June2019
News Banjo-Kazooie Confirmed For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate This Fall
Straight from the Nintendo Direct! The bear and bird join the fight!
No you’re not dreaming – it really happened. Nintendo has confirmed that Banjo the bear and his sarcastic breegull pal Kazooie are joining the fight in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this autumn. The duo from Rare's classic N64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie were teased with a troll...
Feature Here's Why Perfect Dark Has Three Different Covers
Three regions, three covers - but why?
Perfect Dark is perhaps one of the most accomplished games in the N64 library. It built on the solid work seen in the sublime GoldenEye 007, pushing the host hardware to its limits and making excellent use of the N64 Expansion Pak to deliver the kind of visuals that rival systems could only dream of. It remains...
May2019
News The N64 Version Of Joanna Dark Joins The Totaku Collection This September
Relive the glory days
If you still have fond memories of the original Perfect Dark game on the Nintendo 64, you'll likely be interested to hear Totaku has announced a figurine based on the Carrington Institute agent, Joanna Dark. This particular figurine is expected to join the series later on this year in September and follows on from the previous...
News Former Rare Developer Shares New Details About Conker's Cancelled Sequel
The game we never got to play
Conker's Bad Fur Day designer Chris Seavor has once again taken to Twitter to share new details about the sequel that never saw the light of day. Well before the open-world multiplayer game Sea of Thieves, Rare had plans for a direct follow-up to Conker's original and mature-themed outing on the Nintendo 64. According...
April2019
News GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Demo Footage Shows What Could Have Been
'Train' wasn't the only level on-rails
For many gamers of the late '90s, GoldenEye 007 was a fixture of both solo and multiplayer gaming sessions that is burnt into their very consciousness. Watching the above clip from a contemporary promotional video will surely bring back memories, but veterans of the game will immediately notice that something's...
March2019
Random Were Banjo And Kazooie Named After A Nintendo President's Grandchild And Son?
Rethinking history
If you're a fan of Nintendo trivia, you may or may not have heard this one before. Apparently, Banjo and Kazooie from Rare's 1998 Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie are (at least partly) named after the grandchild and son of former Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi. This is according to some "amazing trivia" game writer and...
February2019
Talking Point Nintendo And Microsoft Working Together Isn't As Crazy As You Think
Dogs + cats living together = ?
The whispers that Microsoft is preparing to launch games and services on Switch are, in some ways, too fantastical to believe; a dream-come-true for fanboys-and-girls of a certain age. The rumoured deal suggests that the company is planning not only to launch Xbox Live and Game Pass integration, but also to publish...
Rumour French Gaming Website Suggests Cuphead Could Come To Switch
Nintendo and Microsoft collaboration rumours persist
Further to last night's rumours suggesting that Microsoft is planning to bring an Xbox app, Project X Cloud and its Game Pass service to Switch, more details have come to light regarding the possible cross-pollination. French gaming website Jeuxvideo has extra details regarding the potential...
December2018
Feature 20 Years After The Release Of Banjo-Kazooie, We Speak To The Guys Who Made It
The N64's beloved duo celebrate two decades
No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in June this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. Enjoy! Here is a sobering thought. It’s been twenty...
Feature The Day I Met Donkey Kong On Live TV
Alex Norton talks of TV fame and people in ape suits
No, you're not suffering from déjà vu; this article originally appeared on the site in August this year, and we're republishing it as part of our 'Best of 2018' series which celebrates what we feel were our finest features of the past twelve months. In this special one-off piece, reader Alex...
November2018
News Chris Seavor Reveals He's Working On A Spiritual Successor To Conker's Bad Fur Day
"But don't expect an anthropomorphic squirrel"
Former Rare staffer Chris Seavor is someone that Nintendo Life fans should hopefully be pretty familiar with; not only was he the creative force behind the seminal N64 title Conker's Bad Fur Day, but - along with fellow Rare alumni Shawn Pile at Gory Detail - he's also spent the past few years working...
Video Family Guy Pays Respect To GoldenEye 007 On N64 With Suprisingly Accurate Skit
"Almost James Bond"
Rare's 1997 Nintendo 64 release GoldenEye 007 is considered as one of the greatest games of all-time. Not only did it provide Nintendo fans of this era with mature-themed gameplay, but it also gave the FPS genre on consoles some much-needed recognition. It was so influential, it spawned its own PC mod and has basically become...
October2018
Random This Unreal Version Of GoldenEye 007 Aims To Recreate Rare's Iconic FPS
Releasing in 2022
Rare's beloved 1997 Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 might be stuck in licensing limbo, but that won't stop the modding community from trying to revitalise the iconic first-person shooter. For years now, GoldenEye: Source - a fan mod available through Valve's Steam service - has allowed players to live out their old-school...
