This may be a bit too similar to what we have now but I had the idea to hold a competition that would have the participants crated sequels to NES and SNES games using graphics from the original game but using different sounds and music. (Remixed songs from the game would be fine). The game would be graded on how close the gameplay is to the original gameplay. As well as what interesting new features could be added to make the game more interesting (online scoreboard perhaps?).
Tell me if you guys think this is an interesting idea, though I won't be able to hold the competition for about fours weeks starting next week as I have a lot of summer activities. More criteria for entries will be supplied when I have enough interesting volunteers. This competition won't be a long one, about a week or so, just to give you guys a fun break from your current projects.
I was thinking of remaking Bad Dudes to show an example of what the game should be like.
I would totally try to make a Mega Man game. Or possibly a Sonic game since there's a really impressive Sonic engine for MMF2 floating around.
Thing is, while fangames are quite common, a contest like this would have to make sure that we don't get some kind of cease-and-desist order for ripping sprites and such. If that's a legitimate concern, then maybe we could instead make games that are spiritual successors to retro titles (i.e. share pretty much identical gameplay mechanics, but have completely different graphics, characters, etc).
Aye. But just so that it doesn't become a generic retro game contest, perhaps the participants would be required to do a side-by-side comparison of the game they mimicked and the game they created. Massive bonus points if it's really hard to determine whether or not the new game is a hack of the retro one.
I have started work on an example to show you all, it's going to have some obvious influences from Mario but I will have changed it enough to make it my own game. I might have to upload a video demonstration or a small group of levels.
Hmm... How about instead of making just a sequel to an already well-done retro game, why don't we choose a really, really bad video game (from any system, even DOS or old Windows) that's at least 10 years old, and try to make a surprisingly improved sequel or remake of it?
In this case, there would really only be two general rules. Firstly, you'd have to have some kind of proof that the game received below-average reviews when it was released. Secondly, you'd have to stick to the theme and source material of the original game as closely as possible (i.e. no changing a medieval game into something sci-fi, or changing the main character from a human into a chicken or something.)