Video Game Remake Suggestions – Six 3D Platformers

For more than 20 years, many companies have released remakes of their older games. While focusing on new content and originality, they have catered to older fans by remaking old video games. Some have done a good job, while others did a terrible job. If a remake was bad, either it didn’t improve on the original game, or the changes actually made the game worse.

Six games I would like to see remakes of are Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64. The former three were previously part of the compilation game Super Mario 3D All Stars, which were emulated ports rather than full-on remakes. While the latter three were 3D Collectathon Platformers originating on the Nintendo 64 with various similarities.

If they were remade, here are some of the suggestions I have. Some of the missions (like the toxic river level in SMS or the rabbit race in DK64) may need to be fixed, but others can be left alone. But what really needs fixing are the game mechanics and graphics.

Super Mario 64:

Let’s start with the first of these six games. When the came first came out, it was revolutionary, and it popularized both the 3D Collectathon Platformer and 3D gaming in general. Nowadays, it only shows the barebones minimum of what a video game should have, and it has aged badly. It did get a DS remake and a Switch port as part of a compilation game, but even they weren’t well-done.

Here are the many suggestions I have:

• Fix the graphics. Even just changing the sharpness to making it clearer isn’t going to be enough. It must have HD graphics like Super Mario Odyssey. The blockiness looks ugly.
• The air and water meter being one of the same made it easy, but they need to be separated into two different meters. You shouldn’t have to lose health when swimming, but getting in the water and recovering health is rather cheap. I do like keeping the health meter at eight units though.
• Adjusting the camera should rotate and tilt more smoothly rather than have a few different angles.
• You jumped on a wall? You should be able to perform a wall kick and not bonk into a wall. The only way you should bonk into a wall is diving into it.
• Every level should have their own level locks. Other than the four star doors and the two doors with a key lock, paintings should be blacked out until you get enough stars.
  • Whomp’s Fortress’s painting is black before you get one star. You can see it after getting one star. Also, getting one star would make one of the windows in that one tower disappear.
  • Jolly Roger Bay’s painting doesn’t appear until you get three stars.
  • Cool, Cool Mountain’s painting doesn’t appear until you get five stars.
  • The Boos start appearing after you get 10 stars. You also don’t see a puddle in the room (which leads to Hazy-Maze Cave) until after getting 12 stars.
  • The Lethal Lava Land painting doesn’t appear until you get 18 stars.
  • The dead end brick wall changes colors after you get 24 stars, which leads you to Shifting-Sand Land.
  • Wet-Dry World’s painting doesn’t appear until you get 35 stars.
  • Tall, Tall Mountain’s painting doesn’t appear until you get 40 stars.
  • Tiny-Huge Island’s three paintings don’t appear until you get 45 stars.
  • The light leading you to Rainbow Ride doesn’t shine until you get 55 stars.
• Level Specific Suggestions:
  • Jolly Roger Bay – make the pirate cave more interesting like in the 1985 film The Goonies.
  • Cool, Cool Mountain – if you drop the baby penguin off the cliff whether or not you have returned the penguin, the mother penguin should push you off.
  • Big Boo’s Haunt – the house should be furnished more, and the area around the house should be less empty. Also, the house should be much scarier (including the piano), with the tunnels surrounding the merry-go-round even scarier.
  • Lethal Lava Land – if you die while inside the volcano, you start over outside.
  • Shifting Sand Land – if you die inside the pyramid, you start over outside.
  • Snowman’s Land – the big ice block with the power star inside needs to be made bigger with a larger maze.
  • Wing Mario over the Rainbow – if you fall, you start over at the level entry, not in front of the castle.
  • Bowser in the Sky – replace the soundtrack with the same from Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor from Super Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario Sunshine:

While I would say that this is the best game of the six, many think this is the worst of the 3D Mario games. I’m hoping that some of the flaws get fixed too.

