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Rare Ltd., sometimes referred to as Rareware, is a United Kingdom-based video game development company. It was founded in 1985 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper. Rare was a second-party developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms for several years, but in 2002 was acquired by Microsoft.
Rare was originally called Ashby Computer Graphics (A.C.G), though they would sometimes release their games under the name Ultimate Play The Game.
Company overview
The 'Golden R' Rare Logo as of 2005. Rare is located in Twycross, England and is the company behind many of the most famous games for Nintendo's various gaming systems: Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country (and its sequels), Killer Instinct, Banjo_Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and Star Fox Adventures.
Its games have always employed some of the latest graphics technology. One of its most critically acclaimed and popular series was the Donkey Kong Country set on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, due to its use of pre-rendered 3D graphics on a 2D console. GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 is also considered by many to be their biggest success, known even today as one of the gold standards for console first-person shooters. GoldenEye 007 went on to sell over eight million copies, a feat nearly unheard of in the video game industry. Rareware's Killer Instinct added several features to the fighting game genre such as autodoubles, linkers and ultras.
In September 2002, the Stamper brothers sold their 51% interest in Rare to Microsoft for the sum of US$375 million; following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company as well. Because of this, Rare is now a first-party developer for Microsoft's Xbox. The trademarks of the characters from the games that Rare made for Nintendo consoles (such as Conker of Conker's Bad Fur Day) were retained by Rare (apart from IP originally developed by Nintendo, i.e. Donkey Kong and Star Fox). Despite the acquisition, Rare still develops games for Game Boy Advance. Rare has never developed for Sony platforms.
August 2003 brought news that Rare and Microsoft had made a deal with THQ to publish Rare's Game Boy Advance games, which as of December 2004 have included Sabre Wulf, a game based on its Ultimate character, and It's Mr. Pants!, a puzzle game featuring the company's unofficial mascot. January 2005 saw the completion of this deal, with the release of Banjo Pilot.
List of games This partial list of games developed by Rare uses the following format: - gamename (system(s)) - publisher(s)
Where gamename is the name of the game it developed, system(s) are the computer systems the game was developed for and publisher(s) are the names of the publishers. Any additional notes will be included after the publishers names.
- Jetpac (ZX Spectrum, BBC, Vic 20) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Atic Atac (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- PSSST (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Tranz Am (ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- 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 Jetman (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
- 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
- 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
- Martianoids(ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Bubbler (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad) - Ultimate Play The Game
- Slalom (NES) - Nintendo
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Wizards & Warriors III: Visions of Power (NES) - Acclaim
- Beetlejuice (Game Boy) - LJN
- Indy Heat (NES) - Tradewest
- R.C. Pro-Am II (NES) - Tradewest
- Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive) - Tradewest
- 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
2000s
- Perfect Dark (N64, GBC) - Nintendo
- Donkey Kong Country (GBC) - Nintendo
- Mickey's Speedway USA (N64) - Nintendo
- Banjo-Tooie (N64) - Nintendo
- Donkey Kong GB: Dixie and Kiddy Kong (GBC) - Nintendo (Japan-only colorized Donkey Kong Land III)
In Development - Kameo: Elements of Power (Xbox) - Microsoft (on indefinite hold as of 2004, though retail websites have mid to late 2005 release dates for it)
- Conker: Live & Reloaded (Xbox) - Microsoft (expected May, 2005)
- Perfect Dark Zero (unknown) - Microsoft (presumed to be waiting for Xbox Next; expected in late 2005 or holiday 2006)
- Banjo-Kazooie 3 (no information available)
External links - Official Rare website (http://www.rareware.com)
- Ultimate Wurlde (http://www.ultimate-wurlde.com/), a Rare fansite
- Mundo Rare (http://www.mundorare.com/), a Rare fansite (spanish)
- Open Directory Project listing (http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Developers_and_Publishers/R/Rare/)
- The Rarewitch Project (http://www.rarewitchproject.com/), an infamous Rare fansite specializing in unlocking Rare game secrets. Also contains Beta Image codes and Reviews
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