10 Video Game Demakes You Can ACTUALLY Play
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Script written by Mathew Arter
Welcome to Mojoplays, and today we are trimming the fat, and counting down 10 Video Game Demakes you can actually play. For this list, we’ll be looking at the popular YouTube genre of imagining modern games on old hardware. As cool as they are, a lot of these YouTube videos and TikToks are just that, imaginings, and are animated and created JUST to be viewed. Today, we are focusing on the video game demakes you can go and play TODAY. Have you tried any of these? And which of these would you like to check out? Let us know in the comments below.
Often regarded as one of the best games of all time by critics, Dead Space burst onto the scene in 2008 and blew players away with its immersive atmosphere and engaging gameplay. A minimalist HUD, slow gameplay that builds tension and a well thought out upgrade system are all reasons it won so many industry awards. The Dead Space Demake created by Fraser Brumley imagines the game as if it was released in 1998. With a small 40-minute section of the game, players can see the amount of care and love that was put into this demake, with beat-for-beat gameplay and well translated environments. It also answers an age-old question, “are good graphics that important?”, as the game still feels so great with this PS1 coat of paint.
Resident Evil 4 is one of, if not the most beloved Resident Evil game of all time, releasing originally on the GameCube in 2005 and then reimagined in 2023 with the Resident Evil 4 Remake. Itch.io user Gypopothomas reimagines the horror classic as an SNES side scrolling shooter, complete with waves of villagers, tough bosses, and cute little character sprites to represent our favorite legends of the series. The game (like many side scrollers of the era) is quite hard, and requires a certain amount of trial and error. A seasoned gamer who’s spent some time with this genre should have no problem completing the game. If not, there’s always baby mode... you widdle, widdle baby.
The Legend of Zelda on the NES was the 6th highest-selling NES game of all time, shipping a whopping 6.5 million units. Originally developed for Nintendo’s first home console outside of Japan, and the beginning of one of the biggest gaming series of all time, you wouldn’t think there was much to strip back in this game… Turns out, there is. Created by Ben Purdy, Zelda in 16x16 takes every visible and distinguishable feature of the NES title and strips it back to something that could have been released, and functioned, on the Atari 2600. The best part? It is completely playable! It uses the original map, while tweaking a few mechanics to fit this more minimalist vibe, and it is shockingly VERY enjoyable. It’s a true link to the past… See what I did there?
Super Mario Odyssey did what no game has been able to do before or since, by receiving universal acclaim and becoming the best rated game of all time. From the title screen to the gameplay and world, developer SimpleTeam reimagines the Cap and Cascade Kingdom sections of the game as a 16 bit, 2D Mario game. Each beat has been perfectly translated to this 2D style, allowing for an experience that is not just a good nostalgia injection for Odyssey fans, but also just a good Mario experience on its own. 2D Super Mario never looked so good.
Originally released in 1996, Resident Evil kicked off an entire franchise and spawned a whole new style of survival horror gameplay. This demake by JayJay-1992 places the game in 1989, as an original gameplay cartridge with top down gameplay and text-based dialogue. The port focuses on Jill’s campaign and allows the player to fully explore the Spencer Mansion and get wrapped up in the world from this new perspective. With an accessible inventory of tools and puzzles and enemies to match the original entry, Jill Sandwiches never looked so retro.
Critically acclaimed and beloved by all, Fez was a 2D platformer set in a 3D world. It stripped back the trimmings of a 7th generation game to focus on gameplay. This indie hit has had even more trimmings stripped back, with this reimagining by developer Jusiv and their demake known as Fuz. Fuz places the game back a few years, whilst maintaining the core gameplay mechanics of turning a 2D platformer into a 3D environment (though it doesn’t visually utilize 3D capabilities). The game is a cute and fun experience that feels almost like a concept test for Fez.
