Tag: Rare - Page 2
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel #86 - Battletoads
Let's not be Rash
Welcome back to Box Art Brawl, our semi-regular retro box art poll to decide the best regional variants from two or more territories. Last time went on an epic JRPG Dragon Quest in celebration of the series' 35th anniversary. Following a spirited duel between North America and Japan, it was the caricatured beast from the East that...
News F4F Reveals Banjo-Kazooie Mumbo Jumbo And Crocodile Banjo Statue
Pre-orders are now live
Update [Wed 12th May, 2021 04:55 BST]: Following on from last week's teaser, First 4 Figures has now officially revealed its Mumbo Jumbo statue and a Crocodile Banjo one. Pre-orders are now live on the official F4F website. The Mumbo Jumbo statue will be available as a standard and exclusive edition. Crocodile Banjo can be...
News Rare Gives Us A Side-By-Side Comparison Of Banjo-Kazooie's amiibo And Totaku
Who wore it better?
Last week saw the arrival of three brand new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate amiibo. For many, the highlight of the lot was the release of Banjo-Kazooie - you know, the Microsoft-owned character. While we think the overall design of this particular amiibo is already fantastic, Banjo's creator, Rare, has now gone one step further,...
"believe it or not"
Last weekend, Rare's cancelled Nintendo 64 project Dinosaur Planet was leaked online. It surprised many, including Kevin Bayliss - a former Rare employee who now works at Playtonic Games. With all the memories flooding back, in his words over on VGC, Kev has now revealed how the original star of the game was actually intended to...
News Rare's Cancelled N64 Project Dinosaur Planet Has Been Leaked Online
Take a trip back in time
Just weeks after GoldenEye 007 XBLA was leaked online, Rare's other cancelled project Dinosaur Planet has now appeared on the internet. This title started out during the Nintendo 64 generation around 1999, was cancelled for this system, and eventually resurfaced as Star Fox Adventures on the GameCube. You can read about how...
News Youtooz Is Releasing Official Banjo-Kazooie Figures, Pre-Orders Open Next Week
Tooty and Bottles, too
Banjo-Kazooie hasn't been sighted since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but that hasn't stopped the famous bear and bird from getting merch and more on a regular basis. If you've not already got a collectible based on this iconic duo sitting on your shelf, you might be interested in the Youtooz creation of this character dating...
News Nintendo Executive Blocked Remake Of GoldenEye 007, Says Former Rare Dev
There was "one guy" who didn't approve of it
It was a rather historic moment in the history of video games last week when Rare's cancelled XBLA remake / remaster of GoldenEye 007 was leaked onto the internet. The game nobody thought would see the light of day was finally released, even if it wasn't official. Following this, discussions immediately...
News No, Nintendo Is Not Solely To Blame For The Cancellation Of Goldeneye's XBLA Remake
A long-standing rights issue prevented this happening, it seems
You might've seen that GoldenEye 007 has been back in the news lately. We've known for a long time that Rare planned an Xbox Live Arcade remake of the acclaimed shooter and, courtesy of Youtuber G
Video A Full Playthrough Of GoldenEye 007's Cancelled Remake Has Leaked Online
Includes bonus multiplayer footage
The glory days of GoldenEye 007 appear to be a thing of the past on all fronts - with the 2007 Xbox Live Arcade remake of Rare's iconic Nintendo 64 shooter seemingly stuck in licensing Hell. While we likely won't ever get our hands on the game via an official release, as of today, we can at least get a better idea...
News New Letter Details Why Donkey Kong 64's Innovative "Stop 'N' Swop" Feature Was Removed
"We must ask that you remove this feature"
Stop 'N' Swop was undoubtedly one of the N64's biggest mysteries, and even now, we're still learning new things about it decades later. With six coloured eggs and an ice key scattered across Banjo-Kazooie, it was designed as a means of unlocking special content in the sequel, Banjo-Tooie. It was never used...
News Arcade1Up Is Releasing Its Very Own Killer Instinct Arcade Cabinet
Includes Killer Instinct 1 & 2, Battletoads and Battletoads & Double Dragon
Arcade 1Up - known for recreating classic arcade cabinet titles such as Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam - has revealed a cabinet for Rare's 1994 release, Killer Instinct. This is the same game that was ported to the Super Nintendo a year later - although there are notable...
Feature Banjo-Tooie Turns 20 - The Rare Team Tells The Story Of Bombs, Bugs And Bottles
"Bottles got what was coming to him"
Nowadays, there's nary a game that doesn't finish with a post-credits tease to tee up a sequel or spin-off. There's always a tantalisingly loose thread or Easter Egg hidden in the DLC hinting at a further instalment. It would be a very bold move, though, to name your sequel and directly reference it in a game...
