I summon necrotic resurrection. Sometimes referencing old threads can bring forth unexpected gems like this blurb. I ask do you guys think onyxmeth has been proven wrong. Do you expect two of these titles to be merely arcade, or do you think that a couple of them actually for 2010.
Dodece said:
This is the question, and it is a terribly simple game. Do you think Rare can get back to delivering more then one game a year to the console market? That is the question being asked can they make as many games for the 360 as they were making for the 64?
onyxmeth said:
No I do not think they can. I believe a large portion of their staff left sometime in between Conker's Bad Fur Day and Star fox Adventures and it has kept them from releasing as many titles. Rare doesn't seem to be working on any more than possibly two titles at a time, when back in the early days they were handling 4-5 titles simultaneously. I do however believe some of their smaller games like Jet Force Gemini, Killer Instinct Gold and Blast Corps would equate to an XBLA sized venture as opposed to a full blown 2-3 year development cycle, because there wasn't really too much to those games.
The thing with the new Banjo Kazooie is that they have alienated their previous fans with the new approach. The game is nothing like its predecessors, which were very awesome platformers. Although platformers aren't as big as they were back then, a solid one could be released to huge praise (Super Mario Galaxy, for example). They could have had a huger hit on their hands if they tweaked the previous systems around and went with a traditional platformer instead of the current system.
Also, just because scores are decent doesn't mean that the game is good to everyone. While the game might be good, it doesn't mean that everyone will like it. They took an established franchise and did away with the old formula that made it successful, which is taking a huge risk in gaming, hoping that the name alone will sell a lot of units. They should've tried to introduce a new IP with the current BK concept, which wouldn't have alienated their previous fanbase.
@KylieDog: Some Rares IP:s are seen associated with Nintendo by people, so it makes sense as a strategic move to make sequels/rehashes to 360.
I think Rares sequels have never been amazing. The new game have been great, but that's just about it. Although, Starfox Adventures went kinda flat towards the end. Killer Instinct > KI Gold Battletoads > Super Battletoads DKC > 2&3 RC Pro-Am > 2
bdbdbd said: @KylieDog: What about Kameo and Viva Pinata? They were new games from the last few years.
They weren't terrible, but they weren't amazing either. RAREs old games used to be amazing all the time. The old RARE are gone, the current one makes average games at best. Nothing wrong with average, except when that average used to be great.
I'd rather they didn't make a sequal to old games to be honest unless they will live up to the original. They won't given the current RARE, so they shouldn't.
@KylieDog
Maybe that's how you remember it but that wasn't the case. Not every game Rare made back in the day was the best ever. It's just that no one focused on the negatives as much as they do now.
I don't understand what it is some people want out of Rare. I read the IGN review for the original Banjo Kazooie on XBLA and the reviewer talked about how much he loved the game back in the day but the platformer genre is dead and for good reason. He says the game is only for kids and then takes points off because of it. I don't see how it's outdated since I've been having a blast playing the game.
As for the new Banjo, I think it stays true enough to the original. I heard Banjo Tooie was immense compared to the original and Nuts & Bolts is even bigger than Tooie. So if you think about it the game has followed a natural progression. There are people that have been playing the game without using vehicles all the time and it just takes a bit longer since the game is huge. The vehicles are only there to speed up travel time for the most part.
When it comes to the rest of Rares games they still make originals. The question should be do you want the same game as before but with prettier graphics or do you want a new game. They remade Conker and reviews said it was better than the original with some additions as well. They made a new Perfect Dark which initially received 9's and 10's from reviewers. They mention remaking Jet Force Gemini and people say don't mess it up when the reviews weren't actually stellar for the original.
Love the product, not the company. They love your money, not you.
Impulsivity said: What did happen to rare? Did a lot of the talent quit and move to other studios or what?
I kept seeing all these hyped revamps of old Nintendo/Rare series like Banjo, Perfect Dark, Conker and the like but all the comes out in the end is underwhelming below average crap. Remember when Rare released a great game more or less every single year though the entire lifespan of the SNES and N64? Where is the Rare of Donkey Kong Country, Conkers Bad Fur Day, Goldeneye and the rest of the big wins?
