• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Super Nintendo vs. Nintendo 64: Which console was golden age Rare at its best?

Which golden age Rare was better?

  • SNES Rare

    Votes: 59 25.0%
  • N64 Rare

    Votes: 177 75.0%

  • Total voters
    236

soulbait

Member
Diddy Kong Racing, the best Kart racer, is so underrated. And I love their different multiplayer modes they added to the game.

Then you have Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad-Fur-Day, and more, making the N64 the obvious choice, IMO.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I always found the DKC series to be overrated. Technically impressive in the amount of animation and depth of color, but with ugly characters and art and generic gameplay.

I guess some of that applies to their N64 games as well but at least we have Conker and Jet Force Gemini.

Rare's best era might be before the Nintendo acquisition.
Odd, since Conker is literally “do random thing 3 times with increasing difficulty”, the game.
It’s so basic and random, they even joked on it by making it kind of the game’s trademark with the infamous “context-sensitive button” thingie. As generic as it gets, but with a coat of paint that changes every few minutes so it may seem an incredibly cleverly-designed game. Something that DKC2, at least, actually is.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Rare was super important to late SNES and Nintendo, really defined those years, but they were the best dev outside of Nintendo themselves on N64, actually maybe they were the best dev period. Lots of games, many of them great, huge variety, pushed the technology, etc.
 
Last edited:
N64. Rare masterpieces, along with Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and the Zeldas, were enough to compete and surpass most of the PS1 bigger and more versatile catalogue....
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Nes and by far...

Wizards and warriors series
RC pro am
Cobra triangle
Solar jet man
Battle toads
 
N64 fairly easily here. Unrelated, it such a shame what rare has become. Not sure if they just lost their creative touch or MS just messed them up, but they were arguably the best developer in the biz during that N64 era, to a point where they have next to nothing of note over a 2 decade stretch.
 

phant0m

Member
N64 and it’s not close.

All you need is Rare + 1P Nintendo and you have a solid, respectable library for the platform.
 
Last edited:
n64 for me

also, arcade KI1 and KI2 were absolutely amazing for their time. only mario 64 blew me away more.
xbox KI doesnt do it for me at all.
 

Dural

Member
Rare carried the N64 while they extended the life of the SNES when the 3d consoles were launching. I prefer side scrollers and the SNES, but N64 was golden Rare.
 

Moses85

Member
Rare from the N64

I miss you soooo much

Sad Anthony Anderson GIF
 

TheMan

Member
How is this even a question. N64 rare made some of the most popular games of the generation.

Shame they just couldn’t keep up after that
 

Krathoon

Gold Member
Rare always made fun games. Only some of their early computer stuff sucked.

I would highly recommend playing Rare Replay. It is a great collection of their hits.
 

daTRUballin

Member
Rare was totally a rival for Nintendo. I remember Miyamoto getting a little pissy about it.
I still wonder if Conker's Bad Fur Day was low-key a "fuck you" to Nintendo lol. It came out the year before they were bought by MS. Maybe their relationship was deteriorating at that point.
Odd, since Conker is literally “do random thing 3 times with increasing difficulty”, the game.
It’s so basic and random, they even joked on it by making it kind of the game’s trademark with the infamous “context-sensitive button” thingie. As generic as it gets, but with a coat of paint that changes every few minutes so it may seem an incredibly cleverly-designed game. Something that DKC2, at least, actually is.
I usually like your posts and find them interesting, but Conker's a great game.

Except for the nightclub level where you have to piss on the rock monsters. Fuck that level. So annoyingly designed. At least the Xbox version fixes it.
 

stn

Member
Rare was a 10/10 for both SNES and N64, they killeeeeeeeed it. I probably give my vote to SNES because of DKC 1 and 2. Also, I feel like their best SNES games aged a bit better than some of their best N64 games. As an example, Perfect Dark is still amazing as hell but the aiming controls are archaic.
 
