Five Free Gaming Remakes!

Posted 12/17/2008 at 10:00am | by David Murphy

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Everyone has a short list of "classic" games that are fun to fire up every now and then.  It doesn't matter how old they are, nor how many times you've successfully beaten these A-list titles.  These awesome games will always hold a special place in your heart no matter what.  That's the enduring legacy of their appeal.

That's why we love remakes -- fresh new takes on classic games or traditional gaming motifs that can be better than the original titles we're used to playing. Bundle in our zealous enjoyment of anything free or open-source, and you've got a recipe for awesome on your hands.  We like awesome, which is why we're profiling five freeware gaming remakes in this week's feature roundup.  Check out these titles, as they're examples of some of the best, remade gaming environments that the freeware/open-source community has to offer!

Neverball

It's like: Marble Madness
Why it rocks: As crazy as the old-school title Marble Madness was, Neverball brings the concept of "getting that little sphere from point A to point B" into the modern era.  Nixing the traditional top-down view, Neverball puts you right behind your marble as you bounce, spin, and curse its way through a ton of challenging level--more than 75, to be exact.  That's a lot of room to send your marble flying off a ledge, so be sure to take an occasional calming break every hour or so.

Download it here!

OpenArena

It's like: Quake III Arena (duh)
Why it rocks: We'll say it, even though it should be obvious by the game's name.  OpenArea is an open-source variant of Quake III Arena.  We include this in our list as it's essentially a free version of one of our favorite, older FPS titles.  It also has extremely low system requirements for entry: as long as you're sporting at least something that's comparable to a Voodoo2 8MB card, a Pentium 2 233MHz processor, and 96MB of RAM... you'll be set.  With specs like that, we wonder if we couldn't get this thing to work on our graphing calculators, let alone our quad-core PCs.

Download it here!

Guardian of Paradise

It's like: The Legend of Zelda
Why it rocks: It would be obscene to not pay homage to one of the greatest action/adventure titles in the gaming market.  While Guardian of Paradise isn't quite as complicated as, say, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the game still manages to put forth a good effort at reminding us just why we love these top-down titles.  The innovative puzzle mechanics are a bit more detailed than your average "pull lever, hear happy song of success" variety, though the combat is a little lacking compared to the title's spiritual predecessor.

Download it here!

Truecombat Elite

It's like: Counter-Strike
Why it rocks: Because it's an awesome remake, of a remake, of a remake, of...  hear us out.  Truecombat Elite is a modification to the freeware game Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.  Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was a remake of the classic Wolfenstein 3D title.  Truecombat Elite is a remake of Counter-Strike, one of the most popular (and dare we say, annoying) first-person shooters around.  Thus, Truecombat Elite is actually a freeware remake of a game, remade on an engine that's a remake of one of the earliest first-person shooters around.  Confusing?  Right.  What are you waiting for?  Go buy some grenades and make with the team-based killing!

Download it here!

Pingus

It's like: Lemmings
Why it rocks: If you hate penguins, this title's for you.  It's a remake of the classic Lemmings game, which operates under a very simple premise.  In this case, penguins drop down from a safe entrance point.  Your goal is to get these penguins safely to an exit point by turning your penguins into little workers.  Some penguins can dig, some build bridges, some jump around, et cetera.  This remake is excellent as it introduces some new concepts to traditional Lemmings gameplay, alongside new worker tasks that get you thinking outside the box a little bit.  And, of course, the game comes with the classic Lemmings "Armageddon Button" for when you want to wipe away your level's progress (and penguin population) to start anew.

Download it here!

What are your favorite classic titles (or remakes)?  And have you found any new versions of Syndicate, per chance?  Let us know in the comments!