The 10th Hour 11.07.08: Top 10 RARE Games

Posted by Derek Robbins on 11.07.2008

With the release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, the 10th Hour looks back on some of the best games RARE has ever released. 411's Derek Robbins ranks his top-10 RARE games of all time. Did your favorites make the cut? There's only one way to find out!

Hello and welcome to the 10th hour! As always, before I get things started, allow me to hit on a couple of tangents first.

-I am a game writer and I know you really don't give a shit about my political leanings so I'll leave this short and sweet. I am pleased Barack Obama won and I wish him luck in the coming years.

-I have been playing Star Ocean on the PSP…and now I'm ashamed of myself for not having played the game before. The fighting is a bit mash-friendly but the story is really impressive (so far)…and I'd really recommend you guys who haven't tried it out to purchase this game. I know, me recommending a PSP game…seems odd, right? Well, just go with it!

-So did you hear the great rumors out there? You know, the ones concerning the Chicago Cubs? Well, you probably haven't (unless you're a weirdo like me who enjoys baseball during the non-baseball months). That's what I'm here for! The Cubs are rumored to be "The Team to Beat" in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes. Pull this shit off, Jimbo!

Reader feedback

So last week I rated the top-10 party games, let's see what you had to say!

Long time rival Mark Salmela notes something I forgot.

NBA JAM!!!!!

Damn you Derek... Torture it is...

…I knew I forgot something. Why does this always happen to me?

Some harsh words from Spank

No Buzz and no Singstar makes this list worthless.

You talk about DDR but literally anyone can sing into a mic, you don't get more accessible than that.

As for Buzz, everyone likes to answer questions when watching TV quiz shows - Buzz is a natural extension of that.

But no, you're right. THQ Wrestling, Mario Kart et al are better party games... lol.

Seriously, this list should be Top 10 Local-Multiplayer games. Party Gaming suggests accessibility, easy to pick up. Something which most on your list are not.

Right, because it's your opinion makes you totally right, eh? Anyhow, maybe you have a point…perhaps it should have been local multiplayer games. I think most of the games on my list are RATHER easy to pick up, but to each his own.

Also, I think I did drop the ball on no singstar, but I was not going to put something like Buzz on the list. When I was designing the list, I had "kinda casual" in mind, and I'm afraid Buzz is a bit more than that. It's a fun quiz show experience, but seriously? I'd probably sooner play trivial pursuit in a party than that.

Toddo gives me a warning

Jordan is not lying man.. Do not drink Everclear straight... It's a bad deal. And if you do drink it, make sure you have a stomache pump nearby.

So that's why I don't remember much of my Halloween…

Professional commenter RavenTazECW remembers the glory days of arcade sports titles.

I'm surprised you didn't mention NBA Jam or NFL Blitz, though Blitz I could sort of see since it's pretty much a 2-player game. 4-player Jam sessions were awesome. The list is good, though. I like the Mario Party games too, but the one I played on the Wii over a friend's house was just too out of control. I would dominate mini-games and still constantly lose since it was a nuisance to try and get stars, everything was based on luck.

Well that's the problem with the more recent Mario Party games. Zero skill, all luck, have fun! Nintendo has kind of ruined their party games as of late though…I mean, Mario baseball was a pure blast on the Gamecube but on the wii? Don't even get me started.

As for NBA Jam and NFL Blitz…those would have been worthy editions too. I have some really great memories of NFL Blitz for the N64. One time I had a game against someone where defense was literally an afterthought. I think the score was like 119-112. It was a great time.

Bubba informs me about all sorts of shrimp raises the merits of Mario Kart

You hit the nail on the head with Mario Kart. When I first played it I sucked so bad. Then one day I red shelled my friend and won, and i've never looked back. I'd actually have Mario Kart higher myself.

It's little things like that that can turn around a Mario Kart Player's fortune. I'm not sure what happened to make myself so godly at the wii version – particularly considering I never considered myself that great at Double Dash – but I'll take it. It's something that's really fun to play with your friends and I could see how you would feel it should be higher.

Weng demands more puzzle fighter.

No room for Puzzle Fighter? One of the best multiplayer games ever made.

It's official. I no longer have a heart.

David suggests how I should play Fallout 3

Derek,

Unless you have a PC that can handle Fallout 3, I would pick up a 360 to play the game. We all know there are other games to buy on the system, but the 360/PC will have exclusive DLC. Furthermore, the PS3 version has few problems in comparison.

You can buy an Arcade Unit for $199, plus you can buy the HDD pack which comes with a 60 gb HDD, ethernet cable, and a 3 month subscription to XBL. I know Drew has talked about playing Fable II. I think that requires a 360. You should correct me if I am wrong.

