RARE Replay Coming To Xbox One In August

[The 1 2 P]

One of the many big announcements from Microsoft's E3 show was the Rare Replay Collection: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rare-replay-collection-announced-at-e3-2015-will-h/1100-6428027/

It contains 30 games from Rare's back catalog, including RC Pro Am from the Nes. Sadly, one of the few games they didn't include was Goldeneye 007 but that's most likely due to license issues. Still, many people have complained that Rare no longer produces the magic they once did during their Nes, Snes and N64 days. But this collection is full of that former glory and at $30 is a very affordable price considering how much Conker's still goes for. I'm way more interested in picking this up than the Mega Man Legacy Collection and this will be a day one pick up for sure.

[Leo_A]

Too bad that the James Bond license leaving Activision, whom wanted Nintendo's informal consent back a few years ago before cooperating with Rare/MS, apparently didn't make the difference with Goldeneye.

Assuming that the two Banjo games and Perfect Dark are up to par with their 360 conversions and aren't just running via a N64 emulator, count me in [Edit: 360 backwards compatibility coming, so that erases that concern. :)]. Glad I never got around to purchasing those on XBLA.

Any chance of a retail release, I wonder? That's one reason why I held off on those, as I was hoping for such a deal.

[The 1 2 P]

Too bad that the James Bond license leaving Activision, whom wanted Nintendo's informal consent back a few years ago before cooperating with Rare/MS, apparently didn't make the difference with Goldeneye.

So true. I wouldn't even mind if they changed Bond to Daniel Craig just to have it released.


Any chance of a retail release, I wonder? That's one reason why I held off on those, as I was hoping for such a deal.

I'm pretty sure this will be a retail release but I will try to get that confirmed as well as the full 30 games included. I didn't realize that this is Rare's 30th year in operation so they are celebrating with a 30 games for $30 collection and a new ip they just revealed at Microsoft's E3 show: Sea Of Thieves.

EDIT: Just confirmed it's getting a physical release: http://gamerant.com/rare-replay-xbox-one-battletoads-e3-205/

[Leo_A]

Great :)

While the lack of arcade Killer Instinct 1 & 2 is disappointing, albeit understandable as they dangle those carrots in front of fans of those classics to get them to buy the XB1 launch sequel, it's really too bad that their 16 bit era is unrepresented.

Obviously there's not a lot Rare owned candidates there given things like keeping busy with the Donkey Kong Country franchise, but there are Battletoad and R.C. Pro-Am sequels, along with their 16 bit Killer Instinct port to the SuperNes that are some notable absences here that likely fall within Rare's ownership.

Having no representatives from these years leaves a rather glaring hole, even if there wasn't an abundance of non-Nintendo owned Rare classics to select from for their 16 bit years.

[The 1 2 P]

Outside of the obvious license issues with Nintendo and other properties I think that they had to narrow the list down to 30 games while trying to offer as wide of a variety as possible. I would have loved for them to have thrown in all the Killer Instinct games and all of the Battletoads games(even the cross over one with Double Dragon but that's another license issue) but that would have pushed them past 30. The good news is that they still own all those other games so there's a chance they may release them at a later date or offer them as DLC to this collection.

[Leo_A]

I don't mind content being absent, but there's still a big hole in the timeline there. Rare's console efforts from 1990-1995 or there about, is absent of any representation. Would've been nice to see Championship Pro-Am for the Genesis and a SuperNes classic or two, to round off the lineup.

I wonder if this Conker game is a fresh conversion, or the Xbox game running via the 360's Xbox emulator, which itself is being ran through the Xbox One's 360 emulator. If there were any emulation issues present, it will be interesting to see if they manifest themselves again, or if Rare simply ported it over instead.

I suspect it's a fresh port of the Xbox source code, but it would be neat to see the Xbox One emulating the Xbox 360, which itself is emulating the original Xbox.

I also suppose they may of gone back to the N64 original...

[Tanooki]

Feels dirty seeing those Nintendo games off their system on that one, but it is a Rare compilation after all. Just remove the Nintendo references and they can't stop it. Rare has a rich history so they'll have to do another disc or milk people out of a fortune in DLC.

[The 1 2 P]

Feels dirty seeing those Nintendo games off their system on that one.

