The 11 tales of Rare for N64 - What do you think of the RareWare games for N64?

General and Gaming > Classic Video Games

<< < (3/3)

undertakerprime:
This is going to sound like gaming blasphemy, but…
I’m not really a big fan of ANY of those Rare N64 games.

I’ve at least rented 7 of the 11 listed games, and none really blew me away.
Goldeneye was honestly clunky and frustrating (rarely played the multiplayer though, and I know that’s where the game gets most of its positive reputation from)

I quit playing Conker because the gameplay just didn’t hold up.

Blast Corps was fun for a while but quickly got really hard and frustrating. Actually reminds me of another Rare game, Snake Rattle & Roll, which also played well but got too hard too fast.

Perfect Dark was just average. Rented it but was not compelled to buy it.

Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and KIGold are ok. Rented BK & DK64 and had fun with them but never bought them. KIGold is a technically impressive port of the arcade game but just doesn’t have the same edge as KI1.

Not popular opinions, I know. But just being honest.

pzeke:
I've played at least 9 of the 11 games they released for the N64, but only played 2 of them thoroughly: Donkey Kong 64 and Jet Force Gemini. Rare had it going on during the N64 era, they had some really nice titles that offered something for almost everyone and, even though I don't particularly care for some of them, they were undeniably quality releases.

astralsoul:
Rare in the 90s was my favorite developer at any given era in gaming. I was a HUGE N64 fan (still am) and a HUGE Rareware fan back then. To me, they made the system was it was. My ranking...

1. Conker's Bad Fur Day - My favorite of the bunch. Absolutely love and adore this game. Funniest game I ever played. Conker is one of my favorite characters in any video game ever. It was revolutionary to me at the time, because so few games had the humor and adult content it had, especially on Nintendo. Replaying this game feels like watching your favorite comedy movie. It never gets old to me.

2. Diddy Kong Racing - My favorite racing game of all time (yes even over any Mario Kart). I have such a huge amount of nostalgia for it, but I definitely think it holds up extremely well today. The track designs were excellent, the adventure mode is so much fun, the characters are mostly charming, the music is great...and this is one of the few games I think I truly mastered. I haven't played it in several years but back in the day I was unbeatable at it.

3. Banjo-Kazooie - Amazing platformer, and only 2nd to Super Mario 64 in 3D platforming IMO. In some ways even beats Mario 64 at its own game. Just an absolute gem. Great soundtrack, great level design, great gameplay, this and Super Mario 64 are the 3D platformer gold standard especially in the 90s.

4. Donkey Kong 64 - Huge DK fan, especially the old DKC games on SNES. DK64 wasn't quite as amazing as those gems, but it's still a very solid game. Maybe a bit too much of a collect-a-thon, but even at the time I loved switching between characters and accessing different areas with them. Also, first time DK was in 3D in a platformer so I was blown away.

5. Goldeneye 007 - Not really a big FPS fan but even back then I loved this game. I was really into it mostly for multiplayer, like most people, and without that aspect I'd rank this much lower. The single player campaign is really good but I find it hard to go back to and enjoy today.

6. Perfect Dark - Again much like Goldeneye this was mostly fun in multiplayer. Objectively I think this is a better game than Goldeneye. But for some reason Goldeneye was more fun.

7. Banjo-Tooie - Great sequel to a great game, I found this game to be a lot harder in many ways and a little less enjoyable. There was a lot of backtracking if I recall. Still great, but just shy of amazing.

8. Killer Instinct Gold - Great fighting game. Not one of the best ever, but still very solid, very competent, and still fun to play to this day. Too bad I suck at it.

9. Jet Force Gemini - Now don't get me wrong, just because I placed this game at 9th place means I dislike it. i think it's a very solid action adventure game. I have never finished this game however. I enjoy it, but it's a bit too mazelike and too difficult for my tastes, and not always difficult for the right reasons (controls, slowdown, etc). But overall a very solid game. A proper remake would be amazing.

10. Mickey Speedway USA - Good solid kart racer, but after seeing what they could do with Diddy Kong Racing, this game felt very barebones and underwhelming. I was especially disappointed with the tracks which I felt should've had more Disney flair than just boring roads throughout America. But, it handled well and I had some fun with it.

11. Blast Corps - I never understood the point of this game. Well, that's not true, I know you blow up buildings for points, but it never felt fun to me. This is probably the only Rareware N64 game I don't really care for. I know it has its fans, and I get that it's supposed to be a pick up and play arcade style game, but I just never got into it. I still own it, though, so maybe one day.

scraph4ppy:
Just a reminder, since nobody seems to have brought it up yet, BlastCorps was a launch window game for N64 which partially explains why it was so basic. Rare were real heroes on the 64 and it's a shame the MS sale happened.

Anyways, my thoughts...

Banjo-Kazooie- Didn't own back in the day but remember playing in Treasure Trove Cove at a kiosk. Great game, great music, like Mario 63 with more inspired level gimmicks.

Banjo-Tooie. I did have this one and the soundtrack is burned into my mind, it is the background music of my life. The "lightly continuing" plot and interconnected overworld feel like a preview of the PS2 era of platformers that were in development during it's release.

Blast Corps- As I said, more tech demo than game, still fun though.

Conker- Just watched LPs of this one, though I own it. The jokes look more fun than the gameplay, making it perfect for a watch.

DK Racing- Heck yeah, this was my jam back in the day, loved playing multiplayer in the igloo. Music is great too, even though the midi tracks hurt my ears now.

DK 64- Just rented this one back in the day due to not owning a memory pak. Everyone complains about backtracking for bananas in this game but the truth is that the level design sucked too. Other then Frantic Factory, Angry Aztec and the final boss fight level traversal was a pain. I loved DKC 1+2 but skip this please.

GoldenEye- Loved this game so much I brought a GameShark just to get even more out of it.

Jet Force Gemini- Never played, heard it gets hard fast, some of the game's music is boss though. It's a shame that an all ages single player shooter like this can't get made in this day and age. I bet one would be successful, this game.at least looks like an N64 fortnight character-wise.

KI Gold- Never played, heard that this was the least good KI game.

Mickey's Speedway- Should be a hit on paper but just isn't, I guess the A-team we're doing JFG instead. Also some characters are locked behind Gameboy connectivity, and nuts to that.

Perfect Dark- Another one that I didn't have as a kid due to the memory pak. Shame as I loved GE and this looks like the missing link between it and later console shooters.

Navigation

 Message Index

Go to full version