Sometimes, old games come back in style. Sometimes, they never come back at all. And sometimes they just keep coming back regardless of whether anyone asked for it.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the all-time champion in the latter category, having been ported and remastered what feels like 19 times now (at least we’re getting Oblivion this time). But on May 5, Microsoft announced Gears of War: Reloaded, a new 4K-enhanced port of the 2006 Xbox 360 classic that’s also coming to PS5. That’s all fine and dandy, except Gears of War literally already got a remaster in 2015 called Ultimate Edition. So, this is a remaster of a remaster, but at least Ultimate Edition owners get the upgrade for free.
That’s goofy, right? But instead of lingering on that, let’s celebrate some other old(er) games that could use the remaster treatment instead.
5 other video games that deserve remasters
For this list, I’m trying to stick to games that you can’t just easily download and play on a modern console. There are a couple of exceptions, but bear with me, OK?
Sleeping Dogs
The combat in ‘Sleeping Dogs’ was amazing.
Credit: Square Enix/Steam
I’m going to immediately break my rule with Sleeping Dogs, a game that has a just-OK Definitive Edition port available on current Xbox and PlayStation hardware. That version of the game didn’t really feature the kinds of visual or performance enhancements we’ve come to expect from remasters, and was mostly just an excuse to package the original game with its DLC, so I’m fine throwing that port under the bus here.
Anyway, if you didn’t play Sleeping Dogs when it hit Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012, you really missed out. It’s basically Grand Theft Auto, but you play as an undercover cop in Hong Kong. The setting means that guns are very rare, so the developers at the now-defunct United Front Games included a much deeper and more fun melee combat system than any GTA game has to offer. Gorgeous urban visuals, a story that takes itself just seriously enough to be interesting without being boring about it, and all kinds of goofy open-world mayhem defined Sleeping Dogs.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a sleeper at the time and didn’t sell enough to get a real sequel greenlit. But real ones know. Sleeping Dogs deserves another chance in the spotlight.
Where can you play it? Steam, PlayStation 4
Asura’s Wrath
Asura’s Wrath is the only game on here that I’ve actually written words about for a real, published book that you can buy in stores. That means it’s real art.
Of course, that wouldn’t be in dispute to anyone who’s seen Asura’s Wrath. Also hailing from the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012, Asura’s Wrath is basically an 8-hour playable anime movie. The gameplay consists largely of timed button presses tied to some of the most absurd, over-the-top action cutscenes ever rendered. At one point, a guy magically extends his sword to such a length that he’s able to stab it through the entire planet. I’m pretty sure the moon gets destroyed like halfway through the game and nobody even really stops to point it out.
Asura’s Wrath lost points then and now for tying the true ending of the story to a $10 DLC episode. A modern remaster that just makes the game available in full on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles would be amazing.
Mashable Top Stories
Where can you play it? PlayStation 3
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Speaking of Grand Theft Auto, did you know there was a Simpsons-themed ripoff back in 2003?
The Simpsons: Hit & Run speaks for itself, really. You run around an open-world version of Springfield, doing wacky missions for each of its 900 or so colorful side characters. Basically, any vehicle that has ever appeared on-screen in the show is playable, and the town map is full of easter eggs for fans to discover. It’s probably the best Simpsons game, but likely due to ancient copyright problems, it’s never been re-released in any form.
I’d love a basic HD version of this game for current platforms. You wouldn’t even need to do anything to it other than make it look a little sharper. Just save it from PS2 purgatory, please.
Where can you play it? PlayStation 2 (if you can find one)
Bloodborne
Credit: PlayStation Store
You didn’t think I’d make it all the way through a list of games that need remasters without getting to Bloodborne, did you?
This is really only here as a formality, given that every single PS5 announcement stream carries speculation from fans that this will finally be the one where they announce a Bloodborne remaster. It has yet to actually happen, of course, and it’s starting to feel like it never will. But let’s talk about it anyway.
Originally released in 2015 for PS4, Bloodborne is the newest game on this list and also the easiest to just buy and play on a PS5 right now. The only problem is that it never got any kind of upgrade patch for PS5, so it runs exactly as it did in 2015, which is to say “not great.” Bloodborne in its original state is still fully playable and a wonderful action game in its own right, but people are not necessarily wrong to beg for a remaster.
Where can you play it? PlayStation 4 and PS5
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Last but certainly not least, one of the most self-indulgent pieces of art ever created deserves to be seen again by fresh eyes in 2025 (and beyond).
Metal Gear Solid 4 was a bonafide event in 2008. It’s the only video game I’ve ever waited in line at midnight for. Unfortunately, it has never been released on anything other than PlayStation 3. One would assume that a remaster of this game for modern hardware is in the works, given that a collection of the first three Metal Gear Solid games came out with a “Vol. 1” label on it in late 2023. But it’s been nearly 20 years and nothing feels like a given with this game.
If you’ve never played it, everything that people say (lovingly or otherwise) about director Hideo Kojima is most applicable in MGS4. It has 90-minute cutscenes full of flow charts and meditations on genetic legacy and geopolitics. All of the boss enemies are modeled after real-life female models Kojima liked for some reason. Every single plot thread from every Metal Gear game leading up to 4 is resolved in this game, often in ways that feel contrived and clunky.
It’s a beautiful mess of a video game, and it doesn’t feel fair that something that made such a big impact nearly two decades ago is just unplayable by a large majority of people now.
Where can you play it? PlayStation 3