Not really considering Rare's games haven't been on an Nintendo platform for well over a decade and never will again. They've been on Microsoft's platforms for the past two generations and it feels just right. As for Rare's official reasoning for not including Goldeneye:

https://games.yahoo.com/news/why-isnt-goldeneye-rares-hd-140001366.html

That is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've heard from them in awhile. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they made this collection but their explanation for not having Goldeneye be a part of it was pretty shallow.

[Leo_A]

Yeah, I doubt few buy into that...

I wonder if they have something planned for a separate project. I don't believe that Rare Replay needs Goldeneye to succeed, but I also believe that a $15 download of Goldeneye would sell in the millions. So it wouldn't shock me to see this reappear as a standalone release.

The most common story I heard when Rare cancelled their XBLA port was that Nintendo didn't own a thing and that Goldeneye's ownership was no different than Perfect Dark, Blast Corps, etc. Seems believable given that it's difficult to believe that development would ever reach the late stages that it supposedly did if Nintendo had any ownership. And contemporaries of it on the N64 that didn't involve Nintendo IP stayed with Rare after they left the Nintendo fold, so there's no obvious reason why Goldeneye should've been any different.

Apparently Activision, the videogame rights holder at the time for this movie franchise, was willing to cooperate with MS/Rare to allow them access to the James Bond license. But they also wanted to protect their relationship with Nintendo and wanted their unofficial blessing before cooperating to get such an iconic Nintendo classic out on a competing platform.

Sadly, Nintendo said that they'd rather Activision didn't cooperate, and that was that (Even an offer by Rare to release the N64 classic on the Virtual Console supposedly didn't change their mind).

But I believe that the videogame rights for the Bond franchise no longer belong to Activision, so this is a potential opportunity for something to change here since both Activision and Nintendo, if this course of events is accurate, should both be out of the picture.

[The 1 2 P]

Yeah, I doubt few buy into that...

I wonder if they have something planned for a separate project. I don't believe that Rare Replay needs Goldeneye to succeed, but I also believe that a $15 download of Goldeneye would sell in the millions. So it wouldn't shock me to see this reappear as a standalone release.

Although that would be nice it would also be bittersweet. I want the game released on a disc just in case the networks ever go offline forever. But you're right, they could make a ton of money releasing this on XBL as a $15 download first on Xbox One(for a few brisk console sales) and then making an announcement six months later that it's also coming to the 360.


The most common story I heard when Rare cancelled their XBLA port was that Nintendo didn't own a thing and that Goldeneye's ownership was no different than Perfect Dark, Blast Corps, etc. Seems believable given that it's difficult to believe that development would ever reach the late stages that it supposedly did if Nintendo had any ownership. And contemporaries of it on the N64 that didn't involve Nintendo IP stayed with Rare after they left the Nintendo fold, so there's no obvious reason why Goldeneye should've been any different.

Apparently Activision, the videogame rights holder at the time for this movie franchise, was willing to cooperate with MS/Rare to allow them access to the James Bond license. But they also wanted to protect their relationship with Nintendo and wanted their unofficial blessing before cooperating to get such an iconic Nintendo classic out on a competing platform.

Sadly, Nintendo said that they'd rather Activision didn't cooperate, and that was that (Even an offer by Rare to release the N64 classic on the Virtual Console supposedly didn't change their mind).


Believe it or not me and you have discussed this several times here on DP before in the Goldeneye and Perfect Dark threads. I believe that story to be true and whats interesting is that today things would be completely different because Activision(as well as EA and most other major publishers) no longer even make games for Nintendo's consoles. So had this been done during this generation no one would have cared what Nintendo thought.


But I believe that the videogame rights for the Bond franchise no longer belong to Activision, so this is a potential opportunity for something to change here since both Activision and Nintendo, if this course of events is accurate, should both be out of the picture.

Well Microsoft did say they were holding back some game announcements until Gamescon. The other option Microsoft and Rare have is two years from now in 2017: the 20th anniversary of Goldeneye 64 on the N64. I'd hate to wait another two years but what a treat a 20th anniversary edition would be.

[otaku]

this is a must have with an excellent price point (and will likely get cheaper for a time as well)

[Nebagram]

As for Rare's official reasoning for not including Goldeneye:

https://games.yahoo.com/news/why-isnt-goldeneye-rares-hd-140001366.html

That is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've heard from them in awhile. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they made this collection but their explanation for not having Goldeneye be a part of it was pretty shallow.

