SNES Why many Super NES games felt like remakes of NES ones?

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Despite being explicitly sequels/separate stories many went to the semi-remake way.


Super Metroid took Samus back to Planet Zebes with the revival of Kraid and Ridley while expanding the map.

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs remixed levels from the NES games while also being shorter.

A Link to the Past went back to the top down point of view of Zelda 1.

Fire Emblem was a remake that expanded on the story.

Kirby Superstar had a remake of Dreamland 1 for its first available section (yeah, it's a Gameboy game but the example is similar).

Super Punch-Out took back the arcade style of seeing from behind the player.

You got other examples?

 

[harukinb]

It's because cost less to remake something that creating a complete new game, so if a game was good they recreate it but better. The industry in that days didn't have so much money like nowadays for risks and the power of nes was so limited to recreate what devs had in mind. But nowadays we have a similar situation but by different (stupid) reasons.

Btw Super Castlevania is a remake/reimagination of the first game.

 

[valosagutas]

It's part of "culture", part of console wars and part of how back then lack of video games and an unknown industry made companies "stick to what sold" mentality.

Culture: Japanese people have a sense of nostalgia that makes them like games that are very similar to what was liked. They like remakes. They like this "nostalgia".

The Console Wars: SEGA made Nintendo cry because "we offer 3D and better graphics, we do what Nintendon't" lolol. It made Nintendo panic so hard they basically spammed "SNES" versions of "NES" games with "better graphics" and "unncesssary 3D" to give the customers the message of "you liked NES? SNES is better so you'll have more fun with SNES" to shift NES games into SNES. It was hard to do when people already enjoyed NES so much you had to give good reason to make them buy SNES and that good reason had to be about nostalgia, the sense of "what's good about NES also exist in SNES" and something that's more than NES.

Early days of video gaming: When people liked a game, they wanted similar games. People had no sense of "genre", they thought every platformer is "Super Mario-like" and action sidescrolling games were like "Super Mario with guns" lol. It wasn't long after companies noticed; "when people like X game, just because Y game is very similar to X game they like the X game" but why they liked the X game wasn't just limited to gameplay but it was also about visuals, SFX, even music. It could be the monster type, even an environment. It made people copy-paste spam same games in different skins, which Nintendo still does as a "formula". They use the "nostalgia" of games and to make customers feel it they intentionally put "good old" elements from different games.

 

[UnDubious]

It's part of "culture", part of console wars and part of how back then lack of video games and an unknown industry made companies "stick to what sold" mentality.

Culture: Japanese people have a sense of nostalgia that makes them like games that are very similar to what was liked. They like remakes. They like this "nostalgia".

The Console Wars: SEGA made Nintendo cry because "we offer 3D and better graphics, we do what Nintendon't" lolol. It made Nintendo panic so hard they basically spammed "SNES" versions of "NES" games with "better graphics" and "unncesssary 3D" to give the customers the message of "you liked NES? SNES is better so you'll have more fun with SNES" to shift NES games into SNES. It was hard to do when people already enjoyed NES so much you had to give good reason to make them buy SNES and that good reason had to be about nostalgia, the sense of "what's good about NES also exist in SNES" and something that's more than NES.

Early days of video gaming: When people liked a game, they wanted similar games. People had no sense of "genre", they thought every platformer is "Super Mario-like" and action sidescrolling games were like "Super Mario with guns" lol. It wasn't long after companies noticed; "when people like X game, just because Y game is very similar to X game they like the X game" but why they liked the X game wasn't just limited to gameplay but it was also about visuals, SFX, even music. It could be the monster type, even an environment. It made people copy-paste spam same games in different skins, which Nintendo still does as a "formula". They use the "nostalgia" of games and to make customers feel it they intentionally put "good old" elements from different games.

...Westerners love endless sequels to their favorite sequels too, this is not a Japanese thing in particular. Sega didn't offer 3D graphics on the Genesis. Also some people in this thread are talking about things that everyone is still doing today with this "back then" tone for no reason. Stick to what sells is the mentality in every business, now and before.

 

[dr grim]

as example you got the infamous super mario all stars too.

 

[valosagutas]

...Westerners love endless sequels to their favorite sequels too, this is not a Japanese thing in particular.

Sequels ≠ remakes. Westerns do not necessarily keep the game the same and the same, not in comparison to how Japanese video game developers are. Things are very different.

