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Rare Replay Review Thread

S

Steverulez

Member
Destructoid - 9

Rare Replay is a new milestone for compilations. A great deal of care was put into the project, and 30 games is enough meat to ensure that everyone will really enjoy at least half of them. I sincerely hope this is the start of a revival of the classic Rare we know and love.
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Video Gamer.com - 8

Rare Replay is a lovely collection that I can't help but feel could have been even lovelier. It seems a bit petty to be moaning when what's here is such incredible value, but we have some titles at their very peak and others simply emulated. The 360 games not being tied in with the same milestones and launching via backwards compatibility seem slightly disconnected from the rest, too, even if a handful of them show Rare at its best. But had every game been given the same treatment as Grabbed by the Ghoulies, we'd be having to pay a lot more than £20. For what it is, Rare Replay is absolutely worth adding to your Xbox One collection, even if it leaves you wanting just a little more.
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Game Informer - 8.75

I have little reason not to recommend Rare Replay, even to those who don’t have nostalgia for the studio. The breadth of content is impressive, and each game has been faithfully ported and upgraded in ways that don’t interfere the original experience. It serves as an exciting reminder of Rare’s best years and makes seeing the developer’s iconic blue and gold logo exciting all over again.
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The Jimquisition - 9.5

Rare Replay is a fantastic compendium from start to finish. Even discounting the games you might never want to play, the price point is intensely difficult to refuse in exchange for the amount of fun it will provide. From Battletoads Arcade to Snake, Rattle & Roll, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo-Tooie, there’s so much there, both replayable silliness and extensive, hours-long adventures.

It was already a steal before the extras, but the Snapshot mode and the videos, not to mention the classy production values overall, make this a must-have for those both old and new to Rare’s extensive library. If you’ve got an Xbox One, this is a shoo-in.
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ACG

Pros
Most titles are perfectly emulated
Meta-game within the front end
Great titles

Cons
N64 games at times, crash heavy bad fps and so on
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Xbox Achievements 85/100

While Rare Replay might not be a ground-breaking amount of effort on Rare’s part when it comes to what they potentially could have done, it is a stunning package for video game fans though, one that perfectly tracks Rare’s rise to the top and one of the most impressive value for money collections we’ve seen. The sheer breadth and diversity of the games is almost breath-taking and is a testament to the UK studio. Rare Replay tells us what we already know about one of the world’s most celebrated developers: that they’ve had one hell of a history, meaning Rare Replay is an offer you just can’t refuse.
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Press-Start Australia - 9

Rare Replay is clearly a love letter to the fans of Rare that they’ve accumulated across the last three decades, and it’s even clearer that it’s been put together by people who have nothing but respect and care for both their fans and their own catalogue. There’s a wide variety of games (with an open possibility for more) as well as a wealth of options whether you want to play with your friends or by yourself.
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Gamespot - 8

Much of Rare Replay is old material, but that's OK when so many of Rare's games easily stand the test of time. Getting the chance to play its classics in an easily accessible package is worth celebrating, whether you've played them before or always wished you could. And you should, if you haven't had the chance. Rare's games have a way of speaking to you with respect. They embrace video game conventions and rarely take themselves too seriously. Expressive characters warm your heart and catchy and complex soundtracks stick with you long after you turn off your console. Rare Replay is a great way to experience some of the best games from the studio's past, and the new videos that document Rare's storied history are the icing on the cake; it's just a shame that you can't access them from the start.
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Hardcore Gamer - 4/5

Rare Replay isn’t without its minor hiccups, understandable in such a vast collection, but it’s something that should be in every Xbox One owner’s collection. Even though Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Blast Corps have their share of technical issues and the ZX Spectrum titles included have aged roughly, it’s going to be almost impossible not to enjoy yourself here. Through its interface and additional content, Rare has composed a collection of ports that actually feels like a product of love rather than a way to get some extra cash before Sea of Thieves comes out. Whether you’re rushing through Battletoads‘ Turbo Tunnel, jumping over moguls in Slalom, doing the Romance Dance in Viva Piñata or collecting every note in Banjo-Tooie, there are hours and hours of entertainment to be had here. When Microsoft announced that Rare Replay was a real thing at E3 2015, everyone with an Xbox One rejoiced at the perceived value of this collection. It’s a joy to report that this perception is, without doubt, a bona fide reality.
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Polygon gave it a 8

Performance concerns aside, Rare Replay demonstrates how a single developer has carried certain elements across a whole span of genres and platforms. There's a sense of ambition to Rare's catalog, of joy and whimsy, a brightness that comes through even in the more self-serious games. Rare Replay paints a picture of a studio always excited and eager to try something new, even if that new thing turned out imperfect. Whatever Rare's future, there's a history here that's worth remembering and celebrating.
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Windows Central

It's hardly hyperbole to call Rare Replay one of the best collections of classic games ever assembled. The titles span so many different eras and platforms that gamers of any age or taste will find something to enjoy. The mostly classy presentation, new Milestones and Snapshots, and documentary videos are icing on the cake.

