Rare Replay is a Celebration of all Things Rare. 30 Years of Killer Titles and Basically THE Reason to Buy an Xbox One
In all honesty, I’m a sucker for nostalgic compilation games. Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Gems Collection, Mario All-Stars, Midway Arcade Classics. Knowing this, maybe it was no surprise I’d fall for Rare Replay. Thirty years of titles spanning several consoles (and even arcade machines).
But there’s something special about this one.
I Don’t Need to Get the ’64 Out Anymore
Compilations like these are always going to be a bit hit-and-miss. Titles that I really enjoy may not what others were hoping for and games they wanted may look like filler to me. Rare Replay has chosen its games wisely.
Examples like Blast Corps, Perfect Dark, Killer Instinct Gold mean two things: I don’t need to find connections for my Nintendo 64 (made even more complicated by its British power adapter) or, in the case of Blast Corps and Banjo Kazooie, I can play the old games that got lost with time.
This is helpful because a friend of mine and I simply can’t stop ourselves playing Perfect Dark.
Catch Up on Lost Time
Having missed out on owning an Xbox 360, there were some games, particularly Rare games, that I also missed out on playing. With a few hand-picked titles from that console appearing in Rare Replay, I can experience the other side of the last console generation. Okay, Viva Piñata isn’t exactly ground-breaking but it’s good for a few laughs while we wait for the next Animal Crossing on Wii U.
Definitely looking forward to finally playing Perfect Dark Zero – only after I finish the original once again!
Preservation of Local Splitscreen
Many of the games present in Rare Replay are from a golden era before online multiplayer. The only choice if you wanted to play with friends was to have it all done on the same console. It’s a godsend that the splitscreen was left intact. Not only so the games can be enjoyed in their original state but also because games with local multiplayer are so few and far between in this generation.
Even something as simple as War in Conker’s Bad Fur Day is good because it gives us a reason to share it with friends without committing to another lengthy playthrough.
All in all, Rare Replay is well worth the expense. It’s reasonably priced relative to games these days – especially in Australia. For under $50, you can play a treasure trove of Rare classics: games you miss or games you should have played. There’s nothing quite like that Rare magic because they’re not afraid to open a game with a song and dance.
