Retro games that need a virtual reality reboot

Gamers, if you're tired of just sitting at home and twiddling your controller, the future looks quite promising. If you've been keeping an eye on the Oculus Rift, the HTC Valve, or even the Merge, you know that we're getting closer to immersive, off-the-couch gaming than ever before. It's going to be a weird and disorienting world for a while, so what better place to start than the games that you already know and love? Here are some retro classics that would probably be pretty awesome making the jump to virtual reality.

The Legend of Zelda

There are tons of sword and sorcery games out there, but few are as memorable than The Legend of Zelda series. It doesn't matter if you're shooting Octoroks with your laser sword in the first Zelda, or digging your blade into the heads of unsuspecting Moblins in Zelda II, Hyrule is the kind of fantasy world that every gamer would love to wander around in for a while. Give us enough living room space to slash our way through a few solid dungeon bosses, and we'll probably never play another game. Just don't make us fight any of those terrifying Wallmaster hands.

Duck Hunt

On the surface, Duck Hunt is about shooting ducks to practice your crack shot aim, but underneath it all, it's really a game about being emasculated by your condescending dog. Virtual reality needs some kind of gun-based title for those of us who aren't really interested in storming the beaches of Normandy, but still like to shoot stuff. Not only would it be good practice for more intense VR stuff, but we'd probably hook it up to one of those newfangled meat printers so we could actually eat our spoils. Ever have duck pizza? Totally worth the effort.

Ecco the Dolphin

Now that we have shooting and swordplay established in the VR world, we need a solid game that focuses on swimming, and there's no better underwater game series than Ecco. A time-traveling dolphin that rams stuff to death is not only the hero that we want, but the hero we need. This is the kind of game that would be just as much fun for bystanders to watch, because seeing someone emulate a dolphin while strapped into an unwieldy headset is probably the pinnacle of modern entertainment.