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[Rare Replaysounds like it’s going to make a big splash. But know that for everyBlast CorpsorPerfect Darkincluded, there’s a slew of games both famous and unknown that aren’t included in the humongous pack. Do you recognize a few of these titles? If you want to try getting on the front page, try starting your own blog, especially aboutGrabbed by the Ghoulies~Striderhoang]
Microsoft made a hell of an announcement at E3 regarding Rare, the legendary company that it purchased from Nintendo in 2002. Thirty games developed by the company are going to be included in theRare Replaycompilation set for the Xbox One.
That’s pretty awesome! Everyone has been going on and on about how this compilation has everything Rare has ever made! It’s gotBattletoads!It’s gotConker! All threeBanjo-Kazooiegames!Viva Piñata! It’s awesome that Rare’s total history is included in this one single game disc.
Except it’s not. There are a few games that have been omitted from the release for one reason or another. You probably already knew that, since some of the omissions are pretty glaring. Here, I’m going to attempt to make a guide as to what Rare-made games have not been included in theRare Replaycollection as, honestly, in some ways it’s easier to list what isn’t there than to give a full list of what is.
- A lot of ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and MSX games.
Rare originally got its start as Ultimate Play The Game, a humble game developer based out of the United Kingdom. It released most of its games via the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, a computer that was incredibly popular in the UK but was absolutely unheard of in the United States. The Spectrum’s primary way of loading software was via tape. Cassette tape. That is an absolutely foreign concept to us in the States since even on consoles like the Commodore 64 and Amiga you had floppy disks that were used for storage and programs. Tapes? That’s weird. But that was how you did things on the Speccy, and it did it relatively well.
If you’re curious about what in the hell a ZX Spectrum is, check out Lazy Game Reviews’videothat covered the machine. Getting a PAL machine like the Spectrum to work in a NTSC region is a lot of work!
For the record, we’ve got a bunch of games to list here:Psst, Tranz Am, Cookie, The Staff of Karnath, Alien 8, Nightshade(pictured above),Blackwyche, Entombed, Imhotep, Outlaws, Dragon Skulle, Cyberun, Pentagram, Martianoids, and Bubbler.
Why all of the omissions? Well, most of those games are too obscure for even a hardcore gamer to recognize, and honestly there’s a chance that Rare/Microsoft didn’t see the use in including all of these games that almost nobody actually played. For every person who will play the Spectrum games that are included onRare Replay, likeJetpacandSabre Wulf, there are countless gamers who fondly rememberBattletoadsorBanjo-Kazooiemore.
Another issue involves rights. See, around the time Ultimate Play The Game releasedGunfright(also onRare Replay), which came right afterNightshadein 1985, there was a change in Ultimate’s operations. Ultimate’s founders, Chris and Tim Stamper, had sold the Ultimate name to US Gold, a contemporary developer, who kept the Ultimate name attached to various titles. The company itself was very secretive about this, and as such it’s a little unclear just how many of these games were actually made by Ultimate or US Gold. The last two games in the list are definitely US Gold releases, with the Ultimate name on them.
A lot of those above games may have been omitted because some of them weren’t really Rare games to begin with.
2. A LOT of NES games.
By 1987, Rare was a fully-fledged game developer for the new hotness that was the Nintendo Entertainment System. The sheer volume of titles that it developed for or ported to the NES is astounding: over 40 titles, including ports of other games. These games run the gamut of genres and settings. You’ve got the aboveWizards & Warriorsseries, home versions of game shows likeJeopardy!andWheel Of Fortune, shooters likeCaptain Skyhawkand pinball games likePin-Bot. Even the dreaded port ofSilent Servicewas a Rare-developed title.
Y’know what?Silent Serviceis better left off ofRare Replay. It isn’t a very good game, and it is easily more common than most every other NES game on the market. This game is a plague. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Rare even dabbled with games based on movies, likeWho Framed Roger Rabbit?andA Nightmare on Elm Street.
You could actually do four-player gameplay on this particular game, as the box annoyingly illustrates.
The games I’ve listed are only a fraction of what Rare actually made for the NES, of course. But do you notice something about all of the games pictured?
They all have different publishers.
