Rare Ltd.

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Rare.jpg
Rare Ltd.
Type Former Second Party
Founded 1982
Status Active, Owned by Microsoft
Base Twycross, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Bestseller Donkey Kong Country
Homepage Homepage
Notable Members Chris Stamper
Tim Stamper
Key Franchises Battletoads
Banjo-Kazooie
Conker
Killer Instinct
Perfect Dark

Rare is a former Nintendo second party company that is now owned by Microsoft. While working with Nintendo, they worked on the Donkey Kong and Star Fox franchises, along with creating a few of their own. They are based in Twycross, Leicestershire, England.

History

Ultimate - Play the Game

Rare was founded by Tim and Chris Stamper in 1982 as Ashby Computer Graphics. Under the label "Ultimate Play the Game," they published games for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. They struck gold with Jetpac, which the critics loved. They went on to release 14 games Spectrum. In 1985, they sold their name to U.S. Gold and took on the name "Rare."

Rare and Nintendo

Seeing the Nintendo Entertainment System, the brothers knew that was the future of gaming and developed games for it. They impressed the company president of the time, Minoru Arakawa, with a demo and he agreed to publish some of their games. They created almost 60 games for the NES.

During the early days of the Super Nintendo, Rare didn't produce much besides a few Battletoads games. They were determined to create something that would blow people away. This came in the form of Donkey Kong Country with 3D graphics.

After Donkey Kong Country, Rare came up with the arcade game Killer Instinct. Nintendo was so impressed with the upcoming home version of the game that they bought 25% of the companies shares and made them a second party developer.

On the Nintendo 64, Rare continued with Donkey Kong, but made a name for themselves with their own franchises. Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark all enjoyed their audiences. Their most groundbreaking work, however, was Goldeneye 007.

In 2002, Rare released their last game for Nintendo: Star Fox Adventures.

Rare and Microsoft

In 2002, the Stamper brothers left Rare and sold their 51% of the company's shares to Microsoft. Nintendo, realizing that Microsoft now controlled the company, sold their shares to Microsoft as well.

Since then, Rare has continued it's own series with Perfect Dark Zero and Conker: Live and Reloaded. It has also created original games for Microsoft including Grabbed by Ghoulies and Viva Pinata.

Though they now work for Microsoft, they still develop games for Nintendo's handhelds. They have mostly made remakes of their Donkey Kong games, the most recent being Diddy Kong Racing DS. They also made several games for the Game Boy Advance featuring their own characters that were originally featuring the Donkey Kong characters (such as It's Mr. Pants!, which was originally Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers, and Banjo Pilot, which started as Diddy Kong Pilot).

Games

Nintendo Consoles

Nintendo Entertainment System

  • A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • Anticipation
  • Arch Rivals
  • Battletoads
  • Battletoads / Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
  • Beetlejuice
  • Cabal
  • California Games
  • Captain Skyhawk
  • Cobra Triangle
  • Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
  • Digger T. Rock: The Legend of the Lost City
  • Double Dare
  • High Speed
  • Hollywood Squares
  • IronSword: Wizards & Warriors II
  • Jeopardy!
  • Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary
  • Jeopardy! Jr.
  • John Elway's Quarterback Challenge
  • Jordan vs. Bird One-on-One
  • Marble Madness
  • Pin Bot
  • Pirates!
  • R.C. Pro-AM
  • R.C. Pro-AM II
  • Sesame Street 1-2-3
  • Sesame Street 1-2-3 & A-B-C
  • Sesame Street A-B-C
  • Silent Service
  • Slalom
  • Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
  • Solar Jetman
  • Super Glove Ball
  • Super Off-Road
  • Taboo: The Sixth Sense
  • Time Lord
  • WWF WrestleMania Challenge
  • WWF Wrestlemania
  • Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition
  • Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White
  • Wheel of Fortune: Junior Edition
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  • Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros Visions of Power
  • World Games

Super Nintendo

Nintendo 64

  • Banjo-Kazooie
  • Banjo-Tooie
  • Blast Corps
  • Conker's Bad Fur Day
  • Diddy Kong Racing
  • Donkey Kong 64
  • GoldenEye 007
  • Jet Force Gemini
  • Killer Instinct Gold
  • Mickey's Speedway USA
  • Perfect Dark

Gamecube

Nintendo Handhelds

Gameboy

  • Battletoads
  • Battletoads / Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
  • Battletoads in Ragnarok's World
  • Beetlejuice
  • Donkey Kong Land
  • Donkey Kong Land 2
  • Donkey Kong Land 3
  • Fortress of Fear: Wizards & Warriors X
  • Killer Instinct
  • Monster Max
  • Sneaky Snakes
  • Super R.C. Pro-Am
  • The Amazing Spider-Man
  • WWF Superstars

Gameboy Color

  • Conker's Pocket Tales
  • Donkey Kong Country
  • Mickey's Racing Adventure
  • Mickey's Speedway USA
  • Perfect Dark

Gameboy Advance

Nintendo DS

Arcade

  • Killer Instinct
  • Killer Instinct 2
  • Super Battletoads
  • X The Ball

Other Consoles

SEGA Master System

  • Battlemaniacs

SEGA Genesis

  • Battletoads
  • Battletoads / Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
  • Championship Pro-AM
  • Snake Rattle 'n' Roll

Xbox

  • Conker: Live & Reloaded
  • Grabbed by the Ghoulies
  • Kameo: Elements of Power

Xbox 360

  • Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
  • Jetpac Refueled
  • Kameo: Elements of Power
  • Perfect Dark Zero
  • Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

Other Handhelds

SEGA Game Gear

  • Battletoads

Home Computers

Amstrad

  • Alien 8
  • Cyberun
  • Gunfright
  • Knightlore
  • Nightshade
  • Sabre Wulf

BBC Mirco

  • Alien 8
  • Cosmic Battlezones
  • Jetpac
  • Knightlore
  • Lunar Jetman
  • Nightshade
  • Sabre Wulf

Commodore 64

  • Blackwyche
  • Dragonskulle
  • Entombed
  • Imhotep
  • Nightshade
  • Outlaws
  • Sabre Wulf
  • The Staff of Karnath
  • Underwurlde

Commodore Vic-20

  • Jetpac

MSX2

  • Alien 8
  • Cyberun
  • Gunfright
  • Knightlore
  • Nightshade
  • Pentagram

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

  • Alien 8
  • 'Atic Atac
  • Bubbler
  • Cookie
  • Cyberun
  • Gunfright
  • Jetpac
  • Knightlore
  • Lunar Jetman
  • Martianoids
  • Nightshade
  • Pentagram
  • Pssst!
  • Sabre Wulf
  • The Collected Works
  • Tranz Am
  • Underwurlde
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