Take a look at these Rare games

Published 7:01 am Sunday, August 9, 2015

Boy, have I got a game for you.

“Battletoads.” “Perfect Dark.” “Banjo-Kazooie.” “Jet Force Gemini.” “Killer Instinct Gold.” Man, even “Jetpac.” You remember “Jetpac?” The classic game where you jet around shooting things, looking for jewels?

Those games are all in this game.

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This past week, lauded developer Rare released “Rare Replay,” a collection of 30 classic Rare games for the Xbox One.

Most, if not all of these 30 games, are a little weird at best and bizarre at worst. Some of these games are incredibly difficult — “Battletoads” in particular is famous for its difficulty — while other, more recent games are just a little challenging, such as “Kameo: Elements of Power” and “Banjo-Kazooi: Nuts & Bolts.”

You probably haven’t heard about games like “Sabre Wulf,” “Underwurlde,” “Knight Lore,” “Cobra Triangle,” “Snake Rattle N Roll,” and others, but they’re all in this bundle as well.

In other words, “Rare Replay” will definitely keep you busy.

Yet the idea behind “Rare Replay” is perhaps more important than the collection itself. Rare, which has undergone several changes during its company history, is documenting some of its most interesting games through this collection.

That’s a good idea, for several reasons.

Rare is leveraging its existing properties, most of which are practically impossible to find in today’s market. By releasing this collection, Rare is getting a new return on its games from longtime fans and new gamers looking for a cheap collection to play through.

Yet “Rare Replay” is a great way to preserve Rare’s history. These games, like thousands of other titles, could easily become lost to time over the next few decades as gaming technology moves forward and new titles are released. Collections like “Rare Replay” will become more important over time as a record of a company’s gaming achievements over the years.

“Rare Replay” is an exciting collection and arguably one of the biggest re-release of older titles around. It’s a great idea, and one companies should continue to emulate in the future.