Going Toadally Ape for Rare
Jan. 28th, 2009 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatIn my ongoing quest to submit you to as many nostalgic memories of old video games as I possibly can, I'm going to discuss some Rare games. The company, that is, not the adjective. And what better place to start than with this classic?
This was an enjoyable and creative game with the unfortunate downside of being really friggin' hard. In addition to just being generally difficult and only offering three continues, it was also remarkably easy to kill your partner in two-player mode (as demonstrated in this Angry Video Game Nerd review). I subscribed to Nintendo Power when the game came out, and they were REALLY hyping the game, with lots of previews and even a comic. (This was prior to the brief period when EVERY issue had a comic, although I was still subscribing then.) I understand there was also a pilot for a cartoon show, but it was never picked up. This probably had something to do with the overabundance of cartoons about heroic anthropomorphic animals in that time period. In addition to the obvious Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you had Bucky O'Hare, Street Sharks, Samurai Pizza Cats, T-Rex (a syndicated show featuring dinosaur cops with freeze rays), and probably more I'm forgetting.
Next, we move on to a more obscure game:
This was also favorably reviewed in Nintendo Power (okay, most of their reviews were favorable, but they did occasionally admit to some not-so-great features), and we got it for Christmas in...I think it might have been 1990? Your characters are snakes who eat little blobs called Nibbley Pibbleys in order to make their tails grow. The object was to climb up a mountain that eventually led to the Moon, and seemed to be made up primarily of floating platforms. There were a lot of weird enemies along the way, including bouncing toilet seats and a giant foot. The first few levels were pretty easy, but it became more difficult very quickly. There was apparently a rocketship in the very first level that would take you a few stages ahead, but we were never able to reach it in time.
But I'm sure you'd want me to move on to a game you might have actually played, so how's this? While Donkey Kong was popular enough to star in four different games in the arcade era, it was his nemesis Mario who went on to become the big celebrity, leaving the ape to wallow in eight-bit obscurity. But Rare changed that by giving DK his own starring role in:
As I've mentioned before, though, it's never entirely clear whether the star is the original Donkey Kong, his son, or his grandson. Regardless, he wears a necktie, and he and his little buddy Diddy Kong (this was some time before Sean Combs starting calling himself Diddy) have to rescue their banana hoard from the Kremlings, led by King K. Rool.
The Kremlings seem pretty similar to the Koopas, but they're based on crocodiles instead of turtles. The Mario cartoons showed the Koopa royal family with crocodile-like snouts, though, and I've seen it pointed out that Bowser looks a lot like K. Rool while dressed in his royal cape in "Never Koop a Koopa." Anyway, the Kongs and the Kremlings continued to battle it out in several sequels, most of which I've never played or seen played, but that all seem to have the same basic plot. Usually some Kong or other is kidnapped, and his kins-apes have to save him and her. Actually, the Battletoads games kind of worked the same way. I believe there was a cartoon series based on the series, but I've never watched it. One of the things I thought was cool about the games was that you could ride on oversized animals, my favorite being Rambi the Rhino.
So what happened to Rare? From what I understand, they were eventually purchased by Microsoft. The rights for the Donkey Kong characters reverted to Nintendo, which is why characters like Diddy and Funky Kong are showing up in the Mario Kart games.
If all goes according to plan, then I'll probably have a bit to say about Earthworm Jim next week.
This was an enjoyable and creative game with the unfortunate downside of being really friggin' hard. In addition to just being generally difficult and only offering three continues, it was also remarkably easy to kill your partner in two-player mode (as demonstrated in this Angry Video Game Nerd review). I subscribed to Nintendo Power when the game came out, and they were REALLY hyping the game, with lots of previews and even a comic. (This was prior to the brief period when EVERY issue had a comic, although I was still subscribing then.) I understand there was also a pilot for a cartoon show, but it was never picked up. This probably had something to do with the overabundance of cartoons about heroic anthropomorphic animals in that time period. In addition to the obvious Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you had Bucky O'Hare, Street Sharks, Samurai Pizza Cats, T-Rex (a syndicated show featuring dinosaur cops with freeze rays), and probably more I'm forgetting.
Next, we move on to a more obscure game:
This was also favorably reviewed in Nintendo Power (okay, most of their reviews were favorable, but they did occasionally admit to some not-so-great features), and we got it for Christmas in...I think it might have been 1990? Your characters are snakes who eat little blobs called Nibbley Pibbleys in order to make their tails grow. The object was to climb up a mountain that eventually led to the Moon, and seemed to be made up primarily of floating platforms. There were a lot of weird enemies along the way, including bouncing toilet seats and a giant foot. The first few levels were pretty easy, but it became more difficult very quickly. There was apparently a rocketship in the very first level that would take you a few stages ahead, but we were never able to reach it in time.
