There are remakes, remasters, and rereleases. A lot of time they get lumped together but are distinctly different. Usually I prefer a good remaster. If the game has improved graphics, sound quality, works on modern systems with modern controls, and other quality of life upgrades then that’s awesome. The Command and Conquer Remastered collection really hit the mark with this recently. Quake 1 and 2, Halo Master Chief Collection, and God of War Collection were all pretty solid. Bioshock 1 and 2 were nice but fighting the mouse controls sucked. GTA Trilogy remaster seemed great too, but I only originally had played Vice City on initial release.
Rereleases are usually cash grabs and I hate that. It can be nice to get a port but when Nintendo is charging $30 for ancient games you have several copies of that just sucks. The recent Clash of Heroes M&M remaster felt like a cash grab rerelease too.
Remakes are usually a miss because they change things I dont want changed. I hate the FF7 remake. Give me a remaster and I would love it but that remake is packed with so much garbage filler and fundamentally changes the combat into button mashing boredom, its awful. Very pretty looking, but just horrible to play.
To answer the original question, remakes I like: Resident Evil 1 and 2 nailed it. Better controls, graphics etc, and maintained the majority of the game layout, awkward fucking script, and everything that made them iconic. Dead Space nailed it too except for the transition stutter when moving from area to area. Other worthy mentions are Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Shadow of the Collosus, Duck Tales, Grim Fandango, and Prince of Persia collection.
I’m playing System Shock now, but having never played the original I cant compare it. Its neat to have the opportunity to play a classic with improvements, and it reviewed well so I think its faithful enough I’m getting a good experience of it.
missingno@fedia.io 23 hours ago
Metroid: Zero Mission is the first thing that comes to mind for me. It's an example of a remake that's very different from the original so , but I'm of the opinion that the original is kind of hard to recommend to anyone who didn't grow up on it. ZM is just phenomenal and holds up perfectly.
I'll say Kirby Super Star Ultra for a remake that's nearly a straight upgrade over the original. The only real nitpick is that multiplayer is a little janky, SNES is obviously just a smoother experience for that.