The Top 10 Best Rareware Games

A tie-wearing ape, a bear with a bird in his backpack, a beer-drinking squirrel...what do they all have in common? They are characters who have all starred in games developed by England-based Rareware, a company known for making quality games. For over a quarter of a century, they have dazzled players everywhere with their impressive graphics, awesome soundtracks, addictive game play, and clever humor. Having been a fan of Rare for nearly fifteen years, when they released Donkey Kong Country, I feel that I should reveal my selections for ten of the best Rare games that I have played. They are mostly from the Super NES and Nintendo 64 eras, but they are nevertheless solid titles that everyone should check out. The top ten Rareware games are as follows:

10. Sabrewulf (Game Boy Advance): One of the better post-Nintendo 64 Rare games is this revival of an old franchise, in which Sabreman, the intrepid explorer, must gather eight amulet pieces in order to imprison the ferocious Sabrewulf who is wreaking havoc across the land. To do this, he will need to gather creatures that can attack enemies, bridge gaps, and even make him invincible. This element gives the game a puzzle-like feel that is truly engaging, and old school Rare fans will like the references to some of their oldest games scattered throughout the title. I was pleasantly surprised by this game, and I hope that Rare gives Sabreman another revival soon.

9. Donkey Kong Country: The game that introduced me to Rare is the classic story of Donkey and Diddy Kong heading out to defeat the Kremlings and retrieve Donkey's stolen bananas. The rendered graphics were quite impressive, and the incentive to find every last bonus stage gave it some replay value. On top of that, we had several useful animal friends and lots of varied environments. While I prefer the sequels mainly because they improved upon this game's features quite a bit, there is no doubt that the first installment has deservedly been hailed as a Super NES classic.

8. Diddy Kong Racing: The best of Rare's racing games has Diddy and his friends trying to send the evil space invader Wizpig back to where he belongs. Instead of being a mere clone of Mario Kart, this game adds a lot of variety: you could race in a car, plane, or hovercraft; there were some fun and addictive mini games for up to four players; and the adventure mode gave the game a story-like feel that Mario Kart never had. Add some top-notch voice acting, the introduction of Banjo and Conker (back when the latter was a child-friendly character), and some fun boss races, and you have the recipe for a truly spectacular racing extravaganza.

7. Conker's Bad Fur Day: Rare's Nintendo 64 swan song was one of their most unique games of all time. It lived up to its Mature rating by including loads of violence, swearing, adult humor, and more. It was that humor, however, that made the game shine and made up for the rather limited plot of Conker trying to return home and the Panther King wanting to capture him and use him for a table leg. The graphics were truly outstanding for a late-era Nintendo 64 title, and the impressive amount of voice acting gave it a movie-like feel. It may not have been promoted much, but it has rightfully been deemed a classic among players.

6. Jet Force Gemini: In one of Rare's lesser-known efforts, a trio of heroes-Juno, Vela, and their dog Lupus-set out to take down the space tyrant Mizar and his endless army of drones in order to save the galaxy and rescue the enslaved Tribals. Shooting these foes for hours on end is addictive, and the use of three characters means that you will definitely be wanting to use their unique abilities to clear each world. Although the backtracking can get a bit annoying at times, the game still awes with neat graphics, an orchestra-like soundtrack, and a truly-challenging difficulty level. A solid title overall, and this franchise really needs a comeback.

5. Banjo-Kazooie: When Gruntilda the Witch abducts a young bear named Tooty in order to swipe her lovable appearance, only her brother Banjo and his feathered partner Kazooie can save the day. A vast improvement over Super Mario 64 (which is still a good game, to be sure), this game has plenty of fun challenges that give players an incentive to collect every Jiggy, and the levels are all cleverly designed. The cartoon-like speech is also fitting and funny, and Rare's trademark humor shines through. One of the best3D platform games on the Nintendo 64.

4. Donkey Kong64: This time, Donkey Kong is out to rescue his friends, take back his golden bananas, and stop the Kremlings from destroying his homeland with the powerful Blast-o-Matic machine. The worlds are huge by comparison to even Banjo-Kazooie, but the game still shines with lots of fun and tough challenges. The use of five playable characters adds to the game's depth, and there were plenty of humorous moments, particularly the opening rap. You can even unlock the original Donkey Kong arcade game as well as Jetpac, Rare's first game. An excellent, if somewhat underrated, title.

3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy and Dixie Kong must rescue Donkey from the Kremlings' clutches in this truly awesome masterpiece. The game improves upon the first title in every way, with more impressive graphics and sound, harder challenges, and new incentives for getting the highest possible percentage. Other new twists include transforming into animals, unlocking optional levels, and even participating in a trivia challenge. The 16-bit era may have been gradually fading away at this point, but this game is absolute proof that excellent 16-bit titles could still be created.

2. Donkey Kong Country 3: Donkey and Diddy have gone missing, and only Dixie and her new partner Kiddy can save them. The usual solid game play, graphics, and music are all here, but this time, there is a lot more to do in the overworld maps, from collecting and trading items to unlocking caves that contained the Banana Birds needed to reach the maximum score. Other than that, there are actually fewer changes here than there were in the second game, but it still felt like enough of an improvement to make this a slightly superior title. Sure, it was released just as the Super NES was slowly dying, but it was still a solid title.

1. Banjo-Tooie: Gruntilda is out for revenge, planning to steal the life force of everyone on the Isle o' Hags with the aid of her sisters and the Big O'Blaster machine. Once again, Banjo and Kazooie race to foil her plans. To me, this game is a perfect example of everything that Rare stands for: jaw-dropping graphics, impressive music, hours of difficult challenges, and laugh-out-loud funny humor. It is better than the original, and the bigger worlds and longer length give it a truly epic feel. Sadly, later Banjo games (namely the Game Boy Advance titles, as I have not played Nuts and Bolts) would not live up to the excellence that the Nintendo 64 titles achieved, which makes this game (and its predecessor) all the more special.

Of all the Rareware games that I have ever played, I feel that these ten were the very best of the bunch. They were largely released while Rare was at the top of their game, creating masterpieces that would win them a lot of praise from critics and players alike. However, I feel that after Conker, the company started going downhill, because Star Fox Adventures was rushed, and other titles since then were somewhat lacking. Even so, we still have the above titles to remind us of how great the company used to be. If you have never played any of them, I suggest that you do, because they are shining examples of Rare at their absolute best.