That's sad but impressive that they'd come up with such an obviously BS excuse when they could simply have said 'licensing' and no one would've bat en eyelid. A bit like someone who accidentally crotches themselves on a bollard and says 'no mate, I was, er, testing how strong my testicles were'.

Anyway the disc is an obvious day one purchase for me if just for Conker alone, hopefully when they say 'Bad Fur Day' they mean Bad Fur Day and not 'Live & Reloaded'.

[Leo_A]

this is a must have with an excellent price point (and will likely get cheaper for a time as well)

And I'm so glad that I waited on buying Perfect Dark and the Banjo titles off XBLA. My patience not only paid off with a physical release like I wanted, but I get 27 additional games and saved $15 in the process (Although they have an attractive Banjo deal bundle these days that I think is $10, these originally were $15 downloads).

Too bad I bought Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and Viva Pinata. All were $10 and under deals bought used over the years, but besides a couple of hours with PDZ and a few minutes in Viva Pinata, I've yet to really play them after all of these years.

[The 1 2 P]

I forgot to add the list of 30 games so here it is straight from Wikipedia:


Jetpac
Atic Atac
Lunar Jetman
Sabre Wulf
Underwurlde
Knight Lore
Gunfright
Slalom
R.C. Pro-Am
Cobra Triangle
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
Battletoads
R.C. Pro-Am II
Battletoads Arcade
Killer Instinct Gold
Blast Corps
Banjo-Kazooie
Jet Force Gemini
Perfect Dark
Banjo-Tooie
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Perfect Dark Zero
Kameo: Elements of Power
Viva Piñata
Jetpac Refuelled
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

The only games I really want are the RC Pro Am series, the Battletoads series, Conker's, Killer Instinct Gold and Perfect Dark games. The rest is mostly filler to me, especially the ZX Spectrum games. I wish they would have replaced those with more Battletoads and Killer Instinct games(and Goldeneye 007 too) but it is what it is. And at the end of the day you get 30 full games for $1 each or less than that when you buy them at Best Buy as a rewards zone gamer's club member.

[lendelin]

Very nice! I'm looking forward to Battletoads, Snake Rattle n Roll and Banjo. Rare was such an important developer that it is really justified to publish such a collection. That Goldeneye is missing isn't so important to me.

[WCP]

I don't know what it is exactly, but the idea of these type of collections never appealed to me. I always want to play the individual game on the actual, respective system it was released on. I'm just not a fan of emulation, but I know the convenience and value factors are very high with a collection like this.

I definitely want to play Banjo Kazooie again, but I want to play the real cart, on a real N64 (hopefully RGB modded)

[The 1 2 P]

I just pre-ordered this at the Microsoft store online. Normally I only do pre-orders at Best Buy because of the awesome Gamer's Club rewards and because everything is cheaper. Rare Replay would have cost me $24 at Best Buy brand new. But Microsoft's online store is running a deal where you get a free $10 Xbox gift card with any pre-ordered title. And my cereal box had a $10 off code for any Xbox 360 or Xbox One game that cost $25 or more. So for $20 I'm getting 30 Rare games and a $10 Xbox gift card which is one of the best deals of the year. And the best part is I only have to wait three more days before it arrives.

[Leo_A]

I definitely want to play Banjo Kazooie again, but I want to play the real cart, on a real N64 (hopefully RGB modded)

When I can play games like that one and Perfect Dark rendered in 720p with a solid 30fps frame rate, I'm never going back.

http://images.eurogamer.net/articles//a/3/1/9/1/3/9/2.jpg.jpg

http://images.eurogamer.net/articles//a/1/0/0/3/3/5/1/pdxbla_04.jpg.jpg.jpg


I don't know what it is exactly, but the idea of these type of collections never appealed to me. I always want to play the individual game on the actual, respective system it was released on. I'm just not a fan of emulation, but I know the convenience and value factors are very high with a collection like this.

I can see your view to a degree although it doesn't match my opinion. Not when the material has actually been improved upon like the N64 content included here or is material that I can't otherwise play on the real deal like the Spectrum titles.

