In terms of preserving gaming history, we live in a fortunate era of the internet and cheap, expansive storage. 20, 30 years ago that wasn't the case and if no one had the presence of mind to make loads of backups, it was easy for the original source code and assets of a game to disappear forever. We get lucky sometimes though, as is the case with one recent discovery by YouTube channel SiliconClassics.

The great thing about the age of digital distribution is how it's allowed people to relive their gaming memories without going through the hassle of abandonware and the pitfalls that sometimes brings. Discounts on games from the 1990's are a dime a dozen now, but it wasn't that long ago that getting them to work on modern operating systems was a nightmare.

But that's all in the past. Maybe a better way of putting it is to say that the past is now part of our future. Problem is, sometimes the past is better left alone -- as I discovered with the remaster of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.

It's not often you see PC assets getting scrapped for those that were compressed to fit on a cartridge with a mammoth storage size of 8 megabytes, but that's precisely what's just happened to the Turok remaster.

One of the greatest games to ever grace the Nintendo 64 has returned in the form of a 1080p PC remaster of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. It's just as ridiculous as I remember it, only now it's bigger.

When Turok first launched on Nintendo 64 in 1997 the game was hailed for its graphical mastery. I remember the amount of money you had to shell out for a decent 3D accelerator on PC just so you could get it going -- it required quite the hefty rig. But once you got going, good God did it look good.

Night Dive, the studio that owns the rights to the System Shock series and has remastered or re-released a string of classics, is currently putting a fresh coat of paint on Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. And, well, it looks like a game from the 1990's.