Best Retro Re-release

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Nintendo World Report's 2019 Game Awards

by Brett Posner-Ferdman, John Rairdin, and Neal Ronaghan - January 5, 2020, 7:58 am EST

Honoring some re-released classics available on Switch.

Winner: Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King

We can debate the quality of Genesis Aladdin and the SNES / Genesis Lion King games for a long time, but it'd be hard to find a more loving collection of retro games in recent memory. In addition to expert emulation of the '90s Disney games, this package from Digital Eclipse features oodles of documentary footage and never-before-seen artwork about a pair of games that were made under tight circumstances with access to some of the best animators on the planet. The overall package paints a magical portrait that peers into the world of Disney and video games in the era.

~ Neal Ronaghan

Runner Up: Castlevania Anniversary Collection

Some of the best ports of the original Castlevania games out there, the Castlevania Aniversary Collection brings the classic games to modern audiences. The inclusion of the Game Boy titles may be questionable to some, but the additions of Kid Dracula and Bloodlines make the collection stand out to all fans of the series. Of course, save states, button remapping, and a detailed art book are all here, but the addition of all the Japanese versions of the games make it a must have to any fan of the Castlevania series.

~ Brett Posner-Ferdman

Runner Up: Final Fantasy VII

There is something magical about seeing a game that was once cancelled for Nintendo 64 finally find its way back home. While a bunch of Final Fantasy games came out on Switch in 2019, and many of them are excellent, we feel that Final Fantasy VII's status as a prodigal son elevates it above the rest in our hearts. Nothing against Sony, but this is Final Fantasy VII the way it was (at least at one point) meant to be played.

~ John Rairdin

Best Third Party Developer / Publisher Best NES / SNES Online Game

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Talkback

OedoJanuary 05, 2020

I started playing through Genealogy of the Holy War last year (after finally catching up with most of the Fire Emblem games released in North America; the only ones I haven't finished now are Shadow Dragon and two routes of Three Houses, the latter of which I'm planning to start soon). The game really is super intriguing from a story and character standpoint, but yeah, it needs a full on remake from a gameplay perspective. There are a lot of interesting ideas with the large maps and mission structure, and how the romance and timeskip is implemented, but the game is hard to play in a lot of respects. I would love to see it remade, and with Koei Tecmo apparently taking a larger role on Three Houses than we initially thought, it makes a certain amount of sense that a remake is something other people at Intelligent Systems would have been working in the meanwhile.

I wouldn't hold my breathe for Thracia 776 as DLC though. I know people have speculated on that, or even both games being remade into a single package, but I don't think either scenario is feasible when you consider Intelligent Systems turned Gaiden into such a fleshed out, robust game with Shadows of Valentia due to the care and attention they approached the remake with. I think Thracia 776 would have to be its own remake.

Overall, it was interesting to read through this feature as always!