I believe I do have one that can handle it. I just kind of wanted to make my PS3 library grow. Our computer is occupied practically all the time and it's really hard for me to get into a time consuming game on it, I don't know why. But since you said that, I may have to look into it. I may even re-purchase an X-Box 360 simply because I have a friend who never uses it and I really do wanna try out Fable 2.

Also, you are wrong, that doesn't require a 360. Did you hear about the Wii version? You take your hero and perform in a series of mini-games to determine whether he/she is, indeed, the hero of legend. These include surfing, picking plants, and baking pies. It's something for everyone.

Stupid Drew closes things out this week:

"Cool Boarders 2: Outside of Snowboard Kids 2, it's my FAVORITE snowboarding game of all time."

Derek...Snowboard Kids 2 isn't even your favorite Snowboarding game. I know, for a fact, that it is SSX 3, don't lie.

Also, you should've just put Worms in general for #6, Armageddon is by far the best but 3D made for some pretty good multiplayer as well.

I think my favorite snowboarding games shifts on a daily basis. One day it's Snowboard Kids 2, the next it's SSX3…who knows! Maybe even tomorrow it could be 1080? Nah, hah, I haven't totally lost my taste.

I can't believe you just suggested Worms 3D. That game was horrible and you know it. Stop lying to yourself. You know you wasted $40.



Top-10 RARE games

No, no, this isn't a list in commemoration of the best hard to find games, but a list celebrating a very storied company…Rareware! The reason this list is coming out this week in particular is because the latest Banjo game has been unveiled to the public, and even though I have no idea how it plays – because I haven't got to try it yet sadly – I do know that a lot of the fan-base is none-too-happy about it. Well, that's why I'm here! Let's go back to the past, to remember when RARE games kicked ass!

As always, there are a couple of rules. First of all, I need to have played the game in order to rank it, and second of all – due to the nature of it being JUST released – Banjo 3 is excluded from contention. (Well, that and I haven't played it yet).

Now that this is out of the way, letsa' go!

10-) Blast Corps Well, this is a first. A Friday afternoon addendum to the 10th hour. Well, hey, I made a doozie of a mistake - I listed Starfox 64 as the number 2 RARE game of all time when RARE didn't even make it - so it demanded quick fixing. So I had a list of honorable mentions handy and I could only choose one...so I decided to go with Blast Corps. When people are listing great Rare games, this is often one that is over-looked (including by me, apparently)...but that shouldn't be the case. Blast Corps is one of the best games on the Nintendo 64.

Your general goal throughout blast corps is to create a path - via destruction of buildings through the use of unique destruction vehicles - for trucks carrying nuclear warheads. Naturally, these levels are referred to as carrier levels. You usually start in one vehicle but can find others as you progress through the level. These other vehicles may be necessary in clearing the path for the carriers, so you need to think about what you are doing. Notice how I said "think"...that means there's also some light puzzle work you need to get done. These usually aren't anything too difficult, but when placed under a time limit it can be quite stressful to the user.

On top of the carrier levels, there is also another sort of level called the time trial level. Typically these are races, but there are other things to do here as well, such as "race" themed levels where you try to clear the path for a carrier as quickly as possible. Generally speaking, these are bonus levels and you don't need to play through them in order to clear the campaign, but who says you wouldn't want to try them out anyhow? It adds replay value to the package and it's really all you can ask.

Perhaps the best thing about Blast Corps is that it's so different. Most of the games on this list are of the platformer variety. Yes, yes, everyone can have fun with a platformer, but Blast Corps is the sort of game that I haven't really seen replicated in recent memory. It's like a one-of-a-kind experience which is pretty rare in the gaming world. I also like that instead of focusing on one vehicle to destroy the terrain, Blast Corps gives you a multitude of vehicles to destroy things with. You have the Ramdozer, which is like your typical bulldozer...the Backlash, which is a dump truck, The skyfall, a dune buggy, perhaps the best of all the thunder fist, which is a human-controlled robot which can take out larger buildings by punching them (ah yeah), and a few others as well. You have to make use of what you have at your disposal in order to clear the level and earn gold medals (rewarded for clearing everything in a level). It inspires a lot of replay value and gives you a lot of things to do in the game.

In the original list, Blast Corps wasn't listed...which is a darn shame. It's an N64 title that is loved by its fans, and is often among the top rated on the system. I believe that it's often over-looked because, while it is good, there are some flashier N64 games out there for your perusal. Whatever the case though, Blast Corps is one of the best RARE games available and if you haven't given it a chance (which, to be fair, you may not have...I don't hear it get as much love as the Banjo titles or even DK 64) you may want to hunt down an emulator and try it out. Good stuff.



