populating these lists is they all seem like good ideas at first, but the execution makes them ultimately pointless. Having GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas brought to modern platforms is good, but the way it was done leaves so much to be desired. Whether it’s missing music licenses, countless glitches, or the delisting of the previous versions, it’s hard to figure out the point of this remaster. The obvious answer is money. This is an example where you’re better off tracking down a PS2 and buying the games yourself.

The GTA games were among the best-selling games on the PS2, so you can walk into just about any used game store and pick up a copy for cheap. If you’re fine with a bunch of missing music, there’s still some enjoyment to be had with the GTA: Definitive Edition remasters, but the originals are better here. It’s also nice having all three games available in one place instead of having to track down three individual discs.

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4 Tales of Symphonia Remastered

Newer, but it runs worse

Bandai Namco

Tales Of Symphonia Remastered

Systems

Platform(s)

Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One

Released

February 17, 2023

Developer(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment

A remaster would typically make an older release run better and look better, but that’s not the case with Tales of Symphonia Remastered, at least when it comes to performance. The original GameCube release ran at 60 FPS and felt as smooth as can be. For whatever reason, the remaster is capped out at 30 FPS, which is fine for a lot of people, but it’s still strange to see it run at a lower framerate despite being the newer release.

Nowadays, it’s easier to get your hands on the remastered version of the game versus the GameCube version. There are still many fans who swear by the GameCube version being the best, but its scarcity means you have to pay a higher-than-usual price to grab it, and you also need to have a working console on hand.

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