Rare (original) (raw)
Rare, also called Rareware, is a company that was a key developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms, but since has been acquired by Microsoft. It was founded in 1985 by Tim and Chris Stamper. Rare was originally started as Ashby Computer Graphics (A.C.G) even if they released their games under the name Ultimate Play The Game.
Company Overview
Rare is the company behind many of the most famous games for Nintendo: Battletoads, Donkey Kong, Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and Star Fox Adventures.
It has been a cutting-edge company because its games have always employed some of the latest technology in graphics. Its most renowned success was Donkey Kong Country, due to its use of pre-rendered 3D graphics on a 2D console. Later, Killer Instinct added several features to the fighting game genre such as autodoubles, linkers and ultras.
In September 2002, Rare was acquired by Microsoft in order to develop exclusive games for the Xbox console. The trademarks of the characters from the games that Rare made for Nintendo consoles have been acquired by Nintendo. In early 2004, it was reported that Microsoft is attempting to acquire Rare's characters and trademarks that were made for Nintendo consoles from Nintendo and offered Nintendo $12.2 billion for the characters and trademarks.
List of games
This partial list of games developed by Rare uses the following construct:
gamename (system(s)) - brand
Where gamename is the name of the game it developed, system(s) are the computer systems the game was developed for and brand is the brand the game was released under.
1980s
1983
- JetPac (ZX Spectrum), BBC, Vic 20) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Atic Atac (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Psst (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Tranz Am (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
1984
- Alien 8 (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Entombed (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Cookie (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Knight Lore (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Lunar Ketman (ZX Spectrum, BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Sabre Wulf (ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game
- The Staff of Karnath (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Underwurlde (ZX Spectrum, C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
1985
- Blackwyche (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Nightshade (ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, BBC, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Pentagram (ZX Spectrum, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
1986
- Outlaws (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Cosmic Battlezones (BBC) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Cyberun (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Dragonskulle (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Gunfright (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Imhotep (C64) - Ultimate Play The Game
1987
- Martianoids(ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Bubbler (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Slalom (NES) - Nintendo
1988
- The Collected Works (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- R.C. Pro-Am (NES) - Nintendo
- Wheel of Fortune (NES) - GameTek
- Jeopardy (NES) - GameTek
- Anticipation (NES) - Nintendo
1989
- Marble Madness (NES) - Milton Bradley
- World Games (NES) - Milton Bradley
- WWF Wrestlemania (NES) - Acclaim
- Sesame Street 123 (NES) - Hi Tech
- John Elway�s Quarterback (NES) - Tradewest
- California Games (NES) - Milton Bradley
- Taboo (NES) - Tradewest
- Wizards & Warriors (NES) - Acclaim
- Sesame Street ABC (NES) - Hi Tech
- Hollywood Squares (NES) - Gametek
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (NES) - LJN
- Jordan vs. Bird: One on One (NES) - Milton Bradley
- Cobra Triangle (NES) - Nintendo
- Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (NES) - Acclaim
- Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition (NES) - Gametek
- Jeopardy! Junior Edition (NES) - Gametek
- Silent Service (NES) - Ultra Games
1990s
1990
- Double Dare (NES) - GameTek
- Wheel of Fortune Family Edition (NES) - GameTek
- Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (NES) - GameTek
- The Amazong Spider-Man (Game Boy) - LJN
- Captain Skyhawk (NES) - Milton Bradley
- Pin Bot (NES) - Nintendo
- Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (NES) - Nintendo
- Super Off Road (NES) - TradeWest
- Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (Game Boy) - Acclaim
- Narc (NES) - Acclaim
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES) - LJN
- Super Glove Ball (NES) - Mattel
- Cabal (NES) - Milton Bradley
- Time Lord (NES) - Milton Bradley
- Arch Rivals (NES) - Acclaim
- WWF Wrestlemania Challenge (NES) - LJN
- Solar Jetman (NES) - TradeWest
1991
- Digger T. Rock (NES) - Milton Bradley
- WWF Superstars (Game Boy) - LJN
- Battletoads (NES, Game Boy) - TradeWest
- Beetlejuice (NES) - LJN
- Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy) - Nintendo
- High Speed (NES) - TradeWest
- Sneaky Snakes(Game Boy) - TradeWest
- Sesame Street ABC & 123 (NES) - Hi Tech
- Pirates (NES) - Ultra Games
1992
- Wizards & Warriors III (NES) - Acclaim
- Beetlejuice (Game Boy) - LJN
- Indy Heat (NES) - Tradewest
- R.C. Pro-Am II (NES) - Tradewest
- Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive) - Tradewest
1993
- Battletoads (Mega Drive, Game Gear) - TradeWest
- Battletoads Double Dragon (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy) - TradeWest
- Battletoads in Ragnarok�s World (Game Boy) - TradeWest
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES) - TradeWest
- X The Ball (Arcade) - Capcom/Brent Walker/tecmo
- Snake Rattle 'N' Roll (Mega Drive) - Sega/TradeWest
1994
- Monster Max (Game Boy) - Titus
- Super Battletoads (Arcade) - Electronic Arts
- Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Nintendo
- Killer Instinct (Arcade) - Williams
1995
- Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) - Nintendo
- Killer Instinct (SNES, Game Boy) - Nintendo
- Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) - Nintendo
1996
- Killer Instinct 2 (Arcade) - Williams
- Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run (SNES) - Nintendo
- Donkey Kong Land 2 (Game Boy) - Nintendo
- Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES) - Nintendo
- Killer Instinct Gold (N64) - Nintendo
1997
- Blast Corps (N64) - Nintendo
- GoldenEye (N64) - Nintendo
- Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Rare
- Donkey Kong Land III (Game Boy) - Nintendo
1998
- Banjo-kazooie (N64) - Nintendo
1999
- Conker's Pocket Tales (GBC) - Rare
- Jet Force Gemini (N64) - Rare
- Donkey Kong 64 (N64) - Nintendo
- Mickey�s Racing Adventure (GBC) - Nintendo
2000s
2000
- Perfect Dark (N64, GBC) - Rare
- Donkey Kong Country (GBC) - Nintendo
- Mickey's Speedway USA (N64) - Nintendo
- Banjo-tooie (N64) - Nintendo
2001
- Mickey's Speedway USA (GBC) - Nintendo
- Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64) - Rare
2002
- Star Fox Adventures (GameCube) - Nintendo