9-) Banjo-Kazooie - There are several reasons that I love Mario 64. On top of being such a fantastic game…it also gave way to one of my personal favorite Nintendo 64 titles – Banjo-Kazooie. A lot of people think that Banjo-Kazooie is simply Mario 64 with a bear and a bird, and they may not be far off. In my opinion; however, there are a few distinct differences that make the Bear and Bird's original experience a must-play for anyone with a soul.

My favorite thing about Banjo-Kazooie, even more so than the wonderful platforming gameplay, is the writing and the sense of humor. The game never really takes itself too seriously, and the result of this is a lot of just plain silly dialogue. Your main villain is a witch that constantly rhymes and steals your sister to gain beauty, and your main ally is…a smart-mouthed bird who absolutely hates seemingly everything. It may seem sort of plain, but when the game spits quotes at you like: "Grunty's stomach and leg thins, goodbye to all those double chins!" and "Hey Banjo, you're looking glum, it must be hard, being so dumb!" it's hard to deny that it's at least interesting. As good as Mario 64 was, your characters didn't really have personalities. Mario just wanted to save Peach, Bowser didn't want you to save Peach…and Koopa the Quick really wanted to race you. That's about it. This really helped give Banjo-Kazooie some charm.

Another departure from Mario 64 would have to be the ability to learn moves. Essentially what you did was take music notes you collected from around the level and trade them for a new move from Bottles the Mole. Essentially you would learn a new move in about every level and have to use that move to your advantage somehow. It made each level seem different, you couldn't attack each one the same way. I kind of liked that. I did not like having to scavenge for notes sometimes, but considering it usually wasn't too much of a hassle even that is okay.

Banjo-Kazooie also had a bit of a different approach to levels. I mean, clearly, the levels are still pretty non-linear. You don't have a set-path through them which is nice…but remember in Mario 64 whenever you got a star? You always just went right back out to the world map. Well in Banjo-Kazooie that is not really a problem. Whenever you get a jiggy, you can stay in the world if you choose. This is pretty much just for convenience though. I mean, if you see three jinjos on your way to finish a level and have already picked up a jiggy, why not just go find the rest? It's a lot more convenient than picking up six red coins, hitting a star, and having to collect all eight again. I figure most people won't have the patience to collect every jiggy in a level their first time (and you can't usually anyhow, sometimes you need the new skills you gain from other worlds)…but at least the option is there.

Another thing I haven't really touched on is the game's sound. Yeah, the characters squeaks and what not can be kind of grating if you're not prepared, but honestly? Over time, I've come to embrace that. When I picture Gruntilda talking, I don't hear a witch's voice, I hear her crazy cackling in Banjo-Kazooie. Luckily though, looking past the noises they make from their mouths, Banjo-Kazooie has an absolutely wonderful soundtrack with some of the most memorable themes in video game history. Try listening to Gruntilda's Lair and not humming along, I dare you. If there's anything BK does better than Mario 64, it's the music. It's phenomenal.

While it may not measure up to the grand-daddy of 3D platforming, Banjo-Kazooie is still a great game worthy of praise. The reason it remains a franchise today is because it's so darn charming…I really hope that the 360 version of the game doesn't lose that charm we all grew up with.



8-) RC Pro-AM - I have said many times throughout the history of the 10th hour that I really don't have a fondness for racing titles. Something about them just really rubs me the wrong way…well R.C. Pro-AM is not one of those and it actually, in my opinion at least, helped usher along an era of racing games that I didn't hate in the least. I'm talking about absolute classics such as Rock n' Roll Racing and Super Mario Kart. While R.C. Pro-AM wasn't the first racer to come along and do some of the new things it did, it certainly was my favorite.

What you do in R.C. Pro-AM is race around a track against three other cars. Unlike some racers at the time, you really didn't have a lot of the track at your display as you were moving around. You had wherever you were and a mini-map displaying the coordinates of everyone else. This could show you when the computer was CHEATING was so far ahead that you needed to give up. Ah, but that may not be such a good idea…R.C. Pro AM wasn't just about racing now…

No, it helped usher in weapons into the "arcade" racer genre. Races were not just based on your ability to properly steer. You could fire rockets and bombs out of your vehicle to do damage to the other cars. You could even destroy some, which would obviously net you a better finish. When you progress further into the game, weapons become a necessity. You may think you're pretty badass with your ability to run every track perfectly, but the computer can become significantly faster than you and it becomes necessary that you destroy at least one car or you will lose. Isn't that crazy?

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, there were also obstacles on the race path for you to duel with. I'm talking water puddles, oil slicks…stuff like that. So on top of being aware of weapons being flung at you, you also need to pay attention to the road. It's sort of a formula that has been repeated ad-nauseum over the years, but R.C. Pro-AM was really the first game that I can remember to do all these things. It was pretty cool, to be honest.

