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Forums - Gaming - Rare, 1994-2001: The Best Run Ever?

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Zekkyou on 04 January 2014
RolStoppable said:
Wright said:
Zekkyou said:
Wright said:

Hmmmm...

I said a bad game :p Jak X was probably the worst game they have made, but it was still pretty good ^^ (76 on meta i think).

I don't know, even with the meta, I found it pretty bad xD Not a game I would like to replay one day.

Gaming existed before PlayStation, so Naughty Dog could make a name for themselves with Way of the Warrior, an embarrassing Mortal Kombat rip-off.

Still though, Zekkyou said a bad game, not one straight out of the toilet.

When i said they seemed incapable of making a bad games, I was saying it based on their last 17/18 years of games, not a vague game they made for the 3DO 2 decades ago :p



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S.T.A.G.E. on 04 January 2014
Zekkyou said:

Valve definitely need to be considered for the title. It's not flawless, but 15 years later and they are still hitting the same quality ^^ Most notable:

1998: Half-Life
1999: Team Fortress
2000: Counter-Strike
2003: Day of Defeat
2004: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
2006: Half-Life 2: Episode One
2007: Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, TF2 (dat sweet sweet 2007 @_@)
2008: Left 4 Dead
2009: Left 4 Dead 2
2011: Portal 2
2012: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2013: Dota 2

Edit: Thinking about it, Naughty Dog definatly need to be considerd too, they seem incapable of making bad games.

1996: Crach Bandicoot
1997: Crach Bandicoot 2
1998: Crach Bandicoot: Warped
1999: Crash team racing
2001: Jak and Daxter
2003: Jak and Daxter II
2004: Jak 3
2005: Jak X: Combat Racing
2006: Daxter
2007: Unccharted
2009: Uncharted 2
2011: Uncharted 3, Uncharted: Golden Abyss
2012: Jak and Daxter Collection
2013: The Last of Us


Yep, Naughty Dog is Sony's Rare, except they are first party. There was a downward spiral in the variety in Nintendos offerings once Rare left.



bouzane on 04 January 2014

Honestly, I think all of these games are grossly overrated with the exceptions of DKC2, Goldeneye and Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Also, Valve 1998-present is clearly the best run ever.



farlaff on 04 January 2014
Salnax said:

Somebody already mentioned Nintendo EAD, so I'm going to honor some third parties.

 

I'm also going to nominate Konami during a similar era.

  • 1986 - Castlevania, Twinbee, Gradius
  • 1987 - Metal Gear
  • 1988 - Contra
  • 1989 - Castlevania 3
  • 1990 - Super Contra, Metal Gear 2
  • 1991 - Super Castlevania 4, Turtles in Time

Not quite as prolific IMO, but you still have quite a few groundbreaking games within a short period of time.

I just noticed that those were all Japanese developers. Huh.

As for Konami, I have not done any research, but there were far more great games from them in the period you mentioned. Kung-fu, Life Force, Castlevania 2 (plagued by the horrible translation to English), Green Beret and many other arcade games (Turtles - the one that generated the great NES version afterwards -, Jackal, Double Drible and Crime Fighters), Contra III, etc. And those are just ones I remember without much effort.

And I coudn't be haapier when you noticed they were all Japanese devs. I grew up with those titles and for me eastern games will always have that special twist.



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okr on 04 January 2014
Conina said:
1986: Koronis Rift, Ballblazer, Labyrinth
1987: Maniac Mansion, Rescue on Fractalus
1988: Zak McKracken, Battlehawks 1942
1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Their Finest Hour
1990: Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, Night Shift
1991: Monkey Island 2, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, PHM Pegasus
1992: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
1993: Sam & Max Hit the Road, Super Star Wars, X-Wing, Rebel Assault
1994: Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, TIE Fighter
1995: Full Throttle, The Dig, Dark Forces
1996: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Rebel Assault 2, Afterlife
1997: Monkey Island 3, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Jedi Knight
1998: Grim Fandango, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Mysteries of the Sith

/thread ;)

Addition (how could you forget?!):
1993: Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

Otherwise: Perfect post, seal of approval.



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Pristine20 on 04 January 2014
Viltgance said:
If you like jrpg's squaresoft was king for over a decade....then enix bought them out and screwed that all up real good.


^This. Seriously, in the ps1 and early ps2 era, I bought any game I found in stores with squaresoft on the box



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

McDonaldsGuy on 04 January 2014

I wish Nintendo would make Retro the new Rare. Let Retro free. Retro had a lot of good ideas - Ravenblade, Thunder Rally, etc. etc.

I think Retro could crank out one or 2 great games a year like Rare. Let them make the first person shooter killer app like Rare did with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.



McDonaldsGuy on 04 January 2014
S.T.A.G.E. said:


Yep, Naughty Dog is Sony's Rare, except they are first party. There was a downward spiral in the variety in Nintendos offerings once Rare left.


Naughty Dog needs to create more games though. They had 1 franchises per console, though Last of Us broke the mold.

Rare had so much diversity. Platformers, kart racers, first person shooters, action adventure... not only were they good games, they were HITS. Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye both sold over 8 million copies for example.

Naught Dog is going to have to release at least 1 game per year and spread out a bit more before they can be compared to Rare.



zumnupy10 on 04 January 2014

Square was awesome during the 90s too.



IIIIITHE1IIIII on 04 January 2014

Fantastic list indeed. Their general art direction, gameplay, level design, humor, groundbreaking multiplayer and unmatched music is what makes each one of their titles some of the most memorable gaming experiences of all time.

Only Nintendo is comparable in my book (and even surpasses them in some areas), but they lack this relatively small studio's charm which will forever differentiate the two.

 

Best run ever? For what it is, yes.