My Beloved RareWare!!

2005-12-31 09:54:13 am

Yoshi's eggs are at my mercy!

I feel like a part of me is missing. A large chunk of my time was dedicated to RareWare developed games back whenever I owned a N64. Such instant classics like Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, and Goldeneye 007 to name a few. But lately, it's been one dissapointment after another. Rare is no where near the top of my "once loved developers went stoopid" list, Sonic Team currently is #1 on that, but I'm losing faith in their ability to make awesome stuff.

Conker: Live & Reloaded sucked out loud. With seriously outdated parodies that seem 40 notches above cliche in present time. While Kameo doesn't fare much better. If such a trend of Rare letting down on their platformer games continues, then it's only a matter of time until "Banjo Threeie"/"Banjo Kazooie 3" may became another turdpile to add to the list.

That and that I find it hard to accept Banjo premiring only on a non-Nintendo console (yuk!). However, Rare announced support for the DS, whether this may be a rerelease of BJ or a completely new game, I'm anxious to see.

Your toughts on Rare?

Thread title:

I feel like a part of me is missing. A large chunk of my time was dedicated to RareWare developed games back whenever I owned a N64. Such instant classics like Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, and Goldeneye 007 to name a few. But lately, it's been one dissapointment after another. Rare is no where near the top of my "once loved developers went stoopid" list, Sonic Team currently is #1 on that, but I'm losing faith in their ability to make awesome stuff.

Conker: Live & Reloaded sucked out loud. With seriously outdated parodies that seem 40 notches above cliche in present time. While Kameo doesn't fare much better. If such a trend of Rare letting down on their platformer games continues, then it's only a matter of time until "Banjo Threeie"/"Banjo Kazooie 3" may became another turdpile to add to the list.

That and that I find it hard to accept Banjo premiring only on a non-Nintendo console (yuk!). However, Rare announced support for the DS, whether this may be a rerelease of BJ or a completely new game, I'm anxious to see.

Your toughts on Rare?

Lag.Com

2005-12-31 10:55:27 am

sda loyalist

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BJ

You abbreviated Banjo to BJ? Madness.

I'm not sure I quite agree with you; while the Donkey Kong Country games were excellent and deserving of attention, I find that the Conker remake also strikes a chord. Incredibly well made, and the thing about good jokes, is that they don't age. Smiley

As for the company itself, perhaps it has gone downhill in recent years (Kameo is a running joke amongst my friends). Or perhaps I don't play enough games on Nintendo consoles to notice.

pyurrhia

2005-12-31 12:02:20 pm

like cranky kong, but not as nice

i'm in agreement with you, here; i've respected rareware since dkc, and though i haven't played any of the rare games on the xbox or 360, i've kept an eye on them through the media, etc...

it seems to me that the moment of rare's greatest triumph (perfect dark, still one of the best console shooters ever) was the moment they fell out with nintendo over the face-mapping feature, and i'm certain it was this that led to rare being sold on. starfox adventures was clearly rushed out so as to be finished before the company ended gamecube development, '...ghoulies' was an attempt to appeal to the younger audience/ contract filler while the big game, perfect dark zero, has been halo-ised and had its soul ripped out. the saying 'out of the frying pan...' springs to mind when thinking of rare breaking away from nintendo's over-controlling influence.

InsaneB4st4rd

2005-12-31 01:40:42 pm

Still alive...

I remember the times when i played Killer Instinct Gold on my N64. I got pretty much every Rare game made for that console.
Since the transfer, the Quality of games has dropped. It's just not rare anymore.
When you play games like Blast Corps or Goldeneye, you see and feel that they are made by Rare. Now you can see that they do the same stuff as other developers. I'm not saying the games are Bad, but they aren't outstanding anymore.

StrangenessDSS

2005-12-31 01:43:37 pm

Sleeping Terror

What, no mention of Blast Corps? (Oh, sure, add one while I'm writing this post.)

I'd like to play Kameo sometime... but after Star Fox Adventures, I find it hard to care what happens to Rare.

Patricio

Edit history:

Patricio: 2005-12-31 04:26:35 pm

2005-12-31 04:25:51 pm

MarioKart64.com biotch!