We talking about a specific point in the context of this thread. Sequels are really an irrelevant topic here. The topic is about how the video game industry was back then.

Sega didn't offer 3D graphics on the Genesis.

What's this then? Just an example lol:

If you misunderstood it as SEGA Genesis games were necessarily 3D then you are mistaken. However it doesn't mean SEGA Genesis itself didn't have 3D games. If you are mistaken with "pseudo 3D games" then you are mistaken. They are really 3D.

Stick to what sells is the mentality in every business, now and before.

So? Are you aware of what we're talking about here? lol

Long story short remakes or the sense of remake to play on nostalgia (my point) were always part of the video game industry and it's because "stick to what sells is the mentality in every business, now and before". You also confirmed it lol. Thank you. You indirectly agree to the point I made.

 

[fake-kun]

You have no idea what a remake is.

 

[valosagutas]

You have no idea what a remake is.

We're talking about "feels like remake" topic. It doesn't mean they are "remakes". For example whatever I wrote is what the OP asked about for I think it's interesting to think about it in the context of what OP asked.

 

[fake-kun]

We're talking about "feels like remake" topic. It doesn't mean they are "remakes". For example whatever I wrote is what the OP asked about for I think it's interesting to think about it in the context of what OP asked.

By and large, it appears that OP's criteria for "feeling like a remake" is simply playing similarly to previous games.

 

[Cantarella]

Well, something can feel like anything if we desensitize a person enough.

Half of the games in the OP don't... feel like remakes to me. The Fire Emblem game talked about definitely is, but, this just doesn't seem like a working definition. You kinda have to have something like 'openly re-uses some/all of the same plot elements' for it to make sense. We would never say that FF4 is a remake of FF3/2/1, or even that it feels like one.

 

[valosagutas]

By and large, it appears that OP's criteria for "feeling like a remake" is simply playing similarly to previous games.

I agree. Regardless I think OP came up with an interesting topic. I saw the interesthig point of how genres and formulas of games seemed like a "remake" to many people back then so I wanted to make sense what OP means to attempt to explain this "feel like remake" thingy.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

By and large, it appears that OP's criteria for "feeling like a remake" is simply playing similarly to previous games.

It's clear that Battlemaniacs is a remake of Battletoads with less levels. You have reskinned versions of levels like the wheel one but instead of being a black hole chasing you it's a rat with a circular saw or the rat chase being set in a castle instead of a spaceship. It even reused the snake level.

Super Castlevania IV was a retelling of the original game with the exact same story (since Simon's Quest concluded Simon's story and Dracula's Curse was a prequel with Trevor), the biggest difference is that you get to see an entire section before Dracula's Castle while the original was already in its garden in the start.

Maybe ALTTP and Super Metroid differentiated themselves enough from their originals but it was clear that both were a "back to roots" entries that took back the gameplay of the first. Metroid III could've been set in a third separate planet without reintroducing Kraid, Ridley nor Mother Brain yet they've decided to do that.

 

[fake-kun]

It's clear that Battlemaniacs is a remake of Battletoads with less levels. You have reskinned versions of levels like the wheel one but instead of being a black hole chasing you it's a rat with a circular saw or the rat chase being set in a castle instead of a spaceship. It even reused the snake level.

Super Castlevania IV was a retelling of the original game with the exact same story (since Simon's Quest concluded Simon's story and Dracula's Curse was a prequel with Trevor), the biggest difference is that you get to see an entire section before Dracula's Castle while the original was already in its garden in the start.

So, two out of what, a thousand or so SNES games? It doesn't look like this phenomenon is as common as you make it out to be.

Maybe ALTTP and Super Metroid differentiated themselves enough from their originals but it was clear that both were a "back to roots" entries that took back the gameplay of the first. Metroid III could've been set in a third separate planet without reintroducing Kraid, Ridley nor Mother Brain yet they've decided to do that.

This is what we call "continuity" and "acknowledging that the previous games happened".

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This is what we call "continuity" and "acknowledging that the previous games happened".

I think there's a small detail about something: it's gameplay that matters more than story.

I'm speaking in a pure game design sense: Zelda II went for a side view game then they retracted back to make it a top down game with more traditional dungeons.

Metroid III being the continuity of NES Metroid and Return of Samus doesn't change anything to the fact that it's basically the original Metroid with more levels and more bosses.

 

[fake-kun]

I think there's a small detail about something: it's gameplay that matters more than story.

