As of late, the topic of rereleasing HD “remastered” games on Microsoft’s and Sony’s (and even Nintendo’s) new hardware has become quite commonplace, but is it really necessary? There’s a difference between remastering a game and rereleasing it one year (or less) after it came out in order to fatten your bottom line. Between The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, Metro Redux, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and now Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is it all really necessary? No. No it is not. Regardless of how much crap I get for it, the first 2/3rds of that list have no business receiving HD remastered version – especially the first one. But what about the last two? What about The Wind Waker? What about Halo 2? Do those titles deserve a fresh coat of paint?

Short answer: Yes. Those titles released ten or more years ago and were housed on hardware that was designed before the turn of the century millennium (same difference?) – not 11 months ago on hardware that is still a prominent focus for many developers.

I want you to remember back to when you first played through Halo 2, waaaay back in 2004. Were the graphics good? Yes! In fact, they were some of the best that the OG Xbox had to offer throughout it’s entire lifecycle, but do those graphics stand up today? Well, yes and no, but mostly no. To put that “no” into perspective, below is a before/after comparison gallery to demonstrate just how necessary this remaster actually was.

Which character’s new look is your favorite? And which charactered needed/got the biggest face-lift? Let us know!