Team Talk | Which iconic PlayStation title should be next in line for a remake?

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Some of you will have already sunk your teeth into Capcom’s Resident Evil 3 remake and blitzed through it in time for Final Fantasy VII which (officially) launched on Friday. Whilst these classics rightfully deserve a makeover, there are a few other games from that era which are crying out for a fresh lick of paint.

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by Chris Brand

@SuperCrisco

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by Team PTC

@pass_controller

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Chris | Loaded

Loaded would have been a twin-stick shooter if only the PlayStation controller was equipped for such a title, but it's just as easy to picture any potential reimagining as an ARPG or a hybrid of the two genres.

Such a shakeup needn't alter the game's identity too much; simply introducing unlockable abilities for each character, a tiered loot system and giving us the option of replaying missions on higher difficulties would add longevity, without having to compromise on what made the original so great. Half the fun of an ARPG is in completing a level, the other half comes from returning to that same level with a slew of upgrades and ramping up the difficulty.

The story was just as over-the-top as one could get. The playable characters are a Suicide Squad of psychotic killers and maniacs, without a shred of decency to share between them, whilst the game's antagonist, F.U.B. (Fat Ugly Boy), is in possession of even fewer marbles than the bloodthirsty ensemble who are out for his head.

The cast are not to be confused with anti-heroes, they are villains through and through. F.U.B. stands out as "the bad guy" solely because his criminal ambitions are of a much grander scale. It's a gloriously dark affair with just a touch of humour.

A touch of humour and a ton of gore.

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Sam | Dino Crisis

My love of Ape Escape and desire for a reboot or remake is already well known to Team Talk regulars, so, since that pick pretty much goes without saying, I’ve opted instead for Dino Crisis.

Dinosaurs are thoroughly under-utilised in horror; the towering, toothy reptiles actually existed way back when and that fact arguably makes them far more terrifying than any dreamt up monstrosity. Imagine the sheer terror of finding yourself face-to-face with a Tyrannosaurus if they’d never gone extinct or you’d lived back in prehistoric times.

They’ve been dumbed down and made more child friendly over the years, but set that aside and, in reality, carnivorous dinos are downright scary. Dino Crisis knew this and leveraged it, leaning on survival horror mainstay Resident Evil as its gameplay template.

With much of the same talent at Capcom being responsible for both series, it’s a real shame that Dino Crisis ultimately fell by the wayside as Resident Evil prospered. With survival horror currently enjoying a resurgence, plus Capcom said to be open to making more remakes, the odds are actually looking decent when it comes to Dino Crisis’ return. In lieu of any confirmation, however, we can only hope that dinosaurs soon get back the bad name they deserve.

Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park was never going to be a hard sell.

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Liam | Firestorm Thunderhawk 2

Firestorm Thunderhawk 2 was one of the many PS1 games I’d get to play whenever I would babysit my uncle’s console while he was away on trips, and I remember being hugely impressed by it, even back then.

Up until that point, the only flying game I’d really spent any significant amount of time with was Starwing on the SNES, which was rather limited compared to what FT2 was offering. Being able to explore in any direction and seek out enemies/objectives was, at the time, mind blowing, and hopping from first to third person views was also pretty amazing.

A spruced up, expanded and much better-looking modern version would be a great thing, in my opinion, as there aren’t enough flying games knocking around these days, let alone ones starring attack choppers. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (my personal GOTY for 2019) showed that there’s still a market for action-oriented flying games, especially those with a meaty single player campaign.

It seems unlikely we’ll ever get a new Firestorm game (the series seems to have disappeared after a follow up for the PlayStation 2) but I would happily snap up a remastered Thunderhawk 2, should a publisher/developer be willing to take a crack at it.

We need fewer zombies and more attack choppers.

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James | Cool Boarders

While Ubisoft attempted to take the snow-covered world of extreme sports back with Steep (a title so forgettable I just had to look it up), there’s a lot to be said for going back to basics to bring some energy and entertainment to the digital world of snowboarding.

In a similar way to how the acclaimed Skate did in response to the over-saturation of Tony Hawk’s games, Cool Boarders could sweep in and pick up the torch after its former self wiped out on the soft powder back at the turn of the millennium.

Steep didn’t catch on as it tried to do too many things, whereas the updated graphics alone would give Cool Boarders the chance to really showcase the power of the PS5 with some sick snow effects.

Of course you’d need to retain the sense of humour that the series had in its day (or am I just projecting that?) to get young’uns interested, since there isn’t a huge amount of brand recall for this particular gem.

Still, more has been done in the past with more obscure franchises and they’ve come out shining, so why not give the borders another chance to stack it for our amusement?

Cool Boarders was getting us pumped before SSX even had its boots on.

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Which iconic PlayStation titles do you think are deserving of a remake?