Even though I played Blast corps it was not one of their stronger games. Anyways, I agree with the whole rare gone down hill thing. I used to play all their games, DK64, Banjo 1 and 2, Goldeneye. In the present time it seems they lack the power they once had. The only postive thing I have heard lately was that conker's was good. Other than that they have released slop. My friend told me Perfect Dark was okay and I have read numerous reviews denouncing their other titles.

I miss the n64 era rare, the rare that made me type in cheat codes on a sandy floor. The company that made me actually play a game with talking animals in it that wasn't a donkey kong game, although I played Donkey Kong too.

marshmallow

Edit history:

marshmallow: 2005-12-31 04:54:06 pm

2005-12-31 04:51:42 pm

Jack of all Trades

I'm still extremely confused about the Rare situation. Back then I was fairly savvy in terms of Nintendo news and this just seemed to come out of nowhere. AFAIK, Rare was almost totally owned by Nintendo. It's not like Rare could just get up one morning drunk off their ass and say, "Nintendo! YOU HIT ME! I'm kicking you to the curb and finding myself a real man!"

So did Nintendo sell them? Why the hell would they do that? The N64 was drowning until the life preserver known as GoldenEye was thrown out to its wailing arms. Without Rare the whole project would've been a massive failure, at least in the U.S.

Just about every game I own for the N64 is either Rare or Nintendo produced!

Metallic Ghost

2005-12-31 05:08:18 pm

I agree with Prince, pomegranates suck.

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So did Nintendo sell them? Why the hell would they do that? The N64 was drowning until the life preserver known as GoldenEye was thrown out to its wailing arms. Without Rare the whole project would've been a massive failure, at least in the U.S.

Just about every game I own for the N64 is either Rare or Nintendo produced!

Let me answer that for you, if memory serves they sold Rare for around 380 something million, more than they woulda made out of kameo when it was going to be released as a gamecube launch title.

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starfox adventures was clearly rushed out so as to be finished before the company ended gamecube development.

Maybe so, but they had already spent 3 years on it. And it was suposed to be a 64 title to begin with.

Yes i loved rare, maybe they just dont get enough attention from billy boy and microsoft. Nintendo would shower them with love like a well used teddy bear....
with a bird in its backpak.

Uncle

Edit history:

Uncle: 2005-12-31 05:11:01 pm

2005-12-31 05:10:30 pm

Superplayer

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Let me answer that for you, if memory serves they sold Rare for around 380 something million, more than they woulda made out of kameo when it was going to be released as a gamecube launch title.

Maybe so, but they had already spent 3 years on it. And it was suposed to be a 64 title to begin with.

Yes i loved rare, maybe they just dont get enough attention from billy boy and microsoft. Nintendo would shower them with love like a well used teddy bear....
with a bird in its backpak.

Don't forget that Rare were practically screwed up by Nintendo over Dinosaur Planet, which was going to be a really promising N64 title until Nintendo told them to pull the plug from the project, put it on Gamecube and change the characters to Star Fox characters.

I'm not sure why, but I do think that's when Rare got pissed at Nintendo.

Metallic Ghost

2005-12-31 05:18:10 pm

I agree with Prince, pomegranates suck.

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I'm not sure why, but I do think that's when Rare got pissed at Nintendo.

Good point, nintendo screwed them over, and rare are the worse for it i think. Now a new generation will never get to read subtitles while an animal makes squeaky noizes.

And ELVIS, i mean rare had a sense of humour.

Enhasa

2005-12-31 06:38:25 pm

everybody wanna tell you the meaning of music

Did you know, if you replace RareWare in the title with many other companies, it works just as well? Sometimes, it even rhymes with the original!

Rare in SNES and N64 days was God (DKC2 still my favorite platformer), but you might remember... back for the NES, Rare sure churned out a lot of donkey crap. The difference is now, their crap is more polished and high profile.

Lam6ch0p

2005-12-31 07:36:41 pm

$inner

Crap's crap no matter if it's polished or not, but, every great developer have had their bad games, so, maybe Rare will become what it once was

HeroPenguin

2005-12-31 08:35:45 pm

Rock on, Earthbound. Rock on.

