The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

The past year or so has seen a number of old franchises revived from the apparent dead, particularly the Eighties classics. Transformers blitzed back into gaming this Spring, everyone's favourite crime-fighting turtles have got a couple of new titles, classic sci-fi Battlestar Galactica has got a snazzy modern update and the big Christmas toys this year are from a bygone era. Retro, it seems, is chic. With this in mind, what retro titles would the CE staff like to see exhumed?

If you could revive an old gaming favourite, what would it be?

James:

Plok, definitely. In my opinion, one of the best games on the SNES, but criminally underrated. A superb platform adventure with a weird sense of humour and a whole lot of fun. You played a weird little yellow and red thing and had to kill enemies by throwing your limbs, a la Rayman. A true classic, but as I said, underrated. Fantastic end-of-level bosses made this game a must-own platformer. Bring it back!!!

Anyone else enjoy this brilliant little gem?

Javid:

It may not be as old as many other classics but I'd love to see Banjo Kazooie back in a 3D adventure with the collaboration of Nintendo again, ala the N64 golden days. GBA games just won't do. I just think it was an amazing platformer, there was so much to do, so much humour, a huge variety of worlds and new moves and people to meet, it gleamed that Rare essence of genius that they seem to have lost touch with. What I wouldn't give to see Bottles the Mole get verbally abused by Kazooie again, I tell ya. Good stuff.

Jordan:

Hmmm that is a toughy! Heh anyone remember Duck Hunt? I mean as if you could forget it. That light gun? the simplicity of it all? Man! Imagine it now - with a huge light gun like the super scope against insane ammounts of ducks flying from everywhere. And that same damn dog laughing at you if you missed. I hated him so much....

Just a thought: Duck Hunt on the DS?

Dennis:

Reviving old games you say? Oh man, don't get me started...

I consider myself as being one of the gamers who think that most of the good games were made over a decade ago. I started gaming on a C64 and even though I like nowadays' games, nothing can beat jawa Jim, M.U.L.E. (by Electronic Arts!), classic Boulderdash (also by EA) or SuperCycle. These titles probably mean nothing to you, but for me these games are original, good-looking (even though you could actually COUNT the amount of pixels used) and really thought through.

But please, whatever you do: DON'T revive these games! You heard me right... I've seen a company trying to take the M.U.L.E. concept (turn-based off-world mining, trading, etc) by developing SpaceHorse. Man, it completely destroyed the dream I still had of the original. Imagine that in 20 years some guy thinks he can make a big profit out of taking the original Zelda. "This is 2024... we can't use a guy dressed in green battling some walking pigs. Let's use the X-9900 robot battling evil stephmothers! Yeah, that could work."

I'm not sure what you would do, but I'd seriously start doubting whether I should cry or not.

If I seriously had to choose a game which I would like to see remade: MicroProse Soccer. You can't go wrong there...

Joby:

UniRally. Such a classic seizure enducing game from the Super Nintendo. The speed at which the backgrounds bright colours shot passed was enough to burn my eyes, but yet the game rocked on nearly all levels. Two player was awesome, such a simple idea as well. Unicycles racing in a left or right direction. Innovative like Monkey Ball, and yet released many years before. Bring it back on a new platform, it'd be perfect for the DS. Anyone agree?

Wouter:

A new Earthbound would be really nice. Only the second game in the series got an English translation on the SNES, which started a huge fan community. The best thing about Earthbound is that it's both a tongue-in-cheeck RPG parody and a great RPG. It's not set in a fantasy world with monsters and fair ladies, it's set in a relatively normal modern world where you fight turnbased battles against bullies and old ladies with weapons like a baseball bat and a frying pan. It all sounds pretty strange, and it is, but Earthbound was a great RPG mainly because it didn't take itself too seriously. It would be very nice to see a sequel to it, since the only way you can play Ness now is in Smash Brothers, which is a cool game but not exactly a huge RPG.

Come on Nintendo!

GCTonyHawk:

Well, I know that a new version of the old classic Super Mario Bros. would be awesome. I think it would fit really well if it had a Paper Mario type of look to it. I know that I loved the Super Mario Bros. recreation that appeared in Super Smash Brothers Melee. One other game that would make a good come back in the world of games would have to be Excitebike. It would be no fun to make it a 3D motocross game because those have been done. It would be really superb if they made a new version of a 2D scrolling game, with better graphics of course. I also have to say that Duck Hunt would be pretty cool in better graphics and such. As well as the fact that it could have a really cool looking gun controller that looks like a real rifle or something.

Tom:

While there are a great many franchises I look back on with joy in my heart and a warm glow in my thumbs, I don't think I would actually argue to bring back any of them.

Part of the joy of an old franchise is the memory, and not just the memory, but the thought of how great it would be to play it with today's technology. Hang on a mo'... you just said you wanted to think how they would be with today's technology. I'm confused... Don't be. The point I'm making is that a remake will never be as good as how you hoped, and will only tarnish your memories of it in the first place.

Take Sonic for example. The early 2D games were fantastic example of how a platformer should be made, but Sonic's 3D excursions have been average at best, with Sonic Adventure 2 being a textbook example of how to destroy a good game. Spyhunter is another example. The old arcade version was a bona fide classic, yet when the updated, modern 'super' version was released it not only stank, but stank so bad it took all the good memories we had of the arcade version with it. Plus, any of us who have resisted the temptation of eBay, and not sold out retro consoles will know that quite often when you play a game you used to love again, its somehow not quite as good, and leaves you feeling all disappointed. For me, the best example of that is Lotus Turbo Challenge 2. When, a few months ago I played that again, all the love I had felt for it was swept away by comparisons to Burnout, Gran Turismo and Metropolis Street Racer.