Feature Perfect Dark Turns 20 - The Definitive Story Behind The N64 Hit That Outclassed James Bond
"We had a lot of ideas, and lots of clever people working out how to do them"
How do you follow GoldenEye 007? In the summer of 2000 – that's 20 years ago this month – Rare presented its answer: Perfect Dark, a sci-fi spy shooter centred around an alien conspiracy. It delivered a cool, competent heroine, a single-player campaign bursting with...
News Banjo-Kazooie Composer Posts Remixes For Halloween, With A Full Album Coming
Banjo-KazooiEP
There are myriad spooky levels throughout the history of video games, although one of the best has to be Mad Monster Mansion from Banjo-Kazooie (officially known as The Best Video Game Of All Time™ around these parts — when this writer's around, at least). Composer Grant Kirkhope recently put out a remix of that level's creepy...
PSA It's Diddy's Kong Quest, Not Diddy Kong's Quest
But you already knew this, right?
Towards the end of last month, Nintendo added even more classic games to its Super Nintendo online service. The highlight for most was Rare's 1995 release Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. As happy as Nintendo is to see everyone enjoying this absolute gem once again, the company's official UK Twitter...
Random Diddy Kong's Creator Is Publishing Drawing Tutorials On YouTube
Watch Kev Bayliss work his magic
Kevin Bayliss is a name that will be instantly familiar to anyone who considers themselves to be a hardcore Nintendo fan; not only was he responsible for the visuals in many of Rare's classic NES titles, he worked as a character designer on games such as Killer Instinct, Battletoads and Donkey Kong Country – in...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel #62 - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
A Kong time ago...
Welcome to Box Art Brawl, the video game cover contest that pits regional variants against each other in a fight for your vote. Last time we observed a thrilling duel between Okamiden North American / European cover and the Japanese variant. Ultimately, it was an easy victory for Japan with over 70% of your votes going to the...
News Fangamer's Talking Conker Plush Comes With Brand New Voice Lines, Pre-Orders Now Open
Need a drinking buddy?
Rare's heavy-drinking squirrel is getting his own Fangamer plush with brand new voice lines recorded by Conker himself, Chris Seavor. You can order the Conker Talking Plush right now for $32 USD or your regional equivalent. This official Conker plush, designed by Versiris, is about eight inches tall when seated. It features...
News Jet Force Gemini Style Platform Shooter Tamarin Unlikely To Come To Switch Anytime Soon
Ex-Rare talent involved with development
Don't let the cute and cuddly look fool you, the upcoming PS4 and PC release Tamarin has ties with ex-Rare veterans. It's got character designs in it from Banjo-Kazooie creator Steve Mayles, a soundtrack from Donkey Kong Country composer David Wise and reportedly "many other developers" from Rare's golden era...
Quiz How Well Do You Know Rare And Its Nintendo Games?
Rare replay
Veteran developer Rare celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2020. The British studio may be owned by Microsoft these days, but its back catalogue of brilliant games on Nintendo systems mean it will forever be associated with Nintendo in our hearts and minds. The company, a second party Nintendo developer from the mid-'90s, bolstered (and...
Feature Rare Turns 35 This Week - We Pick 10 Highlights From The Nintendo Years
Rare talent
Three-and-a-half decades ago this week, British developer Rare was formed. Formerly known as Ultimate Play the Game, the company was created with the express purpose of creating titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System and from the mid-1980s until the early '00s the Twycross-based team would deliver some of the finest video games on...
News Rare Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary
Making games since 1985
The iconic UK-based developer Rare this month celebrates its 35th anniversary. For any Nintendo fan, arguably its best years were around the time of the N64 generation when it released one hit after another. We're talking Banjo-Kazooie, the first-person shooter Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing, and how could you forget the...
Rumour Buster No, Rare Didn't Almost Make Games For The PlayStation During The N64 Era
"Our belief was that we could make better games if we focused on one platform"
Back in the '90s, Rare was a real powerhouse developer for Nintendo platforms. As one of the earliest western studios to support the NES, it produced a string of titles and would later throw its weight behind the Game Boy and SNES – culminating in the groundbreaking...
Random Recoil In Horror At The Tale Of The Troublesome QA Tester And The Soiled Rare T-Shirt
"Oh my god! There's s*** on my shirt! I can't believe it!"