The actual racing in the game is pretty free and easy. It won't require you to use a break button or anything. You only have three choices, and really only two at a time. You can accelerate and honk the horn (if you don't have a weapon) or fire a weapon. That's it, nothing overly complicated…just simplicity. It's a very easy game to pick up and play. Honestly, some of my earliest gaming memories are of playing this title with my dead who is about as gaming illiterate as they come. It was nice.

R.C. Pro-AM may not be the best racer in the world, but the fact is you can still play it today and have fun with it. When you take a glance at the super dated graphics and listen to the limited soundtrack, you may be kind of surprised…but it is, without a doubt, awesome. It really helped pave the way for some great kart-racing titles and is definitely one of the best games on the NES.



7-) Killer Instinct - Ah yes, the early ‘90's. When the fighting genre emerged as one of the most popular. Honestly, I would argue that it WAS the most popular for a good long while until the first person shooter said: "I don't think so" and ripped it off the podium. Kind of a shame, because I still love the fighter. Whatever the case, Killer Instinct really helped add to the fighter's claim of dominance. KI featured very impressive graphics for the time and combined it with some pretty competent gameplay. It was a hard game to forget.

The thing that struck me the most about Killer Instinct was the energy gauge. You'll see something similar to this in Dark Stalkers, but the first time I remember it being used was in this game. Essentially, instead of matches being fought in traditional rounds, your player is given two health bars. When one runs out, there is a very short break. After the break, the match will resume. Unlike other fighters, such as Street Fighter, both character are NOT back at even health. No, the person who was not taken to half-way HP still has what they had. It allows for a more continuous fight in my opinion. The only problem with this system really is that it makes for some rather difficult comebacks. It's hard to be perfected one round and make any sort of mad-dash for the victory.

Another thing that was quite interesting is that, again, compared to Street Fighter, the game is a lot easier to play for someone who is less familiar with the fighting genre. This can be accredited to the automatic combo system which is essentially a way of inputting a combination and having your character do a set number of moves automatically. You don't have to memorize long chains or anything like that…it's all executed for you. This may seem awfully simplistic, but it makes the game quite accessible.

It's not like the game is entirely original though, actually it's pretty much a hybrid of the two most popular fighters of the time. The game borrows the attack set of street fighter (by that I mean heavy punch, heavy kick, etc) and also has their own variation on fatalities called "Finishing Moves." The influence that Mortal Kombat II had on these finishing moves is pretty obvious. On top of having one serious finisher, most every fighter has a joke finisher and ANOTHER one where you make your opponent dance. It's kind of funny, and a blatant ripoff…but since it borrows from Street Fighter, honestly, I think KI plays just a bit better than MK.

I really do hope that RARE decides to develop another Killer Instinct game. They have hinted at it pretty heavily recently…and honestly, couldn't the X-Box 360 use another fighter? Yeah, VF 5 is without a doubt fantastic and we all know Street Fighter 4 is going to rock everybody's world…but let's get real here. We could all use a blast from the past! Let's just hope that RARE decides to keep KI a fighting game and not make it into something like, I dunno, a JRPG. That'd be bad.



6-) Battletoads - I'm going to go ahead and copy+paste the last time I wrote about Battletoads. I usually don't do something like this, but when I wrote up the description for this game, it looked about the damn same as last time there isn't a whole lot new you can say about it though…it's a fantastic game that's difficult and really showcases why at one time RARE was one of the best developers on the planet. Why back when Microsoft snagged up RARE everyone thought it was a big deal. So, from an earlier 10th hour…heeeere we go!

Without a doubt, this was one of the hardest games of all time. This game probably single-handedly resulted in more holes in walls than any released prior or after. Simply put, if you consider yourself a gamer who always switches on easy mode you may want to skip this title…A lot of games are inadvertently hard due to horrible controls or random glitches…but that is not the case with Battletoads. It controls well and there really are no game-breaking glitches…(Well, there is a notable one that can help you and one that hinders co-operative gameplay…but if you even MAKE it as far as the second one you've done enough) it was just designed to be a pain in the ass, and you REALLY have to respect that.

There are twelve levels to play through in this beat-em-up and you have three continues to work with. You might be thinking: "Well, that's okay…when I die I'll just use a continue!". That's where you'd be mistaken. Battletoads takes its masochism to a whole ‘nother level by not even offering you the ability to use a password. You just have to garner up the skill to make it to the end of the game by yourself…and that's going to be a bit of a problem. You also have the option to go through this game with a friend…but unlike in some other games…it just gets HARDER. That's right, playing with a buddy makes Battle Toads even harder to go through. Who has heard of something like that before? Friendly fire is on and can never be turned off so you need to be careful when you're beating up on the same enemy. It'd be super frustrating to go down to your own team-mate wouldn't it?

