Rare Appreciation Thread

[Koopaul]

So what's the deal guys? I see way too much hate/neglect towards Rare and not enough love.

The last time Rare was mentioned was the Tropical Freeze thread where people were shitting over their character design of Banjo series, and I've heard in the past people mention how much they hate the graphics in DKC.

C'mon now! In this thread we talk about how great Rare (used to be).

They were some of the best video game makers ever and it's time to show our appreciation.

[Kriven]

You know what?

I really like Jetpac. It's not really in their more visible repertoire, but I played that thing to death in Donkey Kong 64. It had all the appealing funky colors of an Atari-era game with solid gameplay and physics. That's a title that needs more love.

[Phantom Killah]

I love Rare, and their games are an important part of my childhood, but they really are were lazy with character design (viva pinata had pretty creative character design).

[Mystie]

I love Rareware. The original DKC trilogy, the first two Banjo games, and Conker's Bad Fur Day are among some of my favorite platformers ever. Especially the first two Banjo games. I can spend hours and hours exploring every nook and cranny of every area in those games, and doing/finding everything there is to offer. Plus, the characters are really cute, funny, and lovable as well.

[Koopaul]

I've never experienced a racing game quite like Diddy Kong Racing.


It turned Kart racing into an adventure! Not to mention the game was oozing with charm.

[Kosheh]

In this thread we talk about how great Rare (used to be).

They were some of the best video game makers ever and it's time to show our appreciation.

This was all I needed to see. The beginning and the end of the thread is basically right there. The keyword is "How great Rare used to be".

Every time you read interviews from various Rare staff, it's a mixed bag of horrible working conditions and strained time schedules. I'm pretty sure it has to do something with Nintendo demanding less realistic deadlines and the pure fact that Rareware was dealing with a Japanese company. To be fair though, it seems like that Nintendo really did for Rare was give them structure, and a high standard for quality control, which is why some of their older titles really stick out today...but, then later on it was pretty apparent which titles were being rushed in favor of meeting deadlines and sales targets.

After the Microsoft acquisition, Microsoft pretty much said "Yeah we're glad to have you, now you can do whatever you want guys. It's cool." Needless to say, I don't think that really worked out in Rare's favor too well, because we got plenty of engaging, fun games that really show off Rare's passion and creativity for creating titles as a first-party publisher for one of the world's biggest companies' gaming divisions.


That said, there's plenty of good to be said about Rareware, like uh...Battletoads. No, seriously. If there's any Rare title besides the DKC series that really sticks out to me...yeah, Battletoads.

It's a shame that the best parts of Battletoads were when you paused the game and then didn't want to unpause because you were too busy beatboxing/dancing along with the music. ):

[Gors]

The only game I really care about Rare is DKC2 to be honest. Some of their other games are ok but nothing that really catches my attention.

[Koopaul]

Well besides their obvious one's they have a few overlooked gems as well. Ever play Blast Corp?



This one is often overlooked but pretty creative with such a simple idea.

[Kosheh]

The only game I really care about Rare is DKC2 to be honest. Some of their other games are ok but nothing that really catches my attention.

I'm quoting this post because of how freaking close it is to my own opinions. As much as I wanna bash Rare, there is no denying that DKC2 is literally perfect.


If you stranded me on an island with only one console and game, it'd have to be a SNES with DKC2 in it. Hell, I just bought the Japanese version of the game on eBay (as I misplaced my original copy and I was kinda curious of the localization changes), and I'm currently playing the same title across three separate consoles. Like, why.
Because this game is just platforming perfection.
Everything was just improved so much that it puts the original to shame, and not even the third game (which more or less brings back DK's mechanics) can't even stand a chance of topping it IMO, to the point where it just feels like half of the game's material was just rehashed from the second game. :/

[Kitsu]

I was really expecting the gors post to contain everyone's favorite rare character design joke.


As it is for me, Star Fox Adventures is the only rareware game I've fully played. I have a bit of a love/hate for it, as the first 30% or so is actually pretty alright(and it introduced krystal lol), but then the rest of the game is so obviously rushed and just gets more and more bare as you progress.

Meanwhile, while I've popped Banjo Kazooie into an emu a couple times, I just couldn't get into it. I found the level designs to be too unfocused and a bit too much hide-n-seek with all the collectibles.
Of course, it's not like I dislike collectibles (Wario World is practically my favorite game after all), but the way they handled it was probably too ... much? Though, maybe what I dislike is actually the unfocused nonlinear stage designs; I disliked Super Mario 64, too, and it has a somewhat similar structure.

Also tried Donkey Kong Country a little. It feels like... a really bad fan game platformer, with its super slippery physics and kinda generic sound design. The graphics also really didn't age well.

And in the end, I kinda feel as though that's exactly what rare was well-known for: lackluster clones of popular games with flashy graphics (for the time).

Maybe I could give their older games another chance. Or maybe I could avoid them and spend more time on other games I'm more likely to enjoy. In the end, that's my take on Rare.

edit: lol from that video, Blast Corps sounds interesting at least.

[Gors]

The only thing that is good from Rare, consistenly, is the music. Snake Rattle n' Roll, Battlemaniacs, Killer Instinct had good music and stuff thanks to people like Graeme Norgate, Robin Beanland, Grant Kirkhope, Eveline Fischer and of course David Wise.

Again citing DKC2, its soundtrack is the perfect mix between ambient and melody, and remains an inspiration for me up to this day. Banjo and Kazooie was a terrible game but Kirkhope's work of making seamless music with channel muting tricks is magical.

Also yes, Donkey Kong Country (the first one) sucked ass. DKC2 made it look like a playable beta.

[Vipershark]

Basically the only Rare games that I care about whatsoever are Blast Corps, Battletoads, DK64, and the original Banjo-Kazooie.

The rest are just... eggh.

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

the only good game rare has ever made is anticipation

[Kitsu]

oh god they made that!?




LOL
I played that game more than you'd think someone'd play a game they absolutely hated

[Koopaul]

Well that's exactly why I loved Banjo-Kazooie so much. I love to roam around freely, searching for hidden treasures, discovering secrets! It feels like I'm really on an adventure.

Wait. Generic sound design? Holy crap the sound in DKC is so good! The dripping in a damp cave. The clanking of metal in the mines. The sounds were some of the best parts of that game.