13. Pier Solar and the Great Architects
Pier Solar and the Great Architects is an HD remaster of Sega Genesis RPG that was originally released in 2010. Yes, you read that correctly! Pier Solar is a homebrew — a piece of fan-made software developed for legacy hardware — but it's not just any ol' homebrew! It required a custom 64 megabit cartridge, the largest of any Genesis game, thereby making it the largest 16-bit RPG ever made by extension.
The game easily sold out in its original format, but you can only reach so many people with a Genesis cartridge in the 21st century. To that end, developer WaterMelon took to Kickstarter in order to bring Pier Solar to Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox 360, and… Dreamcast, because why not? Ports to Android, OUYA, and Wii U appeared further down the list of stretch goals, and thankfully all those goals were met. Ironically, additional ports announced much later for PS4 and PS3 have already been released, while the Wii U version and others are set hopefully for this month or next.
The HD version of Pier Solar contains even more content compared to the Genesis release, as well as the option to play using the new graphics or the original pixel look. For the Wii U build, players will be able to manage party member statuses, equipment, and more using the GamePad. Above all, this is a true old-school RPG in every sense of the word, repackaged for a modern consoles. It's at least worth a playthrough for that reason alone.
