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Back in the nineties and early aughts, one couldn’t think of Nintendo without also thinking of its then-second party Rare. The UK-based studio was responsible for some of the finest games to ever grace the SNES and N64 (and, depending on where you stand, even GameCube), and its sale to Microsoft, in 2002, still resonates with Nintendo fans some 11 years on. (After all, who doesn’t still cling to a sliver of hope that the studio will eventually find its way back to Nintendo, where it truly belongs?)
Since we’re celebrating all things Rare this week at Nintendojo, we wanted to know which Rare game you liked best. Cast your vote in our poll below, and if we happened to miss your favorite title (which is certainly possible given the vast breadth of the studio’s output in its glory days), then tell us below in the comments!
[poll id=”170″]
This is really hard, which speaks to the quality of this lineup!
Goldeneye and Perfect Dark ruined me for all subsequent shooters. Halo, Call of Duty, even Half-Life all rouse only a “meh” from me. (I don’t consider Metroid Prime, Portal or ZombiU “shooters”.)
After Banjo, DK64 and Conker, 3D platforming collect-a-thons have all but gone extinct. For that matter, I haven’t seen anything like Blast Corps or Jet Force Gemini either.
The DKC trilogy really paved the way for side-scrolling platformers for generations to come. To this day, I occasionally catch myself dash-attacking then trying to jump from thin air in Rayman Legends. (I guess I know where to put my vote now. :^)
Missing from this list are the Killer Instinct games. I had both the SNES and N64 editions. I never got very good at 2D fighters (long combos even less so), but KI was still fun. Everything I hear about the upcoming reboot into nickel-and-dime territory makes me cringe.
Unfortunately, the people that made Rare magical back in the day are scattered now, and the shell that remains is unworthy of its own licenses and trademarks. Fortunately, our old SNES and N64 machines and cartridges are all but indestructible. I have both hooked up to my modern HDTV, and Rare’s glory days are a big part of the reason. :^)
Gotta go with Donkey Kong Country Trilogy. I loved Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and I will also defend Star Fox Adventures (I still have the free bobble-head it came with), but nothing touches those three games.
for me is donkey kong country, followed by banjo kazooie and conker’s bad fur day, yeah, i Love platform games.