In the eyes of many, Battletoads represented the best the beat-em-up genre had to offer. With levels that varied in how you played them to an absurd difficulty that even the hardest of core struggle with…Battletoads was one of those games for the NES that would absorb your life for weeks at a time…and you could be forgiven for not wanting to get it back. Really, I wish more ass kickings felt this good. A bit of trivia – The company that brought you the "Jawsome" Street Sharks also tried to present you with a Battle Toads animated series. It never got past the pilot but apparently that very pilot was released on VHS. Maybe that's worth hunting down? It looks bad, but hey…I'm sure it'd make you feel ways about stuff.

There were a lot of people in the comments for that 10th hour, which was the top-10 NES games, who claimed that they beat the game themselves with little-to-no-difficulty. Far be it from me to call you guys liars but uhm…you're all fucking liars. There is no way in hell you did that! Or at least you better not have or I'll just…I'll just cry. I'm supposed to be the good one at games. Me! Not you!

- O-okay...

5-) Conker's Bad Fur Day - This is the sort of game you either love or you hate, and I tend to be more in the "love" camp. When Conker was first unveiled to the public, he was sort of a horribly generic character. We got a taste of him in Diddy Kong Racing and we also got to play his excruciatingly horrible Conker's Pocket Tales. He was then billed as totally kid friendly and when an N64 title of his was revealed to be in the works, well, you could forgive the gaming world for being a little skeptical. After all, it looked like we'd get another generic mascot platforming game. All of the previews for the game for the longest time were of a cutesie game that most anyone could play.

What we got, to say the least, was not that. Conker's Bad Fur Day was perhaps one of the least kid-friendly games to be released on a Nintendo console ever. It featured heavy drinking, implied sex, cursing…and really, everything that is vile and CORRUPTING OUR YOUTH. It was an interesting change and a lot of people thought it was just RARE trying to be different, trying to be edgy…but I didn't see it like that. Conker rubbed me as more of a parody game. Every bit of that game is based on something from somewhere else. Be it a book, a movie, or another video game, nothing about Conker is meant to be taken seriously. The characters are jokes, the boss battles are jokes, everything is a big joke. On the surface it seems pretty juvenile, but honestly? This is potentially one of the funniest games ever.

Ahhh, but Conker's sense of humor isn't the only shining point of this title. The context-sensitive gameplay is kind of nice too. You might be asking me: "Context sensitive? Whatever do you mean?" Well, okay, let's say that you are fighting against the Great Mighty Poo. You're running around and you are totally out of ideas how to fight this thing. After all, how do you combat a giant…err…crap? Well, as you are running you see a giant B button. You go stand on that button and Conker pulls out a toilet paper roll to combat the beast. So essentially context sensitive is the game's way of saying: "We didn't want to program in a lot of useless moves so we're making your skills based on your surroundings." Pretty neat.

The platforming gameplay is pretty neat, but I have to be honest…it still pretty much borrows from Mario 64. That's not to say it's a BAD thing, Mario 64 is one of the best games of all time, but it is a problem with a lot of the N64 platformers out there. It's just a Mario 64 play-alike. I mean, sure, Conker uses a frying pan instead of his fists, but it's pretty much the same thing. Yeah, the context sensitive stuff mixes it up a little bit and you aren't really collecting anything…but if you played Mario 64, generally speaking, you'll know what to do.

You may be wondering why I am referring to this only as an N64 game when RARE did in fact release this for the X-Box as well. Look, it was still a good game on Microsoft's console, but I honestly feel like there was something missing from it. The game un-censored, for instance, just isn't as charming. Hearing the characters actually curse just, well, it isn't for me. Not only that, but instead of the frying pan you get a baseball bat. Plus, the promised fantastic online play turned out to be a dud, but that really isn't the only time RARE-promised online play failed to pan out. It sounds weird to say this, but Conker feels like an experience, to me at least, that was more "pure" on the N64.

Conker pushed a lot of limits and for that is a very memorable game. It may not be the most mature game out there, but as far as RARE titles are concerned it'll always be one of my favorites.



4-) Donkey Kong Country - Lately it seems like this title is getting a lot of hate from people. Well, I shouldn't say hate, but it's become very trendy for someone to say the game is over-rated. Both EGM (A subject of much hatred from me lately, I plan on doing a 10th hour where I ridicule a list they made some day) and Gamespy have listed Donkey Kong Country as one of the most over-rated games of all time. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Is it because the graphics were so nice that people thought it was a better game than it actually was? Okay, if that's the case maybe we can dis-count several of today's quality games then, can't we?

Donkey Kong Country, whose tag partner was the very formidable Super Mario World, really helped keep the SNES even with the Genesis. Yes, Sega had the speedy and cool Sonic, but it didn't have Donkey Kong. I mean, sure, what's appealing about a giant gorilla with tie? (Err, well, wait a minute…) The game was, as I mentioned earlier, simply a beauty back then and one that people couldn't really believe looked as good as it did. Honestly? I couldn't either. When I first saw the title, I stared in disbelief. It was AMAZING. The best I'd ever seen on the SNES.

