The Wish List: Five “vintage” franchises that would be super-dope “reboots”

By James Schlarmann

When it comes to the cinematic arts, I typically am not a big fan of reboots. To me, I’d rather see the vast resources of the entertainment industry used on something fresh, and new. One major exception of recent memory was the Star Trek reboot done by JJ Abrams. His interpretation of a classic made sense, paid homage to the original, and through some pretty inventive plot-device usage allows the viewer to maintain their knowledge of the franchise previous to his reboot while being able to also buy into his vision completely.

A recent viewing of Abram’s Star Trek got me thinking about what video games I’d love to see get a second chance in life on a newer generation console or on a PC-based platform. Classic FPS games have gotten the treatment already. Wolfenstein and Doom have had a few updates in the past, both pretty successfully. Even my old pal Leisure Suit Larry has had entries on both the PS2/Xbox and the PS3/Xbox 360 side of things.

The precedent for updates to older games is there; and really has been for quite some time. Since the medium is constantly changing and improving (better hardware, better graphics) I’d love to see some of my adolescent favorites recreated for the next generation consoles. These are the five game franchises that I would most like to see given a new lease on life.

5. Cool Boarders

It was the Tony Hawk of Snowboarding games for me. Cool Boarders was just a lot of fun to play. You could build up your player’s attributes, buy better boards, and perform all kinds of insane, not-possible-except-in-a-video-game tricks. Sure, more authenticating and realistic snowboarding games are out there already; but I just really loved this game and would love to see it updated and released again. There’s always a place for the obviously not possible in these games, as far as I’m concerned.

4. StarControl

Star Control, or as it was known in my world, StarCon, was part RPG, part space combat shooter. The second installment was probably my favorite iteration. You could travel the galaxy with your upgradable ship, scanning planets for life, facing off against the Syreen, Umgah, Ur-Quan or many other race of aliens and their varying ships. Each race had their own strengths and weaknesses.

This is a game that would absolutely work as a reboot in the PC world. I’d love to see it revamped into an MMO where you can create and modify your own starship, facing off not just against other alien races, but against other players’ ships as well. There rumors as recently as 2006 that the game’s creators were possibly going to make a new version. Consider me solidly in that camp!

3. Space Quest

Space Quest, originally released by Sierra Online (the same developers of the aforementioned Leisure Suit Larry franchise), was the first non-education PC game I ever played. This spoof of all things Sci-Fi was witty, and unique. Playing as Roger Wilco, a janitor on a starship, you are thrust into situation after situation that either lampoons or mirrors some Science-Fiction plot device staples. Hostile green-faced alien armada, desert planet, intergalactic cantina, unlikely heroic effort to save the galaxy; this game had a little bit of everything. It went on to spawn a few sequels, the best of which in my opinion being Space Quest 3.

The originals were all parser based. You would literally have to type commands for your character to perform actions like picking up objects and the like. By the fourth installment it had moved to a point and click interface. Leisure Suit’s adaptations to the new consoles are proof that this kind of game can be translated from keyboard and mouse to controller successfully. I’m sure a reboot of this franchise wouldn’t exactly set the world on fire like Call of Duty or Halo; but for old-school video game nerds like me, it would be a nice little treat.

2. Combat

Combat was an Atari cart game with a very, very simply concept. You had 27 “levels” to play, some in the air, some on the ground. Tanks would square off with either straight-firing bullets or bouncing ones. Jets or planes would face off as either smaller ships against each other or one massive bomber against a small group of jets. Some other variations were “stealth” mode where the vehicle would only appear once the round was fired, and of course road blocks or obstacles to fire around.

I spent hours and hours playing this game with my brother, sister and aunt on her Atari 2600. It was simple, fun and entertaining. Games were short (usually first to score 20 or so hits on their opponent), and quite fairly balanced. An updated, next-gen console version of this game could easily be done via the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live or the Nintendo channel. You don’t need a lot of fancy plotlines; you just need a big variety of vehicles and combat zones to play around in. It’s the kind of game that DLC was made to do right.

1. X-Wing Franchise

I am an admitted Star Wars geek to the Nth degree. I have an insatiable hunger for all things Star Wars…provided they don’t involve Hayden Christensen. So without a doubt a Star Wars based flight simulator was and is my favorite concept for a video game ever. Who wouldn’t want to fly ships in the Star Wars universe? From X-Wings to TIE Defenders to the Millennium Effing Falcon, this franchise had it all. Your

The X-Wing series burst onto the scene in 1993 with its first installment. This eponymous first game revolutionized space combat simulators, building on a similar platform to another classic, Wing Commander. The firs time I locked my S-Foils into attack position, I was hooked. You could take your career path from cadet to General and eventually destroy the first Death Star. Additional add-on campaigns followed the story right up the invasion of Hoth.

The next installment, TIE Fighter, picked up from that point and advanced you along a path as an Imperial pilot. This was the first Star Wars game that embraced the idea of you working for the bad guys. The next installment took much if not all of the story aspects out of the franchise and focused on multiplayer space combat. This was the early days of internet connected gaming and for its time it was amazing. X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter was perfect for what it was: no-holds barred space combat using Star Wars vehicles.

The last installment of the franchise finished off the original trilogy’s storyline and allowed you to fly the Millennium Falcon in destroying the Second Death Star. It was a pretty great story, and put a perfect seal on this epic game franchise. Several books were written following the success of the game franchise, further pushing it into the canon of Star Wars.

A reboot of this franchise would be amazing. I’m not sure it would work so well on a console without some uber-slick flight stick/keyboard interface with which to control the various facets of your spacecraft; so maybe a PC reboot would work best.

So there you have it. Five games or game franchises that I think deserve a second chance at life. Think I missed one? Think I’m way off base with any of my selections? Weigh in, and leave me a comment!