Rare (video game company)

Rare Ltd., sometimes referred to as Rareware, is a United Kingdom-based video game development company. It was founded in 1985 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper. Rare was a second-party developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms for several years, but in 2002 was acquired by Microsoft.

Rare was originally called Ashby Computer Graphics (ACG), though they sometimes released their games under the name Ultimate Play The Game.

Company overview

Missing image
Modernrarelogo.jpg

The 'Golden R' Rare Logo as of 2005.

Rare is located in Twycross, England and is the company behind many of the most famous games for Nintendo's various gaming systems: Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country (and its sequels), Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and Star Fox Adventures.

Its games have always employed some of the latest graphics technology. One of its most critically acclaimed and popular series was the Donkey Kong Country set on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, due to its use of pre-rendered 3D graphics on a 2D console. GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 is also considered by many to be their biggest success, known even today as one of the gold standards for console first-person shooters. GoldenEye 007 went on to sell over eight million copies, a feat nearly unheard of in the video game industry. Rareware's Killer Instinct added several features to the fighting game genre such as autodoubles, linkers and ultras.

Key members of the Goldeneye and Perfect Dark development teams left Rare to form Free Radical Design.

In September 2002, the Stamper brothers sold their 51% interest in Rare to Microsoft for the sum of US$375 million; following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company as well. Because of this, Rare is now a first-party developer for Microsoft's Xbox. The trademarks of the characters from the games that Rare made for Nintendo consoles (such as Conker of Conker's Bad Fur Day) were retained by Rare (apart from IP originally developed by Nintendo, i.e. Donkey Kong and Star Fox). Despite the acquisition, Rare still develops games for Game Boy Advance. Rare has never developed for Sony platforms.

August 2003 brought news that Rare and Microsoft had made a deal with THQ to publish Rare's Game Boy Advance games, which as of December 2004 have included Sabre Wulf, a game based on its Ultimate character, and It's Mr. Pants!, a puzzle game featuring the company's unofficial mascot. January 2005 saw the completion of this deal, with the release of Banjo Pilot.

List of games

This partial list of games developed by Rare uses the following format:

gamename (system(s)) - publisher(s)

Where gamename is the name of the game it developed, system(s) are the computer systems the game was developed for and publisher(s) are the names of the publishers. Any additional notes will be included after the publishers names.

1980s

1983

Jetpac (ZX Spectrum, BBC, Vic 20) - Ultimate Play The Game
Atic Atac (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
PSSST (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
Tranz Am (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
Cookie (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
Lunar Jetman (ZX Spectrum, BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game

1984

Sabre Wulf (ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game
Knight Lore (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
The Staff of Karnath (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
Underwurlde (ZX Spectrum, C64) - Ultimate Play The Game

1985

Alien 8 (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
Entombed (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
Blackwyche (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
Nightshade (ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
Pentagram (ZX Spectrum, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game

1986

Outlaws (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
Cosmic Battlezones (BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game
Cyberun (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
Dragonskulle (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
Gunfright (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
Imhotep (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game

1987

Martianoids (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
Bubbler (video game) (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad) - Ultimate Play The Game
Slalom (NES) - Nintendo

1988

The Collected Works (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
R.C. Pro-Am (NES) - Nintendo
Wheel of Fortune (NES) - GameTek
Jeopardy! (NES) - GameTek
Anticipation (NES) - Nintendo

1989

Marble Madness (NES) - Milton Bradley
World Games (NES) - Milton Bradley
WWF Wrestlemania (NES) - Acclaim
Sesame Street 123 (NES) - Hi Tech
John Elway’s Quarterback (NES) - Tradewest
California Games (NES) - Milton Bradley
Taboo (NES) - Tradewest
Wizards & Warriors (NES) - Acclaim
Sesame Street ABC (NES) - Hi Tech
Hollywood Squares (NES) - Gametek
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (NES) - LJN
Jordan vs. Bird: One on One (NES) - Milton Bradley
Cobra Triangle (NES) - Nintendo
Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (NES) - Acclaim
Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition (NES) - Gametek
Jeopardy! Junior Edition (NES) - Gametek
Silent Service (NES) - Ultra Games

