Remasters, remakes and reboots are the 'in' thing for games in recent years.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and it's even more powerful when you imagine what the power of the current-gen consoles to your favourite games of yesteryear.
However, due to legal issues or just low motivation from companies who do own the rights, remakes/remasters of games from 20 years ago are next to impossible, no matter how many petitions or YouTube influencers push it.
With that, here's three games which have next to no chance of being re-released for the foreseeable.
GoldenEye
First released on the N64 back in 1997 by RARE, it's still regarded as a classic, with its multiplayer modes still being played in many gaming bars across the world.
However, due to the rights with the Bond licence over the years, most of the games are restricted to their original release. But Rare did attempt to re-release GoldenEye for the Xbox 360 back in 2007.
Due to the game sharing complicated rights with Nintendo, Rare, Microsoft and MGM, the release never came to pass, but there are leaked details and videos showing it in action.
There's always a chance that it may return, but with Hitman developers IO Interactive announcing the next Bond game, it may be a while until GoldenEye is considered for a re-release.
READ MORE: How 'From Russia With Love' on PS2 gave Sir Sean Connery a final farewell.
Sonic 3
A favourite game of this writer, and one that's barely seen a re-release in its 27-year history. There's plenty of background into how the game was developed, from it being split into two games, and its prototype being leaked in November of 2019.
However, the big myth that has begun to ring true, is that the singer Michael Jackson was involved in the music. The short story goes, is that he offered to help with the music, but when the allegations against him in 1993 appeared, SEGA and his team backed away and stopped any co-production from carrying on.
However, there are still some tracks that sound like some of his songs, such as 'Carnival Night Zone' sounding like 'Jam' in some parts, or the Sonic 3 credits sounding like a faster tempo of 'Stranger in Moscow'.
It seems to be why we've not seen a re-release compared to Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. The developers involved in their re-releases on mobile devices back in 2013, 'Taxman' and 'Stealth' did pitch a Sonic 3 remaster as the above video shows, but SEGA showed no interest.
It's an odd one still, as one can't help but think that SEGA are being 'too' reserved as to why the game can't be re-released. It's a massive shame, as the complete 'Sonic 3' game is nothing short of spectacular, and it should see a new audience on current consoles.
READ MORE: Sonic R anniversary marked with fantastic art from a Sonic the Comic veteran.
Tekken 3
The Tekken series has rarely seen a re-release apart from its FMV movies in Tekken 7, but there's always been a muted response from Namco-Bandai as to why Tekken 3 was never released on the PSN Store.
The answer seems to lie in the secret character; Gon, who would be playable when you would beat him in the 'Tekken Ball' mode.
This was a one-time licencing deal, and while the character was huge in his own manga series between 1991 and 2002, alongside other shows, he was and is completely unknown in other markets outside Japan.
It would be great to see the first three Tekken games on the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch in some way, but unless Namco-Bandai renew the licence or remove Gon completely for this, there's little chance of seeing Tekken 3 again, unless you find an old copy and load it into your PS1, PS2 or PS3 console.
READ MORE: How Tekken 4 is underrated, 20 years on.