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When you fire up
Rare Replay, the
game compilation
celebrating the
British developer’s
first three decades,
you’re greeted with
a musical number. Each of the 30 titles
within is given the briefest moment in
the spotlight, represented by jiggling
cardboard cut-outs of its stars, from
a catsuit-wearing superspy to a
singing poo with googly eyes stuck
on it. It’s very silly, packed with fourth
wall-busting jokes and visual Easter
eggs to reward long-time fans, a
little wonky and discordant at times,
but overall an absolutely unique and
charming way to open a game. In other
words, it’s quintessentially Rare.
Replay doesn’t feature every
game Rare has ever made, mostly
because the studio spent most of
the ’90s part-owned by Nintendo and
spinning licenses like Donkey Kong
and GoldenEye into surprise hits. Also,
for some reason the all-time classic
character of Mr Pants, a moustachioed
man in a bowler hat and a pair of
Y-fronts is absent.
Nevertheless, the titles that are on
offer – games that don’t use someone
else’s licensed properties, and the
ones developed after Microsoft bought
Rare in 2002 – add up to a remarkable
showcase of variety. You’ve got the
early Spectrum and arcade games,
which then give way to early hits like
the infamously difficult Battletoads
and cult fighting game Killer Instinct,
and the Nintendo years, best
represented by Banjo-Kazooie,Perfect
Dark and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
There’s a noticeable
lull as you pass the
millennium mark, and
Rare’s first games of the
Microsoft era. Grabbed
By The Ghoulies has
some interesting ideas,
as well as a cel-shaded
style that has aged well for
an original Xbox game, but it’s
decidedly a minor work.
The studio made two Xbox 360
launch titles, Kameo and Perfect
Dark Zero, which were likewise
disappointing. At the time, they were
showpieces for the 360’s graphical
capabilities. Replaying it today,
ABOVEGood old
Fudgehog makes
Viva Piñataan
even more
colourful place.“All of these ames
even the faintly rubbish
ones are united by a
particular Rare quality”
though,Zeroactually feels more
limited than its predecessor, at least
in the remastered version.
Kameofeels like an attempt to
launch a franchise, tapping into
Rare’s flair for memorable character
design with a selection of elemental
creatures the player can transform
into at will, including pugilistic
plants, some particularly abominable
snowmen and a giant spiked
armadillo. It’s a great concept that
is never fully realised, and a touted
sequel was later cancelled.
What’s perhaps most interesting
about these two games,
released simultaneously, is
how cleanly they divided
the developer’s output:
into characterful,
cartoonish and kid-
friendly, versus relatively
serious shooters and
fighters intended for more
mature audiences.Rare, well-done
On the surface,Viva Piñatalooks like it
falls firmly into the first camp: a game
with adorable animals. It delivers
on thePokémon-esque promise of
Kameo, with a roster of creatures as
sweet as their sugary namesakes –WHAT IS IT?
The developer formerly
known as Ultimate Play
The Game was originally
founded in 1982 in
Leicestershire, UK, and
has stayed there
ever since.Mousemallow, Fudgehog, Tigermisu- and succeeded where Kameo failed,
launching a sequel and its own (short-
lived) animated series.
But Viva Piñata has a dark
undercurrent. It’s a depiction of nature
that’s red in tooth and claw, where
you have to breed sacrificial piñatas
to lure in their predators, where
two beloved pets can start tearing
each other to papery shreds, where
villainous creatures can spread poison
and wildfire through your garden.
It’s a similar story with last year’s
Sea Of Thieves. It’s a challenging and
initially inaccessible first-person
multiplayer game, but with visuals as
bright and inviting as any of Rare’s
more obviously family-friendly titles.
On its surface, it’s difficult to line Sea
Of Thieves up with its predecessors,
mostly because it’s a venture into
unexplored territory for Rare. In a way,
being so different is itself a defining
trait, for a developer whose work
ranges from platformers to racing
games, shooters to gardening sims.
But all of these games, even the
faintly rubbish ones, are united by
a particular Rare quality. It’s in the
attention to detail, like how each
tool in Sea Of Thieves has a real
weight and personality to it, and a
willingness to experiment, like turning
Banjo-Kazooie from a platformer into
a build-it-yourself vehicle exploration
game. The love of puns, innuendo
and silly character names, and little
background details that reference
its other games. And, of course, the
willingness to stick googly eyes on
just about anything. Q
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