A while ago I posted a blog rambling about remakes, remasters, and so on. Really my opinion was simple, I’d rather have a new game by the developer than something I’ve already played several times. This especially applied to newer games on last generation of PS3, and 360.
You all though, really gave me great opinions on the subject. Which all of you seemed to like the idea of having them. It makes since though, a lot of people may have not played a title and get the chance to now. Or for what ever reason it may be. For instance I enjoy my Master Chief Collection that came with my Xbox One. Mainly for being able to play Halo 2 online again, or Halo CE for that matter.
Recently though another collection caught my eye, Rare Replay. Some how I missed this at E3 this year. How? I really have no clue, it was probably over shadowed by my excitement for titles like Dues Ex, Halo, Mass Effect and so on. Its stuck in my head now though, and for good reason.
Most of my childhood experience with gaming included titles from Rare. The N64 to me wouldn’t have been worth it just for Mario, and Zelda. Added to those memories was Perfect Dark, GoldenEye 007, Conkers Bad Fur Day, amongst many other titles.
This collection includes 30 games, with no GoldenEye over issues. With that out of the way we still have these:
- Jetpac
- Atic Atac
- Lunar Jetman
- Sabre Wulf
- Underwurlde
- Knight Lore
- Gunfright
- Slalom
- R.C. Pro-Am
- Cobra Triangle
- Snake Rattle n Roll
- Digger T. Rock
- Solar Jetman
- Battletoads
- R.C. Pro-Am 2
- Battletoads Arcade
- Killer Instinct Gold
- Blast Corps
- Banjo- Kazooie
- Jet Force Gemini
- Perfect Dark
- Banjo-Tooie
- Conker’s Bad Fur Day
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Kameo: Elements of Power
- Viva Piñata
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
- Banjo- Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
It is to me an amazing list of games for many reasons. All this for 29.99, plus access to some of the best games especially the ones that only saw light on N64. Sadly its only available for Xbox One. Which I can understand for exclusive purposes, but it’d be nice for any console player to have the choice to experience these games.
Explore Animation 
This compilation sure has a lot of good games on it – a lot of which haven’t seen the light of day since their original releases. It even features some games from Rare’s ZX Spectrum days. I remember playing Jetpac in Donkey Kong 64. Strangely, getting enough points in Jetpac is actually required to beat the game, so despite coming across as an Easter egg, it’s not optional.
Too bad the incredibly vague legal red tape prevented games such as Goldeneye from being on it. At least the Donkey Kong Country series is available on the Virtual Console. Speaking of which, I would say that Donkey Kong Country 2 is the best Rare game, and, indeed, my favorite 2D platforming game.
Rare’s acquisition by Microsoft has limited both their creative output and the consoles they can release their games on, which is, needless to say, a terrible combination. Like Square and Sega, it’s too bad that their quality dropped the way that it did.
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This collection actually has me excited tbh. Some of the older games on it are hard to find. Or just a lot of money an I can’t afford it lol.
I think it’s sad when a developer like Rare was once great, and always talked about by fans and such. Now I hardly ever hear their name. Microsoft getting Rare wouldn’t be so bad if they’d give them a chance.
I think the studio still has the same potential if only given that chance.
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