The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

Their departure to the green field of Microsoft may have turned a handful of fans against them overnight, but you still have to admire Rare, albeit perhaps the Rare of the past. For many years their sheer imagination and clever game design complemented Nintendo's own quality, and the Stamper brothers' studio created some of the most entertaining games on the previous generation. No-one can deny that. But which game was the jewel in their crown?

What is the best Rare game, ever?

James:

Conker's Bad Fur Day. In the dying days of the N64, Rare came up with a superb, highly playable platformer that rivalled the likes of Banjo and Mario. The game lasted bloody ages, and there were highly inventive ways of varying the gameplay so as to keep it interesting throughout.

Of course, while this game was excellent without it, it was Rare's sense of humour that truly kept the game interesting. CBFD was without a doubt the funniest game I have ever played. The toilet humour, the crude sex jokes, the sheer randomness of it all - this game had me literally on the floor, laughing my head off.

The stacks of brilliant multiplayer modes were the icing on the cake for Rare's last N64 outing, and if anyone still plays their N64, I urge them to find this game and pick it up right now. Believe me, you won't regret it.

Tom:

Tempting as it is to say Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, I am going to be a bit different. Anyone who knows me will know I like things that are a bit different. Things that have had thought and intelligence poured into them. Things that may not look great, the concept may sound crazy, but you sit there and can't help from smiling.

Of course, I can only be talking about one Rare game with these words; Blast Corps. Such originality and genius is rare in games of late, with Nintendo being the only current provider of such glorious gaming fruits. It provided such a mixed bag of things to do. It gave you freedom to tackle the game how you wanted in the order you wanted. I also loved they way it made you think. When I play a game, I don't want my skill to be based purely on my ability to press buttons at the correct time in the correct order, I also like my brain to be able to take a chunk of the credit, and there aren't many games where your problem solving skills will be taxed as much as Blast Corps.

Sure, the graphics aren't good. It sold 3 copies. It is probably Rare's least successful game. But, read an interview with any Rare member from that era, and most of them will mention Blast Corps as being one of their favourites.

Surely one of the most underrated titles of the last generation

Joby:

Wow, that's a toughy. Goldeneye? Perfect Dark? Conkers Bad Fur Day? Blastcorps... All superb games, within the best console games ever list...

However, my choice goes to Conker's Bad Fur Day. Rare managed to take action/adventure games up to a whole new level of supreme brilliance. It was a perfect balance of comedy with action. It was a perfect length with lots of superb extra modes. Conker had not only a bad fur day, but had one of the best games ever. It's a shame Rare went to raw.

Jayseven:

Well guess what Tom? I was one of those 3 people! Some of you readers may know; Blast Corps is in fact my most favouritest game EVER! Why? Even though I've probably gone through this before, I'll gladly explain myself for you!

The basic 'plot' of the game is this; a nuclear tanker is out of control (which basically means it's going in a straight line and you can't stop it). The problem (aside from possible destruction of the earth of course) is that between the tanker and a safe explosion point there's a fair fwe obstacles which simply have to be demolished, and that's where you come in!

Using whatever measure you have at your disposal you have to knock the buildings down, usually you get one vehicle at the beginning of the level and that's your only option, but often you'll need to take advantage of other machines to take the buildings apart.

The game is extremely simple, one of those easy to play hard to master type games. But the demolition isn't really my favourite part. Well it is, but what I am refering to is really quite great! Y'see, once you think you've done all that could be done, a new 'objective' that will take as long as you've taken so far to do is told to you. Basically when you think "that's it, game over, but t'was fun while it lasted!" you realise that you're not even half way through. Just imagine if in Metroid prime after defeating.. er... Metroid Prime you unlock the route to another planet where you get to do it all over again... Just how great would that be?

... And this actually happens more than once in BC! The "end credits" seem to roll at one point, then once it's over and you get a wealth of new missions to accomplish. Sure this may not be Rare's most polished title or it's most famous one, but it's certainly one of their best ones.

So who out there bought the other copy of the game eh?!

