Shack Chat: Which 16-bit video game needs a remake?

Super Mario RPG is out this week, and it’s lovely. Just quite incredible, and still utterly shocking that it happened at all. It’s awesome to see Nintendo and other companies taking some of their older games and giving them modern treatments while keeping what’s good about them intact. With that in mind, we found ourselves wondering what other games of the 16-bit era need a remake? The Shack Staff tackled this topic for this week’s Shack Chat!

Question: Which 16-bit video game needs a remake?

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Ozzie Mejia, Senior 16-bit Editor

We've seen a fair number of games from The Legend of Zelda get either remastered, remade, or re-released. Remember how excited everyone got over Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons? How about that Skyward Sword remake? What about Wind Waker going HD? Heck, did anybody expect Link's Awakening to get the kind of reimagining that it did?

Even with all of that, Nintendo hasn't touched A Link to the Past. Some might argue, how can anybody improve on perfection? As we've learned with Super Mario RPG this week, that hasn't stopped Nintendo from trying before. A Link to the Past, for many, is the first game that comes to mind when they're asked, "What game constitutes a 10/10?" It's the definition of a hero's tale. It tests players as they adventure across two different worlds en route to battling the ultimate evil. Even to this day, there's nothing like A Link to the Past. I loved A Link Between Worlds as a sequel, but nobody would ever call it as good as the original, because nothing can touch it.

It's been 32 years, Nintendo. It's time to go back to this all-time classic.

Shining Force - TJ Denzer, Senior Fantasy-Fiction Strategist

Since I was a child, I’ve always considered Shining Force to be in the pantheon of media that affected my life and tastes. It’s the reason I got into fantasy-fiction, as well as a major reason I got into strategy and RPG games. It actually inspired me to write because I wanted to emulate a story like that. It’s such a good one. The prophecy of a great and evil dragon returning guides a kingdom to align with it and conquer other lands to make way. A band of heroes from one such conquered land band together and rise up to fight back.

I always loved the wild compositions of characters in Shining Force. You had agile centaurs like Ken and Mae, stout and strong dwarves like Gort and Luke, flying sword fighters like Balbaroy and Amon, and spellcasters of different specialty like Tao and Anri.

So yeah, I would absolutely love to see the original Shining Force remade. It’s such an awesome early tactics RPG and hasn’t even aged that badly. I would be thrilled to strategize around its fierce battles, beautiful music, and incredible story again.

Earthbound - Asif Khan, Shacknews CEO/EIC/EIEIO

I would love to see a new Earthbound game, but in lieu of that miracle occurring a remake of the SNES classic would be cool. The game is still one of the quirkiest RPGs ever made and it would be wonderful to play it again with a new coat of paint. The soundtrack can stay, because it still slaps all these years later.

Mutant League Hockey - Bill Lavoy, Agent 48

You know, the hockey space is really lacking for interesting experiences. Yes, there’s the amazing Tap to Tape that remains in early access, but otherwise we’re short on quality hockey experiences (we’re not counting NHL 24). Until we can put more interesting hockey games on the market, we’ll be stuck with the same copy-paste NHL game every year. We need competition, and what better place to start than with something whacky like Mutant League Hockey?

Jazz Jackrabbit - Sam Chandler, DOS Gamer

Back when my family got their first household computer, one of the games I managed to acquire was Jazz Jackrabbit. I think I had to take a blank floppy disk to a mate’s place and rip his version. Or perhaps it was a CD. The memory is murky, but what I do remember is loving the side-scrolling style and all the intense shooting. I don’t know how it would hold up to modern standards, but if Mega Man can get his time in the spotlight, then there’s got to be some room for Jazz and Spaz.

Rocket Knight Adventures - Dennis White Jr.,

Rocket Knight Adventures is one of those games that I remember vividly for having vibrant visuals, a bumping soundtrack, and fun gameplay. I never see this game played or mentioned and that’s probably because it’s not available on any newer consoles or PC. I think Konami bringing back the game in a remaster would introduce a whole new generation to something awesome. As a kid I wanted this game badly for quite a while. Sonic won out at first, but when I finally got my hands on Rocket Knight Adventures, I played it a ton. I’d personally love to see some Sparkster plushies in the future! Konami brought Silent Hill back from the grave out of nowhere, so why not revive one of their best platformers that tons of players have no idea even exists!

Earthbound - Donovan Erskine, Never played Earthbound

The Earthbound franchise is so dead that there is probably a solid number of people out there that think the characters Ness and Lucas originated in Super Smash Bros. If Nintendo has no plans to revive the series with a new entry anytime soon, it would at least be cool of them to give the original game a modern reimagining. Doesn’t have to be anything special, just remind people that Earthbound exists!

Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host, Sports!

What 16-bit game, in my opinion, needs a remake? I would have said Super Mario RPG for this question but Nintendo already took care of that one.  So, my answer to this is going to be a little out there. I think a certain sports video game for the Super Nintendo needs to come back. Trust me, it isn’t one that you’re thinking of. This is the perfect time to bring back Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge. This is one of the all-time favorite SNES games as well as one of the best multiplayer sport games on the system. The new Tiny Toons cartoon has already created buzz for the franchise again and a game could do really well. When I’m live streaming on my SNES Mini, this game is my space-filler game, since it’s easy to pick up and doesn’t take too long to get deep into it.  It might be an odd choice but Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge is my answer for a game that should be remade today!

These are our 16-bit gems that need a remake, but what’s yours? Be sure to check out our Super Mario RPG review if you’d like to see what we thought of it and chime in with your own answers in the Chatty comment section below!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.