Post by Ryan_MYeah on Apr 29, 2018 3:01:09 GMT
The nostalgic kick I’ve been on in my spare time has been so high (so much so, KOTOR has kinda been collecting dust). It’s been a while since I’ve revisited this collection, and once I dived in, all my nostalgic memories came flooding back.
Rare Replay is probably the greatest game compilation I’ve ever played, and for the budget price it charges, to get this much content out of it (30 games, in total) is staggering.
That said, it can be pretty easy to run your way through a good dozen of these games within a half an hour. From Jetpac to RC Pro Am, those games are so rooted in the time of their creation, it won’t take you long to assess your feelings on them. Games like Jetpac, Pro Am, and Slalom are still highly enjoyable to this day, while ones like the Jetman games, Digger T Rock, and the Sabreman games definitely show their age, lack of any real direction, and in some cases are just dated and awful (especially Underwurlde, the worst game in the collection).
And once you get into the Battletoads era (which I finally played for the first time), that’s where the strength of the collection shines through, as you see the innovation and the pure addictive entertainment value in just about every one of these games, especially the N64 era that shows why they were the best developer of the 90’s. Games like Blast Corps and Conker all stand out as some of the company’s finest, and that’s before including Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark (both among my top fifteen favorite games). I’ve not yet played Jet Force Gemini, so it’ll be nice to see how that turns out.
As we get into their Microsoft era of games, there’s also some highs, but some lows as well. Having played Grabbed by the Ghoulies for the first time, I find myself underwhelmed by the charming, but generally simplistic control style, and Perfect Dark Zero is a highly enjoy able prequel that nevertheless fails to live up to its predecessor. But the Viva Piñata series, and the fantastic XBLA Jetpac remake Refueled are both stellar games. I’ve yet to try out Kameo or Banjo: Nuts and Bolts, so I’ll see how that turns out.
However, despite so many great games present, it’s still a disappointment (unavoidably so) that rights issues meant some of Rare’s other classics couldn’t be included, like the DKC series (including their best game, DKC2), Goldeneye, and Diddy Kong Racing (and Mickey’s Speedway USA for completionist’s sake, but never mind). I also think it was a missed opportunity not to include Killer Instinct Gold (and it’s bizarrely neglected predecessor) in its original arcade cabinet form, instead reverting to the console port. Still, for what is here, it’s hard to get too upset.
And as if that wasn’t enough, playing the games and completing various challenges also earns you access to behind the scenes content with Rare. Included are making of documentaries of the included games, concepts and showcases of proposed games that never came to be, and unused music that was set to be in those cancelled games or alternate themes for games that currently exist. (Some of said tunes even came to find new homes, like DK64’s Gloomy Galleon, and Conker’s Bats.) The overall presentation and linking material is just lovely, fashioned in the style of a vintage cinema with stylized posters lining the wall, and each game having a red-curtain style “stage” set up before booting up each game. There’s also an infectious ear worm opening theme sticking to Rare’s classic sensibilities that feels both nostalgic and tongue in cheek.
So while not everything in the package is gold, the sheer amount of what is here is unmatched. The library of games has its inherent strengths and weaknesses, all as if to say “This is what we do. This is who we are, warts and all”, and the pure candidacy that they have for their games, and that they let out within the featurettes is very refreshing to have. Few game companies have a legacy as expansive and constantly shifting as Rare, making grand jumps between consoles and genres, and Rare Replay absolutely does justice to their lineup and legacy.
And the biggest takeaway? It still confounds me how a game like Conker’s Bad Fur Day exists.
Rare Replay is probably the greatest game compilation I’ve ever played, and for the budget price it charges, to get this much content out of it (30 games, in total) is staggering.
That said, it can be pretty easy to run your way through a good dozen of these games within a half an hour. From Jetpac to RC Pro Am, those games are so rooted in the time of their creation, it won’t take you long to assess your feelings on them. Games like Jetpac, Pro Am, and Slalom are still highly enjoyable to this day, while ones like the Jetman games, Digger T Rock, and the Sabreman games definitely show their age, lack of any real direction, and in some cases are just dated and awful (especially Underwurlde, the worst game in the collection).
And once you get into the Battletoads era (which I finally played for the first time), that’s where the strength of the collection shines through, as you see the innovation and the pure addictive entertainment value in just about every one of these games, especially the N64 era that shows why they were the best developer of the 90’s. Games like Blast Corps and Conker all stand out as some of the company’s finest, and that’s before including Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark (both among my top fifteen favorite games). I’ve not yet played Jet Force Gemini, so it’ll be nice to see how that turns out.
As we get into their Microsoft era of games, there’s also some highs, but some lows as well. Having played Grabbed by the Ghoulies for the first time, I find myself underwhelmed by the charming, but generally simplistic control style, and Perfect Dark Zero is a highly enjoy able prequel that nevertheless fails to live up to its predecessor. But the Viva Piñata series, and the fantastic XBLA Jetpac remake Refueled are both stellar games. I’ve yet to try out Kameo or Banjo: Nuts and Bolts, so I’ll see how that turns out.
However, despite so many great games present, it’s still a disappointment (unavoidably so) that rights issues meant some of Rare’s other classics couldn’t be included, like the DKC series (including their best game, DKC2), Goldeneye, and Diddy Kong Racing (and Mickey’s Speedway USA for completionist’s sake, but never mind). I also think it was a missed opportunity not to include Killer Instinct Gold (and it’s bizarrely neglected predecessor) in its original arcade cabinet form, instead reverting to the console port. Still, for what is here, it’s hard to get too upset.
And as if that wasn’t enough, playing the games and completing various challenges also earns you access to behind the scenes content with Rare. Included are making of documentaries of the included games, concepts and showcases of proposed games that never came to be, and unused music that was set to be in those cancelled games or alternate themes for games that currently exist. (Some of said tunes even came to find new homes, like DK64’s Gloomy Galleon, and Conker’s Bats.) The overall presentation and linking material is just lovely, fashioned in the style of a vintage cinema with stylized posters lining the wall, and each game having a red-curtain style “stage” set up before booting up each game. There’s also an infectious ear worm opening theme sticking to Rare’s classic sensibilities that feels both nostalgic and tongue in cheek.
So while not everything in the package is gold, the sheer amount of what is here is unmatched. The library of games has its inherent strengths and weaknesses, all as if to say “This is what we do. This is who we are, warts and all”, and the pure candidacy that they have for their games, and that they let out within the featurettes is very refreshing to have. Few game companies have a legacy as expansive and constantly shifting as Rare, making grand jumps between consoles and genres, and Rare Replay absolutely does justice to their lineup and legacy.
And the biggest takeaway? It still confounds me how a game like Conker’s Bad Fur Day exists.