And compilations not only are probably my favorite thing that has came about in videogaming over the past twenty years, but are also typically arcade based. The real deal in many instances just isn't an option for arcade gaming, making your point often a moot one even if I did agree.

And since I prefer physical over digital, I'm pleased to see their N64 remasters leaving XBLA and becoming available at retail Edit: Didn't quite get my wish there, since the emulated 360 content is downloaded rather than on the disc :(.

[retroman]

I just started playing this today and love it. So many great games to choose from. I did not know where to start at. This may be hands down the best retro compilation game ever. So what are some of your thoughts about this game.

[Nesmaster]

I think that Blast Corps is easier now compared to when I was 9. Still great though.

I was hoping the achievement lists would be fresh, but all the 360 stuff uses the 360 lists meaning no extra Banjo franchise achievement points for me.

I never did play VP:TiP or Battletoads Arcade, so I'm curious to try them.

I'd like to 4000/4000 this for gamerscore one day, but that stamp achievement is probably a doozy.

[Graham Mitchell]

So this is out, and from what I can tell, it blows. The emulation is garbage (the audio on slalom is appalling) and the xbone controller is awful for these types of games.

The visual presentation of the nes games is pretty sad, too. You can not adjust screen position or size, and cannot add scanlines. There is a "crt" filter that intentionally curves the screen, emulates composite video and looks like a monitor that needs to be recapped.

I'll have to bust out my Cronus max and use my qanba stick just to play any of these. I guess the one nice thing is being able to play conkers without hooking up my n64, but I haven't tried it yet. My n64 is rgb modded, and the way things are going here, probably looks better on the original hardware.

This is really sad. Rare is special to a lot of us. I'm particularly fond of their nes games, which are among the best-looking on the console, but this rushed crap does the legacy a disservice.

[Leo_A]

There is a "crt" filter that intentionally curves the screen, emulates composite video and looks like a monitor that needs to be recapped.

Didn't you get the memo? There apparently were never nice CRT's and this is how the "experts" that haven't played on one in years now think they all looked.

[Graham Mitchell]

Didn't you get the memo? There apparently were never nice CRT's and this is how the "experts" that haven't played on one in years now think they all looked.

Aah, yes, I forgot. That's what happens when you have 23 year olds making these games.

Another classic game comp made by people who don't give a shit about classic games. This is why my Xbox one collects dust. Every game I Buy on it manages to suck one way or another.

I'll give them sunset overdrive. But there's no excuse for it running at 30fps.

[Th3 hoff]

I rather have 1 good new game from rare than 30 old ones. ROFL

[Daria]

I think I already own the games I actually care about in the set.

[kai123]

I was skeptical but after playing around with it for a few hours I am pretty impressed. The N64 games have translated over very well. For $23 (Best Buy GCU) it was a great pick up. I am never going to pay the price for Conker BFD is going for now so at least now I can play it. It feels like one of those games that I remember as being amazing but just isn't. The jokes fall flat for me now. IDK maybe I just grew up a little bit. The platforming is still pretty tight but the camera can be a pain in the ass. Over all I recommend it.

[Graham Mitchell]

There's already a thread about this in the modern gaming forum. You can read my thoughts there.

Spoiler alert: I think it's a pile of shit.

[kai123]

There's already a thread about this in the modern gaming forum. You can read my thoughts there.

Spoiler alert: I think it's a pile of shit.


Yea, you are right. I should get a Sony PVM and RGB mod all my systems and then buy all these games individually. That would be easier and cheaper to stroke my nostalgia boner. This collection does exactly what it is supposed to and that is to let us relive some of the older games we enjoyed for a reasonable price. If Nintendo or Sony released something like this each game would cosst $4.99 or more. There is a ton of value here and if you already have most of these games then obviously there is nothing here for you.

[Graham Mitchell]

Yea, you are right. I should get a Sony PVM and RGB mod all my systems and then buy all these games individually. That would be easier and cheaper to stroke my nostalgia boner. This collection does exactly what it is supposed to and that is to let us relive some of the older games we enjoyed for a reasonable price. If Nintendo or Sony released something like this each game would cosst $4.99 or more. There is a ton of value here and if you already have most of these games then obviously there is nothing here for you.

