The Rarest of Exports
E3 had set upon us like hill-folk cannibals descending from their mountainous regions in order to consume as much flesh as they could just a few short weeks ago. We've all come down from the highs and lifted ourselves from the lows (metaphorical rending of flesh from your bone can be very tiresome and difficult) as we disseminate all the information that's been thrust upon us, invading our brain meats.
Much of that information has been discussed, shared and given an official "0Hitpoints Seal of Approval"* OR an official "0Hitpoints Seal of Disapproval"* in our 2-part E3 Extravabonanza podcast(s); E3 Day 1ish and E3 Day 2ish are readily available for your earholes.
And while we did talk about Microsoft's E3 presser, we only briefly mentioned Rare Replay. At the time, only a few games jumped out at me (almost certainly due to lack of attention during the presentation). Perfect Dark, Battletoads, Banjo Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day and of course, the one game which sold me on this compilation immediately: R.C. Pro-Am!
Rare Replay isn't just ports. The games are being cared for, they're being truly remastered by Rare; They are wholly in control of Replay, the work is not being outsourced.
Along with the 30 games, Rare's not only adding stuff like challenges, cheats and some new designs, but they're following suit with some of the other older revamps allowing for a "de-rez". Simulating the original look and feel of the games as they would show up on a CRT monitor, a little softer and a little fuzzier than today's sharp and crisp images. A jaunt down memory lane, a reminder to all of us that grew up with the games where we came from and maybe a glimpse into history for newer players who never had anything BUT the beauty of 1080p screens.
Rare has been at this for 30 years. 30.Freaking.Years. This compilation isn't necessarily the sum of those years, but is definitely a snapshot into where Rare began, where they've been and where they're going.
Below is the full list of games coming to Rare Replay.
- Atic Atac
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
- Battletoads
- Battletoads Arcade
- Blast Corps
- Cobra Triangle
- Conker's Bad Fur Day
- Digger T. Rock
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- Gunfright
- Jet Force Gemini
- Jetpac
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Kameo: Elements of Power
- Killer Instinct Gold
- Knight Lore
- Lunar Jetman
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- R.C. Pro-Am
- R.C. Pro-Am 2
- Sabre Wulf
- Slalom
- Snake Rattle n Roll
- Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
- Underwurlde
- Viva Piñata
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
All of that, remastered, for $30? Yeah. Sold.
