Canceled Rare sequels bring out mixed reactions. It’s a known fact that MundoRare’s founder died a little inside when there were plans to bring out a sequel to Blast Corps at one point, according to Rare’s Scribes page. Fans of Battletoads probably found the few seconds of discovered GBA footage to be so radically different to the point of dislike. And of course, let’s not even get started on the Bad Fur Day sequel we wanted. To this day, the story that MundoRare broke is the most commented on article to date. As you can tell, Kameo 2 is the latest casualty of Rare sequels we may never play.
While the verdict on Kameo is that it was a game that should’ve been longer considering the lengthy development cycle, the game itself was one of Rare’s better efforts in the current 360 era. It was a new IP, and one that was complimented by, among other things, Steve Burke’s fantastic soundtrack. The story at the end also led itself into possible sequel territory. Recently, a clip of progress on Kameo 2 surfaced, indeed confirming that it was in development at one point. We’ve embedded the video below:
As you can see, Rare’s latest trend (save for Trouble in Paradise, of course) of radically changing elements in sequels was to be present in Kameo 2, based on what little footage we just saw. Her climbing, wall-jumping, and sharp-object wielding animations give the impression that, much like Assassin’s Creed, Kameo 2 would’ve possibly gone the stealth route. Of course, with only 16 seconds of footage, it’s really hard to, unless you just genuinely love complaining about nearly everything on the internet, determine what the game could’ve been from it, let alone develop a love it or hate it verdict. If one could take a wild guess as to why Kameo’s sporting those clothes and movements, I’d probably say that it has something to do with the Mystic and possibly exile. After all, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to her, and no good is guaranteed from someone who ominously laughs at the end of the game during the end credits.
According to Games Asylum, Rare’s Senior Software Engineer Nick Burton said that Kameo 2 started in 2007, but was soon canceled. With the date in mind, it’s safe to say that development was canceled in favor for Trouble in Paradise, since that and Nuts & Bolts were the two games that Rare focused on delivering in time.
While it’d be nice to imagine a Kameo sequel still being possible, it is a shame that a new IP didn’t get a chance to expand and become something more… even if the sequel looked like it would’ve been drastically different from the original.
