Exploring The Gaming Treasures Of Rare Replay: A Comprehensive Review

Writing a review for Rare Replay is among the most bizarre tasks imaginable in video game journalism. Think about it: this isn’t just a review of one game, it’s a review of thirty. On top of that, these are thirty titles from a studio that countless gamers hold in extremely high regard and nearly all of them are regarded as great in some fashion. Okay, maybe throwing Kameo: Elements of Power and Digger T. Rock into the realm of greatness is a bit of a stretch, but some of the lesser titles included in this package still help to elevate it as one of the best values in gaming today. While some of the games in Rare Replay don’t necessarily hold up to the test of time (namely the non-Jetpac ZX Spectrum titles and Jet Force Gemini) and two inclusions contain notable technical issues, it’s nearly impossible to argue that any Xbox One owner shouldn’t have Rare Replay permanently installed. Whether this is a trip down memory lane or a wonderful history lesson, there’s enough content here to keep players satisfied for months on end.

With the average review consisting of 1200-1500 words, there’s no way on Earth that this will actually be a full 45,000 word novel detailing the pros and cons of each title included in Rare Replay. While there might be a sad soul out there who wants to read something like that, for the sake of conciseness, entertainment and my own personal sanity, this review will essentially be broken into multiple groups of titles. While playing through Rare Replay, there were a few distinct categories that every game seemed to fall into: classics that work in 2015, games that are okay today but were better in their day, interesting history lessons that haven’t aged well and games that are basically unplayable for whatever reason. The latter two groups actually make the daunting idea of thirty games in one package feel a lot more manageable, especially the group of games that serve as an interesting window into games of yesteryear.

Unpacking the Classics: Which Games Still Hold Up?

Okay, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: which games in Rare Replay are still amazing in 2015? It’s definitely a pleasure to say that a fair chunk of the thirty included titles still feel just as good as they did when they were released. Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Battletoads, R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Grabbed by the Ghoulies (okay, maybe this isn’t a classic, but whatever), Viva Piñata and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise all fall into this wonderful category. Every one of these games feels like an individual highlight worth playing through all over again, which is definitely the reason you’re here right? The NES titles on this list are the greatest surprise, as something about racing down the hills in Slalom or racing your tiny car in R.C. Pro-Am is just as fun in 2015 as it was years ago.

Of course, Battletoads and Battletoads Arcade are their own beasts entirely, as these seem to be the games headlining this massive collection, as evidenced by the massive Battletoad in the Rare Replay logo. While there are a bunch of people out there who think that this franchise is some B-grade Ninja Turtles ripoff, there’s something oddly satisfying about how tight the mechanics are in these two titles. Viva Piñata still might be the best looking Xbox 360 game of all time, and the art design in this garden simulator will certainly stand the test of time. If there’s any reason for you to purchase Rare Replay, it’s these games right here, as they not only show some of the best aspects of Rare’s work, but these are titles that are going to be fantastic for many years to come.

The Banjo-Kazooie Dilemma: A New Perspective

While there are a great deal of people who enjoy the Banjo Kazooie games today, these titles feel like they’ve ushered in some of the worst aspects of modern open-world design. The first two Banjo titles bring up an interesting question: would games like Assassin’s Creed have as many worthless collectibles if these games never existed? Sure, games like Super Mario 64 had a heavy emphasis on collection, Kazooie and Tooie feel like they took the idea to a whole new level. It’s for this reason that these two games highlight the selection of titles in Rare Replay that are intriguing lessons in the history of video games, but not necessarily the greatest experiences you can have in 2015.

There isn’t inherently wrong with this next group of games, which includes Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Solar Jetman, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle ’n’ Roll, Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power and Jetpac Refueled, but these aren’t necessarily the titles that you’re likely going to be spending the majority of your time with. One interesting point to bring up is that the two Perfect Dark games have aged much better than one would think due to their advanced controls (with the former having modern first-person shooter mechanics due to its Xbox 360 remake). Make no mistake, these games definitely feel dated, but it’s fascinating to think about how these titles, however controversial, found a way to move their genre forward.

Understanding the Technical Limitations: What Doesn’t Work

Now is where things start to get a bit more controversial. Jetpac, Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Digger T. Rock and Blast Corps all definitely feel like meaningful inclusions in this compilation, but the sad thing is that they’re not all that fun to play in 2015. This is definitely a function of the fact that modern games have learned a great deal of lessons from these titles and have improved certain mechanics so much that it’s tough to go back. It’s likely that a decent amount of older gamers out there still enjoy games from the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, but all of the games from these systems in Rare Replay feel far too dated at this point.

There are also weird moments in these games that definitely show the fact that these are largely straight ports. Conker’s Bad Fur Day, for instance, has dedicated Xbox One controller buttons in the tutorial, but the dialogue itself still mentions the N64 button prompts. While the task of porting thirty games over to a new system is no small task, it would have been nice to see a few changes made to make these titles feel a bit more at home on Xbox One. It’s also worth noting that Blast Corps currently contains the one of the most glaring technical issues in Rare Replay, as its audio can completely drop out at times, sullying the experience.

Final Thoughts: A Must-Have for Xbox One Owners

Rare Replay isn’t without its minor hiccups, understandable in such a vast collection, but it’s something that should be in every Xbox One owner’s collection. Even though Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Blast Corps have their share of technical issues and the ZX Spectrum titles included have aged roughly, it’s going to be almost impossible not to enjoy yourself here. Through its interface and additional content, Rare has composed a collection of ports that actually feels like a product of love rather than a way to get some extra cash before Sea of Thieves comes out. Whether you’re rushing through Battletoads’ Turbo Tunnel, jumping over moguls in Slalom, doing the Romance Dance in Viva Piñata or collecting every note in Banjo-Tooie, there are hours and hours of entertainment to be had here.

When Microsoft announced that Rare Replay was a real thing at E3 2015, everyone with an Xbox One rejoiced at the perceived value of this collection. It’s a joy to report that this perception is, without doubt, a bona fide reality.