Remakes, remasters and re-releases. I’m sure we’ve all had just about as many of them as we’re able to stomach. “If I have to play another re-release of an old game,” I said not weeks ago, “I’ll cut one – or all – of the junior staff.” But then something comes along to challenge everything. That thing is Rare Replay. It’s more than just a collection of the company’s old games – it’s a pure celebration of Rare’s storied, 30 year-long legacy.

It’s a collection of 30 games, some older than many of you – with others barely a few years old. There aren’t many developers on this planet who’ve been in the business for long enough to do such a thing, and fewer still who could do it so well.

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For interest’s sake, here’s the list of games that come with Rare Replay – which retails locally for around R375:

Jetpac, Lunar Jetman, Atic Atac, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, Solar Jetman, Digger T. Rock, 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, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refuelled, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and finally, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

That’s a lot of games. There are obvious omissions, and Rare fans will likely moan about the lack of Goldeneye and the Donkey Kong Country Games, but there’s enough here to make up for it.

RareReplay2

The whole thing’s presented, beautifully I might add, as an old-timey arcade, allowing you to scroll through the large selection of games and hop in and out of them. While none of them have been given any remaster treatment, they’ve all been updated with the correct button prompts and mapped rather well to the Xbox One’s controller. Most of the older games have some new features; the ability to save and load anywhere at will, and for especially difficult ones, the opportunity to rewind by holding in a button. Clicking in R3 on the older games simulates that old-school CRT fuzz.

Of course, any package of this sort relies very much on nostalgia, and whether or not the games contained in the collection invoke those fuzzy, warm sort of feelings that would only otherwise come from peeing in one’s pants. Having grown up as the proud owner of one of Britain’s favourite computers, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, many of the games that made up Rare’s early catalogue – back when they were called Ultimate Play the Game – were instantly familiar, nostalgic experiences.

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I love jumping back in to Jetpac, in all of its eight colour glory, dungeon crawling in Atic Atac and falling to my death in Underwurlde – for about five minutes before realising that many of these terribly old games just don’t hold up very well beyond their nostalgic value. While seeing them all again – without having to sit through alternating blue and red, and then blue and yellow lines before they loaded – brought a great big smile to my face, playing many of the older games didn’t.

Of course, playing Battletoads again was a delight. Rare’s classic beat-em-up is still the stuff of dreams (that turn to nightmares) – but it was the oft-ignored Battletoads Arcade (with its very necessary unlimited continues!) that I appreciated most, as it’s one of the few games in the collection that I’d never played before.

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Many of the older games benefit from a mode called “snapshots,” which borrows a bit from Nintendo’s recent NES Remix, by adding a few minigame like challenges to the mix. Can you amass 5000 points in under a minute in Cobra Triangle?

Interestingly, about a third of the games in the collection are Xbox 360 titles, developed since Microsoft’s acquisition of the company in the Xbox era. And here, they’re the actual 360 releases, available to play through the Xbox One’s newly added backwards compatibility. As such, they download and install separately – and can be launched externally from the collection too. As a look at the Xbox One’s impending backwards compatibility, it shows that it’ll be very nearly flawless. Playing the underappreciated Kameo and Nuts and Bolts was wonderful – with no hitches or glitches on the emulation to be found. It’s really rather impressive stuff.

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It’s not just old games that you’ll get to experience in this collection either. Playing through the games in Rare Replay earns stamps, which are then used to unlock things like videos; delightful recollections of how a game was developed, by the people who made them. Some videos offer looks at cancelled projects, others still at some unreleased music. There’s a nasty, linear progression system at play here though, and you’ll likely have to sink countless hours in to these game to unlock the videos you want to watch.

RareReplay1

I suspect though, with the Spectrum’s limited impact on South Africa’s gaming landscape, and the fact that the Super Nintendo and the N64 weren’t officially released here, that Rare’s not quite as revered here as it is in much the rest of the world. It’s a pity, because it means this wonderful collection of vintage and not so vintage games is likely to be glossed over locally, when it should revered – like a collection of fine art in some haughty museum.

Last Updated: August 11, 2015

Rare Replay
Rare Replay is more than a collection of old games from one of the most revered developers in the world. It's a digital museum that stands as a testament to how wonderful and wondrous video games have been, and continue to be.
8.5
Rare Replay was reviewed on Xbox One
84 / 100

53 Comments

  1. Pieter Kruger

    August 11, 2015 at 12:36

    Ahhh the ZX Spectrum, those were the days….???? Haven’t picked this up yet, but saw it opened at no.1 on UK charts!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      August 11, 2015 at 12:37

      You might be older than me 😛

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        August 11, 2015 at 12:38

        And much MUCH wiser…….

