Top 5 Best Rare Remakes

Do a little research and you’ll find that humanity has been passing the same stories and legends down through generations for ages as timeless tales with morals that still hold up today. Do a bit more interesting research and you’ll find that through it’s 25 years of gaming innovation, Rare has taken some of their best titles, tore them down to their ankles, and reworked them on a new console to feature spangly new graphics, remastered sound and even a bonus feature or two that makes an original even better, years after it released. We’ve scoured Rare’s history to bring you the best of the best with the Top 5 Rare Remakes that have gone on to solidify Rare’s legacy while introducing a score of older titles to a newer generation.


#5. DONKEY KONG COUNTRY (GAMEBOY COLOR)


While Rare had previously pushed the limits of what the monoscreened Gameboy Color was capable of following the release of Perfect Dark GBC, this perfect predecessor would hardly be their last venture into cramming cartridges. Thus in 2000, Rare ported their original celebrated SNES classic Donkey Kong Country to Gameboy Color where gamers young and old could take DK on the go. Rather than just rehashing the past and leaving the original as it was, Rare managed to cram a number of bonus games into the cartridge as well such as Crosshair Cranky and Funky Fishing to test players mettle in reeling in some fishy fun along the coast of DK Island and taking steady aim at an army Kremlings in various scenarios in hopes of a high score. Not a detail was sparred in transferring Donkey Kong’s original adventure over to Gameboy Color and they even managed to spare enough space to include a secret bonus level that only the most hardened of Donkey Kong Country gamers would manage to uncover…


#4. DONKEY KONG COUNTRY GBA TRILOGY


What ranks higher for us than having the original Donkey Kong Country title readily available on the Gameboy Color? How about grabbing hold of the entire DKC trilogy scaled down into teeny-tiny Gameboy Advance cartridges? Released from 2003 through to 2005, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on Gameboy Advance touts the same exciting adventures from the past with graphics that rivaled even that of the SNES, with a plethora of bonus features to be had in each title. Notable Bonus games include a reinstating of Funky’s Fishing from Gameboy Color, flying Funky’s Flights helicopter haphazardly through a bramble course akin to Animal Antics, and even play as Cranky Kong wielding a tennis racket in his nimble dodging Dojo minigame. Players were also tasked with a time-attack mode that would see them attempting to best the Rare time in each of the levels with DK Attack and Diddy’s Dash in the first two remakes, while Dixie would run along a pipeline for each world collecting stars in Swanky’s Dash.


#3. CONKER LIVE & RELOADED


Akin to a drunkard clutching his head the morning after and mumbling “never again”, it seemed that Conker’s titular adventure on Nintendo 64 would signal the last of the red squirrels hungover habits leading him down the road of tragedy and regret. But with another round to be had and last call still an eon away, Conker returned to form for his second – and quite similar – Bad Fur Day for the original Xbox. In this retooled and cheeky campaign, Conker saw himself reliving the events of BFD with several new additions and uncooth characters that would send aficionados of the original adventure for a spin, and the sobering squirrel on a journey of self-discovery via smashing relentlessly through the fourth wall. Far from giving the older title a spangly new makeover – though beautiful one at that- Live & Reloaded also featured the brilliant inclusion of an online mode that took the feuding Squirrel and Tediz bold beginnings from the Nintendo 64 and turned it into an all out warfare!


#2. PERFECT DARK XBLA


It’s Dark. She’s Perfect. Perfect for a remake perhaps; as Joanna Darks fate would see her facing off against the insidious dataDyne Corporation a second time with her restyled original adventure appearing on Xbox Live Arcade in 2010. While Perfect Dark looked fantastic in its time, it has gotten on a bit, even for being set 12 years from now. Fortunately Perfect Dark XBLA has taken the original appearance into the future, with a spangly sci-fi exterior that 2023 would be proud to claim it’s own. As the spiritual successor to earlier Goldeneye 007 for Nintendo 64, Perfect Dark conquered the masses with its brilliant multiplayer mode which has now extended itself to a fantastic online mode. Joannas initial adventure also saw itself the perfect candidate for a collection of heady Achievements to be unlocked in both online play and campaign, which provided some additional incentive to smash every bottle in Daniel Carringtons’ Wine Cellar aside from him telling you to grow up, of course.


#1. BANJO-KAZOOIE & BANJO-TOOIE XBLA


Following the wake of Banjo-Kazooie: Nut’s & Bolts just three short years ago on this day, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie found themselves launched onto Xbox Live where it would find common ground with gamers young and old. If you managed to preorder Banjo-Kazooie: Nut’s & Bolts before it was released, you’d receive the first adventure completely free which was a joy to see play out with crisp new graphics and intuitive controls. The sequel was seen in even higher regard with its remake, as the slowdown that had perpetuated the release on Nintendo 64 was all but a fleeting memory with the new revamped Xbox 360 release. Perhaps the best feature of all? A functional connection to Stop ‘N’ Swop; a dropped feature that would have seen players swapping items between both successful sequels on Nintendo 64 which now included Banjo-Kazooie: Nut’s & Bolts in the formula with exclusive vehicle parts. Now if only Rare would tell us what the mysterious Stop ‘N’ Swop II was alluding to…

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