And to think - this started off as another cutesy platformer

Bas O:

I'll go for Rare's big breakthrough in the game industry; Donkey Kong Country. With the most amazing graphics and superb smooth and easy to learn gameplay it stood out to the incredible amount of platformers that were released on the SNES.

Thanks to ACM (Advanced Computer Modeling) the visuals gave you a real 3D feel. This ACM allowed designers to, and I quote from Rare statements: "animating every pixel of every graphic in a total computer environment."

And the sequels only got better, by the way, with more depth in gameplay, thus this franchise wasn't just a looker.

Tim:

I have spend most hours on Rare's Goldeneye game. In fact, that was the game that got me hooked on Ninty's 64-bit console. I spent many nights with my friends playing that game until we could not keep our eyes open. After we fell asleep, we even dreamt we were still playing it! We'd all wake up and wonder if we ever slept... playing that game was like using drugs (I think!?). Of course, Perfect Dark was a blast. But it did not have the same effect for me as Goldeneye... Mmmmmm Goldeneye.

Later, however, Conker's Bad Fur Day got my interest. The humour, top-notch voice-acting and sound quality made me fall in love with a Rare game for the second time. But since Goldeneye was the first Rare game I fell in love with, I will pick that one to be my favourite.

Dennis:

I must admit, I'm not really a Rare gamer (which must make me a very rare Nintendo gamer *pun intended*). However, there's a slight doubt in my voice when I say the Donkey Kong Country series. Yes, even though I loved and still love playing Donkey Kong Country on both SNES and GBA, there are two more titles which kind of attracted me.

First of all, there's Sabre Wulf (GBA). The concept of combining the standard platform game, the puzzling AND the action had a major impact on me. However, the game became pretty boring after a few weeks. I do want to make clear that even though it's very repetitive, the game is still pretty good.

The second competitor of Donkey Kong Country is Banjo Kazooie. It was like the beauty of when I first played Super Mario 64, combined with humor AND more moves. I simply loved the game and played it for a looooong time.

You will believe an ape can walk

Iun:

Donkey Kong Country 3.

No two ways about it, even though it was as good as the end for the SNES, Rare pulled out all the stops to create a game that is every bit the equal and better of its counterparts.

The graphics were still first rate, with some of the finest backgrounds to grace any system. The parallax scrolling was sublime and the character models full of personality. Plus the more open-ended map and RPG elements and the introduction of isometric 3D sections meant that every ounce of power was squeezed out of the machine to ensure that a classic was made.

Edge:

There's no doubt that Rare have made plenty of excellent games in their time, but in my mind, Perfect Dark surpasses them all.

I know that GoldenEye was the original Rare FPS, but, unlike films, game sequels are not doomed to be simply inferior reiterations of their predecessors. In my opinion, PD improved on everything that made Bond's adventure such a success, most notably the multiplayer aspect which can still entice my friends and I when we are all Halo-ed out.

Speaking of which, a word of warning to those thinking they will give Carrington Institute another visit: the game runs eye-searingly slow. This game pushes the N64 to its limits, and if you haven't been properly conditioned for the jerkiness that is ensured during the hectic multiplayer battles, you could find yourself sprawled paralytic on the floor. Don't get me wrong, you do get used to it, I just want to make sure than none of you revisiting Agent Dark's game expect the silky smooth frame-rates that you have grown so used to.

I can honestly say that the only Rare game that has ever disappointed me is Dinosaur Planet. I simply found the game overpoweringly unexciting; it was like touring an old people's home, albeit with a few less dinosaurs. Whether this was due to the failing relations between Rare and Nintendo, or simply the constraints of working within the StarFox brand, I guess we will never know.

Thankfully, Grabbed by the Ghoulies � Rare's premier Xbox title � was a return to form for those scamps at Twycross, and Kameo's future looks as bright as its pastel shades. They may no longer be on Nintendo, but Rare games are still a cut above the rest.

So what do you think is the best Rare game? Conker's Bad Fur Day, Goldeneye, Blast Corps and Donkey Kong Country seem to be popular.