10 Best Gaming Reboots Ever
Doomguy needed a lot of work.
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00:00 Sometimes, a video game franchise needs a change.
00:03 Maybe the story of the series had hit a natural stopping point, or the gameplay of the previous
00:07 version just didn't mesh with today's gaming market.
00:09 Or maybe the series hadn't been seen in ages, and needed to come back in a big way.
00:13 This is where the reboot comes in - a way for developers to switch up a long-running
00:17 or well-known franchise, so a new batch of people can be introduced to the series.
00:21 And we're looking at the best of the best of the best today, as I'm Jules, this is
00:25 WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 Best Gaming Reboots Ever.
00:29 10.
00:30 Hitman (2016)
00:31 Hitman, as a franchise, is best known for its wide open levels and fantastic variety
00:36 on how best to eliminate your targets.
00:38 And this is exactly what was delivered when Blood Money came out in 2006, and it immediately
00:43 became a fan favourite.
00:44 This was then followed up a few years later with Absolution.
00:47 This was a game that only had a handful of open levels, replacing most of them with linear
00:51 sections where you barely had any choices on how to proceed through them.
00:54 Despite the title being solid enough, it just didn't feel truly like a Hitman game.
00:58 Bio Interactive decided to rectify their previous mistakes, however, by rebooting the series
01:02 completely in 2016.
01:04 Starting a brand new story of Agent 47 and Diana Burnwood dealing with a huge assassination
01:08 conspiracy, Hitman 2016 released huge, sprawling levels filled to the brim with NPCs, weapons,
01:14 and multiple ways to eliminate your targets.
01:16 With an episodic release schedule, fans of the series praised the game, and that praise
01:20 caused two more sequels to be released.
01:22 Luckily for us, 47's reboot put him right back on track.
01:25 9.
01:26 Mortal Kombat 2011
01:28 Fighting games in general were in a pretty rough spot in the 2000s, and the best example
01:32 for how much of a dire state the genre was in was the Mortal Kombat series.
01:36 With games like Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon, the franchise was firmly set
01:40 in a 3D arena fighter style of gameplay.
01:43 Filled with weird and rather rubbish characters sometimes, and a rather shallow moveset, compounded
01:47 with a story that ultimately killed most of its cast without entertaining the longtime
01:51 fans of the series, Mortal Kombat desperately needed a change.
01:54 Which is where the 2011 reboot came in.
01:56 Taking the game back to its 2D fighter origins, the plot and the roster of the game was an
02:00 altered version of the first three titles.
02:02 With deep movesets, better than ever fatalities, and fantastic side content - I mean, let's
02:07 face it, getting jump scared in the crypt was the best and worst thing - the reboot
02:10 brought the series back to prominence.
02:12 And with two more games after this, Mortal Kombat is looking better than ever.
02:16 8.
02:17 Doom 2016
02:19 The high octane, hyper-violent, rip and tear, roaringly fun Doom 2016 was exactly the shot
02:24 of adrenaline the franchise needed.
02:26 After the first two games that helped create and define the first person shooter genre,
02:30 and after all the million different versions of those two games, Doom 3 came out in 2004.
02:35 The game was a reboot in and of itself, and it was a horror game that had the player step
02:39 into the shoes of someone other than Doomguy, making the player a bit more vulnerable than
02:43 they might have been used to.
02:44 It was different, but definitely successful.
02:46 The developers then decided to follow this up with Doom 4, which promptly went into development
02:50 hell.
02:51 Twelve years later, and what came out of the other side of this was Doom 2016, another
02:54 reboot that recontextualised the first two games, and put players back behind Doomguy's
02:59 helmet, as he glory killed his way through this fun, action-packed shoot 'em up.
03:03 It was critically and commercially successful, and reminded fans why the franchise was so
03:07 bloody special.
03:08 It later got a sequel with Doom Eternal, and it's likely we'll see another game sooner
03:12 rather than later.
03:13 7.
03:14 New Super Mario Bros.
03:15 It might be hard to imagine now, but there was a very long period of time where there
03:19 were no new 2D Mario platformers.