But I'm sure you'd want me to move on to a game you might have actually played, so how's this? While Donkey Kong was popular enough to star in four different games in the arcade era, it was his nemesis Mario who went on to become the big celebrity, leaving the ape to wallow in eight-bit obscurity. But Rare changed that by giving DK his own starring role in:
As I've mentioned before, though, it's never entirely clear whether the star is the original Donkey Kong, his son, or his grandson. Regardless, he wears a necktie, and he and his little buddy Diddy Kong (this was some time before Sean Combs starting calling himself Diddy) have to rescue their banana hoard from the Kremlings, led by King K. Rool.
The Kremlings seem pretty similar to the Koopas, but they're based on crocodiles instead of turtles. The Mario cartoons showed the Koopa royal family with crocodile-like snouts, though, and I've seen it pointed out that Bowser looks a lot like K. Rool while dressed in his royal cape in "Never Koop a Koopa." Anyway, the Kongs and the Kremlings continued to battle it out in several sequels, most of which I've never played or seen played, but that all seem to have the same basic plot. Usually some Kong or other is kidnapped, and his kins-apes have to save him and her. Actually, the Battletoads games kind of worked the same way. I believe there was a cartoon series based on the series, but I've never watched it. One of the things I thought was cool about the games was that you could ride on oversized animals, my favorite being Rambi the Rhino.
So what happened to Rare? From what I understand, they were eventually purchased by Microsoft. The rights for the Donkey Kong characters reverted to Nintendo, which is why characters like Diddy and Funky Kong are showing up in the Mario Kart games.
If all goes according to plan, then I'll probably have a bit to say about Earthworm Jim next week.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 03:59 am (UTC)So THAT'S what King K.Rool looks like... I'd only heard about him in a video called "Smash Kingdom Melee" where the bad guys from Nintendo games are trying to find a new bad guy for the adventure mode.
Ancient Minister: "What about that bad guy from Donkey Kong? King K. Rool?"
Ganondorf: "Oh, hell, no! That guy's a retard!"
Ancient Minister: "Why?"
Ganondorf: "Let's see... He's an overweight psychotic alligator with a blood feud with a bunch of apes. His fat ass can't do anything. At least the lard penguin over there has a hammer!"
King Dedede: "Hey! I'm not fat! I'm overly sexy!"
Full thing is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSVrphSC1T4
no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 02:33 pm (UTC)In the one Kirby game I've actually seen played all the way through, Dedede turned out not to be as villainous as it seemed at first.
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Date: 2009-01-29 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 02:36 pm (UTC)Another thing I liked about the game was that it had catchy music that changed with every level.
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Date: 2009-01-29 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 04:23 pm (UTC)This sounds like my kind of game, btw. I look for a high level of absurdity.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 02:21 am (UTC)Once they moved over to Microsoft, they started their decline. Most people believe that they just couldn't keep up with technology and lost their touch - although their most recent game Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts has gotten a lot of favorable reviews.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 04:20 pm (UTC)This sounds fabulous!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-30 05:58 am (UTC)Banjo-Kazooie was good. Its sequel wasn't as good, but that was mostly due to some really frustratingly difficult objectives and an overabundance of cheat codes. Not to mention the weirdness of having first-person shooter-style events and boss battles in an otherwise 3rd-person adventure game.
I never played Goldeneye, but everyone I know did and loved it. Same for Perfect Dark, which I actually own, but haven't had time to play.
I really loved Jet Force Gemini when it came out too. It's a 3rd person shooter. It was my first T-rated game, and I was only allowed to have it probably because my mom didn't realize how violent it was. (I never played it when she was around...) This is the old days, back before the ESRB got all conservative and started rating stuff waaay higher than it needed to be. (most T-rated games nowadays should be rated E IMO, and lots of M-rated ones could easily be T.) The blood is green, but there's still a lot of splattering and flying body parts going on. You can even get rewards for collecting a certain amount of enemy heads. :D
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Date: 2009-01-30 09:17 pm (UTC)Well, hey, they probably wouldn't have let the game onto an early Nintendo system at all.
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Date: 2009-02-03 11:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-04 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-04 02:23 am (UTC)