What’s The Difference Between Remake & Remaster?
if you’re a gamer, or something who read the news about gaming. You will notice that many games are being released with a better graphics, and that in some cases, the game is called a remake, while in some others, it’s called a remaster. So, what’s the difference between the two? And when could we call a game a remake, and when to call it a remaster?
The difference between the two is quite huge, and I will explain it in details in this article.
Quickly go to:-
What Is A Remaster?
A game remaster is rereleasing the exact same old game, but with a higher resolution, and slightly better graphics. Doing so makes running the game much easier on modern TVs. As older games would look distorted when you view them on a modern TV with high resolution. Control in the remaster is usually identical to the original. The same can be said about the gameplay, the story and everything. The only thing that changes is the enhanced graphics.
Usually, remasters are released on a different platform/console than the one it was original released on.
One of the most known remasters is Resident Evil 4:- Remaster, which made it easy to enjoy one of the best action-oriented installments in the series.
There are times where the remaster get some additional features to the remaster, like how the “Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King” has added the rewind feature. Which allows you to rewind the game and try again in case you got hit or even died in the game. That makes it very easy to finish those games by anyone. Final Fantasy 8 Remaster added the ability to play the game much faster. It also added the ability to disable random battles, something that could be annoying to those who are not used to old games mechanics.
What’s Remake?
Unlike remaster, where the game’s graphics are enhanced, remake is where the game is reproduced from scratch. Usually with a new engine, and with modern graphics. The game gets a new control to suit the capabilities of the new game. The difference between the original game & the remake is so huge, and can be very easily noticed.
Because the developer needs to rebuild the game from scratch, the cost for create remakes is high, and is equivalent to the cost of creating a brand-new game.
Here’s a comparison between the remake of Resident Evil 1 & the original game that was released in 1996:-
Here’s a comparison between remake of Spyro & the remake. The difference is quite huge:-
And let’s not forget the Crash Bandicoot triology, which became much more beuatiful after it got a remake:-
I my opinion, mixing between remaster & remake, and calling a remake a “remaster” is a bit unfair to the huge efforts the developers had to go through to create the remake.
Sometimes, A Game Can Get A Remake & Remaster At The Same Time
In some cases, a game can get a remake from scratch, and after some time, the developer release a remaster to that remake. This could be the reason why some people mix between a remake & remaster. The most obvious example for that is Resident Evil 1, which got a remake in 2002. Then Capcom released a remaster for that remake in 2015, since the 2002 remake was made for older TVs.
Let’s see that in action. Here are various stages the game had to go through from 1996 until now. The original game had a graphics that suited the time it was in:-
Here’s how the remake looked like, and how it was hugely better, and more fun to play:-
Here’s a comparison between the 2002 remake with the 2015 remaster. Notice how the graphics became more detailed in the remaster:-
And Finally
In my opinion, remakes are one of the things I quite like in gaming world. It allows you to experience an older game with the capabilities of the current generation. Calling the PS4 the “remaster generation” isn’t quite right, as we can consider the remakes as brand-new games. I don’t care about remasters the same ways as remasters to be honest, unless it’s a game I quite liked in the past, or a great game I never had a chance to play in the past.
I hope you liked my article, and I hope it made the difference between the remake & remaster east to understand.