Perfect Dark turned 20 recently, as you'll know if you read our exhaustive history of the game's creation. Our good friends over at Eurogamer have done a similar piece, speaking to the people who made this amazing game happen. One of those people is Steve Malpass, who also sha
"We could have dynamic responsive scores that react to the gameplay environments"
Former Rare composer David Wise is responsible for some of the best soundtracks ever heard in a video game, and for the longest time, he was the company's main resource when it came to creating music for its NES, SNES, Game Boy and N64 output. He's been speaking to US...
News Perfect Dark's Joanna Dark Was Based On Winona Ryder
"She had this great pixie haircut"
It’s been said in the past that Perfect Dark protagonist Joanna Dark was modelled on historical figure Joan of Arc, but we've been speaking to the guys behind the game and they've put us right on that score – and have revealed exactly who inspired the design of the famous secret agent. “I think that’s the...
News Perfect Dark Was Supposed To Have Push Button Cheats, But They Accidentally Got Deleted
"I’m very sorry"
If you're old enough to remember the N64 classic GoldenEye 007, you might also recall that the game featured a bunch of push button cheat codes which could be entered to change the game and unlock all of the weapons. You might also be one of the many people who were upset that its spiritual sequel, Perfect Dark, lacked this...
Random Rare Uses Banjo-Kazooie To Remind People To Stay At Home
You can't argue with the bird and bear
For the safety of everyone, and particularly society's most vulnerable, a very clear message is being spread around the world at the moment: stay home. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is having a huge impact on all aspects of life, but game developer Rare is doing its bit to help get that all-important message...
News Go Behind The Scenes Of GoldenEye 007 With This Upcoming Documentary
"I remember saying to the team, it's all downhill from here"
GoldenEye 007 is without a doubt one of the most influential video games of all time. While it certainly wasn't the first FPS title to find mainstream success – we'd already seen DOOM by the time it arrived – it popularised the genre on consoles and added layers of depth, such as...
News Rare Developer Elaborates On Conker's 'Tonal Shift' From Twelve Tales To Bad Fur Day
From the mouth of The Great Mighty Poo himself
As many Nintendo fans from the N64 era already know, the foul-mouthed and filthy Conker's Bad Fur Day began life as a cutesy platformer before changing lanes and becoming an over-18-only affair full of innuendo, naughty words and wee. Plenty of titbits related the game have come to light over the years...
Random Storm Ciara Decapitates A Rare Video Gaming Legend
"So I got you there once more, I knew your skill was very poor!"
Those of you based in the UK will no doubt be counting the cost of Storm Ciara, which has done its best to batter the British Isles over the past few days. High winds and lashings of rain have caused disruption all over the country, from power cuts, cancelled trains,
Random Banjo-Kazooie Was Actually Named After A Nintendo President's Grandchild And Son
Case closed
Last year in March, there was a story doing the rounds about Rare's famous bear and bird from the 1998 Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie being named after the grandchild and son of the former Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi. History suggested that Banjo's name was based on a musical instrument of the same name, and Kazooie's name was...
News Rare Explains How It Worked With Nintendo On Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Banjo-Kazooie DLC
"We ended up with something that was really great"
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has given us plenty of cool surprises when it comes to DLC characters, but the addition of Banjo and Kazooie has been perhaps the most noteworthy. While the dynamic animal duo is famous for two critically-acclaimed N64 adventures, when Rare was bought by Microsoft the...
Feature GoldenEye Dev David Doak On Shaking (And Stirring) The FPS Genre On Console
"All we could see were the bad things"
You couldn’t escape it. It was here, rife and potent. It ploughed a path through conventional gaming conversations from the casuals to the parents of gamers that had to put up with the noise, the screaming and the not going to bed because if you didn’t kill John with thirty-seven remote mines stuck to the...
Random Rare Forgot To Remove A Shotgun From Donkey Kong 64 Before Showing Miyamoto
There was a "look of horror" on his face
Last month, Donkey Kong 64 turned 20 years old. Since then, the development team behind the game has been doing the press rounds to celebrate the anniversary. During a recent interview with Games Radar, one of the creative leads George Andreas recalled a horrifying moment when Rare was showing the game to...
Random If Cranky Kong Was Once Donkey Kong, What Does The Future Hold For Funky Kong?
DK devs weigh in
With Donkey Kong Country turning 25 last week and soaking up the lion's share of the anniversary headlines, we thought we'd give its younger sibling a chance to shine. Donkey Kong 64 celebrated its 20th birthday on 22nd November and we caught up with Mark Stevenson and
Poll Box Art Brawl #18 - Donkey Kong 64
Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells
He-he-here we go! It's time for Box Art Brawl, our weekly look at which region got the best box art of a particular retro release. Last week the North American version of Ninja Gaiden on the NES absolutely trounced the competition, with the Japanese variant a distant second and Europe left stumbling in a daze...
