Rebuilding Nostalgia: Giving New Life to Shadowrun SNES

Joystiq has an interesting feature about the upcoming remake of the Shadowrun title for SNES, planned for a release as a Shadowrun Returns mod. Here’s a snippet:

The remake offers some intriguing opportunities to make good on the potential of the original game. Being on the PC should go a long way toward resolving some of the interface issues inherent to the SNES game. It’s also an opportunity to address some of what Weisman refers to as “frustration points” from the original game like “the very first scene where you have to pick up the gun, which you can beat your head against for a very long time if you’re not sure what you’re doing.”

“The SNES game had a lot of flaws, mostly related to the interface. Fortunately the nature of Shadowrun Returns allows us to fix that,” Riedel tells Joystiq. “Our plan is to release a straight port initially, but then add options to make the game better. There will be options to enable or disable random spawning, use keywords or actual conversations (once we find a writer), have quests and tips so you no longer wander aimlessly when confused, and other improvements. They all will be configurable at the start of the game, as well as any time you find a bed to sleep in. This way we should be able to make almost everyone happy.”

But along with addressing the original’s flaws, Riedel hopes to retain Shadowrun’s charm as well. He talks about wanting to get just the right picture for the mysterious Kitsune, who he says is his favorite character. And there are other things as well: “I also want to properly preserve the panicked feel as you try to deactivate your cortex bomb. It’s an important part of the game; it draws you back in after the grinding of the caryards. I also really want to get the arena logic right and make the opponents behave correctly. Otherwise the arena will be really dull in a turn based game.”

It’s never easy revisiting a cult favorite, particularly one with such a fiercely loyal following as Shadowrun. Like any fan, Riedel is excited to pay homage to the original game, but he also has the opportunity to leave his mark by drawing in new fans who might have been turned off by the flaws of the original. In that sense, he is building upon the foundation that has made the original so memorable.