Back in 1994 the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was at its height with Super Metroid having just been released. It was during this period when Nintendo acquired Rare as a second party and their first title for the SNES was Donkey Kong Country. Following the company’s success with DKC, Rare continued creating successful games like the two Donkey Kong Country sequels as well as Killer Instinct.
Rare went on to be the most prolific second party developer during the N64 era starting with Blast Corps and Killer Instinct Gold as well as revolutionizing the first person shooter with Goldeneye (Which Nintendo failed to capitalize on). Rare cranked out games for the N64 at a rate that no other developer could follow.
However, despite Rare being a driving force for the N64, the Gamecube was a very different story with Star Fox Adventures being Rare’s only release on the system before Microsoft purchased 100% of the company for $375 million. Rare then transferred Kameo: Elements of Power onto Xbox 360 which was in development for the Gamecube.
With the founders of Rare leaving the company in 2007, the developer has become a shadow of itself. But their properties remain strong and if they did return to Nintendo we could see more of these classic titles appear on the virtual console.
I would love to play this on the Virtual Console
Do you think Nintendo should consider buying back Rare or acquire another third party entirely?
