Capcom

Capcom changes a remake's content freely so veterans still get surprises. Over two decades Capcom remade Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 and 4. The RE4 remake moves, reorders, expands, cuts and replaces content, so the familiar village siege stops playing out as remembered once the player climbs a tower.

Most game remakes copy the original beat for beat, like Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot Psycho. That can pair modern graphics with dated gameplay and gives owners of the original little reason to buy. Capcom says an exact copy would not be fun or interesting.

Make the pillars feelings, not features, so mechanics can change. RE4's remake pillars were its lightning-fast pace, b-movie dialogue, tackling encounters in different ways, and replayability. Any new idea had to fit inside a pillar.

RE2's guiding principle was that players "should get the same feeling we got back in the day, even though the outer layers are different." Capcom tried keeping RE2's fixed CCTV-style camera, then chose an over-the-shoulder view, keeping the claustrophobia with hard aiming and a tight camera behind Leon.

Every new player ability in RE4 came with an offsetting cost. Leon can now strafe, so Capcom made enemies more aggressive and numerous. His knife gained a parry and a stealth takedown, but it now breaks and needs repair by the merchant.

In 2004 Capcom said it didn't want to go into the "shooting / army type genre", which is why the original Leon became a turret when aiming. The offsets keep Leon "one step behind" so the game stays survival horror.

Fix old complaints with careful tweaks, not by removing the core dynamic. Capcom cut RE4's button-bashing quicktime events, saying "QTEs are not popular in today's games." For Ashley's much-criticised escort section it reworked her AI, health bar and characterisation rather than making her an invincible helper.

An invincible partner, common in games since 2005, would have changed the original's dynamic. RE2 through 4 also add an optional assisted difficulty with health regeneration and aim snapping, so easier play can be switched off.

Resident Evil 3 failed by losing the original's sensation. RE3 is Capcom's least-loved remake. It turned Nemesis, Jill's invincible stalker, into a simplistic set piece.

"RE3 doesn't accurately capture the sensation of the PS1 original."

Heavy changes are fair only if the original stays playable. The RE4 remake sits beside a moddable HD remaster, but older Resident Evil games are hard to play today. Mark Brown hopes Capcom treats them the way it treats its Mega Man compilations, the model for keeping old games available.

Games vanish through dead hardware, delisting and server shutdowns, so some players need a faithful remake when the original is gone. "It just means we need better game preservation."

The Dead Space remake also set feeling-based pillars. Its three pillars were sci-fi horror, unbroken immersion and creative gameplay.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes forced an easier mode on everyone. A team-wide EXP Share that can't be disabled wrecks the balance and annoys players who want a challenge; as an option it would have suited those wanting an easier time.

Mega Man X's charge shot makes press versus hold a real choice. A tap fires a weak pellet now, holding charges a bigger blast later at the risk of being hit, and the armour upgrade adds a deeper charge.

Mega Man 11 is the cited example of movement curves too short: acceleration and deceleration are so quick the character feels stiff and robotic.

Each stage uses a handful of unique elements plus shared enemies. Tundra Man's stage has only snowflakes, snowball storks and wind. Recurring foes and hazards like Sniper Joe, Mets, spider bots, pits and spikes fill the space between each stage's unique content.

The game has only eight major stages before Wily's castle, so each must stretch its material.

Varied room shapes create variety before any new content. A stage has 15 to 20 rooms, almost all one of seven types: horizontal, vertical climb, vertical drop, box, staircase, zig-zag and a few specials. The same enemy plays differently by geometry: Pick Man is easy on your level and much harder when he is above you.

A zig-zag room can give a safe moment to watch an enemy or leave no room to jump it. Acid Man's stage uses all the room shapes, so each room feels like a new space.

A mechanic returns throughout the stage, harder each time. Impact Man's wire platforms appear in rooms 2, 10 and 15, with drills in rooms 5, 11 and 18 between them. The drills are easy in room 5 and come at angles down a zig-zag in room 11.

Torch Man's wall of fire chases you in room 2, returns with tighter platforming in room 9, and becomes a final gauntlet in room 14. His fire mushrooms later heat metal tiles from below and spawn faster alongside spiders in room 10.

Combine two mechanics only after each has been taught alone. Impact Man's room 18 has you dodging drills while riding the wire platforms, after both were introduced separately.

"Because you know exactly how these two things work on their own, its quite achievable to face them together."