It's not like DKC was simply a pretty face. Hell yes that's what attracted me to the game, but DKC also had some pretty darn good platforming within. The system worked like this. At the very most, you had two hits to deal with. These were portrayed by your two monkeys – Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong. If one were to get hit, they would run away and if the other got hit, you're down a life. As the level goes on, you can proceed to rescue your trapped friend. So when you're hopping and bopping, you need to be careful because you don't have a ton to work with. As a general rule, Donkey Kong is better suited to combat but is kind of slow…and Diddy Kong, who is serviceable in combat but nowhere near DK's level, is fast.

It's not just the two chimps that are at your perusal in this game though. You also have the ability to ride various animals to do various tasks. In this way, the gameplay changes a little bit. You have Ramby the Rhino who is practically an un-stoppable killing machine, you have Blinky the frog which has gameplay centering around jumping, you have Engarde the sword fish which makes you a force underwater, and you also Expresso the Ostrich who could do no damage but had you going really fast. It was a diverse group and really helped make the game more memorable than maybe it would have been.

Speaking of memorable, this game had simply astounding music which is sort of a trend with these RARE games. While it's not quite as satisfying as, say, Donkey Kong Country 2's soundtrack it's still something special. It's probably just me, but I think it's nice that a company, whose game is obviously going to sell due to the amazing visuals, would be willing to release such a good soundtrack when they don't have to.

Before this moment in time, people knew who Donkey Kong was, but nobody really considered him to be a star. He wasn't a system seller. After Donkey Kong Country came out, all of that changed. Donkey Kong was back and better than ever. It's a shame that he hasn't appeared in a straight-up platformer since DK 64 because I really think we could use another. Donkey Kong Country WII anyone?



3-) Banjo-Tooie - Banjo-Kazooie was an absolutely fantastic title, but several of us were hungry for more Bear and Bird action. After all, how could you possibly end a game with such a personality after one installment? Thus, Banjo-Tooie came out and absolutely knocked the socks off of fans of the original. To say that it surpassed Banjo-Kazooie may be an understatement. It was significantly better than the original and still holds up today. Some even argue that it is better than the definitive N64 platformer, Mario 64. Some.

Perhaps my favorite thing about Banjo Tooie is that it didn't fall into the same trap as a lot of platforming sequels did. You know the ones I'm talking about: "Oh, you've accidentally forgotten all of your moves! Well, you best go re-learn them now." That's always annoying and un-necessary. Sure, you may have been able to get away with it here because Banjo is apparently a very dim-witted bear but STILL…it would have been dumb. In this game, you know all of your moves that you knew at the end of Banjo Tooie. You must get new ones in order to complete your quest, which is pretty neat in my opinion. It's not a case of: "Oh, I have played this before.", it's a case of "Wow, this is new!" There needs to be more of that in sequels today.

Banjo Tooie also did something very unique, something that really hasn't seen much replication to my knowledge. Usually in these 3D platformers, you're adventuring around a hub world that connects you to the other worlds. Like in Mario 64, you would be forgiven for thinking that there is no connection between Bob-Omb Battlefield and Big Boo's Haunt. Well, in Banjo Tooie ALL of the levels are inter-connected and you have to take advantage of this interconnectivity to get some of the jiggies. It makes it a rather engrossing experience…and something new. Innovation! It's always welcome. Banjo Tooie REALLY helped the Banjo franchise break away from its Mario 64 roots.

Like its predecessor, Banjo is full of wit and charm. The characters are all quite memorable and the noises, after a while, become somewhat iconic. You may cringe when you first hear Kazooie squawk but it's easily one of the most memorable portions of the game, and I really couldn't picture the game without it. The music is still quite solid and features some of the best tracks the N64 has to offer. It's amazing that a system with such limited sound capability can produce such quality listening.

The only really disappointing thing about Banjo Tooie would be the fact that the promised "Stop n Swap" feature that was hinted at in Banjo Kazooie wasn't used at all in Tooie. I figure RARE couldn't find a way to work it in, which is kind of a shame…but hey, it happens. They still incorporate the Ice Key in a way, so that's kind of cool I suppose. I hear the 360 version of Banjo Kazooie actually makes use of the stop ‘n swap feature…I wonder what features it adds? It was one of those things I was looking forward to but never got rewarded with.

No matter what anyone says about the Banjo series as a whole, Banjo Tooie was an incredible game. I think it's the main reason that people were so upset that Banjo was leaving his platforming roots for the third game. If RARE still had that inventive knack with Banjo-Tooie, can you imagine how interesting a true Banjo-Threeie would have been? Oh well, a man can dream.