I'm speaking in a pure game design sense: Zelda II went for a side view game then they retracted back to make it a top down game with more traditional dungeons.

Metroid III being the continuity of NES Metroid and Return of Samus doesn't change anything to the fact that it's basically the original Metroid with more levels and more bosses.

Who'd have guessed that sequels tend to play similarly to their predecessors? Definitely not me. /s

 

[MemeAlert]

How come some N64 games are just remakes of SNES games? Kirby 64 being a reimagine of Kirby Dreamland 3. Ocarina of Time being a bland remake of A Link to the Past. Star Fox 64 being an improved version of Star Fox 1 & 2.

 

[Cantarella]

Ocarina of Time being a bland remake of A Link to the Past.

I know we like to pretend that we can say sequences of words in any order, but-

 

[MemeAlert]

I know we like to pretend that we can say sequences of words in any order, but-

What?

 

[Jeff]

Super Mario All-Stars, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts, Super Bomberman, and Super Adventure Island are examples.

Reasons SNES games act like remakes of the original is because new controls, better graphics and Quality of Life features. Also, nostalgia.

 

[valosagutas]

This thread proves the golden fact of "how to milk customers by basically releasing the same game with obvious but trivial differences for the delusion of 'it's a different' game'". "People won't think it's a remake until we say it's a remake". "We have no shame anymore, we really wanna sell the same game with 'remake' label". "We figured we never had to subtly 'remake' our video games" -- video game industry since like 2020. lololol

CAPCOM: "Dude we have run out of ideas. What to dooooooooo?"
- Release Resident Evils again.
"Are zombies popular again?"
- It doesn't matter. They will sell in Japan and Americans love zombie stuff."
"Good idea. After a decade we will keep releasing remakes of remakes, then remakes of remakes of remakes..."
- But then intentionally cut content from the first remakes so you can add what was in the original little by little each remake.
"k"

Konami: "Dude I fear pachinko and the mobile industry has no future now. How to make more moneeeey???"
- Release Silent Hill 2 and MGS 3 again.
"Shouldn't we wait for Kojima to die? He may use his fans to attack us again. He is like Big Boss of the reddit."
- He died inside long time ago. He is Venom Kojima now. After he betrayed his soldiers most of them left. The remaining soldiers were sent into a parallel universe. He tried to build another base but we sent Solid Snake who take care of it. He is so weak now. No worries.
"k"

Nintendo: "Dude IDK how to keep releasing Zelda games without direct continuity."
- Take Terraria and bash anime graphics. People love walking simulator games now. Let's call it Zelda BOTW: Terraria Remake.
"But Terraria is also about crafting stuff, we can't afford such a budget."
- You are right. Remove the crafting stuff. But cooking should remain.
"Dude Garry's Mod is still popular. Should we take it too?"
- Good idea but let's not put these ideas into the same game. Save it for Zelda TOTK: Garry's Mod Remake.
"k"

SEGA: "Dude, Kiryu got old. What to do?"
- Take Dragon Quest and bash it with Yakuza and call it "Dragon Quest: Yakuza Remake" that also seems like a weird Pokemon game lolol.
- Won't people be upset because of turn-based combat?
- Upset? Turn-based combat is the way to live.
"k"

Square Enix: "Dude we run out of RPG idea what to dooooo?"
- Dude no one wants a new RPG. They all wanna see Tifa in 4K. Remake the damn FF7.
"Shouldn't we release Racing Lagoon 2? Our fans are eager."
- Who cares about cars, street racing RPG and whatnot when we have Tifa?
"Does video game industry turned into something people only care about sex objects?"
- Dude people never cared about your RPGs. They only care about girls.
"*cries* Should we develop hentai RPG?"
- Dude why RPG?
"But RPG"
- dudeeeeeeeeeeeee
"k"

Man, my only hope is indie developers at this point. AAA video game industry collapsed in 2015. They cannot come up with something significantly different anymore just because it would "cost too much" lol. Whatever ancient pizzas they keep heating and heating over and over again that some say "it does sell" I ain't buyin'. lol

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Super Mario All-Stars, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts, Super Bomberman, and Super Adventure Island are examples.

Reasons SNES games act like remakes of the original is because new controls, better graphics and Quality of Life features. Also, nostalgia.

Super Ghouls N' Ghost is another good example, it's funny how Daimakamura was an enhanced sequel yet was only on the Genesis.

Super Adventure Island spawned its own subseries despite starting as a reskin of Wonder Boy.