Mini-bosses and breather rooms control pacing, and mini-bosses return twisted. Every stage has a mini-boss, often followed by an enemy-free breather room that works as a checkpoint. Bounce Man's inflatable toad returns later, fought while bouncing on balloons.

Block Man's rooms 6 to 9 (mini-boss, breather, escape, vertical climb) repeat as rooms 11 to 14, with the mini-boss on a conveyor belt and a tougher escape. Mark Brown compares this to "a symphony where different sections get repeated."

Optional secret tests teach a trick that pays off later. In Torch Man's room 5, shooting a fire mushroom and jumping on its head reaches an extra life; the same trick helps in room 14, and room 11 guards an energy tank with it plus speed gear.

Players can skip the risk, and Rush Jet bypasses the puzzle entirely.

Earlier Mega Man games spread ideas too thin or too late. In Mega Man 6, Yamato Man's wheels appear in only one room, and Top Man's tops arrive only at the end over bottomless pits. Mega Man 2's Wood Man dog robot appears in three rooms in a row.

Gravity Man's upside-down stage and Hornet Man's unravelling garden hoses were great ideas not always developed fully. Mega Man 11 introduces mechanics responsibly and explores each one.

Asymmetric partners force co-op players to communicate. In Resident Evil 5, Chris and Sheva share guns and gear, so players drift into separate games and meet only to revive or boost. Revelations 2 gives Claire the firepower and Moira a stunning torch and a crowbar, so each needs the other.

"Claire needs Moira's torch, and Moira needs Claire's firepower."

Capcom hid Resident Evil 4's dynamic difficulty to avoid mixed signals. Resident Evil 4 adjusted difficulty to how players were doing, but Capcom never revealed it. Telling players it gets harder when they do well would effectively tell good players to make mistakes.

RE4's slow stop-and-pop rhythm was the model the first Dead Space followed.

Devil May Cry grades steer players toward varied, stylish combat. Stages can be finished with a few repeated tactics, but only varied, harder attacks and combos kept going with guns earn better grades and items.

The catch: high scores earn more red orbs, which buy better weapons and health potions, so the best players get extra help while struggling players can't afford what they need. Decoupling skill rewards from core progression avoids that.

Donkey Kong rewards skill with harder bonus levels, not more power. Collecting KONG letters unlocks extra-difficult bonus levels instead of coins or lives, avoiding Devil May Cry's red orb loop.

Devil May Cry grades steer players toward varied, stylish combat. Stages can be finished with a few repeated tactics, but only varied, harder attacks and combos kept going with guns earn better grades and items.

The catch: high scores earn more red orbs, which buy better weapons and health potions, so the best players get extra help while struggling players can't afford what they need. Decoupling skill rewards from core progression avoids that.

Ace Attorney penalises wrong objections so guessing is near impossible. Players pick one of about five statements and present a clue or profile that contradicts it, and a life bar shrinks on each misplaced objection.

Since you always know the testimony holds a flaw, the player stays one step ahead of the witness, which removes the tension of a real interview room.

Capcom hid Resident Evil 4's dynamic difficulty to avoid mixed signals. Resident Evil 4 adjusted difficulty to how players were doing, but Capcom never revealed it. Telling players it gets harder when they do well would effectively tell good players to make mistakes.

RE4's slow stop-and-pop rhythm was the model the first Dead Space followed.

Mega Man X's charge shot makes press versus hold a real choice. A tap fires a weak pellet now, holding charges a bigger blast later at the risk of being hit, and the armour upgrade adds a deeper charge.

Mega Man 11 is the cited example of movement curves too short: acceleration and deceleration are so quick the character feels stiff and robotic.

Bending a linear path back over itself makes it feel complex. In The Minish Cap's Temple of Droplets, the player loops away from and back to the same room to flip switches and open doors. It is a straight path that feels like unlocking the dungeon's secrets.

The Minish Cap also builds one motif across the game: splitting Link into two forms in Fortress of Winds, three in Palace of Winds and four in Dark Hyrule Castle, an idea from Capcom's Four Swords.

Capcom kept one dungeon formula and complicated it 16 ways. The Oracle of Ages and Seasons, the first Zelda games not built in-house, kept Link's Awakening's find the item, backtrack, boss key, boss setup. Each of the 16 dungeons varied the structure or added a wrinkle.

Ace Attorney penalises wrong objections so guessing is near impossible. Players pick one of about five statements and present a clue or profile that contradicts it, and a life bar shrinks on each misplaced objection.

Since you always know the testimony holds a flaw, the player stays one step ahead of the witness, which removes the tension of a real interview room.