Like I said earlier, Rare was a video game developer, not a publisher. This means that all of those Rare titles are segmented, owned by different companies and rights holders. To negotiate their release on a modern console would be an absolute pain. Even so, I’m sure that Rare had to do some sort of negotiation for games likeSlalomandBattletoadsto be a part ofRare Replay.After all,Slalomis an NES black box game and Tradewest, the publisher ofBattletoads, hasn’t existed for twenty years. The company it was folded into (Midway) hasn’t existed since 2009. There were probably some hurdles to jump there.
Speaking ofBattletoads, though…
3.Battletoads & Double Dragon(andBattlemaniacs)!
Back in the day,Battletoadswas published by Tradewest.Double Dragonwas published by Tradewest. Tradewest decided to dip itsBattletoadschocolate intoDouble Dragon‘s peanut butter to make a crossover game that combined elements of both franchises.The Ultimate Team®!
There’s a good reason why this one isn’t onRare Replay:Double Dragon‘s rights are all over the place. It would be silly to negotiate rights for just one game — one that isn’t even top-notch (Yeah, I said it!).
Not a ton of people rememberBattletoads’legitimate sequel,Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, which was released on the Super Nintendo in 1994 during the second half of the SNES’s lifespan. It’s a solid game, and one that you can only really play on the SNES. There was a Sega Master System port, but it was left incomplete and it wasn’t made by Rare. Oh, and there were two Game Boy games: one is just calledBattletoads, and it is actually a completely new game in the franchise. The original game was also ported to the Game Boy under the titleBattletoads In Ragnarok’s World.
With all theBattletoadslove thatRare Replayis getting, it’s weird to see the game’s true sequel omitted. Is it something to do with being on the SNES? That argument doesn’t quite hold water, since other games that were considered Nintendo staples made it into the collection. We’re left to wonder…
4.Donkey Kong Country(andLand, and64)
Oh, come on. You knew this was coming up.
More than anything else,Donkey Kong Countryput Rare on the map as a game developer. The visuals were astonishing for the time, and the gameplay is second to none, despite what some people have said in the last decade or so. This is one of those games with near universal acclaim.
I’ve talkedabout the franchise in the past and I briefly touched on its importance for Nintendo, but it bears repeating:Donkey Kong Countryabsolutely destroyed Nintendo’s competition and allowed Nintendo to cement its place as the king of 16-bit gaming. The game re-inventedDonkey Kongand to this day the image of DK is based on his appearance inCountry.
The game spawned three direct sequels:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest(notDiddy Kong’s Quest, remember?),Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble, andDonkey Kong 64, which was made for the Nintendo 64, of course. TheDKCgames also had companion games on the Game Boy, under the nameDonkey Kong Land. Those games were black and white, and while they drew inspiration from the console games, the levels are completely different. There was also a port ofDonkey Kong Countryfor the Game Boy Color in 1999, which showed that an 8-bit version of a 16-bit powerhouse was do-able, albeit with some fairly severe limitations.
Diddy Kong even had a spin-off game on the Nintendo 64, which went under the title ofDiddy Kong Racing. Despite the game having the first appearances of Banjo and Conker, this game is in a weird situation where the original release probably won’t be coming out for any console, Nintendo or Microsoft, in any form, because the two mentioned characters are owned by Microsoft and the rest are Nintendo owned. Maybe the DS version will hit the eShop some day (As that one has Banjo and Conker removed and replaced with other Kong characters).
Three guesses as to why theDonkey Kong Countryseries is being overlooked forRare Replay. The first two guesses don’t count.
I’ll wait.
It’s so strange to see a huge part of Rare’s history completely overlooked, albeit for rights reasons rather than it being an old shame. You know that, on some level, theDonkey Konggames were part of the reason why Microsoft bought the company in the first place. I know most people probably weren’t expecting theDonkey Konggames to be included in the collection (I’d be surprised if anyone actually did), it’s just so interesting to see them omitted. It’s like seeing an American history textbook omitting the Vietnam War, or downplaying the election of Bill Clinton. It’s just odd.
4.5:Killer Instinct
This is one that I initially overlooked. Whoops.