No Man’s Sky was an ambitious mess upon release, and has since done a full 180 to become an incredibly popular space exploration survival game. Imagine if the developers had this much ambition back in 1977. Enter Low Mem Sky. In the style of the Atari 2600 (but with significantly more computing power), Low Mem Sky imagines the game in a top-down style, with very minimalist graphics, but around 180 billion unique star systems. Each system has up to 8 procedurally generated planets, a Space Station for trading resources, components and ship upgrades, and each planet has unique and continuous procedural terrain generation, and climate-specific resources. Wow! Visually, this requires some imagination, but imagine this game back in 1977! My tiny brain would have popped.
Disco Elysium was ground-breaking and received universal acclaim for its non-traditional role-playing style. But could this kind of simple gameplay and heavy narrative formula have been made in the early 90’s? Or was the hardware a big part of what this game needed to succeed? Itch.io developer Colin tries to answer this question with Disco Elysium Game Boy Edition, a beat-for-beat demake of the first section of the game. Almost Pokemon-esque, the game is ported in interesting ways, with clever tweaks to gameplay elements to make it adaptable. It’s also actually playable on a Game Boy… if you can get the rom onto a cartridge.
This demake is so good a LOT of people still believe this is one of those pre-rendered and animated imaginings of a modern game in the PS1 style, but nope! It’s completely playable. Bloodborne PSX is a top to bottom demake of the beloved PS4 classic Bloodborne, and features a good few hours of the game’s campaign. From character creation, to cutscenes, to gameplay, this demake is phenomenal, and is a MUST play for souls fans, and PS1 fans.
Silent Hill 2 is often referred to as the greatest horror game of all time. Its perfect slow burn storytelling, combined with its gripping atmosphere, and full use of the hardware of the time, made it a historical release in gaming. Itch.io developer Stormergames imagines the ENTIRE game (including the infamous dog ending) in a top-down Game Boy Color style. The game follows the beats of the original perfectly, allowing the players to fight enemies and solve puzzles identical to the PS2 entry. With different difficulties for harder puzzles, and tougher enemies, this game would have been a phenomenal release had it been ported originally back in 2001. Video game demakes always manage to strip back games to the point that all that’s left is the heart of the game, and this demake has a LOT of heart.
Welcome to Mojoplays, and today we are trimming the fat, and counting down 10 Video Game Demakes you can actually play. For this list, we’ll be looking at the popular YouTube genre of imagining modern games on old hardware. As cool as they are, a lot of these YouTube videos and TikToks are just that, imaginings, and are animated and created JUST to be viewed. Today, we are focusing on the video game demakes you can go and play TODAY. Have you tried any of these? And which of these would you like to check out? Let us know in the comments below.
Dead Space Demake
Often regarded as one of the best games of all time by critics, Dead Space burst onto the scene in 2008 and blew players away with its immersive atmosphere and engaging gameplay. A minimalist HUD, slow gameplay that builds tension and a well thought out upgrade system are all reasons it won so many industry awards. The Dead Space Demake created by Fraser Brumley imagines the game as if it was released in 1998. With a small 40-minute section of the game, players can see the amount of care and love that was put into this demake, with beat-for-beat gameplay and well translated environments. It also answers an age-old question, “are good graphics that important?”, as the game still feels so great with this PS1 coat of paint.
BioEvil 4
Resident Evil 4 is one of, if not the most beloved Resident Evil game of all time, releasing originally on the GameCube in 2005 and then reimagined in 2023 with the Resident Evil 4 Remake. Itch.io user Gypopothomas reimagines the horror classic as an SNES side scrolling shooter, complete with waves of villagers, tough bosses, and cute little character sprites to represent our favorite legends of the series. The game (like many side scrollers of the era) is quite hard, and requires a certain amount of trial and error. A seasoned gamer who’s spent some time with this genre should have no problem completing the game. If not, there’s always baby mode... you widdle, widdle baby.
Zelda 16x16
The Legend of Zelda on the NES was the 6th highest-selling NES game of all time, shipping a whopping 6.5 million units. Originally developed for Nintendo’s first home console outside of Japan, and the beginning of one of the biggest gaming series of all time, you wouldn’t think there was much to strip back in this game… Turns out, there is. Created by Ben Purdy, Zelda in 16x16 takes every visible and distinguishable feature of the NES title and strips it back to something that could have been released, and functioned, on the Atari 2600. The best part? It is completely playable! It uses the original map, while tweaking a few mechanics to fit this more minimalist vibe, and it is shockingly VERY enjoyable. It’s a true link to the past… See what I did there?