Rare used to make fantastic games before the allure of motion controls loomed overhead, and this collection proves it. Shame a few of the studio's best titles like the Donkey Kong Country series can't be included, though we still get plenty of quality titles here. I'd like to see more control options and DLC titles, but I still can't recommend Rare Replay enough.
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Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
I have a crazy and very optimistic theory that Rare's logo change when they began developing Kinect Sports and Avatars being REVERSED for Rare Replay and onwards is the sign of something great.

maxcriden said:
Ditto. Here's hoping it's an excellent package.

ETA: do we know if save states are included?
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This review seems to think so

That review was Press Start Australia and they gave it a 9/10
 
B

Broken Joystick

At least you can talk. Who are you?
VideoGamer.com - 8

30 games plucked from the Rare's history, packaged together for £20 is either the best deal ever (if you're a Rare fan) or simply great value. This hand-picked list starts with Jetpac from 1983 and concludes with 2008's Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. With a bevy of extras and neat additions, Rare Replay is easy to recommend. But some strange choices and other issues also mean it's hard not to wish the whole thing was a bit better – oh, and there's no GoldenEye, because of various unconvincing reasons that weren't "necessarily licensing".
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(The GoldenEye fault wasn't their fault imo)
 
D

Dagobert Duck

Member
I really want to know how the emulation is handled...how in the hell is microsoft able to run Battletoads? Are they just using their windows background to use some of those NES-Emulators? Is there a way to find out? Or am I just stupid? :D
 
T

TheSlySoul

Member
I expect a low 80 at worst.
A compilation is hard to score low unless it suffers from poor performance like Silent Hill HD.
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Dagobert Duck said:
I really want to know how the emulation is handled...how in the hell is microsoft able to run Battletoads? Are they just using their windows background to use some of those NES-Emulators? Is there a way to find out? Or am I just stupid? :D
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It is probably emulation. I know Grabbed by the Ghoulies was developed from the ground up to run on the Xbox One - that's not emulation.

But the fact that the retro games have rewind and save states makes me think it's standrd emulation.
 
Raven77

Raven77

Member
Heavy breathing ensues. I cannot wait to pick this up tonight! Great reviews so far but man I really wish Golden Eye was included.
 
S

Scorpion Soldier

Member
Press-Start Australia - 9

Rare Replay is clearly a love letter to the fans of Rare that they’ve accumulated across the last three decades, and it’s even clearer that it’s been put together by people who have nothing but respect and care for both their fans and their own catalogue. There’s a wide variety of games (with an open possibility for more) as well as a wealth of options whether you want to play with your friends or by yourself.
Click to expand...

Gamespot - 8
Much of Rare Replay is old material, but that's OK when so many of Rare's games easily stand the test of time. Getting the chance to play its classics in an easily accessible package is worth celebrating, whether you've played them before or always wished you could. And you should, if you haven't had the chance. Rare's games have a way of speaking to you with respect. They embrace video game conventions and rarely take themselves too seriously. Expressive characters warm your heart and catchy and complex soundtracks stick with you long after you turn off your console. Rare Replay is a great way to experience some of the best games from the studio's past, and the new videos that document Rare's storied history are the icing on the cake; it's just a shame that you can't access them from the start.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dagobert Duck

Member
Nemesis_ said:
It is probably emulation. I know Grabbed by the Ghoulies was developed from the ground up to run on the Xbox One - that's not emulation.

But the fact that the retro games have rewind and save states makes me think it's standrd emulation.
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Did they had to ask Nintendo if they may put the ROM on their compilation? I mean its not like you can jsut straight up emulate stuff without asking or am I wrong?
 
J

JayWood2010

Member
Some of the best games of all time = One of the best Collections of all time

Now bring on Sea of Thieves and add to the great library :)

For anybody who missed Viva Pinatas and Kameo last generation, theyre some of Rare's best work. Hope to see more people see that
 
R

RoKKeR

Member
Fine fine, I'll get it. Probably won't play it all that much and will likely just blast through the Snapshots, but it's too good of a deal to pass up. (And I've played almost none of the games in the collection)
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Dagobert Duck said:
Did they had to ask Nintendo if they may put the ROM on their compilation? I mean its not like you can jsut straight up emulate stuff without asking or am I wrong?
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I assume when MS bought Rare they got the rights to all of their original content, regardless of the platform.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
Dagobert Duck said:
Did they had to ask Nintendo if they may put the ROM on their compilation? I mean its not like you can jsut straight up emulate stuff without asking or am I wrong?
Click to expand...

MS/Rare owns those IPs and the source code for those games. Why would they need Ninty's permission? If you're talking about the old hardware used to run these games, I don't believe Ninty has any control over that outside of lockout chip code.
 
C

Celine

Member
Any reason for not including the two arcade KI ?

This collection is great value despite some obvious absences (due to copyright).
 
J

Jamix012

Member
Basically it sounds like the presentation is nice but not a whole lot of effort was put into each individual game to make it run perfectly. Unsurprising though, given there's 30 of them. Still VERY VERY hyped for this.
 