The originalKiller Instinct, as well asKI2, are not onRare Replay? Why is that? Well, it may have something to do with the two games already being available on the Xbox One as downloads. Microsoft and Rare most likely didn’t want consumers to be forced to double-dip with the two KI games, especially since many Xbox One fans already have the two games. The image above depicts the SNES port ofKI, which I’m sure will not be anywhere near the Xbox One or Nintendo’s eShop any time soon, though I’ve been wrong before…
I initially looked overKI‘s inclusion in this guide because I completely forgot that theKIgame included inRare Replay,Killer Instinct Gold, isn’t quite the same asKI1 or 2. It was originally a Nintendo 64 release, owing much of its gameplay and character selection toKI2.KI Goldisn’t an exact conversion of the arcade game, however, as the arcade games utilized a hard drive to stream data to the game itself, resulting in some amazing FMV backgrounds and crazy-awesome audio that the N64 couldn’t quite replicate. The game itself is really fun, though, and well worth checking out. You won’t even care about the fact that it is technically inferior to the arcade version.
Fun fact: most of the hard drives that were included withKIandKI2machines are long dead. Since replacing a 20+ year Seagate drive is basically impossible without stumbling on some new-old-stock, manyKIcabs that still exist have been outfitted with CompactFlash cards or SD cards that contain the same data as the hard drives. Oh, technology!
5.Goldeneye 007
I feel bad for people who haven’t played this game, because playing it today doesn’t give anywhere near the same experience as it did when this game was new.Goldeneyewas the first modern first-person shooter. BeforeGoldeneye, most FPSes were crazy fast shootbang fests where you shot everything that wasn’t you with a gun that was the size of a mini van.Goldeneye, however, dialed the tone back considerably and made the setting more realistic to tie into the James Bond film the game was ostensibly made to promote, even though it was released two years after the film. You know every modern FPS ever? They owe their existence in some part toGoldeneye.
This game was actually directly mentioned by Rare representatives as being omitted from theRare Replaycollection for not fitting with the idea ofRare Replay, with the games being focused on Rare created content. That makes sense, and is probably going to be used as a justification for why everything else I have mentioned or will mention in this article didn’t make the cut for the game. If you’re itching for some Rare FPS action, don’t be disappointed:Perfect Darkis included onRare Replay, in addition toPerfect Dark Zero, which came out later but is actually a prequel. The originalPerfect Darkis basically a spiritual successor toGoldeneyeanyway, so you’re not completely left in the dust when it comes to shooters on the compilation.
6.Mickey’s Speedway USA
Hey, look at that!Mickey’s Speedway USAis a pseudo-sequel toDiddy Kong Racing! I must admit, this is one Rare title for the N64 that I often forget about. It isn’t a truly bad game, though. It’s just not as good asDiddy Kong Racing. PlayingMickey’s Speedwayjust makes one yearn for the likes of Diddy Kong and Banjo, barreling through volcanoes and sandy beaches as opposed to Mickey’s fairly-bland surroundings.
If you thought the other games were a licensing nightmare, check this one out. Disney’s lawyers probably sent a preemptive “Hell no” letter when they caught a whisper ofRare Replaybeing made.
Disney isn’t one to re-release its old games. Seems like it’s easier to re-make them, such as withCastle of IllusionorDucktales. When that’s the case, why bother?
7.Star Fox Adventures
This game was Rare’s swan song for Nintendo (sort of, more on that later).Star Fox Adventureswas the last game Rare developed for a Nintendo home console before being bought out by Microsoft. Originally, the game was to be calledDinosaur Planet, and it was to be released on the Nintendo 64. Development was long, and filled with delays. Eventually, the standalone franchise nature of the game was scrapped and replaced with parts from theStar Foxseries, shoehorning the game into the franchise. This makes the game somewhat of a black sheep in theStar Foxgames, since nothing quite like it has come out in the series sinceSFA, and it is highly unlikely that anything like it will ever come out, sinceSFAwas decimated by critics. It’s easier to pretend that this isn’t aStar Foxgame, though you can’t really do that since elements from this game have shown up in other games in the franchise.
It would be interesting to see ifRare Replaycontains some concept art forDinosaur Planet, as a lot of the plot and characters from that were not included withStar Fox Adventures. I’m sure that other games will get a similar treatment (likeKameo: Elements of Power, which was originally planned to be on the N64, then the Gamecube, and then the original Xbox before finally releasing as an Xbox 360 launch title).
