Paige FTW: Reboot Me

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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