Super Mario 2Dyssey
Super Mario Odyssey did what no game has been able to do before or since, by receiving universal acclaim and becoming the best rated game of all time. From the title screen to the gameplay and world, developer SimpleTeam reimagines the Cap and Cascade Kingdom sections of the game as a 16 bit, 2D Mario game. Each beat has been perfectly translated to this 2D style, allowing for an experience that is not just a good nostalgia injection for Odyssey fans, but also just a good Mario experience on its own. 2D Super Mario never looked so good.
Resident Evil GB
Originally released in 1996, Resident Evil kicked off an entire franchise and spawned a whole new style of survival horror gameplay. This demake by JayJay-1992 places the game in 1989, as an original gameplay cartridge with top down gameplay and text-based dialogue. The port focuses on Jill’s campaign and allows the player to fully explore the Spencer Mansion and get wrapped up in the world from this new perspective. With an accessible inventory of tools and puzzles and enemies to match the original entry, Jill Sandwiches never looked so retro.
Fuz
Critically acclaimed and beloved by all, Fez was a 2D platformer set in a 3D world. It stripped back the trimmings of a 7th generation game to focus on gameplay. This indie hit has had even more trimmings stripped back, with this reimagining by developer Jusiv and their demake known as Fuz. Fuz places the game back a few years, whilst maintaining the core gameplay mechanics of turning a 2D platformer into a 3D environment (though it doesn’t visually utilize 3D capabilities). The game is a cute and fun experience that feels almost like a concept test for Fez.
Low Mem Sky
No Man’s Sky was an ambitious mess upon release, and has since done a full 180 to become an incredibly popular space exploration survival game. Imagine if the developers had this much ambition back in 1977. Enter Low Mem Sky. In the style of the Atari 2600 (but with significantly more computing power), Low Mem Sky imagines the game in a top-down style, with very minimalist graphics, but around 180 billion unique star systems. Each system has up to 8 procedurally generated planets, a Space Station for trading resources, components and ship upgrades, and each planet has unique and continuous procedural terrain generation, and climate-specific resources. Wow! Visually, this requires some imagination, but imagine this game back in 1977! My tiny brain would have popped.
Disco Elysium Game Boy Edition
Disco Elysium was ground-breaking and received universal acclaim for its non-traditional role-playing style. But could this kind of simple gameplay and heavy narrative formula have been made in the early 90’s? Or was the hardware a big part of what this game needed to succeed? Itch.io developer Colin tries to answer this question with Disco Elysium Game Boy Edition, a beat-for-beat demake of the first section of the game. Almost Pokemon-esque, the game is ported in interesting ways, with clever tweaks to gameplay elements to make it adaptable. It’s also actually playable on a Game Boy… if you can get the rom onto a cartridge.
Bloodborne PSX
This demake is so good a LOT of people still believe this is one of those pre-rendered and animated imaginings of a modern game in the PS1 style, but nope! It’s completely playable. Bloodborne PSX is a top to bottom demake of the beloved PS4 classic Bloodborne, and features a good few hours of the game’s campaign. From character creation, to cutscenes, to gameplay, this demake is phenomenal, and is a MUST play for souls fans, and PS1 fans.
Silent Hill 2: 20th anniversary Demake
Silent Hill 2 is often referred to as the greatest horror game of all time. Its perfect slow burn storytelling, combined with its gripping atmosphere, and full use of the hardware of the time, made it a historical release in gaming. Itch.io developer Stormergames imagines the ENTIRE game (including the infamous dog ending) in a top-down Game Boy Color style. The game follows the beats of the original perfectly, allowing the players to fight enemies and solve puzzles identical to the PS2 entry. With different difficulties for harder puzzles, and tougher enemies, this game would have been a phenomenal release had it been ported originally back in 2001. Video game demakes always manage to strip back games to the point that all that’s left is the heart of the game, and this demake has a LOT of heart.
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