Friday, March 25, 2016

Rare Replay Review



Rare Replay is a compilation of games made by Rare that was published by Microsoft and released for the Xbox One in October 2015. It contains 30 games that Rare released during their existence on multiple consoles including the ZX Spectrum, NES, Nintendo 64 and Xbox 360 being run on the Xbox One through emulation.


Over the years Rare made some of my favorite games including RC-PRO AM and Battletoads on the NES, GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64 as well as a few I've never played but have always wanted to try like Conker's Bad Fur Day and Blast Corps. While I am still not a fan of emulation, compilations like this one and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection aren't as bad in my book especially when you consider how many consoles you would need to have not counting the games themselves. Most people aren't going to buy the arcade cabinet to play Battletoads Arcade or have easy access to a ZX Spectrum in the USA so this is a good way to play them. And the biggest reason these compilations are better than emulation is because everyone gets payed and their is nothing illegal about it.

Perfect Dark

This compilation contains nearly all of Rare's games with two big holes due to rights issues. With this compilation you won't be playing GoldenEye or any of the Donkey Kong games that Rare made. When you look at the whole of Rare's games these are big holes in their line up so you'll just need to make your peace with it and have fun with all the rest of the included games.

R.C. PRO-AM


You'll get 30 games to play with a few additions that were not available in their original releases. You'll be able to save your game at any point you want which is a nice feature on the older games where you'd have to start all over when you turn the game off. That isn't too bad in my book but you are able to rewind some games when you've made a mistake. It is basically a way to cheat to make the games easier.

Battletoads Arcade


A new way to play these old games is with Rare's Snapshots which is basically a rip off of Nintendo's Remix games. Most of the games, the games that weren't on or ported to the Xbox 360, have five different challenges that you can try to beat. You'll do things like having to kill so many enemies within a certain time or assemble and blast off in a rocket within 60 seconds. It adds a different way to play some of the games, particular some of the older ZX Spectrum games which play like Arcade games with a high score being the only goal of the game.

Jetpac


Here is a list of the games in this compilation.

ZX SPECTRUM

Jetpac
Lunar Jetpac
Atic Atac
Sabre Wulf
Underwurld
Knight Lore
Gunfright

NES

Slalom
R.C. PRO-AM
Cobra Triangle
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Solar Jetman
Digger T. Rock
Battletoads
R.C. PRO-AM 2

ARCADE

Battletoads Arcade

NINTENDO 64

Killer Instinct Gold
Blast Corps
Banjo-Kazooie
Jet Force Gemini
Perfect Dark
Banjo-Tooie
Conker's Bad Fur Day

XBOX

Grabbed By The Ghoulies

XBOX 360

Kameo : Elements Of Power
Perfect Dark Zero
Viva Pinata
Jetpac Refuelled
Viva Pinata : Trouble In Paradice
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Rare Replay has a lot of polish including a fancy song about the games included when you turn it on. All the menus are done very well, better than in most compilations. Although you'll have to unlock them there are a lot of videos packed with behind the scenes information that fan's of these games will enjoy.

People who are interested in trying out some great games that they haven't played before or are interested in revisiting some old favorites Rare Replay is a great compilation at a great price point. It was new at $40 and is even cheaper now. I give Rare Replay a 10 out of 10.

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