03:21 And don't get me wrong, there's been a lot of great 3D Mario games, but where were
03:25 the 2D games?
03:27 After the success of Super Mario 64, Nintendo put more focus on the plumber's 3D adventures
03:31 and spin-offs, only having re-releases of Mario's past 2D games on the Game Boy Advance,
03:36 and the original Super Mario Bros. series was thrown to the wayside.
03:39 That is, until 2006, when New Super Mario Bros. released on the DS, a game that brought
03:44 Mario back to its roots while giving him that 3D moveset.
03:47 Wall jumps, triple jumps, and ground pounds were all available as Mario went through world
03:51 after world to find Bowser Jr. and the kidnapped Princess Peach.
03:54 The game did incredibly well, and as such got a slew of follow-ups throughout every
03:58 Nintendo system afterwards.
04:00 Games for the Wii, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch came with the same formula, and while fans
04:04 may be getting a little tired of them, it's still definitely nice to have the classic
04:07 Mario still around.
04:09 6.
04:10 Donkey Kong Country Returns
04:12 When you really look at it, Donkey Kong as a series is a bit strange.
04:15 It went from being one of the most iconic games ever in its debut, to a few weird games
04:19 and spin-offs, with DK Jr. and his adventures with math, back to being one of the most iconic
04:23 games ever with Donkey Kong Country, and back to more weird games and spin-offs with a bongo
04:27 controller.
04:28 Going back to that last part, though, the last Donkey Kong Country game of the original
04:31 trilogy came out in 1996, and afterwards, the Big Ape was floating around in a kind
04:36 of mediocre limbo.
04:37 Rhythm games, puzzle games, cameos in Mario sports and party titles, he was all over the
04:41 place, there was no consistent quality.
04:44 However, in 2011, a truly great DK game finally appeared, Donkey Kong Country Returns, which
04:49 brought the classic platformer into the 21st century, modernizing the whole thing while
04:54 holding onto the core of the series' appeal.
04:56 One of the best platformers in the modern era, this and Tropical Freeze were definitely
05:00 special.
05:01 5.
05:02 Prey (2017)
05:05 Some reboots are just gameplay changes or story changes, but Prey decided to hit the
05:08 full reset on everything.
05:11 Prey 2017 has almost nothing to do with the original game, because after the original
05:15 title, Prey 2 was in the works for the longest of times, which looked to continue the first
05:19 game's story.
05:20 However, it had an incredibly rocky development, with the rights to the franchise eventually
05:23 getting handed over to Bethesda.
05:25 After they tried their hand at making it, they decided that it would be much simpler
05:28 to cancel Prey 2 entirely, and instead of focusing on a sequel, they would focus on
05:32 a reboot so that they could just do their own thing.
05:34 And for the most part, it worked out.
05:36 Prey 2017 was considered one of the best games of that year, with its completely original
05:40 story and gameplay as you fought off shape-shifting aliens, and the space station that you explored
05:44 was fully realised and meticulously detailed.
05:47 It might not really resemble the original, but still, it is a fantastic game by itself.
05:52 4.
05:53 Ninja Gaiden (2004)
05:54 Now, I know I complain a lot about the difficulty of this game, but damn do I love it.
05:59 Back in the good old days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, or the 'Nayas',
06:03 Ninja Gaiden was a game where you controlled a ninja named Ryu Hayabusa, and hacked and
06:07 slashed your way through tough-as-nails challenges.
06:10 But back in the not-so-good, but still pretty good days of the original Xbox, Ninja Gaiden
06:13 was a game where you also controlled Ryu, and hacked and slashed your way through tough-as-nails
06:17 challenges, but in 3D.
06:19 Rebooted in 2004, Ninja Gaiden was introduced to a whole new console generation.
06:24 Created in a way to focus on Western audiences, the game shined with its difficulty and violent
06:29 combat which was as deep as any other character action game at the time.
06:32 With the story being a prequel to the other games, it also inspired its own sequels, and
06:36 several versions of this were made as it was eventually ported over to multiple platforms.
