Looking back at Rare's portfolio, even outside of the brilliant compilation present in Rare Replay, it contains a list of incredibly varied genres, from licensed shooters and original shooters, to amazing platformers, sports games, racing games and even life simulation games. I have no problem at all calling Rare one of the most iconic developers of our generation. Ask any gamer with a SNES, an N64 and hell, even the Xbox, and surely they'll be able to name a slew of iconic games that they loved playing from Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007, Jet Force Gemini or Conker: Live and Reloaded.
Rare Replay is a massive celebration of Rare, celebrating 30 years across 30 titles for only $30, which is already an amazing deal, all wrapped in a stunning presentation that looks like an old-timey carnival. Each game has its own backdrop with the titular characters being paper cutouts, flying across the screen suspended by string. It's extremely charming and shows just how much love and attention Rare put into compiling this collection.
There are a lot of games I personally never heard of, and it makes sense considering a lot of them were made before they became Rare. You'll find stuff like Jetpac, Lunar Jetman, Gunfright, KnightLore and Atic Atac — games that seem to share a similar-looking protagonist in various scenarios. Maybe it's because I have no nostalgia for these games, but I honestly didn't find them to be very entertaining or very good. I can imagine that players who grew up playing those games will lovingly boot them up and see that they're preserved just as they remember.
However, as you move through the collection, which is by default chronologically sorted, you'll get to much better and meatier games like RC Pro Am, Snake Rattle N Roll, and two Battletoads games. Maybe it all really is fueled by nostalgia since these are games I remember from my childhood, and I was more than willing to play them for an extended amount of time.
My true nostalgia-filled moment, though, came with the N64 games. Sadly, GoldenEye was nowhere to be found which was easily one of my top played games on the system, but I was still very much excited to dive back into Jet Force Gemini, Killer Instinct Gold, both Banjo games and even the more obscure Blast Corps. All of these games were presented exactly how you remembered them (with the exception of the two Banjo games, which got an Xbox Live re-release). The Xbox One controller is certainly no substitute for the awkwardly awesome N64 controller, but Rare made it work. The one game where the controls feel most out of place is definitely Jet Force Gemini. Everything from running and aiming is done with the same stick which can definitely feel awkward when you're playing it for the first time.
The Xbox and Xbox 360 portion is then evened out with games like Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Kameo Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero, two Viva Pinata games and even the latest Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. Grabbed by the Ghoulies was a game I never even heard of prior to this collection, and found myself actually loving the simplistic beat 'em up gameplay and the charming graphics. Kameo Elements of Power on the other hand didn't age so well. It was the very first game I owned for the Xbox 360 and I still remember booting it up and being 'wowed' by the graphics. Today, not so much.
The only game that really under-performed was Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. Say what you will about this game, but I actually ended up enjoying it back when it released. However, in this collection, it's damn near unplayable. The framerate in Showdown Town is so horrendous, it looks damn near like a slideshow. Hopefully this will get patched up soon.
What's really interesting is that the Rare Replay package actually comes in two parts. The one part is being Rare Replay itself, which houses all the earlier titles, all strung together with the charming UI, and then there are the nine 360 games, that will be installed separately. It's actually one of the first glimpses those not in the Xbox Preview Program at how backwards compatibility will work. The one nice feature is that despite the 360 games booting up separately from Rare Replay, you can still hold down the Start button which will take you straight back to Rare Replay.
For those wanting even more out of their trip down memory lane, Snapshots are short, bite-sized challenges, that play out across all the older titles, all the way up to Battletoads Arcade. Much like NES Remix, there are five challenges in each game that will task you with very specific goals that you're trying to beat in the shortest time possible. It's a neat addition that, if anything, provide you with some pointers in how to play some of the earlier games.
Rare aficionados will be delighted to know that the package includes a behind-the-scenes look at many of the games, though these have to be unlocked by earning Stamps. Every time you earn an achievement in one of the titles, you'll earn a Stamp. Collect five and you'll earn a new video to watch. One of the odd glitches I was experiencing though was when switching back and forth between some of the Xbox 360 titles, it would sign me out of Rare Replay but continued to let me play. At first I wasn't aware of this, which made all the stamps I was collecting a waste of time since my progress wasn't being saved. That's yet another hiccup that needs to get ironed out in a patch.
Rare Replay is fantastic for two kinds of gamers; The ones who grew up on these titles and now have them all compiled together in one neat package, but also for younger players, to look back at some amazing games of their parents' generation. While I personally don't think I'll be playing at least half of them, the 15 games I do look forward to spending more time with still more than makeup for the $30 price tag.
Now, when you call GameStop and pester them for a copy of Battletoads, they can simply point you towards this awesome collection.
