I was sitting on a bus when the notification hit: another remake announcement, and the comment threads filled up like a stadium after a buzzer-beater. You felt the same sudden pang—joy, nostalgia, a small, nagging fear that some favorites will never get the same treatment. I’ve tracked these cycles long enough to tell you which games deserve a second life.
Retail patterns and fan polls keep proving one thing: remakes still matter
I’ll be direct: remakes are more than nostalgia bait. They rewrite access, fix clunky systems, and give classic stories a new lens. You want examples that sell, move hearts, and grow Mario Kart–style engagement on Nintendo Switch? Here are the 10 Pokemon games that should be remade, and why each one would hit differently today.
| Game | Release Date | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Pokemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness | Nov 21, 2003, and Oct 3, 2005 | Nintendo Switch, Nintendo GameCube |
| Pokemon X and Y | Oct 12, 2013 | Nintendo 3DS |
| Pokemon Black and White | Sep 18, 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Pokemon Conquest | June 18, 2012 | Nintendo DS |
| Pokemon Emerald | Sep 16, 2004 | Game Boy Advance |
| Pokemon Platinum | Sep 13, 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver | March 14, 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure | Dec 5, 2009 | Nintendo Wii |
| Pokemon Rangers Series | Oct 30, 2006 – Oct 4, 2010 | Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii |
| Pokemon Sun and Moon | Nov 18, 2016 | Nintendo 3DS |
Pokemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness
I remember the first time I played Colosseum—its tone arrived like a punch. Orre’s grit, the Shadow Pokemon mechanic, and arena-focused battles gave the series a rare noir beat.
If Game Freak and The Pokemon Company remade Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness for Switch with modern visuals, expanded shadow lore, and online colosseums, the darker storyline would finally get the production values it deserves. The original introduced double battles and stadium-style pacing that modern competitive rules would welcome. You can picture tournament organizers using the arena modes at events and content creators streaming shadow team runs—there’s built-in viral potential waiting to be polished.
Pokemon X and Y
Sales and social chatter proved Kalos mattered the moment X and Y took Pokemon fully into 3D. Those entries gave us Mega Evolutions and a game that felt like the series stepping into adulthood.
A thoughtful remake could refine battle pacing, rebalance the type chart that shifted when Fairy-type arrived, and restore Kalos as a modern competitive playground. With software like Unreal Engine proving how far handheld ports can go, Game Freak could craft cinematic towns and a refined camera system while keeping the charm that made X and Y memorable.
Pokemon Black and White
Unova shipped with a soundtrack and camera work that still thread through fans’ playlists—its identity stuck. Black and White introduced bold mechanics ahead of their time: Triple Battles, Rotation Battles, seasonally shifting routes, and a fully animated roster.
A remake would let Game Freak expand narrative beats, re-orchestrate that unforgettable soundtrack, and modernize battling with competitive-friendly QoL changes. Black 2 and White 2 already proved the region could support sequels; now imagine Unova with the modern online features players expect on Switch and Nintendo online ecosystems.
Pokemon Conquest
Collaborations between franchises have a strange life cycle: they flare, then disappear from storefronts. Conquest was a bold mash-up with Nobunaga’s Ambition that turned Pokemon into a tactical grid game.
Remaking Conquest would be a logistic lift—rights, creative alignment, and market fit—but the payoff could be huge. Imagine a tactical Pokemon title with expanded map editors, co-op sieges, and a modern UI that learns from Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. That crossover DNA could open new audiences and fuel creative spin-offs for the brand.
Pokemon Emerald
Hoenn’s weather systems and sprawling maps still show up in raid rotations and fan art. Emerald combined the best bits of Ruby and Sapphire and added the Battle Frontier, a mode many players still crave.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire covered versions’ legendary focuses, but Emerald’s Battle Frontier and balanced postgame remain unmatched. A remake could bring modern performance, restore the Frontier as a persistent online arena, and give Rayquaza-era storylines the cinematic staging they deserve.
Pokemon Platinum
Giratina’s Distortion World stuck in players’ heads as a place that begged for a bigger budget. The void of modern reinterpretation is obvious when you replay the original.
Platinum could be remade as a moody, atmospheric title that leans into world-building—an expanded Distortion World, deeper lore threads with Dialga and Palkia, and storytelling that borrows cinematic pacing from titles like Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Giratina’s story is an untapped creative well.
Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Johto paired with Kanto gave players two generations of content in one cartridge—sales and mailbox threads from the era still show that players loved the scale. HeartGold and SoulSilver felt like a love letter to long-time fans.
A Switch remake could modernize the Pokewalk injection with companion systems, give the Gen 2 roster competitive reevaluations, and present Kanto and Johto as a single, gorgeous overworld. Nintendo’s work on system ports shows the technical path is ready; the appetite is still there.
PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure
Casual appeal matters to the brand—families and younger players used Wii titles as social hangouts. PokePark focused on exploration, mini-games, and friendship mechanics rather than standard combat.
A Switch reimagination with motion controls, refined attractions, and co-op could make a calm, accessible gateway for new audiences—think of it as a soft-landing for players who haven’t yet tried competitive Pokemon or the trading economy on Nintendo’s platforms.
Pokemon Ranger Series
Ranger offered a tactile capture mechanic that felt experimental on the DS touchscreen. The idea of drawing to befriend Pokemon was hands-on and memorable.
Bring Ranger to a modern platform with stylus or touch controls on Switch OLED, add online missions, and integrate analog capture mechanics for handheld play. With quality-of-life improvements and a fresh mission structure, the series could become a charming alternate route through the franchise.
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Alola’s festival vibe and story experiments refreshed the formula when Sun and Moon released; the island trials changed the pacing of gym-style progression.
A follow-up or remake that ties Alola’s lore into the open-structure ideas seen in Pokemon Legends could give those islands the deeper exploration they deserve, while retaining the sun-drenched tone that made the games stand apart on 3DS hardware.
Which Pokemon game should be remade next?
That question drives petitions, Twitter threads, and Reddit campaigns. If you measure by cultural resonance and opportunity for mechanical improvement, Colosseum, Black and White, and HeartGold/SoulSilver rise to the top.
Those entries mix strong narratives with mechanics that are ripe for modernization: Colosseum’s shadow system, Unova’s seasons, and Johto+Kanto’s scale. If Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Game Freak choose one, they’ll balance nostalgia with a clear path for added revenue and renewed streaming interest.
Will Pokemon Black and White get a remake?
Short answer: nothing is official, but the signals are there. Remake windows often follow anniversaries and hardware cycles; the 3DS era is ripe for revisits on Switch.
Game Freak has proven it will revisit old generations when the market aligns—Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and the way Pokemon Brilliant Diamond was marketed shows the appetite. If a Black and White remake appears, expect a modern camera, re-orchestrated score, and online features focused on competitive play and seasonal events.
Some games are a dusty VHS tape yearning for a remaster; others are a sunken treasure chest stuffed with unreleased tracks—both deserve modern polish. Which title would you fight for at a Nintendo Direct?