Games review: Rare's greatest hits compilation won't break the bank
This collection is great value for money, and offers that rare feeling of having plenty to play when you have a spare hour
Does everyone remember Rare? Didn't think so. Despite being a prolific game developer in the 1990s and 2000s, Rare never became as big as Sega, Atari or Capcom. But its resilience is to be admired, churning out releases from the early console days, and its influence shouldn't be doubted: just look at GoldenEye 007 or Donkey Kong Country, two prime examples of genre-changing games.
Three decades on from its founding, that's all being celebrated with Rare Replay, an Xbox One exclusive that brings together 30 of Rare's best. But we've already pulled a bait and switch: the two "big guns", James Bond and the Donkey Kong rip-off, aren't onboard, something to do with publisher Nintendo's ironclad legal grip on them. It doesn't matter much, however, as there's a sizeable chunk of impressive throwbacks here and you'll find plenty to like.
Rare's history stretches back to the very early days of popular gaming and it was innovating from the get-go. If there's a drawback to all this, it's that half the games on the disc are from the pre-3D revolution, making the release's claim of "30 hit games" feel a little flaccid in context. Early '80s efforts such as Jetpac, Sabre Wulf and Snake Rattle'n'Roll were ground-breaking in their time, but that was more than a generation ago, and similar eight-bit thrills can now be had on any smartphone.
The real gems are the more popular millennial-era releases. Rare had an impressive run from 1997 to 2006, and most of the best are included. Innovative 3D platformer Banjo-Kazooie and its sequels, lightning-quick arcade fighter Killer Instinct, surreally cheeky Conker's Bad Fur Day and influential first-person shooter Perfect Dark are the true highlights.
