Your top 5 Rare games

[thesubcon3]

1 Donkey Kong Country - Pretty much flawless platformer. Everything about DKC just screams awesomeness.

2 Blast Corps - Who doesn't like demolition + robots + immanent nuclear explosions? Does anyone else remember going to the other planets?

3 GoldenEye 007 - Multiplayer madness!

4 Killer Instinct - I remember spending days upon days mastering each character's combos

5 Battletoads - Included for the Pause music alone! So difficult but so rewarding once you master it.

[Kilb]

Hmm let's see

(1) Conkers Bad Fur Day N64 - British schoolboy humour and mickey taking (loved the Saving Private Ryan and The Matrix parodies)
(2) Perfect Dark N64 - Took all the great elements from Goldeneye and maxed it up (and beyond) the limits of the console
(3) Jet Force Gemini N64 - Massive game and collect-a-thon
(4) StarFox Adventures Gamecube - Japanese game concept, British excellence installed
(5) Goldeneye N64 - Oh come on! Does this really need a reason to be on the list?

[Nemesis]

I think Ultimate started in 1982, so 25 years would be 2007. Rare started in 1987? So 25 years would be 2012. I'm obviously wrong somewhere. Where does 25 years come into it?

I've only played 1 Rare game (though then name didn't mean anything to me, and I probably didn't notice who made it), and that was about 5 years ago - Goldeneye. It was okay, but I wasn't very impressed. I can see that in the day it was very good, but now (without nostalgia for it) it was just an old basic 3D shooter with difficult controls (but that might be because I was using a PlayStation controller and not the one it was made for).

I think I've played at least 11 Ultimate games.

To me Ultimate is a massive name in gaming, and Rare means very little.

If my memory serves, I seem to recall Rare being credited on later Ultimate games (ie 1985 The Cyberun/Gunfright/Pentagram era) so it would be 25 years in that instance. It does seem criminal to leave Ashby Computer Graphics/Ultimate out of the equasion though as they are all one & the same company. The question is more appropriate to a US forum don't you think?

[C=Style]

1) GoldenEye - What else can be said about this complete and utter masterpiece. To this day it's still the most fun I've had with an FPS and I play it regularly. So many innovations were brought to the table with this game which spawned a million wannabes and helped FPS take off on consoles. Fantastic multi-player too.

2) Perfect Dark - The pseudo-sequel to GoldenEye and made many improvements, cool main character and is in some respects it's the better game, some levels were better than others but what an amazing achievement to stuff this monstrous game onto a cart. All the weapons, with alternate fire modes, gadgets etc Incredibly multiplayer, a whole host of options and even bots. Plus it has the best soundtrack to a game ever. After all these years there's STILL little secrets that comes along that I never knew about. An epic game if ever there was one.

3) Banjo Kazooie - For me I played this before Mario 64 and it was unlike anything else I'd seen. The only 3D platformer I was use to at this point was Crach Bandicoot! What a surprise I got. Perfect character design and game world. Perfect playability and was in some respects even better than Mario 64. A technical show-piece for the N64 too, I have northing bad to say about it.

4) Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy's Kong Quest An improvement over the original and a much more varied game.Perfect playability and is up there as one of the best platformers made on SNES. I played this game so much when I was young.

5) Blast Corps - I am pretty new to this game, only having played it late last year when I got back into the N64. I was surprised at just how playable it was, an excellent idea that I'm shocked has never been worked upon since. It would be ideal for a remake on XBLA etc. Takes a while to get into the game, but once you know what you re doing you'll start really enjoying it and it becomes fiercely addictive. Quite a lot of depth in it's medal systems too and the Time Trial mode is good to always come back to also. One of the more underrated/undertalked about Rare games I feel.

