5 Video Game Reboots You Should Avoid

Do you know how they say if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Well, turns out a lot of developers out there never quite received this particular memo, as there appears to be a litter of half-baked reboots that probably would've served better as spitballs than genuine attempts to revive what shouldn't have ever been disturbed. The fact is, though, there are a worrying amount of shockingly bad revivals out there, and it begs the question: have developers honestly lost their passion to innovate fresh ideas, or are they hell-bent on resurrecting things that shouldn't be?

However you spin a reboot, there's no evading the eventual backlash from die-hard fans. And if you really want to open the book up on some of the worst reboots on the block, then look no further. Here are, in our opinion, five of the worst of all time.

5. Road Redemption

For those who can't remember, Road Rash was once a beloved racing series that practically dominated the arcade circuit. Thanks to its heavy infusion of violence and unruly shenanigans, the biking saga eventually wound up becoming one of the best of its kind. That said, it was a saga best served during a time that catered to vehicular combat without issue. Fast-forward several years, however, and the community became somewhat less accepting of the concept. And turned out, the only developer who didn't quite get the memo, was the one that brought the IP back from the dead in 2014.

Road Redemption was one of those typical cases of trying to relive the golden days when the product itself was already way beyond its use-by date. This sloppy attempt at recreating an outdated concept ended up doing more damage to the series than good. And thanks to the developer's arrogance, the reboot wound up being a complete and utter shambles, with game-breaking bugs, outdated graphics, and god-awful gameplay mechanics to boot. Should it have remained in nineties? For crying out loud — yes.

4. Saints Row

Volition had the keys to follow up with an equally as compelling sequel to Saints Row IV. And with the cards and tools in its favor, it could've been something truly remarkable — radical, even. But for the guys over at Deep Silver, a sequel didn't sound all that appealing, and a reboot, at least to them, was the only viable passage moving forward. But boy, what a mistake that was.

2022's reboot of the mayhem-riddled RPG launched to nothing but sour reviews, mostly due to its half-baked mechanics and lazy script. And not to mention its slew of bugs and questionably empty characters which, quite frankly, did nothing whatsoever to put the ball in Volition's court. All in all, Saints Row was a terrible mistake on the developer's part. And what makes this a tougher than usual pill to swallow is that, contrary to popular belief, Volition probably knew it was destined to fail from the get-go.

3. SimCity

Let us take a moment to say one thing: SimCity, in spite of its one or two minor flaws, was never a broken game, nor was it on track to becoming a worn-out series. To EA, though, it needed a fresh lick of paint, and a whole new start that would, at least in their eyes, introduce potential players to a whole new concept. That concept, though, revolved around online play, something that not everybody had immediate access to.

What rang the death knell for the SimCity reboot was the day-one connectivity issues, which caused hundreds of thousands of players to scrape together so much as a single blueprint together before before thrown out. The fact that you had to be online to play a single-player game was ludicrous, and yet EA stood by their guns and went with it. For the vast majority of players, though, SimCity 4 was the safer, and, let's face it, far more trustworthy alternative.

2. Alone in the Dark

I'll make it clear and say this: Alone in the Dark is a friggin' creepy game. Although, it's safe to say I can't say the same thing about its 2008 reboot, a game that shoveled combat down our throats in an attempt to satisfy a hunger that, quite frankly, never even existed, to begin with. And that's not the only thing that made the watered-down reboot a disappointment. Let us not forget the half-baked episodic format with questionable plotlines. Oh, and the glitch-riddled world that just so happened to be the game in its entirety.

Alone in the Dark made its debut way back in 1992, a time when horror gaming was truly coming into its own. Frédérick Raynal, the designer behind the original series, excelled in building one monster of a point-and-click saga, and it enveloped just about everything you'd come to expect from any modern horror. Unfortunately, though, this reputation was quickly stained when Eden Games got their hands on it over a decade later.

1. Thief

Let it be said that if you want a compelling burglar-based stealth series, then you should definitely swing for Thief. What you shouldn't go for, on the other hand, is Square Enix's 2014 reboot, which, in all honesty, has literally no mutual connection with the original saga whatsoever. Ion Storm, however, had the concept dialed from the get-go.

Of course, Thief isn't a bad game. That is, providing you don't mind waltzing into a journey that doesn't resemble its source in the slightest. Its gameplay, which mostly revolves around, you know, theft, wasn't too shabby. That said, it wasn't even all that grand either, nor did it need to be rebuilt when the original saga already had the works and more stashed away. Bottom line is, Square Enix saw a quick cash cow in this one. Unfortunately, it backfired in the immediate aftermath of its release, as it quickly found its way to the bottom of every $1 sale north of the Antarctic.

So, what's your take? Do you agree with our top five reboots? Any failed reboots we should know about? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.