So like... RARE sucks...

[MooglePorn]

I was thinking today while playing Timesplitters 2... what are the good RARE games? Goldeneye and Perdect Dark. But those were made by people who left RARE and formed Free Radical right? So what else has RARE done?

Donkey Kong Country games - Time has shown these are for graphics whores only.
Banjo and Kazooie - Actually I liked the first somewhat, but it was no Mario 64.
Donkey Kong 3D (or whatever it was called) - Wretched, IMO.
Star Fox Adventures - It was OK, but nothing special, and a rip-off of the N64 Zeldas completely.
Grabbed by the Ghoulies - I just played the demo and DAMN was it bad. I liked the old Robotron and Smash TV games, and I liked Luigi's Mansion, but this cross-breed is just boring and controls horribly IMO.

So, why is RARE considered a good company, and why are we all waiting with intense passion for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero?

[Moonraker]

Rare hasn't produced quality since PD and I used to look forward to PDZero until they made Joanna cartoony and such. Blech.

Banjo Tooie was a mess, had none of the original's charm...

DK64 was a throw away collecting game, not very fun after two days.

Conker BFD is the exception, fun to play, cool mulitplayer (only one mode was cool) but it faded quick.

Indeed Rare is now more legend than anything. I look forward to none of their future projects.

[IKEA_boy]

Originally Posted by MooglePorn

So, why is RARE considered a good company, and why are we all waiting with intense passion for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero?

I'm sure a lot of Rare's reputation has come from the fact that N64 owners latched on to Goldeneye like a baby on its mom's teat. I know I did. If it weren't for Goldeneye I honestly don't think Rare would be doing anything today.

You say Donkey Kong Country didn't age well but what 2D SNES era platformers did? I still enjoy popping in a DKC cart every now and then. It's especially fun in two player vs. mode.

(If you want a game that didn't age well just look at Goldeneye. :p )

And how did you forget about Blast Corps.!?

[Ruined]

Honestly I wasn't a huge fan of any of Rare's past games, including Goldeneye. However I really liked Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and Kameo: Elements of Power looks like an awesome fantasy/adventure/platforming game. Perfect Dark Zero I'm actually less hyped about, I mean there are so many great FPS games coming out anyway.

[IKEA_boy]

Originally Posted by Moonraker

Conker BFD is the exception, fun to play, cool mulitplayer (only one mode was cool) but it faded quick.

Conker is a good game but most of its charm came from the humor and movie references. Other than that I didn't see anything that set Conker outside of the standard N64 platformer pool, which isn't a bad thing per se.

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by IKEA_boy

I'm sure a lot of Rare's reputation has come from the fact that N64 owners latched on to Goldeneye like a baby on its mom's teat. I know I did. If it weren't for Goldeneye I honestly don't think Rare would be doing anything today.

I agree, and think it's funny that the same team went on to do Timesplitters 2, and arguably very underappreciated game.

Originally Posted by IKEA_boy

You say Donkey Kong Country didn't age well but what 2D SNES era platformers did? I still enjoy popping in a DKC cart every now and then. It's especially fun in two player vs. mode.

Dude, I could play Super Mario World all day long... even Mega Man X, Castlevania IV, and Yoshi's Island are great to pull out once in a while... but Donkey Kong Country? Bah!

Originally Posted by IKEA_boy

(If you want a game that didn't age well just look at Goldeneye. :p )

Maybe, but only due to the horrid uglyness of ALL N64 games due to the hardware. I tried playing through Majora's Mask on my N64 not long before selling it, and DAMN that game looked awful... unplayable even... but I know if I eventually pick up the Gamecube port, all the fuzzness and shit will be taken care of and I can enjoy it again. Same for Goldeneye... if they released it on the newer platforms (a promo for Goldeneye 2 say?) and cleaned it up just a bit, I have no doubt me and my friends would be busting it out again... the game is just smooth as gravy.

Originally Posted by IKEA_boy

And how did you forget about Blast Corps.!?

That was Rare? Wow... that game was actually decent, and gave me something to play other than Mario 64 in the early days... I wonder if that development team is still with Rare?

In the end though, I guess my point is you take away Goldeneye and Perfect Dark and Rare has a catalouge that is average at best. No stunning titles, no great achievements... compare it to something like Ubi Soft Montreal or Rockstar North, and there IS no comparison... yet people are falling all over each other to play Kameo and the like. It's all just hype, IMO, but who knows...

And Ruined... you liked Grabbed by the Ghoulies?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by MooglePorn

And Ruined... you liked Grabbed by the Ghoulies?