Random Banjo-Kazooie And Conker Are Being Added To The Totaku Collection
Retro-inspired
If you were around during the years of the Nintendo 64, you'll no doubt remember Rare's foul-mouthed squirrel Conker and the beloved bear and bird duo, Banjo-Kazooie. To help you remember the glory days of these iconic characters, the Totaku Collection is adding the characters to its officially licensed figurine line. Both the...
August2018
Exclusive Here's What King K. Rool's Creator Thinks Of His Appearance In Smash Bros. Ultimate
"I couldn’t have done a better job myself!"
Nintendo stunned everyone when it revealed that Donkey Kong Country villain King K. Rool would be part of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, but it might come as a surprise to learn that the man who created this iconic baddie was just as shocked as the rest of the world. Former Rare designer Steve...
July2018
Random Mexican Speedrunner Completes Turbo Tunnel In Battletoads With Bag Over His Head
Superhuman
The NES classic, Battletoads, is notorious for being a tough game. Despite this, that hasn’t stopped Piotr Delgado “The Mexican Runner” Kusielczuk from becoming an expert at it. He’s previously completed the game with one hand, and for this particular run, his goal was to complete the legendary turbo tunnel with a bag over his...
News Pre-Orders For Banjo-Kazooie Statue By First 4 Figures Can Be Validated On 10th July
A rare opportunity for $429.99
Last December, First 4 Figures revealed it was collaborating with the iconic UK developer, Rare, to release a new line of collectibles based on the Banjo-Kazooie and Conker game series. Fast forward to several months later and the first statue in this new line - Banjo-Kazooie - has now been unveiled. Sporting...
May2018
Random Childish Gambino Sampled Donkey Kong Country And David Wise Definitely Approves
Aquatic Ambiance is still relevant
Childish Gambino's latest track might have captured the zeitgeist in 2018, but back in 2012 the man otherwise known as Donald Glover took inspiration from a very different source. Much to the delight of veteran VGM composer David Wise, who recently discovered the track 'Eat your Vegetables' uses a looped sample...
April2018
Events Birmingham City University To Celebrate The Impact Of Rare And Other Midlands Games Studios
A certain bearded Nintendo Life staffer is going to be there, too
The Midlands might not be the most exciting area in the UK but it has a rich video gaming history; not only is it the birthplace of Rare, one of the most iconic NES, SNES, Game Boy and N64 developers of all time, but it is also home to the likes of Codemasters, US Gold, Core Design,...
Random Here's What Donkey Kong Country Would Have Looked Like With Classic Kong
Alternate timeline monkey business
When Rare was given the chance to work with one of Nintendo's most famous intellectual properties, it created one of the SNES' truly classic 2D platformers. However, Donkey Kong Country not only gave Kong a new lease of life; it gave him an entirely new look which has become the accepted template ever since. What,...
March2018
Soapbox With Microsoft Playing Ball, It’s Finally Time For Banjo-Kazooie To Return To Nintendo
And we know just the studio that could pull it off...
Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In today's article, editor Dom tackles a subject very close to his heart - his rabid love for a certain seminal platformer from Rare, and...
News Xbox's Phil Spencer Is Still Open To Banjo And Kazooie Appearing In Super Smash Bros.
Rare is also open to giving IP to third parties
As we all know, Rare used to be a solid partner for Nintendo. During the N64 years, Nintendo held a significant stake in the UK firm, which created seminal games like Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007, Blast Corps, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64. It was also the company responsible for the N64...
February2018
News Rare's Local Video Game Store Is Closing Its Doors After 24 Years
The changing nature of games retail claims another victim
The way we buy games is changing, with digital sales slowly but surely taking over from physical. That means the landscape of games retail is gradually shifting, and all stores - from the big to the small - are feeling the pinch. With that in mind, we're sad to report that UK store Extreme...
News A Hat In Time Developer Confirms The Time Travel Platformer Won't Leap Onto Switch
The indie Kickstarter success passes on Switch
We're so used to hearing about developers and publishers falling over themselves to bring their games to Nintendo Switch, we're often a little take aback when we hear those that definitively won't be. A Hat In Time - which released on PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One at the tail end of last year - is one such...
January2018
Movie Review King Of Kong Meets Spinal Tap In Going For Golden Eye
"Rule no. 1: Absolutely no use of Oddjob"
Video games and movies often make uncomfortable bedfellows; just look at the Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993 and Jean-Claude Van Damme's equally risible Street Fighter flick. However, sometimes the combining of these two mediums can yield positive results; King of Kong is one notable example. Jim...