06:40 This reboot introduced a new, but faithful direction for the series, and we're all
06:44 the better for it.
06:45 3.
06:46 Tomb Raider 2013
06:48 Tomb Raider is one of the most iconic franchises in gaming history, and as such, Lara Croft
06:53 is one of the most iconic characters in video games.
06:55 Lara's original run lasted all the way from 1996 to 2008, and while the highs were revolutionary,
07:01 the lows were pretty dismal, as the franchise releases were all over the place, with Lara
07:05 fighting dinosaurs, dealing with mutants, chasing after Egyptian gods, being dead, investigating
07:10 death cults, and more.
07:12 At a certain point, there was just no way to keep the games at a consistent quality,
07:15 and if Tomb Raider was going to survive, it needed a reboot.
07:18 So reboot they did.
07:19 Following a younger, less experienced Lara Croft as she gets stranded on an island, you
07:23 see how she comes to rely on herself whilst fighting off against a violent Salari brotherhood,
07:27 and also trying to avoid gruesome deaths however she can.
07:30 It was a smash hit, making the reboot a series with two more games to follow, and it's
07:34 nice to know that this landmark series can adapt.
07:37 2.
07:38 God of War 2018
07:40 This game is a bit weird for this list, because while it is definitely a reboot, it's also
07:44 a sequel.
07:45 However, it's so incredible that the rules definitely can be bent a little here.
07:48 God of War 2018 set off to do something that many people thought was impossible - turn
07:53 Kratos into a real, sympathetic character.
07:56 In God of War 3, Kratos was a rage monster, barely showing any other emotion during the
08:00 entire story.
08:01 However, by the time he showed up in God of War 2018, he was more reserved, his anger
08:05 below the surface, as he had to learn how to be a real father to his son.
08:09 With the reboot changing gameplay significantly from previous titles, the third-person over-the-shoulder
08:14 angle made combat feel more close and personal, whilst the double-teaming dynamic between
08:18 father and son, as they explored Norse mythology, was utterly charming.
08:22 The game is a perfect example of blending the old with the new, and it resulted in one
08:26 of the best games ever made.
08:28 1.
08:29 Fallout 3
08:31 Now I know I'm going to get a lot of flack from the purists out there, because let's
08:34 face it, Fallout 1 and 2 are exceptionally good games.
08:37 But if we're looking in terms of what makes a successful reboot, and that is critical
08:41 praise and commercial sales, then you cannot deny the juggernaut that is Fallout 3.
08:46 Plus, without this, we wouldn't have got the best game in the series, Fallout New Vegas.
08:49 So let me just have this one.
08:50 So when Bethesda hoovered up the rights to the series, they decided to change things
08:53 up significantly, with the isometric view of Fallout 1 and 2 now becoming first-person,
08:58 turn-based combat morphing into real-time shooting, with VATS letting you pause and
09:03 nail specific shots.
09:04 Placing players in an open-world map of a nuclear-ridden Washington DC, you were simply
09:08 just trying to find your dad, who was also played by Liam Neeson of all people.
09:11 And this game took off, propelling Fallout into a household name, and further solidifying
09:16 Bethesda as a top name in the video game industry.
09:19 For a while, at least, until Fallout 76.
09:21 If any other developer needed a lesson on how to properly reboot a franchise, they should
09:24 probably take a few notes from Fallout 3.
09:26 And there we go, my friends.
09:28 Those were the 10 best gaming reboots ever.
09:30 I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
09:33 the comments section below.
09:34 If you want to chat to me further, you can do so over on Twitter @RetroJ, but the O is
09:38 a zero, or you can swing by my Instagram page, which is Retro40K, where I do all my painting
09:42 stuff.
09:43 And it'd be great to see you over there.
09:44 But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
09:46 I hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, my friend.
09:48 Sometimes we can all do with that personal little reboot to get that positivity flowing
09:52 again.
09:53 So make sure you're taking a break, being kind to yourself, and just going at your own
09:55 pace, alright?
09:56 You are a massive ledge, and you deserve the best things in life.
09:59 As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome.
10:01 Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon.