Rare

   

Rare, also called Rareware, is a United Kingdom-based video game development company. Rare was a former second-party developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms for several years, but has since been acquired by Microsoft. It was founded in 1985 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper.

Rare was originally started as Ashby Computer Graphics (A.C.G) though they would sometimes release their games under the name Ultimate Play The Game.

Company overview

Rare is the company behind many of the most famous games for Nintendo: Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country, 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.

It has been a cutting-edge company because its games have always employed some of the latest graphics technology. Its most renowned success was Donkey Kong Country, due to its use of pre-rendered 3D graphics on a 2D console. Later, 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% interests in Rare to Microsoft for the sum of US375 million, which allowed Microsoft to secure all Rare products as exclusives for their own Xbox console. Following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company. The trademarks of the characters from the games that Rare made for Nintendo consoles were retained by Rare (apart from IP originally developed by Nintendo, i.e. Donkey Kong, Star Fox). Despite the acquisition, Rare still develops games for Game Boy Advance. Rare has never developed games for Sony consoles.

List of games

This partial list of games developed by Rare uses the following construct:

gamename (system(s)) - brand

Where gamename is the name of the game it developed, system(s) are the computer systems the game was developed for and brand is the brand the game was released under.

1980s

1983

  • 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

1984

  • 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

1985

  • 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

1986

  • 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

1987

  • Martianoids(ZX Spectrum) - Ultimate Play The Game
  • Bubbler (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad) - Ultimate Play The Game
  • Slalom (NES) - Nintendo

1988

1989

  • 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

1990s

1990

  • 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

1991

  • 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

1992

  • Wizards & Warriors III (NES) - Acclaim
  • Beetlejuice (Game Boy) - LJN
  • Indy Heat (NES) - Tradewest
  • R.C. Pro-Am II (NES) - Tradewest
  • Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive) - Tradewest

1993

  • 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

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000s

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

To Be Released

External links

de:Rareware

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