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Maybe so, but they had already spent 3 years on it. And it was suposed to be a 64 title to begin with.

Emphasis mine. Rare has had this problem for ages now. Wasn't Perfect Dark Zero in development since shortly after the first one came out? Does anyone else remember the plethora of delays that Banjo-Kazooie and especially Conker underwent? Kameo was even worse. I don't think the problem was Rare being told to pull the plug and make it for a new system. I think the problem was Rare taking too damn long to make their games, and winding up needing to put them on the new consoles because they missed the window for the previous one. Rare has a problem with delays, and really, in my opinion, their games don't reflect the extra time. I think Nintendo was wise to drop Rare, especially seeing what they've put out recently.

At first I was as confused and upset as anyone else here, but then it occured to me... I really don't like a lot of their games. DKC never interested me. It always felt too loose, somehow. Banjo Kazooie and Conker are both classics, but not because of their mechanics. Their atmosphere was what made them good, but when I really sit down and think about it, they're kinda inferior platformers. Goldeneye and Perfect Dark of course are without par, I'll grant that, and Diddy Kong Racing was good. Really, Rare didn't bring too much to the table, all in all.

It was nice while it lasted, but I wouldn't look back at the Rareware Nintendo partnership. The big N has what it takes for this next gen.

[quote]Maybe so, but they had already spent [i]3 years[/i] on it. And it was suposed to be a 64 title to begin with.[/quote]

Emphasis mine.  Rare has had this problem for ages now.  Wasn't Perfect Dark Zero in development since shortly after the first one came out?  Does anyone else remember the plethora of delays that Banjo-Kazooie and especially Conker underwent?  Kameo was even worse.  I don't think the problem was Rare being told to pull the plug and make it for a new system.  I think the problem was Rare taking too damn long to make their games, and winding up needing to put them on the new consoles because they missed the window for the previous one.  Rare has a problem with delays, and really, in my opinion, their games don't reflect the extra time.  I think Nintendo was wise to drop Rare, especially seeing what they've put out recently.

At first I was as confused and upset as anyone else here, but then it occured to me...  I really don't like a lot of their games.  DKC never interested me.  It always felt too loose, somehow.  Banjo Kazooie and Conker are both classics, but not because of their mechanics.  Their atmosphere was what made them good, but when I really sit down and think about it, they're kinda inferior platformers.  Goldeneye and Perfect Dark of course are without par, I'll grant that, and Diddy Kong Racing was good.  Really, Rare didn't bring too much to the table, all in all.

It was nice while it lasted, but I wouldn't look back at the Rareware Nintendo partnership.  The big N has what it takes for this next gen.

beanshaker

2005-12-31 08:41:56 pm

go the mighty swans

while i agree that rare made some classic games on the 64, the thing that sticks with me the most is the bloody noise kazooie made as you were running along. that and the frustration caused by attempting to swing the arse-end of a dumptruck into various buildings

Psychochild

Edit history:

Psychochild: 2005-12-31 09:06:28 pm

2005-12-31 09:01:34 pm

Well, Rare has put out a few good games lately like the re-releases of DKC 1-3 on GBA and.... the....

......

Yeah. They were brilliant in the SNES and N64 era. Banjo Kazooie was a great platformer collect-a-thon that was executed VERY well with large worlds, tons of moves to learn, varied gameplay and it's generally very well paced. Its sequel was mostly in par, though not as great. Blast Corps was incredibly awesome, Perfect Dark and Goldeneye are brilliant and they've aged very well the past few years. The Donkey Kong Country games were truly excellent platformers that was really distinct among all the other games out there considering its genre. Donkey Kong Country 2 was just incredible and it did so much more for me than the Mario platformers at the time (Which were a blast, but that just further illistrates how awesome DKC was) though the 3D leap with Donkey Kong 64 was just miserable, so feh.

Amazing Ampharos

2005-12-31 10:30:52 pm

I thought DK64 was an awesome game. Kardboard K. Rool is the best 3d platforming boss ever.