• Fix the graphics. While it’s pretty good for the time, I want to make it look like what it did in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
• Every level should have 10 blue coins removed. Also, no blue coins in Corona Mountain please.
• Remove the seven Shadow Mario missions. It’s repetitive, anticlimactic, and made the value of shine sprites meaningless since you’re required to complete all seven of them to unlock Corona Mountain.
• There should be a mall-themed level added between Pinna Park and Sirena Beach, and in the same spot Sirena Beach’s pipe was. Also, the mall level should have two FLUDD-less levels.
• Sirena Beach should require the Turbo Nozzle to enter, which is where one of the blue coins was. You should also unlock the Turbo Nozzle after getting 20 shine sprites and the beam of light after getting 25 shine sprites.
  • Meanwhile, another fruit gatherer should be added. This time, she’s asking for papayas, and she’s on a rooftop.
• Add checkpoints to the FLUDD-less stages, including the Chuckster level.
• Also, remove the red coin missions from all secret stages, and add one or two new missions each. I’m okay with the blooper surfing repeat.
• Three new shine sprites in Delfino Plaza:
  • Secret stage with Yoshi – use the Yoshi to jump across gaps and spray juice at barriers. Same spot as the toxic river.
  • Shine Rings – use the Turbo Nozzle to move past the shine rings in the sea, from the lighthouse to the boathouse. Collect them all within a limited time.
  • Restaurant Block Challenge 3 – you have more wooden crates to smash.
  • As for the Toxic River one, it should be accessible from a second pipe on top of the Shine Gate.
• To unlock Corona Mountain, you must collect 60 Shine Sprites and clean the Shine Gate.
• If you defeat Bowser, Princess Peach will appear in Delfino Plaza again.
• Level-Specific Suggestions:
  • Ricco Harbor – collecting all eight red coins should make your blooper disappear.
  • Gelato Beach – in the watermelon festival, there should be no red cataquacks on the second tier. But there can be on the first tier.
  • Pinna Park – when the Swipin’ Stus start appearing, the sunflowers’ dialogue should make a reference to Super Mario Odyssey.
  • Pachinko Game – the Shine Sprite should appear at the beginning, not the middle.
  • Toxic River – the edges along the river should be widened.
  • Corona Mountain – replace the boat section, spike traps, and flame traps with moving platforms that you need to cross. The rocket boost is the same. Additionally, the final boss needs to have more meaningful battles rather than just pounding five ends.

Super Mario Galaxy:

Compared to the other two games, Super Mario Galaxy was a port done right when put on Super Mario 3D All-Stars. I have some suggestions for the game too. My suggestion is that some of the missions should be easier. I don’t have much to say, but here are my tips:

• Keep handheld mode controls, like how SM3DAS did it.
• Fix some of the prankster comet levels:
  • Blue Comet Levels – in Super Luigi Galaxy, Cosmic Luigi should be less of a cheater like he is.
  • Lava Spire Daredevil Run – start at the sinking lava spire, not at the beginning.
• Swap the Matter Splat Galaxy with the Bonefin Galaxy.

Banjo-Kazooie:

Now let’s look at the N64 platformers. Between Kazooie, Tooie, and Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie was considered the best. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Here are some remake suggestions, besides overhauling the graphics:

• It goes without saying, but they need to make notes and jinjos permanently collectable. Once you get them, they stay in your collection forever, meaning that you don’t lose them after dying or after leaving the level.
• They should also make the note doors based on note totals rather than high score totals.
• 16 jiggies, not 25 jiggies, should be required to unlock the final boss. Also, you’ll need 94, not 98 jiggies to get the double health.
• Gruntilda’s attacks should be slowed down in all five stages.
  • Then again, this may be an issue with the Nintendo Switch version.
• Add the increased running speed cheat “DOUBLE THE RUN TWICE THE FUN”, which has the same effect the SUPERBANJO cheat did in Banjo-Tooie.
• Level-Specific Suggestions:
  • Treasure Trove Cove – limit Snacker’s location to one area of the level only.
  • Clanker’s Cavern – Gloop’s bubbles should attract to you as you turn the key or collect the green Jinjo.
  • Bubblegloop Swamp – Mr. Vile’s minigame should have only one round, and it’s the second round.
  • Freezeezy Peak – make the Twinkly munchers easier to defeat. Also, remove the part where you have to fly through the star.
  • Gobi’s Valley – add five more seconds when trying to enter the water-filled pyramid.
  • Rusty Bucket Bay – remove Snacker, add five more seconds after shutting off the propellors, and make the three rotating bars in the engine room horizontally flat at stop.
• Stop N Swap Suggestions:
  • Remove the cyan, green, and red eggs. Also relocate the yellow egg to the wine cellar in Mad Monster Mansion.
  • Actually add Stop N Swap functionality. If you break the cartridge behind the waterfall in Banjo-Tooie, a receptor will open the door in Gobi’s Valley. If you break the cartridge above the stumps in Banjo-Tooie, a receptor will raise Sharkfood Island in Treasure Trove Cove. If you break the cartridge in Jinjo Village, a receptor will melt the ice in Wozza’s Cave in Freezeezy Peak.
  • Also, add a cartridge in Banjo’s destroyed house so you can open one of the barrels in Mad Monster Mansion.

