Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion comparison shows the care that went into Nightdive’s remaster

destructoid.com:

I wasn’t expecting Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion to be remastered. While Nightdive Studios updated and rereleased the PC versions of the first two games, there wasn’t a PC version of Turok 3. They didn’t have the source files, so they had to reverse-engineer the N64 version and port it over to their proprietary KEX Engine.

It’s a lot of work to go through, especially when Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is hardly the best game in the series. To put it charitably, it’s mediocre. Neither liquid nor solid. Remastering it was hardly going to be a financial home run.

But, as I said in my review, “It wasn’t the smart thing to do. It was the right thing to do.” The remastered N64 trilogy of Turok games (excluding Rage Wars) would remain incomplete without that last game. For historical context, it needed to be there. The journey needed a conclusion.

So, Nightdive went all in on the remaster and then didn’t stop there. Beyond just getting it working on PC, they gave it a loving touch-up, buffing that carp until its scales sparkled. But it’s so true to the original that it can be easy to miss. Albert Marin Garau, a member of the art team at Nightdive, put together this comparison between the remaster and the N64 version (via emulation) to show off exactly how much of an upgrade it really is.

By the way, there are massive spoilers in the video.

“I think we’ve reached a good balance. The fans who haven’t played this title for a while won’t notice that there has been a radical change in the game’s assets, other than the sharper look. But after a few minutes of playing, they’ll certainly notice that there is something more than a simple skin lifting…” Albert told me via email. “At the same time, the visual part of the game will not be