2-) Goldeneye/Perfect Dark - To be completely honest, I prefer Perfect Dark over Goldeneye, but there is no way I could have justified putting one over the other on this list. They are both high quality games that have rabid fanbases. Each has its own merits…and each is equally worthy of inclusion on this list. I generally speaking am not the biggest fan of the shooting genre. I'm not entirely sure as to why this is – perhaps I'm ‘too good' for it? – but these two games have always been near and dear to me.

Goldeneye is the game that many people point to as the game that popularized the first person shooter genre on consoles. It allowed for frantic and fun shooting of up to four of your buddies throughout multiple memorable environments with various memorable characters. You know, you ALWAYS had that one friend who would choose Oddjob and talk about how good he was. Conversely, you'd always have someone who chose Jaws who would complain about how he was being killed too frequently. It was just one of those games…that even if it has been surpassed in several ways over the years, you can go back and have fun with it. Even though I prefer Perfect Dark, I can freely admit that Goldeneye had a better single player campaign. It just seemed to go together better and the levels, well, were more fun.

Perfect Dark on the other hand took everything Goldeneye did and improved upon it. There were still the same classic levels, but this time you could bring more than four people to the fray. I'm not talking about actual people, I'm talking about BOTs. BOTs seem to be under-used in today's shooting landscape, and I think that's kind of a shame. I like teaming up with friends and taking out lifeless drones. I also like taking a team of lifeless drones and fighting against a friend with his team of drones. It just makes more more frantic action, and I'd argue the most frantic action a console FPS got prior to Halo/Timesplitters. I also quite enjoyed the ability to create characters. It doesn't seem like much, but you could really create some memorable stuff in there.

These games, in comparison to today's shooters, are rather simplistic. You can't jump, you have fewer weapons to play with, you don't have vehicles…you're just fighting against each other. It's that simplicity that makes these titles stand the test of time though. I couldn't see anybody replaying Goldeneye today if it took a lot of work…the thing is, it doesn't. You can easily pick up these games and have someone who doesn't even play games play along with you. It's this accessibility that allows me to dust off my N64 and play these games again…and have a good time.

The PS2/X-Box/Gamecube/Dreamcast generation owes a lot to these two shooters for helping to popularize console shooting. It probably would have become popular over time anyhow, but this is where things really started to take off.



1-) Donkey Kong Country 2 - It was a pretty damn daunting task releasing a sequel to the amazingly popular Donkey Kong Country. After all, DKC was one of the best selling games of all time to that point and had a pretty large fanbase. Who could blame them though? No matter what crazy game writers today may say, the original Donkey Kong Country was fabulous. How in the world could RARE top an original as impressive as that one was?

Somehow, they did it. I don't quite understand it myself, but they managed to pull this game off. This time around, the player does not have control of the famous mascot. Donkey Kong has been captured and its your duty as his…nephew? Son? Whatever. It's your duty as Diddy Kong to rescue the big ape. You've got a new friend in Dixie Kong to help you along. The thing about Dixie Kong though is, like Diddy, she is very fragile. She can't stomp on enemies like DK can. To counter this, like Diddy, she is pretty fast and can also use her hair to hover a little bit.

I think the fact that the game features two smaller characters makes things a little rougher on the player. You don't have the big guy to tag in who can take out these Kremlins, you have to do it with your little kongs. It's not like you're going in with no ammunition though…new to this game would be the double-team techniques. You can throw either Diddy or Dixie into the enemy to kill even the toughest of Kremlins. If you leave them out there vulnerable though, they will be "captured". So you have to be cautious when exercising these double team options.

That's not the only difference between the first two Donkey Kong Countries though. For starters you have a super tough hidden world which reveals the game's true final boss. You also had a variety of short little segments the two Kongs could play through to earn tokens – the game's currency. These ranged from simple races to beating all of the enemies. The original Donkey Kong Country had these segments too, but the sequel has more and it's sort of welcome.

Generally, the reason that I think DKC 2 is superior to the original is because I think the sequel has better platforming. There are some really well designed levels within and there are segments of the game that are simply hard to forget. On top of that, you also have a couple of new critters which help to alter gameplay even more. You have a spider which shoots webs out for you to create platforms, and you also have the parrot – who returns from a very minor role in the original – who can fly you around levels. Again, it may not seem like much, but it offers a break from the typical gameplay.

My only real complaint about this game is that…there seems to be no reason to not have Dixie as your main character. In the original Donkey Kong Country there were strengths and weaknesses to using each one…but in this one, it just seems like Dixie is your best choice. She can jump as high, run as fast, and do everything that Diddy can do AS WELL AS hover in the air. It's not to say that Diddy is useless, but in comparison to Dixie…he certainly has fewer uses.