I heard it was basically because Rare constituted 1% of profit from game sales but their costs were substantially larger. SFA was their only cube game, and they weren't looking like much more was coming. Yes, they were a supremely awesome company, but they had hit that point where it was taking them longer and longer and they were downright unprofitable. Just look at how much they've done for Microsoft.

Still, in the rememberence of their heyday, let's think back to the good times we had with BK and DKC2.

Psychochild

Edit history:

Psychochild: 2005-12-31 10:36:05 pm

2005-12-31 10:35:30 pm

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I thought DK64 was an awesome game. Kardboard K. Rool is the best 3d platforming boss ever.

.... I'll give you that. You NEVER expected that the final boss for one of the last worlds in the game to be a giant cardboard cut out of the final boss. That was just classy. Still, I missed Squitter... Though the mine cart levels were incredibly well done considering... but the worlds were too big and kinda bleh. So there!

rock1644

2006-01-01 06:54:06 am

yes, a man carrying a gimp

Rare has been around for 22 years, so not every game they make will be fantastic. Rare is my favorite game company, so I try to give every game I've played of their's a chance.

I do think Rare's games started to get worse with Conker's Bad Fur Day. I just didn't see what was so great about the game. The jokes weren't very funny, nor were they raunchy like people said they were. What's so funny about watching someone get electricuted until their skin melts?

Metallic Ghost

2006-01-01 05:00:20 pm

I agree with Prince, pomegranates suck.

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Rare in SNES and N64 days was God (DKC2 still my favorite platformer), but you might remember... back for the NES, Rare sure churned out a lot of donkey crap. The difference is now, their crap is more polished and high profile.

Yep come to think of it i DO remember a few batman games on the NES, then again, was it just the one game, it was so shit i think it burnt into my memory more than once.
Tongue

Pweisger

2006-01-02 09:03:30 am

PwNzRd!

At first, I thought LucasArts was going to fall down the same path, and then along came KotOR (with the help of BioWare, I might add), and totally redeemed it.

trihex

2006-01-02 09:23:58 am

Yoshi's eggs are at my mercy!

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At first, I thought LucasArts was going to fall down the same path, and then along came KotOR (with the help of BioWare, I might add), and totally redeemed it.

That's all it takes. Only 1 revolutionarily outstadning game that is unparalelled in it's excellence is required to completely redeem any developer's tarnished reputation. (ie Capcom's Resident Evil series, and RE4; now RE5 has massive hype surrounding it, esspecially with the editors of EGM dedicating it's announcement as a cover story)

Patricio

2006-01-02 04:01:34 pm

MarioKart64.com biotch!

Blast Corps was incredibly awesome,

It wasn't that good, I mean c'mon. Roll Eyes

Enhasa

2006-01-04 03:14:50 am

everybody wanna tell you the meaning of music

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At first, I thought LucasArts was going to fall down the same path, and then along came KotOR (with the help of BioWare, I might add), and totally redeemed it.

Wait, so just because BioWare developed KOTOR and LucasArts was responsible for the Star Wars license and publishing it, that somehow redeems LucasArts? That's like saying Square's creative talent is really doing well these days because Enix is kicking ass.

I didn't realize Capcom had a tarnished reputation either.

Psychochild

2006-01-04 04:16:54 am

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Wait, so just because BioWare developed KOTOR and LucasArts was responsible for the Star Wars license and publishing it, that somehow redeems LucasArts? That's like saying Square's creative talent is really doing well these days because Enix is kicking ass.

I didn't realize Capcom had a tarnished reputation either.

Mega Man X7, Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry 2, Mega Man X: Command Mission, Resident Evil: Survivor/Dead Aim, they did a bit of damage to their major franchises in recent memory. Didn't tarnish their reputation in my eyes, but I can see why some fans wouldn't bother.

illuminated

2006-01-04 06:05:01 am

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Mega Man X7, Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry 2, Mega Man X: Command Mission, Resident Evil: Survivor/Dead Aim, they did a bit of damage to their major franchises in recent memory. Didn't tarnish their reputation in my eyes, but I can see why some fans wouldn't bother.

Not to mention the many versions of Street Fighter II that there were before they hit SF3...and then made two more versions of that. Plus those 3D ones...
Now where the hell's part 4?