Rare Replay Review

Not every game should open with a musical number, but in the case of Rare Replay it undoubtedly fits. A joyously silly ensemble piece featuring various members of the collection sets the tone for what is a joyous retread of thirty years of games development from one of, if not the most recognisable British studios.

You have to start with 1983’s Jetpac – just to be clear you don’t have to, but for the sake of the full retrospective effect I did – and it’s amazing being returned to the challenging world of a Spectrum game. Of course, some of the effect was probably lost by not playing with keys or an incredibly stiff joystick, but it handles surprisingly well on the Xbox One’s analog stick and still promotes that one more go mentatlity that the best score-attack games do.

Backing out of each game is as easy as holding the menu button down for a few seconds, which also allows you to check the controls for each game, save or load game states, or enable cheats that allow you to rewind or grant you infinite lives. It also provides the ability to apply an authentic CRT styled filter to the visuals, which once activated may make you wonder whether this was genuinely how we used to play games – the answer of course is yes, yes it was.

The next stop in the collection is Solar Jetman, and having never played it before I was left lost and utterly helpless. There are no tutorial modes here, as 1983 was a tougher place than the namby-pamby hand holding of modern gaming, and beyond the vague help that the animated menu gave me to what I should do, I still couldn’t work it out. If I’d waited fifteen minutes while a tape had loaded the game then I’d have been somewhat miffed. Atic Atac fares better, and proves playable and still fun as you try to escape a haunted castle while facing ghosts and ghouls, but unfortunately SabreWulf doesn’t work as well. Despite relatively similar mechanics, it’s hurt by distinctly dodgy collision detection which makes progression a chore.

What the collection does serve to remind you in these earlier entries is just how hard games used to be. Underwurlde is infuriatingly difficult, as you’re beset from the outset by creatures that you bounce off. Its platforming mechanics are interesting though, and were almost certainly revolutionary at the time, but I nearly threw my pad across the room after fifteen minutes. You are thankfully given a more accessible entry to these games with the Snapshots mode which turns the earlier titles into bite-sized challenges and mixes up the rules of each game, which certainly helps to make them more approachable.

As you play the collection, and reach certain game milestones, you earn stamps which in turn unlock a series of documentaries about Rare and its various creations, including some unreleased games and concepts, such as a look at the ideas for a Kameo sequel. Interestingly, any games you’ve previously played on the Xbox 360 will automatically unlock various milestones as you reach them in the collection, as they’re based on your collected gamerscore for those titles, which gives a nice boost to unlocking more content for those who’ve been there before. The documentaries offer a wonderful look into the operation of Rare, and the love and energy of the staff for their output comes across in every one.

Hitting the NES portion of the collection naturally sees a jump in graphical prowess, if not necessarily in content, with the first entry being Slalom, an enjoyable but limited skiing time-attack game. R.C. Pro-Am is fun, with it’s proto-Micro Machines/Super Off-Road gameplay, while Cobra Triangle was great until I hit a major difficulty spike a few levels in.

Battle toads, Snake Rattle & Roll and Solar Jetman: Hunt For The Golden Warpship are the first games in the collection that I genuinely feel compelled to return to though, beyond the nostalgia and twisted fascination with dying and Spectrum graphics. The arrival of R.C. Pro-Am II is also a clear indication of the evolution of the company, with its upgradeable vehicles and progression a big improvement over the original.

However, it’s with the N64 entries where things become truly interesting, and while the first half of Rare Replay will satisfy older players who want to experience the games of their youth, modern gamers will find more to latch onto in the second portion. Of course, as a retrospective chronicle of Rare’s work it’s incredibly interesting, and as continued play unlocks more of the documentary content there are definite reasons to persevere.

Rare’s first N64 game Blast Corps is great fun, though as one of the titles I originally owned on the console, one of the most surprising things I found was that I didn’t fully understand how to play it before. Either way, smashing buildings in a variety of ways isn’t something that has ever become boring in games, and that remains true of Blast Corps. It’s just a sad fact that there has been a decided lack of power-sliding bulldozers in games since its release.

The games that were released and re-released on Xbox 360 exist outside of Rare Replay as well as within it, and all appear as distinct games on your Xbox One as a consequence. I actually found this to be a touch annoying as it filled the menus with games that I would have preferred to remain in their own section. However, when one of those games is Banjo Kazooie it is easier to forgive, and returning to the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game with its crisper graphics is a wonderful boon. Indeed, all of the earlier games in the collection look better than ever, unless you masochistically play with the CRT filter turned on.

While Perfect Dark and both Banjo Kazooie and Tooie are the 360 versions, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini and Conker’s Bad Fur Day are emulated versions of the N64 originals, meaning they haven’t had any of the tidying up of the others. While they display at 1080p, it creates a mild disparity across the same generation of gaming, though it doesn’t take away too much from the games themselves – there’s little likely to improve Killer Instinct Gold at this point.

Grabbed By The Ghoulies is the sole entrant from the original Xbox, and the first of the collection to come after Rare’s acquisition by Microsoft. It’s safe to say that it hasn’t weathered the test of time particularly well, both graphically and in terms of gameplay. There’s still that strong sense of nostalgia if you played it when it released, but chances are it’s not as good as you might remember it being twelve years ago.

Reaching the close of Rare Replay, you’re greeted by the titles that modern gamers will perhaps be most familiar with. Kameo remains amongst my favourite of those early 360 games, and whilst it didn’t quite match up to its ambition, it’s still an enjoyable adventure. Perfect Dark Zero remains a hugely missed opportunity, losing the magic of what made the N64 original so special, and featuring some very odd character textures.

Viva Pinata and Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise remain joyous and vividly colourful games, whose creatures are wondrously characterful, and as examples of the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility they run without any perceptible problems, as does Live Arcade title Jetpac Refueled. Closing out the collection, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is also still a very attractive and enjoyable game that I loved when it came out, and despite the fact that some fans of the series were troubled by its change of direction from the earlier entries, it still retains the magic that so many Rare games captured.

For some gamers there will be difficult omissions to Rare Replay due to various licensing issues, including the array of classic Nintendo licenses such as Donkey Kong Country or Diddy Kong Racing, and the simply iconic Goldeneye. While it would have been incredible to put everything together, reality has to step in and I don’t think that anyone can argue that it isn’t a hugely generous collection as it stands.

While there are some games included that you’re unlikely to make repeated visits to, Rare Replay offers an incredible retrospective of one of the most iconic game studios of our time. For less than £20 it offers exceptional value for money, and with the additional content, documentary pieces and Snapshot modes it’s anything but a lazy cash-in. Whether returning to games of your childhood, or experiencing these titles for the first time, Rare Replay should be an essential purchase for Xbox One owners.

Score: 9/10