Rare probably thanks Square Enix every day for having fallen futher faster since 2003 then Rare ever did, but Rare certainly has fallen.
I mean who in the world thought Rare would become a studio where a 7.6-8.0 range is the norm?
Banjo for N64, 9.3 Press Average Banjo for 360 7.6 press average N64 Perfect Dark 8.8 Press Average, 360 7.9 Conker's bad Fur Day 9.0 Press Average N64, Xbox Live and Reloaded? 8.1
And for games that were only released on one platform or the other Goldeneye 9.6 N64 Donkey Kong Country 9.1 SNES Donkey Kong 64 9.1
The first foray into Xbox land? Grabbed by the Ghoulies at a damn sorry 7.1, the low point for rare thus far Also a relative disapointment (given Rare's Nintendo history) Kameo that barely made it to an 8.0
That leaves the only even remotely good Rare game in 6 years of Microsoft ownership as Viva Pinata which was legitimately pretty good and ended up at an 8.6. It's worth noting that their best post Nintendo game, wouldn't even have made their Nintendo Era top 10.
Incidentally Killer Instinct was never a very good fighter, both versions rated badly with the original ending up in the 6s. If it was sub par when it only had to compete with Mortal Kombat 3 how is it going to compete with the genuinely awesome new crop of fighters like Tekken, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter and the sometimes good Mortal Kombat games?
The only rare games that have a chance of being good these days are their virtual console releases, other then that, it does not look good at all.
I have no idea how Microsoft was able to ruin Rare so completely so quickly, but it went from being one of the 5 best developers in the world to being well out of the top 20 within a few years.
What are you talking about? Perfect Dark Zero scored between 9.0 and 8.4 on reviews and on 1up.com it got an A-. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts wasn't as bad as people make it look. Platformers are not as big as they used to be. The only platformer selling somewhat decent is probably LBP. The Viva Pinata series has recieved straight A's from 1up.com. Other places with numerical scales scored it 8.5. Whats wrong with that? Any score from 8.5 to 10 is great. Ultimately it's all up to you whether you think it's good or not. Microsoft made sure to get rights to their top games, so Microsoft is set. People just want to get on Microsofts case because they got ahold of a great company and they think only Sony or Nintendo should be able to acquire titles. The funny thing is that Sony's intentions for the gaming industry are no different from Microsoft.
Also, for you to say that Killer Instinct was never a good fighter is quite stupid. It was extremely popular, but the series never lasted past the N64. It had the best graphics of any fighter of the time, the best sound track, the best fighting styles and the finishers didn't disappoint like MK did. Killer Instinct had the proper approach on what a 3D fighter should be. You had to be skilled to play that game compared to MK, especially with combos.
KI 1&2 Finishers
Most of the Rare games have been enjoyable. You just cannot stand the real estate it's being rebuilt on. Microsoft didn't ruin anything for Rare. They put Rare in a spot where they could be a top company again after fading during the Xbox, Gamecube & PS2 era.
@S.T.A.G.E: I wouldn't say Rare "faded". The company went through a purchase, had re-organizing and they "suddenly" had to jump to a different platform (which was followed by another jump). Whatever anyone thinks about Rares games current quality, they basically skipped the last gen and only recently have again been able to show what they can do. A number of Rares titles was in developement for GC, then after the purchase, the developement of the titles was moved to Xbox and later decided to put on 360. For example Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero went through the cycle and eventually were rushed to be ready as 360 launch titles.
Ohhhhh the great Battletoads, i almost lost my thumbs finishing that game, and Killer Instinct, i'm dying to do combos again (i have the SNES game, but a remake or a new game will be awesome)...
RARE, don't let me down, i know it's on the 360, but a friend and i have an agreement sharing my PS3 and his 360 for the good exclusive games we can't get. I'm playing right now GeoW2...
