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What is the Best Game by Rare?

J

johannesbergcrantz

Member
Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie and Conkers bad fur day is probably my top picks... Perfect Dark comes to mind also.
Blast Corps is worthy of a mentioning but not up there imo.
 
Samanosuke Akechi

Samanosuke Akechi

Member
xbox_grabbed_by_the_ghoulies-110214.jpg
 
M

Mr_Kuschels

Member
My favorite is by far Perfect Dark. My friends and I sunk endless hours into it.
I'm still waiting for a game that has the amount of cool gimmicky weapons like the Laptop gun, poisoned knifes or the fly-by wire.
 
L

Lagamorph

Member
SirNinja said:
You can't possibly have expected it to be there. The game is an infamous licensing nightmare, with at least three major parties all wanting to have the final word on the platform, distribution, and sales.
Click to expand...

I know exactly why it wasn't there. Doesn't mean I can't be salty about it.
 
Y

Yarbskoo

Member
Easily Perfect Dark. The HD remaster is right up there with Metroid Prime and Halo: CE as one of the best First Person Shooters ever.
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
daTRUballin said:
What I meant by "core" game is that Sea of Thieves is at least something that traditional gamers would want out of Rare, unlike Kinect Sports. Strangely enough, not many people seem to care about the game so far anyway. Back during the Kinect era, people were demanding that Rare needed to go back to developing "real" games. And now they're making a "real" game and nobody cares. Funny how that works. Or maybe it's just because there hasn't been a whole lot of advertising about the game so far. I dunno.
Click to expand...

From my perspective, Sea of Thieves is even less of a "real" game than the Kinect games:
- online only
- no challenge
- full focus on social and presentation
- mechanically unengaging

The Kinect Sports games were offering much more challenge and mechanically sound. It is not what I wanted from Rare, but it is still better than this pirate cosplay game.
 
daTRUballin

daTRUballin

Member
Yoshi said:
From my perspective, Sea of Thieves is even less of a "real" game than the Kinect games:
- online only
- no challenge
- full focus on social and presentation
- mechanically unengaging

The Kinect Sports games were offering much more challenge and mechanically sound. It is not what I wanted from Rare, but it is still better than this pirate cosplay game.
Click to expand...

So you'd rather Rare be making Kinect Sports 4 right now rather than Sea of Thieves? Come on now dude.

And I don't necessarily see how SoT won't have any challenge. The game isn't even released yet and we don't know how the final product will turn out. Let's wait and see before making such claims. Social games can still be challenging too, especially if you're going to have to fight other pirate crews and find treasure on different islands. Sounds fairly challenging to me. Idk.
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
daTRUballin said:
So you'd rather Rare be making Kinect Sports 4 right now rather than Sea of Thieves? Come on now dude.

And I don't necessarily see how SoT won't have any challenge. The game isn't even released yet and we don't know how the final product will turn out. Let's wait and see before making such claims. Social games can still be challenging too, especially if you're going to have to fight other pirate crews and find treasure on different islands. Sounds fairly challenging to me. Idk.
Click to expand...
It has been the most dull game, mechanicyll, I have played at gamescom two years in a row. If there is any challenge in the game mechanics, then Rare did a great job of hiding this. I'd prefer Kinect Sports 4 over Sea of Thieves, but since it would flop hard it is a bit better that they make SoT instead.
 
A

Auto-Reply

Member
For me it's DKC2... found it to be perfectly playable at release, graphics and music were fantastic. Replayed it a few years back on WiiU, it holds up to this day if you don't find the pixelsize of the graphics to be intolerable.

Next game is probably Banjo & Kazooie, same deal as with DKC2. Graphics have aged more than DKC because of the early 3d nature but I found the remaster/remake on 360 absolutely good enough to not be bothered by it. Music still fantastic, controls work as good as ever.

Blast Corps, I have not played this in ages but it was one my favorite games on N64. Not sure it would hold up, some vehicles were a bit unpredictable back in the day. The concept of the game was glorious.

