5 Ways Rare Did Platformers Better Than Most

In the late '90s, no third party developer could touch Rare with a fifty foot pole. Hell, the quality of work in their games sometimes rivaled some first party titles on the market at the time. While games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye had their impact on the gaming industry, no one can deny that Rare's bread and butter were their platforms. In fact, Nintendo Power  (Nintendo's now defunct propaganda magazine) declared Donkey Kong 64 game of year the same year Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., and Pokemon Gold/Silver were released.

All that and we haven't even talked about the masterpieces that are Banjo Kazooie and its sequel, Banjo Tooiee.

And the game that I was barred from playing until I was out of my parents' house: Conkers Bad Fur Day.

Of course Rare has since died a more-than-horrible slow death at the hands of Microsoft, but hope is on the horizon. Steven Mayles (creator of Banjo Kazooie and no longer a part of Rare) announced a kickstarter for Yooka Laylee, a spiritual successor to the former Rare platformers we knew and loved. The fact that it's raised (as of print) more than $1.75 million over its initial goal should speak volumes to how much gamers remember what made these games great, but in case you need a refresher, I'll break it down.

Widespread Appeal

Back in the '90s, Nintendo's strategy for widespread appeal was always to keep things as simple as possible. This strategy is employed by many 3D platform developers today. Unfortunately, what works for Nintendo works because their budget and innovative game mechanics always rectify a story that may be somewhat light in depth. Developers continuing attempts to replicate this style and failing have really killed the genre and made games like Skylanders kids-only territory.

While Rare stories were still very much video game stories, it was storytelling using unique characters, and the dialogue was fantastic. A throwaway line by some random character could have me rolling as a kid just as much as an adult, and as an adult I understood the joke. One of Rare's greatest abilities as a developer was striking a balance across the board with kids and adults. The games were challenging, but not impossible. The humor was sometimes chock-full of innuendo that flew above the heads of children, and then someone would fart and everyone would be laughing. It's a "Rare" mixture many developers strive to hit, but none with nearly as much success as these guys.

Music

Perhaps the most exciting news of Yooka Laylee's project is that both the composer of Banjo Kazooie (Grant Kirkhope) and Donkey Kong 64 (David Wise) would be teaming up to make the game's music. What these guys did back on the Nintendo 64 reaches a level that makes some of the cookie cutter orchestral work of this generation seem cheap in comparison.

While both are fantastic, I personally have a soft spot for the work done on Donkey Kong 64. The way David Wise kept the overarching theme of the Donkey Kong music within each level reminded me of a symphony as a kid, and first brought the thought to mind that video games could truly be considered an art form. Music is one of those things that is ignored if it's bad, and an enhancer to a game's appeal if it's good. That being said, there are few games that I'll play just to hear the music, and both of these top the list.

OH, and who can forget the DK RAP?!

Use of Size

Not size in terms of the game, but rather the characters. I remember the first time I battled a boss in Donkey Kong 64, and I was legitimately freaked the f*** out. My mind was racing on how to defeat this giant behemoth of an armadillo and then my cousin was like "just throw the barrel" and I was like "oh." Sure, the boss battles were a bit rudimentary, but they were fun, and beating down a massive villain really made you feel like you were accomplishing something.

Also shout out to that giant hippo that ate the bananas, as the fact he grew was the most amazing thing I had seen in gaming at that time.

Dedication To Story

Need evidence on this one? Let's take a look at Donkey Kong during the pre-Rare era, Rare era, and then post-Rare era

Pre-Rare

• Donkey Kong is a villain in Mario's debut...but he has a game named after him...which is nice.
• Donkey Kong has a son, DK JR, and appears in a couple more games as a side character.

Rare Era

• Donkey Kong loses a son, but gains a family. Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, Wrinkly, Funky, Candy, Lanky, Tiny, Kiddie — all are added to the list, many of which remain canon post-Rare.
• Bananas replace coins, Crystal Coconuts introduced
• King K. Rool and Kremlins introduced
• Minecarts and platforming greatness

Post-Rare

• DK goes back to supporting character for several years
• Gets a racing game based off bongos
• Nintendo finally gets their act together and pawns them off to a 3rd party developer to make it a Rare-style side scroller again.

All that said, Rare's invention of the crystal coconuts led to the worst video game-related show in gaming history...

The Meta

There was nothing cooler to me as a kid than seeing Banjo play a Gameboy on the opening screen of Banjo Kazooie. Or when Bottles threatened to delete my saved games because I kept pestering him? OH! What about when you could play all of the original Donkey Kong on DK64? Game immersion is fun and all, but I'm a sucker for games that constantly remind you they are games...and Rare did this perhaps best of all.