J

JayWood2010

Member
Dagobert Duck said:
Did they had to ask Nintendo if they may put the ROM on their compilation? I mean its not like you can jsut straight up emulate stuff without asking or am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Nintendo never owned any of these Rare ip. The only ones that Nintendo owned was ones with Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.
 
L

LiK

Member
Celine said:
Any reason for not including the two arcade KI ?

This collection is great value despite some obvious absences (due to copyright).
Click to expand...

my only guess is that they want people to check out the new KI instead. MS owns KI, I think.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Nemesis_ said:
I assume when MS bought Rare they got the rights to all of their original content, regardless of the platform.
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MightyHedgehog said:
MS/Rare owns those IPs and the source code for those games. Why would they need Ninty's permission? If you're talking about the old hardware used to run these games, I don't believe Ninty has any control over that outside of lockout chip code.
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That's not how emulation works. Emulating a system requires you to run proprietary code that belongs to that system, thus you need the system owner's permission. The game code runs on top of the system code and is irrelevant in this context.

Unless they have the original source code and rebuilt the games from scratch and removing all system API calls. But that sounds like a lot of effort and one would think that the original source code for some stuff might be lost.
 
D

Dagobert Duck

Member
JayWood2010 said:
Nintendo never owned any of these Rare ip. The only ones that Nintendo owned was ones with Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.
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Thank you, I meant it more from the "emulator" standpoint, if they were allowed to use something whcih emulates NES games, but I guess if they have the sourcecode, they can do whatever they want. so case closed :) thanks :)

nynt9 said:
That's not how emulation works. Emulating a system requires you to run proprietary code that belongs to that system, thus you need the system owner's permission. The game code runs on top of the system code and is irrelevant in this context.
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case not closed?
 
F

Freedom = $1.05

Banned
Hot Coldman said:
No other games company has a 007 contract right now, so if Rare/Microsoft really wanted to, they could probably have made that work. But when you've got Perfect Dark in there it's of an easy fish to let go.
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I think the issue is that a Goldeneye rerelease requires cooperation with Nintendo, too. Back in the day, the issue was that it required Activision, Ms, and Nintendo to work together and it couldn't be worked out. I imagine that the Nintendo part is still an issue now, regardless of the state of the 007 license
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Celine said:
Any reason for not including the two arcade KI ?

This collection is great value despite some obvious absences (due to copyright).
Click to expand...

I know that they rebuilt Grabbed by the Ghoulies but it begged the question why they didn't rebuild Conker: Live and Reloaded.

I just realised that building an Xbox Original game from scratch and trying to somehow get the Xbox Live code to run on Xbox One would be hard, so suddenly it makes a lot of sense.
 
C

Celine

Member
JayWood2010 said:
Nintendo never owned any of these Rare ip. The only ones that Nintendo owned was ones with Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.
Click to expand...
I believe the rights for games like Banjo Kazooie which were published by Nintendo were cross owned.
When the Stamper bros were selling the company they resolved the cross rights with Nintendo by getting the rights for every characters not in the Nintendo stable (Donkey Kong, Star Fox) while Nintendo retained Donkey Kong and Star Fox.
 
P

Pandy

Member
nynt9 said:
That's not how emulation works. Emulating a system requires you to run proprietary code that belongs to that system, thus you need the system owner's permission. The game code runs on top of the system code and is irrelevant in this context.

Unless they have the original source code and rebuilt the games from scratch and removing all system API calls. But that sounds like a lot of effort and one would think that the original source code for some stuff might be lost.
Click to expand...
This is my understanding too. I guess a quick look at the games credits might answer a few questions.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
JayWood2010 said:
Nintendo never owned any of these Rare ip. The only ones that Nintendo owned was ones with Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.
Click to expand...

Banjo-Kazooie, among others, was owned by Nintendo. Nintendo sold these rights in 2002.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
nynt9 said:
That's not how emulation works. Emulating a system requires you to run proprietary code that belongs to that system, thus you need the system owner's permission. The game code runs on top of the system code and is irrelevant in this context.
Click to expand...

Do they need to be emulating those hardware platforms perfectly if they can ensure a fully-functional game? Perhaps they got the permission if they needed it upon Rare's purchase or they worked with Ninty and other hardware manufacturers to make this happen? I'm not sure I understand what control Ninty has, though, when emulation doesn't need to infringe upon rights to their property. I mean, it's emulation.
 
B

btags

Member
I am sure this has been answered elsewhere, but are banjo kazooie nuts and bolts and Kameo just backwards compatibility emulated games? In other words, do they receive any improvement in framerate or resolution compared to the original releases? I would be interesting in getting the collection for those games alone if they did.
 
J

JayWood2010

Member
Shiggy said:
Banjo-Kazooie, among others, was owned by Nintendo. Nintendo sold these rights in 2002.
Click to expand...

From my understanding Nintendo had owned a share of Rare, not their IP(Though in a way you can say they partially did in a way). They sold their share back to Rare and then Rare sold their entire company to Microsoft.

Rare retained the licenses for their original IP and Nintendo retained the licenses for the IP that included their mascots.

Unless Im missing something.
 
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