Yeh, it has a nice visual flare and fun arcade action with some exploration elements, too. A nice change of pace for when you want something simple yet fun to play. (I like arcade games a ton). I have far, far, far more fun playing Grabbed by the Ghoulies than Resident Evil or Silent Hill, which have good atmosphere, but IMO fail horribly on the control/gameplay level despite their reputations. Fatal Frame is a horror game I enjoy a lot, but it is also notably more complex than Grabbed by the Ghoulies. So when I want to play something that has a spooky theme but doesn't have kludge controls and delivers quick, simple arcade action with a touch of exploration, I pop in GBTG. Plus GBTG has one of the best title screens of all time

[SilentBob]

Hey don't forget Jet Force Gemini and Diddy Kong Racing . . . well forgot about that one i guess.


But yeah i'm still waiting for a good game from Rare again. I'm upset as well to see Joanna go cartoon like but i will give the game a shot when it comes out. But CBFD was an ok game. Graphics, sound and humour were great but it was short and multiplayer stuff was pretty aweful. Wont go near GbtG but will give the new Conker game a shot when released

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yeh, it has a nice visual flare and fun arcade action with some exploration elements, too. A nice change of pace for when you want something simple yet fun to play.

I guess I can see that, but every second I played the demo I was trying not to get as frustrated as I eventually became. The dual analog control was cool, as it was 20 years ago on Robotron, but it just didn't feel "right" on the demo, to me. I was having a horrible time trying to do different attacks... maybe I just need more time with it. I'll pop it in again, just for you Ruined, and see what happens.

[Ruined]

I have to advise judging products based on demos. For instance, the OXM demos of Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and ESPN NFL Football 2K4 were all pieces of dogcrap compared to the final released game. I've noticed many OXM demos are half baked, and if you played any of the above demos you might have thought the final product was mediocre, when in fact all three of those games are quite good - in the demos, the presentation/polish was lacking and controls/gameplay were off, plus the atmosphere-setting opening levels/plot is missing. Part of the fun of GBTG is the visual art and fun atmosphere the game creates - I assume that is lacking in the demo and it is just a gameplay demo. Instead of playing a demo, rent the thing from blockbuster. It honestly is a great romp when you want something simple and fun to play.

[Zebulahn]

I agree with most of what you said, except the part about Donkey Kong Country.

Donkey Kong Country 1-3's graphics may be dated, but they are still excellent platformers. The original DKC is my favorite SNES platformer besides Super Mario World.

Yoshi's Island... now that's a crappy platformer.

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Zebulahn

Yoshi's Island... now that's a crappy platformer.

Wow... I've never heard of someone liking Mario World but not Yoshi's Island... crazy. Yoshi's Story on the other hand...

[Darksim]

The Donkey Kong Countries....masterpieces.
007 and PDark...masterpieces.
Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing....masterpieces.

If only Nintendo made a smart decision for once and do the thing that Sony did with the PSOne. Make a portable 64 with an lcd screen! OMG LIEK WTF THAT WOULD BE AWESOME! Perfect Dark in the car! Perfect Dark at soccer practice! Perfect Dark at lunch break! Perfect Dark on the shitter! Come on Nintendo, get off your lazy conservative asses and make a good marketing decision for once!!!!1!1!!!

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Darksim

The Donkey Kong Countries....masterpieces.

I don't think so, and judging by the reviews the new GBA version got, not many others do either. One could say the graphics were revolutionary, but there's at least 10 platformers on the SNES I would rather play.

Originally Posted by Darksim

007 and PDark...masterpieces.

Very true, but as I mentioned above, these programers are no longer with Rare, but formed Free Radical at Eidos... they made the equally excellent Time Splitters 2.

Originally Posted by Darksim

Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing....masterpieces.

Bajo Kazooie was a pretty good 3D platform game, but in the end it was just that. Not revolutionary in any way and not as good as others before and since. Not exactly a 'masterpiece" IMO. As for Diddy Kong Racing, I barely played it, but I really doubt it was as good as the games it very frankly ripped off...

[IKEA_boy]

I finally cracked the seal on Grabbed by the Ghoulies. One big blah! It feels like an extremely easy kids game at first. The enemies are a joke, the gameplay is repetitious and the "scare reaction" shit is ridiculous. (Can you press these buttons?) After about two hours the gameplay got harder but still equally pointless. I still felt like I was just wasting my time when I could be doing something better, (in the world of gaming that is.)

And I still hate the style. Now I hate the style and the animation.

[MooglePorn]

If there was ever a demo that turned me off a previous "might buy cheap" it was Grabbed By The Ghoulies...

[Enzian]

Donkey Kong Country for the SNES was groundbreaking animation coupled with an imaginitive platformer.

Banjo Kazooie was an excellent 3D "collect the objects" game. The graphics were some of the best graphics the N64 ever pushed.

I'm not trying to be a videogame archeologist, here, and I'm by no means a definitive source, but in my opinion, Rare used to symbolize the fusion of excellent graphics, sound and gameplay. Never too original to be alienatingly new, but never stale, either. Rare used to be the Good Gaming Guarantee.