Top Ten Tuesday: Video Games That Should Be Rebooted

E3 starts this weekend, and that combined with the news of Call of Duty going back to its roots with a Modern Warfare reboot makes it a good time to take a look at some video games—both old and relatively new—that could use a reboot. Whether good or bad, rehashing previous ideas has become increasingly popular in all forms of media, and these are the ten best for video games that fit the bill.

 

10. Castlevania

Because of the success of the anime series on Netflix (which started in 2017), now would be the perfect time to reboot Castlevania on consoles. The gothic horror game would target more of a niche market, but a great story combined with rave reviews could make it an absolute hit despite not carrying a built-in audience like the rest of this list.

 

9. Fight Night

It’s been over eight years since a Fight Night game dropped, and it doesn’t appear to be coming back anytime soon because of the way people view boxing. That’s unfortunate, but an engaging career mode, deep customization, and a strong roster of fictional characters—mainly from the Rocky movies and Creed spinoffs—for head-to-head matches would get fans excited.

 

8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

The gameplay depth for Knights of the Old Republic was amazing when originally released in 2003, but it could definitely use a reboot that takes advantage of today’s console capabilities. That said, the chances of KOTOR being revived are likely slim because of EA’s upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game releasing later this later.

 

7. GoldenEye 007

This might be flying under the radar when people talk about remaking classic games, but GoldenEye 007 (originally released in 1997 based on the 1995 film) was iconic, as it had a diverse assortment of weapons, including—of course—the “Golden Gun”. If made today, a 007 video game series would fill the current void in the spy genre.

 

6. Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed is a unique inclusion on the list because the series is still going strong, but I think it was best in the early days before too much present-day story was involved. Maybe no one else feels this way, but I would rather have a series reboot that still takes us through several generations of assassins (one per game), but is much more straightforward and doesn’t include a modern storyline at all.

 

5. NFL Street

The top five could basically go in any order, but NFL Street checks in at No. 5 to separate it from the other two football games on the list. Madden is so arcade-like that EA would probably be able to easily reboot the fan-favorite NFL Street series, as they would be able to sell based purely on nostalgia without putting much substantial effort into it (which unfortunately seems to be their MO nowadays).

 

4. NBA Street

I might personally prefer NFL Street, but an NBA Street reboot would cause “NBA Twitter” to explode, and we would finally get to settle some all-time great debates on the court (kind of). Plus, besides having current NBA players and the legends that agree to be in the game, a new NBA Street would have unforgettable fictional characters like “Stretch” and “Biggie Little”.

 

3. Batman: Arkham

Ultimately, the replay value of the current series might hurt the chances of a reboot (I know that I’ll be playing them all on Xbox One X when I have time), but if Rocksteady decides that Batman sells for them, why not make a more gritty, realistic series? While a game obviously wouldn’t be connected to The Dark Knight trilogy, it would be fun to see how a grounded Caped Crusader operates in a video-game world.

 

2. NCAA Football

It sounds like NCAA Football could be making a return in the near future, and I obviously wouldn’t be alone in welcoming it with open arms. Despite being made by EA, NCAA Football was significantly better than Madden because of a) Road to Glory mode, and b) being able to rise from offensive coordinator at a small school like Akron to head coach at USC (if you wanted; users could also simply take over at Alabama from the start if they chose to) in Dynasty Mode.

 

1. NFL 2K

I said the top five could go in any order, but the consensus at No. 1 is probably pretty clear. NFL 2K5 remains the best football game of all-time, as the presentation, gameplay, and customization are still better than current Madden games, and it would be awesome to see what 2K Sports would do with the series nearly 15 years later. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could turn into a hero by stripping the exclusive video-game license from EA and allowing 2K to return.