Rare



Rare, formerly known as Rareware, is a Twycross-based (though they started in Ashby-de-la-Zouch) video game development company founded by Chris and Tim Stamper in 1982. They're famous for their pioneering of sophisticated technology to make video games, the sheer amount of crap they get past the radar, the idiosyncratic little mysteries they weave into their games that leave gamers pondering for decades, and their media-shy nature.

They've created some games for the ZX Spectrum, for which they attained most of their early fame (as "Ultimate Play the Game"), and then for Nintendo, for which they earned their second wave of fame, but have since moved on to working under Microsoft.

Games developed/published by Ashby Computers and Graphics/Ultimate Play the Game:

 * Jetpac
 * Lunar Jetman
 * Atic Atac
 * PSSST
 * Tranz Am
 * Cookie
 * Sabre Wulf
 * Underwurlde
 * Knight Lore
 * Pentagram
 * Alien 8
 * Nightshade
 * Cyberun
 * Gunfright
 * Martianoids
 * Bubbler
 * The Staff of Karnath
 * Entombed
 * Blackwyche
 * Dragonskulle
 * Outlaws
 * Imhotep

Games developed/published by Rare (1985-2002):

 * The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy Licensed Game)
 * Anticipation
 * Arch Rivals: A Basket Brawl! (NES version)
 * Banjo-Kazooie
 * Banjo-Tooie
 * Battletoads
 * Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
 * Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
 * Super Battletoads
 * Beetlejuice (NES/Game Boy Licensed Game)
 * Blast Corps
 * Cabal (NES version)
 * Captain Skyhawk
 * Cobra Triangle
 * Conker's Pocket Tales
 * Conkers Bad Fur Day
 * Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (NES version)
 * Digger T. Rock: The Legend of the Lost City
 * Donkey Kong Country
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
 * Donkey Kong Land
 * Donkey Kong Land 2
 * Donkey Kong Land III
 * Diddy Kong Racing
 * Donkey Kong 64
 * Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong
 * Double Dare (NES Licensed Game)
 * F-117 Night Storm
 * Golden Eye 1997 (N64 Licensed Game)
 * High Speed
 * The Hollywood Squares (NES Licensed Game)
 * Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road (NES version)
 * Jeopardy! (NES Licensed Game)
 * Jeopardy! Junior Edition
 * Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition
 * Jet Force Gemini
 * John Elway's Quarterback (NES version)
 * Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run
 * Killer Instinct
 * Killer Instinct
 * Killer Instinct 2
 * Killer Instinct Gold
 * Marble Madness (NES version)
 * Mickey's Racing Adventure (GBC Licensed Game)
 * Mickey's Speedway USA (N64/GBC Licensed Game)
 * Monster Max
 * NARC
 * A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES Licensed Game)
 * Perfect Dark
 * Pinbot
 * RC Pro-Am
 * Super R.C. Pro-Am
 * R.C. Pro-Am II
 * Championship Pro-Am
 * Sesame Street: 123 (NES Licensed Game)
 * Sesame Street: ABC
 * Sesame Street: ABC & 123
 * Sid Meiers Pirates (NES version)
 * Silent Service (NES version)
 * Slalom
 * Snake Rattle and Roll
 * Sneaky Snakes
 * Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
 * Star Fox Adventures
 * Super Glove Ball
 * Taboo: The Sixth Sense
 * Time Lord
 * Wheel of Fortune (NES Licensed Game)
 * Wheel of Fortune: Junior Edition
 * Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (NES Licensed Game)
 * Wizards and Warriors
 * Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II
 * Wizards & Warriors X: The Fortress of Fear
 * Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power
 * WWF Wrestlemania (NES Licensed Game)
 * WWF Wrestlemania Challenge
 * WWF Superstars
 * World Games (NES version)
 * California Games (NES version)
 * X The Ball

Games developed by Rare, a subsidiary of Microsoft:

 * Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
 * Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
 * Banjo-Pilot
 * Conker: Live and Reloaded
 * Grabbed By the Ghoulies
 * It's Mr. Pants
 * Jetpac Refuelled
 * Kameo: Elements of Power
 * Kinect Sports
 * Kinect Sports: Season Two
 * Perfect Dark Zero
 * Viva Pinata
 * Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
 * Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

Tropes associated with Rare:

 * Creator Thumbprint: Keys. Enormous keys, bigger and heavier than the characters, the most famous being the infamous ice key from Banjo-Kazooie / Banjo Tooie. Both Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64 feature gigantic gold keys as plot coupons; finding or using a key is always a momentous occasion.
 * Funny Animal
 * Follow the Leader: It cannot be denied that much of their games during their Nintendo years pretty much imitate another popular game, usually another Nintendo game. Donkey Kong Country imitated Super Mario World. Banjo-Kazooie imitated Super Mario 64. Diddy Kong Racing imitated Mario Kart. Killer Instinct imitated Mortal Kombat. Heck, while they have been making an effort to avoid this during their Microsoft years, the Xbox 360 Avatars blatantly imitate Miis.
 * Gotta Catch Them All: Rare is particularly notorious for this. The trend started in the Donkey Kong Country series, where progressively more and more items were needed to attain One Hundred Percent Completion. Later, Banjo-Kazooie, while a great game, had a rather large number of collectibles. Finally, Donkey Kong 64 took things Up to Eleven and is often accused of killing the "collect-a-thon" genre of 3D platformers.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar (Banjo Tooie). The tradition is carried on into Nuts 'N Bolts as well.
 * Live Item (Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Star Fox Adventures)
 * No Fourth Wall (Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Conker's Bad Fur Day)
 * Self-Deprecation
 * Subverted Kids Show (blatantly in Conkers Bad Fur Day, more subtly in Banjo Tooie)
 * Urban Legend of Zelda (famously in Perfect Dark, even more famously in Banjo-Kazooie)
 * Variable Mix (the Banjo-Kazooie series in particular popularized it)
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential (Conkers Bad Fur Day and Jet Force Gemini)