5 Most Beloved and 5 Most Despised Remakes of All Time

If there’s one thing that gamers want more of, it’s remakes. This isn’t new either, as players have been begging developers to remake some of their favorite games that won’t play on modern consoles or that might look dated by today’s standards. Many publishers have acceded to player demands, releasing collections, HD remasters, or full-fledged reimaginings of classic titles. While many are well-received, others are not, as they can sometimes be worse than the original game for various reasons. We took a look at a 50 different remakes and found five of the best and five of the worst.

1) Despised: Until Dawn

Until Dawn was released in 2015 and was an innovative interactive survival horror game that became a huge success. It received widespread praise for its approach to the genre, graphics, and much more, so it’s not surprising that it received a remake. What is surprising is that the PlayStation 5 remake rebuilt the game using Unreal Engine 5, without any major changes to the core elements beyond the graphical improvements the engine provided. It was essentially an enhanced version that doesn’t seem necessary, save for setting up a potential sequel. Most critics hated the so-called remake, which is more of a port than anything else, so plenty of folks who spent cash on it after playing the original weren’t pleased.

2) Beloved: Dead Space Remake

Dead Space was an amazing game first released in 2008 on PCs, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The game’s success spawned a franchise that continued with several entries until 2013’s Dead Space 3. Finally, in 2023, Motive Studio took on the task of remaking Dead Space into a modern title, and it succeeded in every area. The whole game was rebuilt from the ground up with the Frostbite Engine, adding nuances and graphical capabilities that weren’t available in 2008. While it didn’t do as well as Electronic Arts might have liked in terms of sales, Dead Space Remake was a critical success, showing how to adapt a classic game for modern systems.

3) Despised: Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition

If there’s one remake that should have done gangbusters, it’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which includes remasters of GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. The remakes kept the same look as the originals, while using the same physics engine. The devs used AI to upscale textures, adding new elements to weather and lighting effects while also incorporating elements from GTA V. When it was released, the originals were pulled from the Rockstar Store, which angered plenty of fans, prompting their return a short time later. Overall, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is just terrible due to a variety of technical issues, funky character models, and a flubbed release, leading Rockstar Games to issue an apology.

4) Beloved: The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

The Nintendo 64 featured two of the best Zelda games ever made, and both were remade for the Nintendo 3DS. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D found its way onto the handheld console in 2011, and fans couldn’t have been happier, as the remake improved on the original in several ways. The gameplay was faster thanks to better hardware with more capabilities; the game’s quality-of-life improvements made it better, and the graphics were significantly enhanced. On top of that, it was presented in autostereoscopic 3D, which aligns well with the way the game was originally developed. Like its predecessor, Ocarina of Time 3D received positive reviews from critics and gamers, with several improvements that did not compromise the original.

5) Despised: Dungeon Keeper

Dungeon Keeper was an incredibly influential real-time strategy game released in 1997 that launched a small franchise. It’s one of those games that fans begged for a remaster or remake for years, and in 2014, they got one … sort of. Instead of a proper remake, Mythic Entertainment released Dungeon Keeper as a mobile massively multiplayer online strategy game for iOS and Android. It’s not a remake so much as it is a complete reboot, and it is more of a tower defense game than it is an RTS. It included tons of in-app purchases, and almost nobody liked it. Electronic Arts, which published the game, faced criticism and legal issues in the United Kingdom for misleading advertising, and by 2022, the game was effectively dead.

6) Beloved: Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is a 2020 remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, released in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Both games were incredibly popular, helping to reinvigorate the skateboarding video game genre, and the remake took those old titles and rebuilt them, using modern engines with substantial improvements across the board. While it could have used a few more levels, and the multiplayer isn’t the best, overall, the nostalgia factor, coupled with the brilliant executions in modernizing these classics, was on point, ensuring that Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 was a huge hit. It spawned a sequel, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4, released in 2025, which is a remake of Pro Skater 3 and Pro Skater 4, though it fared a smidgen less successfully with critics.

7) Despised: Bomberman: Act Zero

The original Bomberman was released in 1983 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and quickly became a fan favorite, spawning a franchise. The maze game features several core elements that remained throughout the franchise’s entries all the way up until 2006’s Bomberman: Act Zero, which shook things up. It’s less a remake than a reimagining that embraces a darker tone than the cutesy cartoony presentation of the originals. Bomberman: Act Zero was a massive commercial and critical failure. It received widespread condemnation for its unbalanced AI, long load times, crappy collision detection, repetitive gameplay, and the lack of a save feature, checkpoints, and only one life. Nowadays, it’s considered to be one of the worst games ever made.

8) Beloved: Shadow Of The Colossus

In 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment released Shadow of the Colossus on the PlayStation 2, and it quickly became an instant classic, beautifully designed and beloved by players. Fast-forward to 2018, and Bluepoint Games took hold of the old title and made it new, remaking Shadow of the Colossus for the PlayStation 4. It’s the second take on the OG, as there was a remaster released for the PS3 in 2011. The remake, on the other hand, was rebuilt from the ground up with ultra HD graphical assets and as many modern mechanics and tools as could be crammed into the game, completely wowing players and critics worldwide.

9) Despised: XIII

XIII is a 2003 first-person shooter based on the comics of the same name, first published in the early 1980s. It features a cell-shaded comic book style and features both multiplayer and single-player modes. It wasn’t a huge hit upon release, but over time, XIII developed a cult following, which is likely why it received a 2020 remake on modern systems. The remake is a dumpster fire of digital proportions, poorly made and not nearly as fun to play as the original. It’s filled with all manner of bugs and glitches that should never have made it out of the studio, and most players don’t even see it as a remake at all, given how far it strays from the cult classic.

10) Beloved: Resident Evil 4

If there’s one franchise that Capcom doesn’t mess around with, it’s Resident Evil. The publisher has been taking its best games from the 1990s and superbly remaking them for modern consoles, with Resident Evil 4 being the best to date. The remake enhances some story elements and character relationships, tweaking several aspects of the original game for the better. The result is one of the all-time best video game remakes ever made, and it did exceptionally well with critics and players, as it sold more than 10 million copies within two years of release. To many, RE4 is the archetype of how remakes should be made.

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