Perfekt Dark, the only reason I'd put this below those 3 games is that I didn't think some of the mission objectives were clear enough and it made the game a bit difficult/directionless in some situations. The remake controls on 360 were good but could be improved further. On N64 they were fine for the day and age (never went with the 2 controller/analog stick set up) but these days you don't want to deal with them anymore.
Maybe has the most complete soundtrack out of all Rare games, just glorious.
 
daTRUballin

daTRUballin

Member
Yoshi said:
It has been the most dull game, mechanicyll, I have played at gamescom two years in a row. If there is any challenge in the game mechanics, then Rare did a great job of hiding this. I'd prefer Kinect Sports 4 over Sea of Thieves, but since it would flop hard it is a bit better that they make SoT instead.
Click to expand...

Look, I'm not saying SoT is necessarily the type of game that I'd personally want Rare to be working on or that I'd prefer it to any other IP Rare could work on instead. I want Banjo Threeie, Conker 2, and Perfect Dark 2 as much as the next person, but this is the closest to a "real" Rare game that we've gotten since 2008 (!!!). I just think more people should give the game a chance. Who knows? It could turn out to be great.

If we want Rare to succeed, people need to give this game a chance, and Lord knows Rare needs as much success as it can get. They're owned by a company that is notorious for shutting studios down. I don't want them to end up like Lionhead and all the others. After all, Banjo Threeie won't make itself. Rare needs to survive in order to be able to make the games everyone wants them to make sometime later down the line (well, hopefully they do at least).

Personally, I don't think Microsoft would just shut a studio down with the kind of legacy and history that Rare has, but Microsoft has been unpredictable lately. And it has me a bit concerned for them, if I'll be honest.
 
S

Shotgun Kiss

Member
For me it's Banjo-Kazooie. One of my favourite games of all time, and my favourite 3D platformer ever. It's short length makes it more accessible for replays and speed-runs also.

Runners up are Donkey Kong Country 2, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and Goldeneye (Perfect Dark is the better game, but when you look at how fun each game was at their respective time of release, it just doesn't compare).
 
C

Celine

Member
1upsuper said:
I always wanted to like the DKC games -- they have fantastic OSTs and a unique aesthetic -- but the Euro-styled platforming sensibilities never thrilled me. I beat DKC1 and enjoyed it but I never beat 2 or 3. I quite enjoyed Returns, however.
Click to expand...
Play Tropical Freeze if you can, it's a masterpiece.
Retro Studios magnus opus with the original Metroid Prime.
 
Dee Dah Dave

Dee Dah Dave

Member
I don't know but it's crazy that MS still keep refusing to bring back some of their IP's. Even as 'AA' games made by a competent small indie developer would do the job. Split a AAA budget 2 or 3 ways and make a few Rare / Nintendo style games, it would do wonders to strengthen the lineup and provide diversity.
 
E

edify

Neo Member
It's kind of crazy that Rare's output for the N64 was so consistent that the least mentioned title in this thread is Killer Instinct Gold, possibly by virtue of being a niche genre game.

It's close, but if I had to pick up a cart and play right now it'd probably be Diddy Kong Racing. I can understand everybody's choices though, there's no wrong answers.
 
S

Synth

Member
psyfi said:
I don't really get why anyone would choose Goldeneye over PD. Just because it came first?
Click to expand...

Well, I picked GoldenEye "for its time" despite preferring Perfect Dark today, because in 1997 I didn't have a Dreamcast with Quake III Arena. Relatively similar games divided by almost an entire generation will do that I guess.
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
daTRUballin said:
Look, I'm not saying SoT is necessarily the type of game that I'd personally want Rare to be working on or that I'd prefer it to any other IP Rare could work on instead. I want Banjo Threeie, Conker 2, and Perfect Dark 2 as much as the next person, but this is the closest to a "real" Rare game that we've gotten since 2008 (!!!). I just think more people should give the game a chance. Who knows? It could turn out to be great.
Click to expand...
In terms of presentation and atmosphere, it is absolutely Rare, yes, but in terms of gameplay (judging by what was playable at gamescom), I think it is less of a Rare game (and a lesser game) than the Kinect Sports games. As someone who loves Rare specifically for its challenging and intriguing level designs, I see nothing of value in SoT so far. Well, maybe a potential soundtrack CD.