1990s

1990

Double Dare (NES) - GameTek
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition (NES) - GameTek
Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (NES) - GameTek
The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy) - LJN
Captain Skyhawk (NES) - Milton Bradley
Pin Bot (NES) - Nintendo
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (NES) - Nintendo
Super Off Road (NES) - Tradewest
Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (Game Boy) - Acclaim
Narc (NES) - Acclaim
A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) - LJN
Super Glove Ball (NES) - Mattel
Cabal (NES) - Milton Bradley
Time Lord (NES) - Milton Bradley
Arch Rivals (NES) - Acclaim
WWF Wrestlemania Challenge (NES) - LJN
Solar Jetman (NES) - Tradewest

1991

Digger T. Rock (NES) - Milton Bradley
WWF Superstars (Game Boy) - LJN
Battletoads (NES, Game Boy) - Tradewest
Beetlejuice (NES) - LJN
Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy) - Nintendo
High Speed (NES) - Tradewest
Sneaky Snakes(Game Boy) - Tradewest
Sesame Street ABC & 123 (NES) - Hi Tech
Pirates! (NES) - Ultra Games

1992

Wizards & Warriors III: Visions of Power (NES) - Acclaim
Beetlejuice (Game Boy) - LJN
Indy Heat (NES) - Tradewest
R.C. Pro-Am II (NES) - Tradewest
Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive) - Tradewest

1993

Battletoads (Mega Drive, Game Gear) - Tradewest
Battletoads / Double Dragon (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy) - Tradewest
Battletoads in Ragnarok’s World (Game Boy) - Tradewest
Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES) - Tradewest
X The Ball (Arcade) - Capcom/Brent Walker/tecmo
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (Mega Drive) - Sega/Tradewest

1994

Monster Max (Game Boy) - Titus
Super Battletoads (Arcade) - Electronic Arts
Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Nintendo
Killer Instinct (Arcade) - Williams

1995

Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) - Nintendo
Killer Instinct (SNES, Game Boy) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest (SNES) - Nintendo

1996

Killer Instinct 2 (Arcade) - Williams
Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run (SNES) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong Land 2 (Game Boy) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES) - Nintendo
Killer Instinct Gold (N64) - Nintendo

1997

Blast Corps (N64) - Nintendo
GoldenEye 007 (N64) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong Land III (Game Boy) - Nintendo
Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Rare

1998

Banjo-Kazooie (N64) - Nintendo

1999

Conker's Pocket Tales (GBC) - Nintendo
Jet Force Gemini (N64) - Rare
Donkey Kong 64 (N64) - Nintendo
Mickey’s Racing Adventure (GBC) - Nintendo

2000s

2000

Perfect Dark (N64, GBC) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong Country (GBC) - Nintendo
Mickey's Speedway USA (N64) - Nintendo
Banjo-Tooie (N64) - Nintendo
Donkey Kong GB: Dixie and Kiddy Kong (GBC) - Nintendo (Japan-only colorized Donkey Kong Land III)

In Development

Conker: Live & Reloaded (Xbox) - Microsoft (expected June, 2005)
Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360) - Microsoft (expected at console launch 2005)
Kameo: Elements of Power (Xbox 360) - Microsoft (expected at console launch 2005)
Banjo-Kazooie 3 (no information available)
Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance) - Nintendo (TBA)

External links

Official Rare website (http://www.rareware.com)
RareNet (http://www.rarenet.com), first ever Rare fansite
Ultimate Wurlde (http://www.ultimate-wurlde.com/), a Rare fansite
Mundo Rare (http://www.mundorare.com/), a Rare fansite (spanish)
Open Directory Project listing (http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Developers_and_Publishers/R/Rare/)
The Rarewitch Project (http://www.rarewitchproject.com/), an infamous Rare fansite specializing in unlocking Rare game secrets. Also contains Beta Image codes and Reviews
Rare-Extreme (http://www.rare-extreme.com/) Rareware game coveragede:Rareware

hu:Rare ja:レア社 sv:Rare

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Categories: Computer and video game companies