So one showcase I admit I forgot would be happening is one held by Limited Run, a company best known for their limited print runs of physical copies for games otherwise only available digitally, who are now also a publishing arm for Embracer Group and have worked with people like Modern Vintage Gamer to bring certain older games to modern platforms (in fact a lot of the remasters showcased are running on a game engine MVG developed called the "Carbon Engine"). Their showcase was just the other day and I was super caught off guard by the announcements made as there were confirmations of some surprising remasters coming from LRG via various porting studio partners, along with even some brand new games, one of which made me go "whoa, really?!" So here's a rundown:
-Castlevania Advance Collection will get a physical print run via LRG for Switch and PlayStation
-Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, a remaster of the cult classic 90s shooter, will get a physical print via LRG
-The Konami TMNT game soundtracks will get CD and vinyl prints via LGR
-Jordan Mechner's first game (Mechner is best known as the creator of Prince of Persia) Karateka will be getting a special port via Digital Eclipse which will not only contain 4 versions of the game (including a remastered edition with smoother framerate and pretty backgrounds) but a lot of behind-the-scenes videos with Mechner and many developers influenced by the game
-Cult classic seventh gen game El-Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is getting a remaster for the Switch (talk about a major left field announcement, I wonder how many people besides me still remember this game)
-Shantae Advance, a playable build of the Shantae game that was in development for the Game Boy Advance, will actually have a physical GBA cart printed
-Indie game studio Seedy Eye Software is developing a side scrolling action-adventure for all modern platforms called Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, and the game is… A MODERN TRIBUTE TO THE CD-I ZELDA GAMES! No I'm not shitting you, this game is mimicking the look of the two CD-i Zelda games that featured animated cutscenes, with said cutscenes even looking like they're animated in the same style as the CD-i Zeldas, with a bit of Hotel Mario to boot, AND they even went as far as to get the voice actors from those games as well! Given there's no way in hell Nintendo is ever going to approve of modern re-releases of the CD-i Zeldas or Hotel Mario (Nintendo prefers to pretend they never happened, no doubt the Philips deal is viewed as a major embarrassment), not even the vastly improved fan made remasters of the games (which turns the CD-i Zeldas into games that are actually shockingly decent thanks to much better controls), I'll absolutely take this weird ass tribute game.
-Infamous "American visual novel" game Plumbers Don't Wear Ties is getting a remaster for modern platforms which will not only include everything from the infamous 3DO original, but will also include a ton of bonus material interviewing the original cast and crew, plus a lot of critics who have covered the game throughout the years such as James Rolfe of AVGN fame. Actually looks like it might be worth grabbing just for the extras.
-Gargoyles Remastered, a remaster of the Disney Gargoyles game released for the Sega Genesis in 1995, is coming to all consoles this fall
-Double Shake, a "modern retro inspired" indie platformer that is heavily based on the Tomba! series is getting a release on Switch and PlayStation next year
-Not only that but the duology of Tomba! games from the PS1 are in fact getting remasters for the Switch, PlayStation, and PC!
-For the first time ever, the ORIGINAL Clock Tower from the mid 90s, which first only came out in Japan for the Super Famicom, is getting its first ever official localization! The game is being ported by Wayforward and is going to be similar to how they previously did River City Girls Zero, a localization of a Kunio-kun/River City game for the Super Famicom that didn't get an official localization until very recently, where it's described as a "Port+," where it's mostly a modern port of the old game, just now in new languages, but will have some new content like a newly animated intro sequence.
-The Ocean developed and published Jurassic Park games from the 90s will be getting a collection for all modern platforms this September (I was hoping it'd have the Sega games as well but I guess they need to negotiate a different contract for Sega, but I'll still take this just for the Jurassic Park SNES game I played a lot of as a kid)
-And last but certainly not least, GEX IS BACK! This is not a meme, the original trilogy of Gex games that Crystal Dynamics made back in the 90s are indeed getting remasters for all modern platforms next year. As a fun detail, the trailer for the announcement not only acted as a very on-brand parody of Goldeneye (a game that finally got a modern re-release earlier this year), but the trailer features some new dialogue from Gex's original VA Dana Gould, and the animated Gex in the trailer was done by FlippinDingDong, who famously did this Gex as a 90s Saturday Morning Cartoon animation that went viral last year.
So yeah, talk about a major surprise showcase!