Banjo-Tooie:

While Banjo-Kazooie was a beloved classic, Banjo-Tooie became a little more divisive over time due to the backtracking. That doesn’t bother me, but these remake suggestions should be considered:

• The Get Jiggy Fortune in Witchyworld should have a higher chance of unlocking if you collect more jiggies.
• Add all of the tracks from Banjo-Kazooie to the jukebox in Jolly Roger’s Lagoon.
• To open the gate to Pine Grove, there should be an additional rock you can Bill Drill on, revealing a wall switch.
• Level-specific suggestions:
  • Glitter Gulch Mine – add more time to the Ordinance Storage mini-game.
  • Witchyworld – lower the target scores to 350 points and 450 points in the Saucer of Peril to earn the page and jiggy, respectively.
  • Jolly Roger’s Lagoon – add 5 more seconds to fixing the alien spaceship.
  • Terrydactyland – if you have SUPERBANJO cheat active, Stompadon will stomp faster.
  • Grunty Industries – allow Banjo and Kazooie to reach the acid room from the air conditioning plant before you defeat Weldar.
  • Hailfire Peaks – remove the fireball-spitting statues.
  • Cloud Cuckooland – both Canary Mary races should be completable by holding down the A button. The Pot of Gold challenge should require scoring 40 points to earn the page, and 80 points to earn the jiggy.
  • Cauldron Keep – add 10 jiggies to the level and more floors in the tower.

Donkey Kong 64:

And here’s the last of the 3D platformers. Out of all six games listed on this blog, this is the one that needs fixing the most. Not just because of the excessive backtracking, but also many other poor design choices that people would’ve made smarter choices in today’s age.

• Remove the Nintendo Coin and Rareware Coin, as well as the DK Arcade and Jetpac mini-games. You are required to collect 20 banana medals to get the last boss key.
• If you switch Kongs, the health meter should stay the same.
• Be allowed to switch Kongs on the go rather than look for the tag barrels. But also add some no-switch zones (like the small cave in Crystal Caves with the red-haired Kasplat and the room in the barn that only Chunky Kong can enter).
• Beaver Bother should be changed to Beaver Bite, and you will have to eat the gnawties to complete the game.
• Homing ammo should prioritize banana balloons over wall switches.
• Infinite ammo cheat applies to regular ammo too.
• Level-specific suggestions:
  • Angry Aztec – 40 DK coins is needed to win the race against the beetle.
  • Frantic Factory – replace the DK star with a bonus barrel, which is another Stash Snatch mini-game, but as Donkey Kong.
  • Gloomy Galleon – remove the zingers inside the mechanical fish. Also give unlimited ammo, but keep time limited, when Chunky Kong has target practice.
  • Fungi Forest – you should race the rabbit only once. No rubber-banding, he should be slightly faster than the first race, but slightly slower than the second race. There should also be gnawties and ghosts added in the level.
  • Crystal Caves – 40 DK coins is needed to win the race against the beetle. The ice pumpkin should slow down in his mini-game. More gnawties need to be added to the level. Jagged ice maze must knock half a melon instead of a whole melon.
  • Creepy Castle – as part of the graphics update, Donkey Kong’s minecart challenge should be made even scarier. But King Kut-Out should be made goofier.
  • K. Rool Boss Battle – if you die one round, you lose the round, not the entire battle. You also should be at full health each time you start a new round.

And that’s all for remake suggestions. Of course, there are many other games that I would like to see remake suggestions to improve on the game but bring the old game back.