Feature Donkey Kong 64 Devs On Bugs, Boxing And 20 Years Of The DK Rap
Put your hands together if you want to clap
In the last few days we've had a spate of video game anniversaries with Pokémon Gold and Silver, Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong Country and
News Playtonic's Steve Mayles Releases Special Donkey Kong Country Artwork To Mark Its 25th Birthday
As other staffers share mementoes from the period
Donkey Kong Country turned 25 yesterday, an event which is sure to have made many of us feel very old indeed. To celebrate the anniversary, Playtonic's Steve Mayles – who worked on the game during his tenure at Rare – has posted a special piece of artwork showcasing the game's heroes: Mayles...
Anniversary Feel Old Everyone, Donkey Kong Country Turns 25 Today
And the birthdays keep on comin'!
Hmm. It's almost like video games themselves are conspiring to make us feel our age recently. Earlier this week Super Smash Bros. turned 20 in the PAL region, and today we posted about Pokémon Gold and Silver re
Poll Box Art Brawl #16 - Banjo-Tooie
Bear-and-Bird-based brawling
Come one, come all - we're about to begin the Box Art Brawl! Yes, welcome back to the weekly battle where we throw three versions of box art from the same game into a ring to determine which one wins the beauty pageant and which one(s) deserves to be boxed up forever. Last week Super Mario took on his continental...
"What’s changed? So far as I can tell, not a lot!"
Earlier this week, Playtonic Games announced that veteran character artist Ed Bryan was joining the team behind Yooka-Laylee on a full-time basis. The ex-Rare man has been away from the games industry since leaving Rare eight years ago, but now reenters the fray as Playtonic enjoys the success of...
Random Rare Expands Its Official Banjo-Kazooie Swag Collection With A Colourful Keychain
Feast your googly eyes on these
After many years stuck out in the video gaming wilderness, the return of mighty duo Banjo-Kazooie had one or two of us at Nintendo Life Towers shedding a tear when they were revealed to be joining the fray with the other Smash Bros. fighters. IP owners Microsoft might not be doing anything Rareware's bear and bird,...
Fancy listening?
Reflect on the glory days of Rare and a few names you might remember include graphic designer Kevin Bayliss and composer David Wise. Both of these talented individuals helped shape a number of the developer's titles over the years. While they've both moved on, it appears they'll be collaborating on an "exciting new project" that...
Random Sakurai Tells Nintendo Fans To Check Out The Original Banjo-Kazooie On Xbox One
Seriously.
During the special Banjo-Kazooie presentation today, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai explained how Microsoft was more than happy for the bear and bird to join Nintendo's all-star brawler. Sakurai himself was "extremely grateful" and also noted how Rare welcomed the idea with open arms. With the iconic duo now...
Exclusive Check Out Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair's Most Amusing New Tonic
"We've got a bit of a reputation for putting googly eyes on everything"
Yesterday, we reported on the news that the upcoming Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will employ over 60 'tonics' to change the way the game looks and plays. Tonics were a part of the original Yooka-Laylee, too, and it's great to see them return in this new title.
News Conker's Creator Doesn't Think There Would Be As Much Noise For Other Rare IP On Switch
The bear and bird are the favourites
Conker’s creator, Chris Seaver, recently shared his thoughts about Banjo-Kazooie being announced as a playable DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch. While he believes it was a “significant” moment, he doesn't think there would be as much interest in the return of other Rare IP: It is...
News Banjo-Kazooie Composer Grant Kirkhope Doesn't Know If There's A Market For A New Game
"I just don't know"
Around the time of E3 2019, when it was revealed Banjo-Kazooie would be added as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the composer of the bear and bird's original Nintendo 64 outing spoke with VGC about the possibility of a new entry in the series. In a more recent interview with the same website, the one and only...
Random Valve Supposedly Made Changes To Half-Life After Playing GoldenEye 007
Inspiring a generation
Reflect on the Nintendo 64 era and one game that will probably come to mind is Rare’s GoldenEye 007. It was considered to be a revolutionary take on the first-person genre in more ways than one. In fact, even the developer and publisher Valve Corporation took inspiration from Bond’s 64-bit outing at the time. As explained...
Random Rare's Logo Is Actually A Golden Toilet Roll
Can't unsee!
Despite being gobbled up by Microsoft back in 2002, Rare remains one of the most important and loved developers in the Nintendo scene to this day. For years, the studio created classic after classic - games like Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie instantly spring to mind - and the company logo was commonly...
