Another Friday, another Top 6 list I want to see from you! For the second week of questions I have to ask:
What were your top 6 remasters/remakes/upgraded ports of games you enjoyed on Switch? Whether it was your first time or sixth time playing these games, what have been your favourite experiences to revisit specifically on the Switch? But like before, don't just make it a list; at least write a sentence or three about why they were so impactful to you!
I'll present my list (unranked):
Pikmin 3 Deluxe
While I was admittedly hesitant at first to pick this up again (specifically because I remembered the first time I played it on Wii U it was so short), as soon as I started a new save file I was reminded so quickly why I've come to love the series. So much comes together in a perfect little package; charming music, lush greenery and environments, adorable characters and enemies, and a brain teasing challenge. Additionally, the difficulty to reduce the number of Pikmin allowed in the field at once while also offering prologue and epilogue missions for Olimar and Louie have just made it worthwhile, and I was happy to do my part to ensure there was sufficient interest shown for Pikmin 4.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
I was sold alone on the promise of a proper Battle Mode, but BOOSTER COURSE PACK solidified this decision to pick the game up.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
It's really so pretty, and though I enjoyed the game on Wii (while not quite finishing it), I can still appreciate the finer details in improving the character models, as well as the bonus story chapter. One day I'll actually get around to pulling my XC2 game out of the CE box
Portal Collection
I beat the first game on PC, and the second on 360. This came at a perfect time when I was considering going through both again, and
wow these puzzles still hold up to this day. You'll scratch your head, aching on how to solve a challenge, but when it all clicks, you feel like the smartest person in the room. I even felt inclined to go back and finish all the challenge rooms like I hadn't before, and the options for Portal 2's multiplayer whether splitscreen, local wireless or online are all fantastic playstyles and do not skimp on options.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Playing this game again is like a time capsule for 2010. The only drawbacks I've had are load times, but the music from 30 Seconds to Mars before Leto became a meme, the righteous DnB of Pendulum's "
Watercolour" to get you hyped while driving along the coastline highway at night in the rain, and just the aesthetic of cars from 2010 are cool as hell (and I love making them ugly as sin by picking custom colours and make them as bright neon highliter pink as possible
)
Super Monkey Ball
I dunno what it is about this game, it's just fun. I also appreciate that no matter how challenging it gets, the game does offer an easy mode and slow down mode. While it's a shame it doesn't offer online, the multiplayer for 1-4 players is still as fun as it ever was back on the Gamecube when I could only ever rent those games
The only reason Metroid Prime Remastered (and Skyward Sword HD, and Link's Awakening DX) aren't on my list is because I haven't got them yet, but I do hope to fix that in the future! There are a number of other games I'd like to consider like Darksiders, The Witcher 3, L.A. Noire, DOOM, and Alan Wake, but they're all in my backlog and I've yet to give them a go (or at least finish them proper)