[famicom69]

1. Goldeneye (N64) - Felt great. Infinite playability. Proved FPS can be well executed on a CONSOLE.
2. Donkey Kong Land (GB) - They did a great job of squeezing the overall style of the SNES game onto a GB cart. It still plays amazingly well.
3. Donkey Kong Land 2 (GB) - For the music alone.
4. Cabal (NES) - Gears on the NES. Basic, but great fun.
5. Perfect Dark (N64) - Didn't get to play it until a few years after its release. Heavy firepower and imaginative levels made for a great FPS though.

I really need to get my teeth into Blast Corps again

[Fightersmegamix]

Rare get a lot of unfair stick these days, they are still the best British developer. My Fave games:

1) Banjo kazooie
2) Viva piniata
3) Starfox adventures
4) Perfect dark zero (I love the multiplayer)
5) Donkey kong country

Never been a fan of goldeneye.

[NonShinyGoose]

Killer Instinct 2 - I remember walking out of school to go to the arcade and play this. Just really fun and satisfying to play; it made Mortal Kombat 3 look like old hat.

GoldenEye 007 - The game that made sniper rifles an essential element of any FPS

Banjo-Kazooie - Better than Mario 64? It certainly looked better

Conker's Bad Fur Day - A game so rude that Nintendo themselves wouldn't publish it

Viva Pinata - I played this for such a long time I nearly unlocked all the achievements, many of which take bloody ages to get

[RMLF]

This is going to be a top 2, mainly cos I dont care much for Rare

1. Battletoads (Megadrive)
2. Battletoads vs Doubledragon (Snes)


Erm at thats that

[ToxieDogg]

In no particular order.....

1. Banjo Kazooie: A better game than Super Mario 64 IMHO, and a better game than it's own sequel (which was also great, but a bit too large in scope)
2. Donkey Kong Country 2: Marvellous 2D platformer with amazing graphics and music, and the best of the DKC trilogy with just the right amount of difficulty and secret stuff.
3. Battletoads: Some say it's unfairly difficult, others say it's plain unfair. I say it's a great looking, sounding game that you get just that little bit further with every time you play, and has bags of personality. You may well destroy a joypad or ten before completing it though.
4. Jet Force Gemini: Excellent third person shoot 'em up with platforming elements along with some great levels, bosses and a dog that turns into a mini tank midway through the game. Why isn't this on XBLA yet, Rare. WHY?!?!?
5. Perfect Dark: As much as I loved Goldeneye, this took the formula to the next level. Great to look at, great to play and with a brilliant multiplayer (bots included) to match.

Erm, can I have some more? I also love Conker's Bad Fur Day, Blast Corps, Snake, Rattle & Roll and Grabbed By The Ghoulies as well

[Rayne]

Banjo Tooie
Banjo Kazooie
Kameo Elements of Power
Goldeneye
Donkey Kong Country

[Mayhem]

Goldeneye
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Jet Force Gemini
Banjo Kazooie
RC Pro Am

[SoupDragon]

I played Donky Kong Country 'til my fingers (almost) bled. Awesome game right there.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

If they're having a 25th anniversary then it must include "Ultimate" releases, no?

No because they are Ultimate games, not Rare games. If they were considered part of Rare they wouldn't be celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's how they seem themselves.

[TheNewMonkey]

Diddy Kong Racing
Played this game to death when it was released! much more of a challenge than Mario Kart 64, i even managed to get all the platinum baloons & beat all the time trials to unlock the T.T car, still got my original cartridge, i went back to it a few months ago and its absolutely rock solid! i dont know how i did it, What a game!

Donkey Kong Country
Loved this game on the SNES, im playing through it agian now getting ready for DKC Returns on the Wii this december.

Blast Corps
Brilliant game that really needs to be brought back from the grave, i never did get 100% on it but would love a HD remake.

Goldeneye
The greatest first person shooter ever! Sunk 100s of hours into this over the years.

Perfect Dark Zero
The single player mode is nothing special but the online multiplayer is spot on, still play it today-gotta love them jet packs!

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Rare was set up in 1985 it's first release was Slalom in 1987.