Remaster, remake, reboot, port: what's the difference?

Publishers sell old games under four labels: port, remaster, remake and reboot. The words sound alike, but they promise very different things. Here is what each one means, with real examples, and how to tell what you are actually buying.

The four words at a glance

Label	What changes	What stays	Example
Port	The platform	Almost everything	The Witcher 3 on Switch (2019)
Remaster	Resolution, textures, frame rate, small fixes	The game's code, design and content	Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (2013)
Remake	Almost everything: engine, graphics, often gameplay	The story, the world, the structure	Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Reboot	The series starts over	The name and a few key characters	Tomb Raider (2013)

These are not legal terms. No rule stops a publisher from calling a remake a remaster. Treat the label as a hint, not a promise.

Port: the same game, somewhere else

A port moves a game to another platform. The goal is to make it run, not to change it. Sometimes the new machine is weaker and the port loses some detail.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came out in 2015 on PS4, Xbox One and PC. CD Projekt released a Switch version on October 15, 2019, made with Saber Interactive. The graphics were scaled down to fit the console. The game itself is the same.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo, 2020) collected ports of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. Critics pointed out the use of emulation and the lack of upgrades. Nintendo also sold it for a limited time only: it left the eShop on March 31, 2021.

Some ports add content. Mario Kart 8 came out on Wii U in 2014. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch, April 28, 2017) included all the Wii U DLC, a rebuilt Battle mode and new characters. The races are the same; the package is bigger.

Remaster: the same game, sharper

A remaster keeps the original game and polishes it. Higher resolution, cleaner textures, a better frame rate, sometimes rearranged music. The levels, the rules and the story do not move.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Square Enix, 2013 in Japan, 2014 in the West) redid character textures, rearranged part of the soundtrack and switched cutscenes to 16:9. It also brought the "International" content, which had never been released in some regions, to every player.

The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (Sony, PS3, 2011) by Bluepoint Games ran both PS2 games in 1080p, with Shadow of the Colossus at a steadier frame rate.

The Last of Us Remastered (PS4, 2014) brought the 2013 PS3 game to 1080p at 60 fps and included the Left Behind DLC.

Remake: the same game, rebuilt

A remake rebuilds the game from the ground up, usually in a new engine. The story and structure stay recognisable. Graphics change completely. Gameplay often changes too.

Resident Evil 2 (Capcom, 2019) remakes the 1998 game in the RE Engine. The fixed camera angles of the original give way to a camera you rotate freely around your character. Same police station, same characters, very different feel.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo, 2019), developed by Grezzo, remakes the 1993 Game Boy game on Switch with a brand-new look.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix, 2020) goes further. It covers only Midgar, the opening part of the 1997 game. It replaces turn-based battles with real-time combat. It is the first game in a trilogy; Final Fantasy VII Rebirth followed in 2024.

Some remakes keep more than they show. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4, 2018) was again made by Bluepoint. It rebuilt every asset from scratch but kept the PS2 game's code. That is why it plays almost exactly like the 2005 original.

Reboot: the series starts over

A reboot does not rebuild one game. It restarts a whole series, usually with a new story, a new tone and new mechanics. It often reuses the bare series name, without a number.

Tomb Raider (Square Enix, developed by Crystal Dynamics, 2013) retold the origins of Lara Croft: a young, untested Lara stranded on an island. It was the first game of a new trilogy.

DOOM (Bethesda, developed by id Software, 2016) restarted the series that began in 1993. It was the first major Doom game since Doom 3 in 2004.

A reboot is a new game. You do not need to know the old ones, and they do not replace them.

When the label lies

The line between these words is blurry, and marketing makes it worse.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Activision, 2017) was sold as a remaster of the first three games. The developer, Vicarious Visions, had no original source code and had to rebuild animations, textures, AI and much of the music. They called it a "Remaster Plus".
Resident Evil has had a full chain. The 1996 original was remade on GameCube in 2002. That remake was then remastered in HD in 2015.
Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered (Koei Tecmo, 2026) recreates its battlefields in Unreal Engine 5, according to its Steam page. It also adds a character, new moves and new scenarios. That is a lot more than a resolution bump.

Why it matters to you

Price. A remake can cost as much as a new game. Sony priced The Last of Us Part I (PS5, 2022), a remake, at $70. Some players and journalists found it hard to justify, since The Last of Us Remastered already existed on PS4.

Content. A new version can add content, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with its DLC. It can also remove some. The Last of Us Part I dropped the original's multiplayer mode.

Fidelity. If you loved the original, a remake may not give it back. Final Fantasy VII Remake does not play like the 1997 game. A remaster is the safer bet if you want the same experience, cleaner.

Availability. Some versions are only sold for a while. Super Mario 3D All-Stars was pulled from sale in 2021.

How to check what you are buying

Read the store page. Look for "new engine", "rebuilt", "recreated", or for a plain list of resolution and frame-rate upgrades.
Check who made it. The original studio, a porting specialist or a remake studio like Bluepoint or Grezzo give different results.
Watch a side-by-side video. Thirty seconds of comparison footage tells you more than the title.
List what is in and what is out. DLC, multiplayer, extra modes.
Check the languages. A new version does not always keep the old translations. Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered has no French, for example.
Look for an upgrade path. Some new versions are free for existing owners. The Witcher 3's PS5 and Xbox Series version came as a free update in 2022 for anyone who owned it on PS4, Xbox One or PC.

The label tells you what the publisher wants you to think. The store page, the credits and a comparison video tell you what you get.