Last edited:

Krathoon

Gold Member
I remember Miyamoto making some snarky comment about Rare. I think it was about Donkey Kong Country.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Odd, since Conker is literally “do random thing 3 times with increasing difficulty”, the game.
It’s so basic and random, they even joked on it by making it kind of the game’s trademark with the infamous “context-sensitive button” thingie. As generic as it gets, but with a coat of paint that changes every few minutes so it may seem an incredibly cleverly-designed game. Something that DKC2, at least, actually is.
I'm not saying Conker is one of my favorite games either, but it had some personality and looked good at least. Most of Rare's characters looks like rejected generic brand cereal mascots. I don't think I've ever forgiven them for changing Donkey Kong's design to that abomination
 
Last edited:

Codes 208

Member
N64 because banjo kazooie and conker are hands down two of the best 3D platformers/collectathons

Then you also have diddy kong racing, perfect dark, killer instinct and golden eye.

Theres also dkc64 but lets be real: thats one of the weaker dkc games
 

ReyBrujo

Member
Voted for SNES because DKC was a bold push, not even Miyamoto trusted it would work. By the way, when did Killer Instinct became so sissy you can combo with any button combination.
 
Last edited:

daTRUballin

Member
I remember Miyamoto making some snarky comment about Rare. I think it was about Donkey Kong Country.
The supposed quote was "Donkey Kong Country proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good." To this day, nobody really knows whether that quote is actually real or not. Kind of hard to believe he would just bash DKC like that publicly.

On the other hand, there were other interviews from back then of him praising Rare. He was especially impressed with Banjo Kazooie.
 

Krathoon

Gold Member
The supposed quote was "Donkey Kong Country proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good." To this day, nobody really knows whether that quote is actually real or not. Kind of hard to believe he would just bash DKC like that publicly.

On the other hand, there were other interviews from back then of him praising Rare. He was especially impressed with Banjo Kazooie.
I like to think that he did say it.
The man can't be a saint.
 

amigastar

Member
The supposed quote was "Donkey Kong Country proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good." To this day, nobody really knows whether that quote is actually real or not. Kind of hard to believe he would just bash DKC like that publicly.

On the other hand, there were other interviews from back then of him praising Rare. He was especially impressed with Banjo Kazooie.
But the gameplay is awesome in DKC.
 

Sojiro

Member
Nes and by far...

Wizards and warriors series
RC pro am
Cobra triangle
Solar jet man
Battle toads
Their NES releases definitely deserve to be in the conversation, I would still vote for N64, but their NES output would rival their SNES output imo. However, how the hell are you going mention Rare on the NES and not list their GOAT NES game Snake Rattle n Roll? Shame on you! Lol
 
Last edited:

Robb

Gold Member
This was surprisingly difficult tbh. But I’m a platformer guy and to me the DKC trilogy is a lot better than Banjo/Conker and DK64. So I’ll go SNES.
 

Hudo

Member
While I personally don't like any games made by Rare (so far), it seems that people have a certain reverence for Rare's N64 output. Which is why I voted N64.
 

Krathoon

Gold Member
Can you rig up an XBox One to play Kinect Sports?

Must we forget Kameo, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and Banjo Kazzoie: Nuts and Bolts?
 

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Blast Corps alone is enough to seal the deal.
I can't believe there was never a follow up to that game. It would've worked perfectly on the Wii or Wii U. It's better than Starfox.
 
Last edited:

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
Surprised to see N64 ahead, I guess it might be an age thing, to me at least SNES is in another league compared to N64 in Rare's games output.

Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2 are sublime.
 

violence

Member
Blast Corps alone is enough to seal the deal.
I can't believe there was never a follow up to that game. It would've worked perfectly on the Wii or Wii U. It's better than Starfox.
Yes. Why the fuck have there’s not been more games like Blast corps and red faction gorilla? Destroying shit should be a genre.
 
Last edited:

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Voted N64, it's the console I grew up with, playing Goldeneye and Perfect Dark with my bro and trying to beat Jet Force Gemini amd Banjo-Kazooie. All super fun games, which were made with a ton of care.

I remember the DKC promotion VHS tape in the 90s. Those were awesome.
My man!



I think it still has to be at my parent's house. They translated this thing to spanish and it was super funny to watch for me.
 
Last edited:

Astral Dog

Member
N64 , i mostly associate RARE with their outpout from that gen, they were strong support for that platform

The DKC trilogy are classics, of course, but RARE made the jump to 3D 👌🏻
 
Top Bottom