7.5:Conker: Live & Reloaded
Conker’s Bad Fur Dayis getting a release on Rare Replay, thankfully. However, this updated re-release of BFD on the original Xbox might be left in the dust in the collection.
Conker: Live & Reloadedwas a complete re-make ofBad Fur Day, with better visuals than the original Nintendo 64 ones, as well as some changes to level design to include things like expanded dialogue. It’s not quite the same asBad Fur Day, so you’ll get a bit of a different experience, though basically they are the same game. The multiplayer was also completely overhauled, adding in more modes, more players, and, as the name suggests, online multiplayer via the original Xbox Live. This version of the game isn’t perfect, however, as the game’s dialogue was censored in the game’s master audio files, which meant that there was no way to un-censor them in-game. The N64 version had a bit of an edge on that front as less swearing was censored, which is a little interesting, given Nintendo’s history with rather draconian censorship practices.
It’s not the end of the world to haveLive & Reloadedomitted since the original game is still one of the games included inRare Replay, but keep in mind that, as far as I know, Rare hasn’t divulged whether or not theBad Fur Dayincluded inRare Replayis based on the original or on theLive & Reloadedversion. You may be surprised…
- A few obscure Game Boy Advance games
Rare’s buyout by Microsoft didn’t completely disintegrate its relationship with Nintendo, as many would be led to think. Quite the opposite, in fact: Rare simply switched its focus from Nintendo home consoles to handheld consoles, aided by having THQ as a publisher. Microsoft didn’t see an issue with Rare continuing to make handheld games for its competition, most likely due to the fact that Microsoft doesn’t make a handheld console of its own.
Of course, you had ports of theDonkey Kong Countrygames available for the GBA, albeit with some major changes: The color schemes of each game were brightened considerably, changing the mood and atmosphere of many game levels. They did include some new levels, however, and you could save your progress at any time. They aren’t bad ports, just different, which may be a good or bad thing depending on how much you love the SNES originals.
The real interesting bits come with the games that are based on franchises that Nintendo doesn’t directly own. For instance, do you know there was a sequel toBanjo-Kazooieon the GBA, titledGrunty’s Revenge? It served as a sequel toBKand a prequel toBanjo-Tooie, and, amazingly, it kept a lot of the same gameplay from the console versions, though it was done with Mode 7 visuals and sprite scaling, of course. Rare also took a stab at making a handheld racing game, partially inspired byDiddy Kong Racing(and originally meant to star characters from theDonkey Konggames). The game was dubbedBanjo-Pilot, and as the title suggests, it focuses on plane-based racing. It’s noMario Kart, but the game is actually quite fun, including scenes from both console Banjo games and some fun items to destroy opponents with.
Or perhaps you yearned for a sequel toSabre Wulf, one of Ultimate Play The Game’s ZX Spectrum games? Well, Rare updated Sabreman and his lycanthropy for the modern day. Neat stuff. Rare also released a ridiculously-obscure puzzle game on the GBA, calledIt’s Mr. Pants. Mr. Pants is a bit of a running joke in some Rare titles, originally appearing on Rare’s old website, where he was a survey supervisor. The game was originally supposed to be based around Donkey Kong, titledDonkey Kong Coconut Crackers, but during development Rare decided to change the design to include their loveable little inside joke. Honestly, I’m disappointed that we haven’t seen more of Mr. Pants, since he’s just the right type of silly mascot that needs his own game every few years. Then again, I’m just a writer, not a game developer.
There are a ton of reasons why the majority of Rare’s releases are not included onRare Replay. Most boil down to licensing agreements or trademark issues, but the company may very well be saving some games as unlockable extras, or potentially for a sequel in the future. I don’t think the latter will happen, since most of Rare’s heavy hitters are in the collection already.
I’m certainly not complaining about the games included in theRare Replayset. Hell, I’m going to buy an Xbox One specifically for this game. Seriously. I can’t wait to playBlast Corpsagain, and I definitely can’t wait to break out the arcade version ofBattletoads.
It’s just interesting to take a look at what Rare overlooked for the collection for one reason or another.
