"Bloody video game remakes," the internet has almost certainly muttered at some point. "Why can't they just come up with some new ideas?"
To which we would say: No. You're wrong about video game remakes. There is a time and a place for recrafting a classic - be it an HD polishing of a title that has yet to be surpassed, or a tweaking of an old title to fit a new medium.
After long and extensive research (we did a quick show of hands in the office), these are the titles we believe are ripe for a remake.
Disney's Aladdin
Original release date: 1993
"Video games based on movies suck". Well yes, they usually do. But this one didn't. Far from it, Disney's Aladdin from Virgin Games was a triumph of action platforming.
It doesn't need a flashy HD engine or heaps of extra levels: all we want is for the controls to get polished and tightened, and for it roll out across mobile devices. With a mobile controller and this on your iPhone, no commute would ever be the same. We just want to another magic carpet ride...
Streets of Rage
Original release date: 1991
Sure, the DNA of the scrolling beat'em up genre has worked its way into modern delights such as the Batman: Arkham series - but we think Streets of Rage has more to give.
Make it third person. Make it look gorgeous. Make it violent - like Dark Souls but with street thugs replacing twisted, horrible nightmare creatures. Give it a storyline that reads somewhere between Old Boy and The Warriors.
Try and tell us you wouldn't want to play that game. Go on. That's right, you would, wouldn't you? Because it would be awesome.
Metal Gear Solid
Original release date: 1998
We know. Yes, we know. Metal Gear Solid was remade in 2004 for the GameCube. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was okay, but there was just one major problem: only two of our mates ever had a GameCube. Nintendo only sold 21 million consoles worldwide (the PlayStation 4 has already sold double that), so hardly any Metal Gear fans got to play the remake.
Let Sony do it. Live out the dreams of this cancelled fan project and give the original stealth hit a fresh life with beefed up graphics. Don't change anything else. Please?
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Original release date: 2003
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the greatest Star Wars game ever made. Heck, it's one of the greatest Star Wars stories ever told, with a plot that knocks spots off anything George Lucas flopped out of his pen.
A masterpiece of the role-playing genre, you put together a badass team of galactic misfits, decided if you wanted to kick ass with one or two lightsabers and then set about unravelling the greatest twist in the galaxy. Give it 4K-ready graphics, tighter controls and perhaps a new planet and we'd gladly do it all over again.
Theme Hospital
Original release date: 1997
Okay, so Theme Hospital doesn't need a remake, per say.
The game mechanics are super healthy. The art style is full of life. The humour is lethal. All we want is for someone to bring it to our tablets so we can enjoy curing the world of Bloaty Head Syndrome on the move. With this in your holiday bag, you wouldn't even so much as break the spine of that hardback you've been meaning to crack on with - and you wouldn't care one bit.
Donkey Kong Country
Original release date: 1994
Remember when Rare were great? When they made games that made kids choose one console over another? When they gave us Donkey Kong Country and we spent an entire summer holiday indoors?
As with several suggestions in this list, all we want is for a bit of our childhood to live on in our phones. Heck, why not create an augmented reality DK Country? Snap a picture of some scenery and have it come to life as a piece of 2D platforming world to jump over, searching out all the bananas all over again.
If it can work for Pokémon...
Jurassic Park
Original release date: 1993
Right, we're not altogether sure how this has happened, but since the brilliant 1993 game-of-the-film, no one has made a good action film based on the film Jurassic Park. Yes, there was a great LEGO title, but it was hardly the teeth-n-terror title the film has potential for.
We'll even let you make a Jurassic World action game - so long as it takes the ideas of the original title, and lets us choose between playing Chris Pratt or an actual dinosaur. It would sell millions. Promise.
Half-Life
Original release date: 1998
Yep. 1998. Half-Life came out in 1998. And while its sequel gave it a run for its money on being "the greatest first-person shooter ever", we still think the original holds that honour.
As it doesn't look like we're going to get Half-Life 3 any time soon, why not give us a lovely, pretty remake of the original so we can remind ourselves how brilliant it was? Fans have even gone through the effort of making Black Mesa - a pretty-great recreation of Valve's original title, but it's not quite right.
Polish it, give it some VR capabilities and let us be Gordon Freeman all over again.
X-Wing vs TIE Fighter
Original release date: 1997
Star Wars, so hot right now.
While Star Wars: Battlefront teased us with some space combat with the Fighter Squadron elements of the game, it fell woefully short of former dogfight delights - namely those of X-Wing vs TIE Fighter.
What we propose is this: that Battlefront ditches the idea of a single X-Wing VR Mission and gives us an entire game. Refresh the greatest space combat game ever, with its heaps of vehicles, stories and combat scenarios, all in VR, like EVE: Valkyrie. Then we'll be happy.