You could get the same experience you get here free with name or nestopia, and use a better controller. It's not a nostalgia boner, it's about what you get for your money. I love the idea of the devs still getting paid for these games, but if you want me to pay $30 for it, you should at least do something with it that I can't get elsewhere.

It's a lost opportunity. Microsofts game room on the 360 does it right. There are tons of filtering and aspect ratio options that look pretty good. The best example of how this kind of thing should be done is final fight: double impact. You can set all sorts of filters and options to emulate a crt, including phosphor glow. AND it's online enabled.

It's nice to have a convenient way to play conkers I guess, but the other 360 games included in the bundle are all readily available elsewhere. I would imagine you could get a physical copy of kameo or perfect dark zero for less than $10 off eBay.

If you don't already have these games in physical form (none of which are difficult find or expensive, except for conkers) then you get a very convenient package, but not much else.

[Leo_A]

Any chance of getting a merged topic? Doesn't make much sense to split this one in two.


You could get the same experience you get here free with name or nestopia, and use a better controller. It's not a nostalgia boner, it's about what you get for your money. I love the idea of the devs still getting paid for these games, but if you want me to pay $30 for it, you should at least do something with it that I can't get elsewhere.

At least the 360 side is well done thanks to Microsoft. While I have Perfect Dark Zero, Viva Pinata, and Kameo in their native 360 disc format, this still won't run me any more than buying the XBLA titles and the missing retail releases that I've yet to add.

Other than the hub area in Nuts and Bolts that has significant slowdown, the 360 emulation handles the Rare titles well.

I'm glad to see this selling and reviewing well though, flaws and all. We needed something like this, even if it's less than perfect, to help jump start the classic gaming compilation concept on modern consoles.

[Graham Mitchell]

I'm glad to see this selling and reviewing well though, flaws and all. We needed something like this, even if it's less than perfect, to help jump start the classic gaming compilation concept on modern consoles.

I agree. Nintendo? Where's our vs system and coin-op comp? And whoever owns the rights to the irem stuff needs to let 'me loose on the world.



A lot of old arcade companies are sitting on huge backlogs of amazing games that have yet to resurface. A toaplan comp (done well) would have me salivating. Unfortunately I think they were 3rd party developers for other companies most of the time, so it would be tough legally to gather all those games up.

[Leo_A]

Someone I know is having a peculiar issue with this.

He prefers to be offline and only connect to Xbox Live when he absolutely must, such as when he makes an uncommon purchase of a digital exclusive. Otherwise, he likes to remain offline as he's playing. He has installed Rare Replay and downloaded what needs to be downloaded off Xbox Luve (i.e., all the 360 game files for that half of the collection). But when he goes and plays one of the emulated 360 titles offline, it refuses to save his game afterwards.

Is this some strange Rare mandate that these games always had back on the 360? Or is it Microsoft's emulation setup that's responsible for refusing to allow him to save his 360 game on a XB1 while offline?

Is there anything that can be done for it such as disabling cloud saving? While I'm grasping for straws, that's the only remotely possible thing I can think of that might be causing an issue. Yet I don't know how you'd go about doing so or even why the inability to connect to the cloud to upload a save would cause the local HDD save to fail when offline.

Modern gaming...


I agree. Nintendo? Where's our vs system and coin-op comp? And whoever owns the rights to the irem stuff needs to let 'me loose on the world.



A lot of old arcade companies are sitting on huge backlogs of amazing games that have yet to resurface. A toaplan comp (done well) would have me salivating. Unfortunately I think they were 3rd party developers for other companies most of the time, so it would be tough legally to gather all those games up.

Good posts like this one are why we need a like button around here. :)

[The 1 2 P]

I'm been enjoying what I've played so far. My one gripe was trying to get the multiplayer component to work on the Nes version of Battletoads. The arcade version of Battletoads worked fine in multiplayer though. I still have a lot of ground to cover as far as all the other 25 games I haven't touched yet.

[Graham Mitchell]

I'm been enjoying what I've played so far. My one gripe was trying to get the multiplayer component to work on the Nes version of Battletoads. The arcade version of Battletoads worked fine in multiplayer though. I still have a lot of ground to cover as far as all the other 25 games I haven't touched yet.

From what I remember of the nes game, you just push start on controller 2 at the title screen, like an sms game. Give that a try.