If we want Rare to succeed, people need to give this game a chance, and Lord knows Rare needs as much success as it can get. They're owned by a company that is notorious for shutting studios down. I don't want them to end up like Lionhead and all the others. After all, Banjo Threeie won't make itself. Rare needs to survive in order to be able to make the games everyone wants them to make sometime later down the line (well, hopefully they do at least).
Click to expand...
Here, I agree with you and had Rare at least made sure that the minimum requirement for a game that I buy is met - being available on physical format and playable always offline (the first part is met, but it is a compound requirement) I would have bought it even though it is looking to be shaping up atrociously from my perspective (which values everything else in a game combined much lower than gameplay). But since it is not, I cannot do this. I do have all other Rare games - except for PDZ stand alone, because it is an FPS - on Xbox consoles though.
 
daTRUballin

daTRUballin

Member
Yoshi said:
In terms of presentation and atmosphere, it is absolutely Rare, yes, but in terms of gameplay (judging by what was playable at gamescom), I think it is less of a Rare game (and a lesser game) than the Kinect Sports games. As someone who loves Rare specifically for its challenging and intriguing level designs, I see nothing of value in SoT so far. Well, maybe a potential soundtrack CD.

Here, I agree with you and had Rare at least made sure that the minimum requirement for a game that I buy is met - being available on physical format and playable always offline (the first part is met, but it is a compound requirement) I would have bought it even though it is looking to be shaping up atrociously from my perspective (which values everything else in a game combined much lower than gameplay). But since it is not, I cannot do this. I do have all other Rare games - except for PDZ stand alone, because it is an FPS - on Xbox consoles though.
Click to expand...

Well, whatever floats your boat I guess.

I will say this though: If anything happens to Rare, I know exactly who to blame. ;)
 
D

DieNgamers

Member
It's good to see many people still love old Rare. <3 That was a magical time and I think it's..rare that we had a western developer with such a hit rate. Those guys had something going that's probably not easy to replicate these days. I'm following many of the key figures on twitter and they have some friendly and sharp banter almost every day. Old buddies, you can feel it. I think that the different teams had healthy competitive mindset and that really helped.

hqdefault.jpg

(I don't know, somehow the bad picture quality makes it even more nostalgic for me, haha.)
 
E

EvB

Member
Goldeneye, by far their most influential title, a game who’s legacy can be seen in games design even right now
 
C

CrazyArcadia

Member
Rare is interesting because IMO their games are time capsules of certain eras in gaming. Sometimes they followed a trend and put their own stamp on it (e.g. Banjo Kazzoie -- Mario 64, Battletoads -- Turtles/Double Dragon), sometimes they were trail-blazing (e.g. Donkey Kong Country -- 3D generated sprites, Goldeneye -- how a console FPS can work) but almost all of their work feels outdated to me today. That isn't to say I can't enjoy their games anymore, and the one thing they all have still going for them is their charming style and sense for details.

Having said that, the few games which I still play today and hold up as good, timeless classics are (and thus, for me, are their best games)

- Donkey Kong Country 2; the one time they got challenge, level design and gimmicks in a really perfect mix within the 2D platform genre
- Banjo Kazzoie; charming extension of the "explore and collect" gameplay introduced by Mario. Less perfect platforming, but more humour, character and style.
- Perfect Dark; both its single player and multiplayer are still ace and I would hope we can get more FPS games like that again instead of open area war fantasies (...to be played in the XBLA or RR version, N64 is painful even though I've put hundreds of hours into it at release. Should've been a Gamecube launch title instead of pushing the limits of the N64...)

I should note that I haven't played any Killer Instinct games (they were forbidden for their content in Germany) and their most recent game I've played was Kameo... which I would love Rare to continue on since I liked the concept and style.
 
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