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          August 11, 2015 at 12:38

          XD

          Reply

        • Brady miaau

          August 11, 2015 at 12:41

          Wow. MUCH you say.

          Can we quantify that?

          (b the way, I think you are both pretty wise peoples, judging from both your comments and the way you comment, but you are very different people)

          No, we cannot. Sorry. Equally wise, some strengths, some weakness’s.

          Reply

    • FoxOneZA

      August 11, 2015 at 14:37

      It’s R275 for Gold members the last time I checked.

      No. 1 on the UK charts? Everyones gone to the Xbox?

      Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    August 11, 2015 at 12:36

    Never heard of them.

    Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    August 11, 2015 at 12:36

    Finally, something the XBOX One can run at 60fps at all times.

    Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      August 11, 2015 at 12:47

      You joke! I unlocked a jacket in inFamous second son last night, it was labelled the “X-bone” jacket, it probably is the only Xbone at 60-fps….

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        August 11, 2015 at 12:50

        Dear Lord, you still forced to play that game?? ????

        Reply

        • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

          August 11, 2015 at 12:52

          Hahaha, no actually, did it by choice, quite enjoyed it actually, runs better than Prototype….

          Reply

    • WitWolfy

      August 11, 2015 at 12:52

      And it isnt even using DX12 yet, what a time to be alive!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        August 11, 2015 at 13:08

        hahaha

        Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        August 11, 2015 at 13:12

        What will Sony use to get all their games running at 60fps…?????

        Reply

        • WitWolfy

          August 11, 2015 at 15:48

          If you haven’t noticed yet… I was being sarcastic…

          Reply

  4. Brady miaau

    August 11, 2015 at 12:37

    MY first exposure to code and coding was on a ZX Spectrum.

    Ah yes, with tapes.

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      August 11, 2015 at 12:41

      Mine first experiences were actually with the Texas instruments Ti/99A and Vic 20, using BASIC. Moved on to the Speccy, and loved the shit out of that machine. At some point, I decided that i hated coding anything, and dropped it like a potato.

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        August 11, 2015 at 12:45

        Hey, I am, right now, writing code to test something on a Texas Instrument CPU (far more advanced than that one! – but still a baby when compared to even a very basic smartphone). Not in basic (thank all that is holy) but in C. Native, pure C.

        Basic was a bit silly in places. Goto line 12543. Or was it 12454? Feck. drop it.

        Pascal was not much better, for me, but streets ahead. I wish I knew C/C++ in the early 90’s, as teenyager, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

        Reply

        • Geoffrey Tim

          August 11, 2015 at 12:46

          It was around the times of Pascal/Turbo pascal that I started hating coding and everything about it. Made some silly things, like a slot machine game, and did some silly animation in TP, and died a little inside.
          Maybe with the right motivation, it could have been something I explored further.

          Reply

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 12:48

            No, I feel you. I also hated it after a while. Now, with modern techniques, these things are much, much easier.

            I wrote a 5 card draw poker game in Pascal at age 14. Had a “deck” engine, shuffle cards, that sort of thing. Keep track of where we are. Last real thing I did till I hit 20.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 11, 2015 at 12:49

            Turbo Pascal taught me to hate coding.

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 12:50

            Indeed! Indeed…..

            Object oriented? Hmm. Unit this, Pascal.

            AND up yours Delphi too, just because of Turbo Pascal. No other reason.

          • Sageville

            August 11, 2015 at 12:52

            You would have loved COBOL….

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 11, 2015 at 12:57

            I actually did love COBOL hehe. I found that really easy to learn. And Java.

            Hated C, but that was more because of the lecturer, and the worst of the bunch… Assembly.

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 12:59

            Assembly is tricky. Processor and compiler make some real changes in how you do it. For intel, on PC, welcome to pain (not that I know a lot there). But for the micro-cpus, still tricky, but seems to be much, much better (have dabbled in that)

            Also, I like languages with few keywords and commands, but can do much with them.

          • FoxOneZA

            August 11, 2015 at 14:40

            Needed a little program to cut a certain segment of work time by 60% last week and wrote a Pascal program in about and hour. Simple, clean, easy DOS style 🙂

      • Sageville

        August 11, 2015 at 12:50

        Casio PC100, Commodore Vic 20 (Got me hooked as a coder), ZX Spectrum 128k…

        Oh the feels….

