A Rare Treasure
By: Kotsopoulos

Rare-ware (raer waer) n. A company enlisted by Nintendo to make some amazing games of the artistic gender. Later to be considered
revolutionary.

    When you think Nintendo, the mascots always jump to mind, Mario, Bowser, Link, but none of the associates hit home. When I hear Nintendo, the magical word which has brought me so much entertainment in my (dismal before it) life: Rareware. The monolithic company which brought you such history making titles as Goldeneye, Banjo-Kazooie, and Jet Force Gemini. Revolutionary, ground breaking games that would make you stay up until three in the morning just to see the next complex plot twist, thus making you dream of the game when you pass out from the beautifully rendered graphics. When they make a game, it's like watching Da Vinchi go to work on another masterpiece that would change the world.

    Each game had it's mind-freezing events and bosses that make you wanna scream out for mercy but couldn't because the boss had kicked your voice box in already. An infinite number of puzzles and challenges await you, and if you manage to succeed, then the anarchy of making it past the devious surprises is your next task. Every game is styled to perfection, built to every limitation of the Nintendo 64 and sometimes even go beyond. Rare took the 64 apart piece by piece to learn it's strengths and weaknesses and then changed the rules and alter the system it self. The majestic graphics couldn't get any better. The superb skills of Rare allow the world to experience the future now and it is defiantly worth it. Sometimes faltering at times, they always manage to come out on top with another spine chilling game to tickle your fancy.

    Everything is meticulously planned for the direct audience to which Rare wishes to bewilder with it's charm. Goldeneye was focused to shock and appall those hardcore gamers that didn't think that the 64 could make a first person shooter like the Playstation... They were wrong. Goldeneye raised the bar notches unknown to then video game universe. (to take a quote from the great Emeril Lagase) It made everyone work a little harder to keep that level of perfection up and made Rare work harder to make a game that would match the explosive power that was Goldeneye. The new equalizer was Banjo-Kazooie. A crazy adventure that had the challenge of a Zelda game and the off color comments of a Jim Carey movie. Banjo introduced the lush realistic backgrounds that were fused with Jet Force Gemini. This, hand in hand with the amazing play control raised the bar yet again. Several companies struggled to make it like Rare did with it's skill and grace, but failed. This pattern continued with games such as Jet Force Gemini and DK64, each time making the other attempts at perfection flawed. No matter how perfect the game seemed, it just wasn't up to Rare's higher level of gaming experience and skill. They were the epiphany, then embodiment of excellence it self.

    Rare seemed to have something which other industries didn't have, not money or skilled workers, but spirit. That special spark which allowed them to create history. Everything they had created was so full of life; vibrant and somewhat confused, not knowing what would come to pass when their games hit the shelves.Everything intertwined with each other, building on their strengths and correcting any weaknesses which may have come up. From the day's of Jetpac to the KF7 Soviets of Goldeneye to the golden bananas of DK64 and beyond, Rare will always be there, lurking in the shadows,awaiting to spring out with another breathtaking, heart stopping game. Perfection, thy name is Rareware.