See the point I'm trying to make here. These games are best served as memories, and there are very few games from that era that can survive a glossy remake and come out looking as good, or better, in the case of Metroid.

Dominic:

There's a game I'd really like to see revived but it never did. I know it isn't that old, but Body Harvest on the Nintendo 64 was a really entertaining game, it did suffer from some bad fogging, and the graphics weren't really all that, but the game was great. I'd really like to see it released, maybe on the next set of consoles, because it really could do with a revival. It was fun; using vehicles ala GTA style to destroy the alien invasion was great; each vehicle was fit into the time periods you traveled; great stuff. Given the time spent on it, it could be an AAA title in the making.

Body Harvest - criminally ignored

Kalpatron:

But off course it would be SEGA's Shadow Dancer. Well I can remember as a kid playing everyday this game in the arcades. I can still finish the game with 1 credit (3 lives). Imagine this at 3D... Oh man, can't wait to see this happening.

Wildo:

Now the one game I would love to see brought back from the dead is Killer Instinct from the SNES. This for me was one of the best beat 'em ups ever. The chance to see your character perform the moust amazing combo with at least 21 moves was worth the effort of trying to work out how to do it in the first place. If this was ever redone I believe it would have to be done in a 2D format rather than a full 3D game such as Soul Calibar, as it would be incredibly hard to perform these moves with the analog when you need so much precision in the combo. There has been rumors of Rare working on some games for the DS (unconfirmed by the way) so to see this reappear on the DS would make me one happy guy.

It was n Street Fighter, but, hey, Wildo liked it

Iun:

Dominic really hit the nail on the head with Body Harvest - a pre GTA style alien-invasion-'em-up that really lacked in many departments that are now essential to modern day gaming.

I remember playing Body Harvest one week while my dad was in hospital and just sitting there thinking how great it was that you could get into every vehicle, use different weapons and wonder around empty tracts of landscape for hours at a time. I also remember thinking how much greater it would be with voice overs, FMV cut-scenes and more challenges to expand the lifespan of the game.

These are things that we consider fundamental to modern action/adventure games today, and many a classic would really benefit from this sort of update on our modern day systems. However, I don't want to talk to you today about Body Harvest, I'd much rather talk about Lylat Wars.

Okay, so we've had Star Fox Adventures, we're getting Starfox Adventures 2... but are we getting an update of the sublime Lylat Wars?

I sincerely hope so.

No game, before or since has ever involved me so deeply with the characters of my team mates: Slippy was a little twerp, but I got really narked whenever the bad guys started ragging on him -not because it was the fifth time this level it had happened, no. I was angry because someone was having a go at a member of my team.

And when I was being blasted from behind, who should come to my rescue but the arrogant Falco? Sure, I hated his "I guess it's YOUR turn to be thankful!" But heck, they guy could be as arrogant and self-obsessed as he liked, because he was on my team.

When Peppy was being gunned down by a bunch of weird looking star-things that he just couldn't shake, never were my thoughts drawn to his age, nor his capability as a pilot. And when he thanked me for saving him, I just couldn't help but feel that I'd save him and all of them, all the time -every time, because they were my team.

And Starfox Adventures had none of this, it put a charismatic leader far away from his team and his friends and relegated Slippy and Peppy to a weak supporting role, where Peppy was shown as a doddering old fool and Slippy as a geeky tip-monkey. Pure dross. Only at the end when Falco came blasting onto the scene to get Fox out of hot water did some of the old feelings come back. This was Team Starfox. Old, irritating or arrogant, they're still a team and they're invincible when they're together.

Can you name any other game that gives you that sense of teamwork and fraternity that Lylat Wars did? I'd be surprised if you could. That's what is lacking in a lot of games, and that's what I seriously hope they bring back to the franchise next year.

I'll be right here in the hanger when you need me guys, Fox out.

Conor:

Most of the thought I gace this question centered on some of my old N64 favourites, since that was the console that really got me into gaming. I cut my gaming teeth on the console, and spent a great deal of my childhood on it, so it'll always have a place in my heart. There are a lot of N64 games I would love to see revived; Diddy Kong Racing; Blast Corps; Snowboard Kids; Lylat Wars and others. But for this Roundtable I've settled on a Rare favourite: Jet Force Gemini.

JFG had that special Rare feel to it; that this game mattered to them and they wanted it to matter to me, the gamer. It combined old school game mechanics of simple blastering with incredible graphics - the reflectiviness of surfaces, the lush landscapes, the frame rate that never dropped when all hell was breaking loose. It was a world brimming with mini-games and diversions, a world where each level was, above and large, about the fun.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen

I loved the triality of the main game, requiring you to use the abilites of the three characters to progress. If memory recalls, Lupus could fly for a bit, Juno could withstand fire and Vera could swim (I think so anyway - any help from the readers here?). It made the mission all the more interesting, forcing extra playtime that you really didn't begrudge. How could you when it was all so damned enjoyable?

A number of recent games seem to be reveling in old-school mechanics, and mixing it with what's offered by new hardware. Viewtiful Joe embodies the rock-hard spirit of retro games, all presented with staggering cel-shading that would've been impossible years ago. The WarioWare games harken back to the days of simpler game structure. Both the Eyetoy and the DS aim to make gaming as accessible as it used to be, but doing it with new technology. In this context, a new JFG would be suitable.

But, of course, Rare have lost their sheen, so maybe it's better it hasn't been dug up.

So then, what old favourite would our readers like to see back on their consoles? Nintendo or otherwise, tell us what you think below!