        Reply

  5. Brady miaau

    August 11, 2015 at 12:42

    I have not played a single one of these games.

    Assume I buy RIGHT noiw (which I might), then I cannot play the Perfect Dark games because my Xbox One has not been knobbled into doing the backwards compat thing.

    Wait? Nostaliga not such an issue with me.

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      August 11, 2015 at 12:43

      No, if you buy now, they’ll all work. 🙂

      It’s R275 at the moment to buy digitally, but it does come in at about 50Gb.

      https://store.xbox.com/en-ZA/Xbox-One/Bundle/Rare-Replay/bc5c9721-2752-489e-851a-aa2aa039a23c

      Reply

      • Geoffrey Tim

        August 11, 2015 at 12:44

        Price is worth it just for the 9 Xbox 360 games, tbh.

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          August 11, 2015 at 12:52

          Well, you can now with certainty say your review garnered at least one sale from a fence sitter.

          I assume the publisher ask you to review in the hope that you do garner sales, but this must be a tricky thing to track.

          Reply

          • Geoffrey Tim

            August 11, 2015 at 12:54

            Try not to become too addicted to Viva Pinata. Give it a serious go: beneath that cutesy gloss lies digital crack.

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 12:55

            I will. Luckily (???)( I have limited time at the moment. Baby stayed awake quite late last few nights, eats into my game time. I must find baby friendly games, cause Witcher 3 and Mordor are not it. Baby cannot wonder in and see that on the screen, hell no.

            (Gentle parenting techniques, by the way – baby led activity unless where can harm).

          • Geoffrey Tim

            August 11, 2015 at 12:59

            Viva pinata is perfect for that. 😉

      • Brady miaau

        August 11, 2015 at 12:48

        Bought. Space may be an issue, but can delete some demos.

        Reply

    • Pieter Kruger

      August 11, 2015 at 12:43

      You not in the preview program?

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        August 11, 2015 at 12:46

        No, I am not. I am concerned that it might stuff up my gaming AND media needs. I come home, switch one, watch Netflix or play game. No mess, no fuss.

        Reply

        • Pieter Kruger

          August 11, 2015 at 12:48

          Never had any issues, just a lot of background downloads sometimes but worth it to get all the new stuff early! ????

          Reply

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 12:50

            Perhaps we check it out.

            How do you join preview program? (look at how lazy AND not working I am)

          • Pieter Kruger

            August 11, 2015 at 12:51

            Send me your Gamertag, I’ll invite you!

          • Geoffrey Tim

            August 11, 2015 at 12:51

            You need to be invited. I was invited, but it didn’t seem to stick, so I’m *not* in the program either.

  6. WitWolfy

    August 11, 2015 at 12:51

    No offence, but I can play 85% of these titles on my phone if I really wanted.

    Reply

    • Pieter Kruger

      August 11, 2015 at 12:53

      Then what’s the need for a Playstation 4? 99% Of those games you can also play on your phone!

      Reply

      • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

        August 11, 2015 at 12:53

        You hate Sony don’t you?

        Reply

        • Brady miaau

          August 11, 2015 at 12:56

          I seem to recall, despite his comments supporting Xbox one, he said he wants to get a PS4 (or has one)

          Mr Kruger, if I am wrong, please correct.

          Reply

          • Pieter Kruger

            August 11, 2015 at 13:08

            You are in fact incorrect! ????

          • K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)

            August 11, 2015 at 13:23

            The power of Bloodborne compels you!

          • Pieter Kruger

            August 11, 2015 at 13:29

            Bloodborne looked very nice, not sure why it didn’t sell so well to be honest, but with a new Dark Souls game coming it’s not compelling enough sadly!????

          • Brady miaau

            August 11, 2015 at 15:09

            oops, sorry.

      • WitWolfy

        August 11, 2015 at 12:54

        Did I hurt your feelings? Good!

        Reply

  7. Kevin Brunsdon

    August 11, 2015 at 13:26

    For anyone interested it’s R250 for the digital copy. Was shocked to read the physical one went for R375

    Reply

  8. Gardos

    August 11, 2015 at 13:29

    This is a steal at R249 on the Xbox Store. Admittedly, I only grew up with PC games (mainly point and click stuff) so I haven’t played any of these but surely for that price I won’t even need the nostalgia factor?!

    Reply

  9. Dutch Matrix

    August 11, 2015 at 13:58

    Battletoads. *Whimpers. Crawls into a corner. Weeps. Wraps blanky around myself…

    Reply

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