Now, I've went this far without saying the best part of the game. Without a doubt, Donkey Kong Country 2 has the best music of the series. Like, I could not describe to you how pleasantly pleased I was when I heard that Bramble Scramble found its way into Brawl. It really helps the game create an atmosphere of its own…and made the whole experience stand out as something special. I do not have a single negative to say about the soundtrack, as a whole it is DAMN impressive.

Donkey Kong Country 2 is one of the best games on the Super Nintendo. It is also, in my opinion, the apex of RARE's gaming career. An absolute must-play in every single way.



Honorable Mentions: Diddy Kong Racing, Jet Force Gemini, Donkey Kong 64, Viva Pinata

Well that's it for this week. As always, feel free to leave me a comment below or you can simply send me an e-mail at [e-mail] or add me to PSN via Croix22.

Before I go though, let's take a gander around 411's game section shall we?

Theo Fraser writes The Nintendophiles. He brings us news of fucking Viewtiful Joe in Tetsunoko v. Capcom. All I have to say is: "YEEEEEEAH."

The buffet of manliness known as myself writes B3yond the Report

Chris Vicari writes The PC-Spotlight. He reveals that the Wallstreet Journal suggested to Disney that they should buy EA. Well hey…if it means we'll get a Mirror's Edge style game starring Mickey Mouse, sign me up.

Vincent Chiuchhi discusses Mortal Kombat Special Forces in his Hall of Shame. Apparently they thought it would be a good idea to make a game about Jax. Yeah, okay. Scorpion? No chance! JAX? FUCK YEAH.

Chris Evans writes The PC-centric Extravaganza and tells us a new Chronicles of Riddick game is coming. Honestly, the original Chronicles of Riddick game being GOOD was a huge surprise to me, so let's see if they can do it again.

Tommy Coloma moderates Fact or Fiction this week he pits Chris "Atari" Vicari against Joe "Cock" Roche. He asks whether Resistance 2 will be the next big thing (no), Whether Mirror's Edge will live up to the hype (Yes), whether people will ignore Wii remakes of the two Pikmin Games (No, and they best fucking not. We need a Pikmin 3), Whether Midway wanting a T rating for the new MK v DC game is a big deal (No), If playing a Mother 3 wrong is moral (WHY WASN'T I BROUGHT IN FOR THIS!? And yes, it is moral. They won't release the game here.), and whether a real actor will be brought in to play the lead role in a GoW movie (No). Interesting responses all around.

The Curryman writes The Checkpoint and this week he discusses Fallout 3. I still really need to get this game, I just don't know how I'm going to go about it. Will I buy it on the PS3? Get it on the PC? Or will I just wait til I buy my friend's 360 and get it on that? Pressing issues.

Joe Roche covered for Drew in Coming Attractions. he awarded GOTW to Gears 2 over Resistance 2 and of course, is called a fanboy for it. You weren't being a fanboy, you were just speaking honestly. To be fair, I don't know what I would have chosen. I'm not exactly stoked for either game. I just know Gears 1 was better than Resistance 1, so I may have went with Gears 2.

Rod Oracheski writes Achievement Unlocked. He suggests a way for Microsoft to make Achievement Scores count in that…we could buy shit for our, err, avatars in their avatar store with our scores. This would be nice, but we all know that won't happen. Sadly. It would have been really cool, too!

Jordan Williams writes Working Title This is last week's column, but I'm linking it again. Not only because it was good, but also because I wussed out of the All-American Everclear challenge.

Vincent Chiucchi writes The Select and Start News Report. I actually didn't know anybody else was watching Survivor until I read that he did. I guess we're both big losers eh? On top of this, Vince also talks about the new Beatles/Harmonix game. He thinks we may see something new from this game. I don't think THAT much, but I'll be curious to see what turns up.

Joe Roche writes the Full Circle 360 news report. He notes how 360 sales in Japan are still ahead of PS3 sales. I find this interesting, but I mean the 360 had to start gaining ground at SOME point. Maybe the prospect of future Star Ocean turned Japanese gamers into X-Box guys?

AJ and Mike Minotti are the voices behind The Exploding Barrel Podcast. I would discuss their most recent podcast but when I clicked their page at 5:20 PM on Thursday afternoon a new one was up that I haven't got to listen to yet. Err, so I'll tell you about last week's. They have a very interesting "after the podcast" feature on Fable 2 that I think you'll really like, and they also go in depth about Fallout 3. Well AJ does at least. Regarding this week's podcast though, according to the description MIKE is now in love with the game too, shockingly. We'll have to see why that is…

HEY we did a Podcast this week. It features Ramon Aranda, Jacob Lopez, Sean Garmer, my senior advisor Mark Salmela, and MYSELF. How can you possibly lose here?

Well, that's it for this week. I'm out.

'til the crossroads