It’s safe to say very few people expected a Link’s Awakening Remake announcement this year, let alone one that looks so amazing and different from the original. Seeing a great game remade so well got us thinking about what Nintendo games we’d like to see receive a similar treatment.
Here are 7 games that we think need the Link’s Awakening remake treatment on Switch.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
When it comes to turn-based Mario RPG’s, one game always comes out on top. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a GameCube classic, and is deemed one of the best Mario RPGs of all time, if not one of the best Mario games of all time.
The Thousand-Year Door has one of the more memorable casts from Mario games but the characters are not quite on par with the likes of Fawful from the Mario + Luigi series.
The Thousand Year Door is quirky in a way that’s comparable to Link’s Awakening, with a great sense of humor and satisfying gameplay that stands out from other RPGs of the time without straying too far from the common formula.
Getting your hands on the game today can prove to be a challenge, as the popular GameCube game can set you back a fair amount of cash. This is all the more reason for the game to re-release on Switch with new and improved visuals and maybe some bonus content of some kind, like the new dungeon creation system in Link’s Awakening Switch.
Super Mario World
You could argue that the first/older Mario games are more in need of a remake, but no 2D Mario is more deserving of one than Super Mario World – one of the more universally appealing older Mario games thanks to its colorful design and the debut of everyone’s favorite anthropomorphic dinosaur, Yoshi.
With no virtual console yet on the Switch, it isn’t as easy as it was previously to legitimately play this platformer on a Nintendo console; whereas Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, and The Lost Levels are all available to you if you have a Nintendo online subscription and a WiFi connection.
However, Mario’s more colorful old school 2D adventure is yet to join its NES predecessors’ thanks to being a SNES and Game Boy Advance release. This is another reason Super Mario World could come to the Switch as a remake rather than a port.
Improved visuals could make revisiting a classic much more enjoyable and would bring an experience beloved by many to the new generation and to those who missed it.
Fire Emblem Awakening
Fire Emblem Awakening might only be six years old, but it could still benefit from a remake coming from the limited hardware of the 3DS. Fire Emblem Awakening is largely regarded as the best introduction to the Fire Emblem series, if not the best Fire Emblem game.
The fast-approaching Fire Emblem: Three Houses has shown us what modern Fire Emblem games can look like with stunning 3D models and combat animations.
Octopath Traveler is one of the Switch titles which showed us what modern RPGs of a loosely similar kind can now look like on a handheld, which makes us hopeful for what a Fire Emblem reimagining could look like if they chose to stick with the original 2D style.
With the DS slowly on its way out, there is more reason than ever to make the huge library of titles available elsewhere for those that would rather not purchase a system that’s receiving little support or games.
The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are two of the Zelda titles most in need of a remake. In comparison to others in the series, the two games suffer a lot from its visuals nowadays.
The Minish Cap, for example, is already a gorgeous and modern looking Zelda title. Similarly, A Link to the Past still holds up really well and might not present a big enough gap for improvement. This is the opposite of these two games which appear dated as they near their 20th anniversary in 2021 – a convenient release year for a remake or port perhaps.
The games have parallel storylines much like in the Pokémon game series. Developers of other remade and remastered series have chosen to bundle trilogies etc. together, which could work for these two games.
Pikmin
Pikmin 4 was a no show at E3 2019, much to the disappointment of some long waiting fans who have no idea what to expect – but we still know Pikmin 4 is on the way and shouldn’t be too far away from its arrival on Switch.
The Pikmin games (to no fault) are all a bit same-ish, meaning that the first Pikmin game still provides a very solid and true Pikmin experience for those with the patience to revisit it on Gamecube, Wii backward compatibility, or Wii U virtual console.
The Pikmin games always have a focus on atmosphere, creatures, and the environment. The detail in these elements through visuals and sound, much like in Animal Crossing, help the world feel much more relaxing even if you’re just carelessly throwing your Pikmin minions at a giant bug and solving the occasional puzzle.
Pikmin games typically follow a simple art style, particularly the first game which has suffered somewhat due to its age and could use a well-needed revisit to its visuals, or even just an upgrade to HD. A Pikmin remake could certainly be more than an HD port though, perhaps it could experiment with styles like Link’s Awakening and even new games such as Yoshi’s Crafted World.
After we get our hands on the exciting new Link’s Awakening remake in September, there seems to be plenty of potential remakes Nintendo can focus on to keep us busy.
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