I agree with what you're saying, I feel like SM64 and OoT could both use full HD remakes.
My fear is that fan expectations and what amount of effort Nintendo is willing to expend are both so wildly disconnected from reality. Unfortunately, us more so because we'll still buy it up regardless.
I just wish a middle ground approach to dial down expectations while also seeing Nintendo be more ambitious in remaking their titles weren't such a pipe dream. It's not as though I mean to disparage these games like they weren't deserving of accolades at the time when they first released; to me it just seems Nintendo thinks there's nothing to improve so you get stuff like Super Mario 64 DS, Ocarina of Time 3DS, and Twilight Princess/Windwaker HD.
Legitimate question: was Skyward Sword HD worth coming back to? Haven't played it myself yet, but 60fps is all I can really recall from the list of improvements. Which is fantastic! It's a great feature to have! ...but it's also one that feels should be standard for a remake of a game that's over a decade old. Hence, my ire with SM64 in SM3DAS, OoT3DS, etc. etc. If they want to push boundaries with BotW and TotK where 30fps is the cap, I can live with that. But, so far Metroid Prime Remastered (which already had 60fps back in 2001), and Skyward Sword HD seem to be the only remakes that can offer that.
Super Mario Sunshine! If ever there were a game that would benefit from a ground-up remake, with sufficient development and QA time while taking advantage of modern game physics and lighting for impressive water effects; I genuinely enjoy the game and can see the flaws that need more polish, but they just threw in a widescreen hack and wiped their hands clean (minus a patch because a dummy left the dev cube tracking paths turned on for the FLUDD-less levels).
Maybe – probably not, but maybe – the success of Metroid Prime Remastered will give them ideas to apply the same approach (not changing the gameplay outside of controls, but remaking every asset) to other games ?
I would dearly love that to be the case, but I'm lead to believe this is simply a manner of Western vs. Japanese game design philosophies. I think the only thing that could change my mind is if the next F-Zero game is an HD update for GX, that they offer more than what the game originally offered (16:9 widescreen, 60 fps for single player and I'm damn near certain for four player splitscreen, not to mention the entirety of AX hidden away on the GX disc). Can Nintendo(/Sega or whoever would be involved) find ways to go above and beyond? I certainly feel they could think of ways beyond adjusted difficulty modes and online components, but that's all just my bare minimum expectations to begrudgingly buy a game I'd otherwise rate a C+ at full price in 2023.
famiboards.com
Played myself like everyone else. Had a pre-order for a physical copy, ended up getting it digital and kept the physical sealed for when I could resell it and make money.
