Editing Rare Ltd.

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|logo          = [[File:Rare logo 2015.svg|225px|Rare]]

|website      = [http://www.rare.co.uk/ Rare Ltd.]

'''Rare''' is a British video game development studio based in Twycross, Leicestershire, England. The origins can be traced back to 1982 when Tim and Chris Stamper founded '''{{iw|wikipedia|Ultimate Play the Game}}'''. The studio saw early success on personal computers like the {{iw|wikipedia|ZX Spectrum}}, {{iw|wikipedia|BBC Micro}}, and {{iw|wikipedia|Commodore 64}} with titles like ''Jetpac'', ''Atic Atac'', ''Sabre Wulf'', and ''Knight Lore''. Ultimate eventually became particularly well-known in the U.K. for their isometric game engine "Filmation" and the secretive marketing of their titles and brand, down to advertisements not showing any screenshots of games whatsoever. However, knowing that microcomputers were only popular platforms for gaming in the U.K. and therefore a financial dead-end, they decided to branch out into other markets. The studio decided to focus on the then-Japan-exclusive Famicom due to its potentially worldwide reach and high specs, thus creating a subsidiary called ''Rare'' in 1985 to reverse engineer the hardware and learn its inner workings, something [[Nintendo]] claimed to be impossible. After impressing Nintendo with its tech demos, Rare was granted unlimited budget for developing Famicom games, now called the Nintendo Entertainment System in the PAL region. At this time, the company decided to sell the Ultimate Play the Game brand to {{iw|wikipedia|U.S. Gold}} (though they would regain the rights in 1988) and officially renamed the whole company to Rare. A string of successful NES releases followed, including ''R.C. Pro-Am'', ''Snake Rattle 'n' Roll'', and ''Battletoads'', as well as several licensed games based on brands such as ''{{iw|wikipedia|Beetlejuice}}'' and ''{{iw|wikipedia|Sesame Street}}'', and outsourced NES ports of PC and arcade games.

 

In 1994, Rare acquired several SGI computers with profits from their NES titles and used them to create a boxing game tech demo, which eventually became ''Killer Instinct''. Nintendo was so impressed with this demo that they would purchase a 49% stake in the company, making Rare a second-party developer. Nintendo would entrust Rare with the {{uv|Donkey Kong}} license, which resulted in the ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' series, as well as the ''Donkey Kong Land'' series on Game Boy and ''Donkey Kong 64'' on the Nintendo 64. Rare would go into what many consider their "golden age" during the lifespan of the Nintendo 64, with titles like ''Blast Corps'', {{uv|GoldenEye}} ''007'', ''Diddy Kong Racing'', {{uv|Banjo-Kazooie}}, {{uv|Perfect Dark}}, and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day''. Another game in development for Nintendo 64 was ''Dinosaur Planet'', but this was changed to a {{uv|Star Fox}} game at Nintendo's request. During the development of this title, Rare was in talks with [[Microsoft]] and {{iw|wikipedia|Activision}} to be bought out in full, with Nintendo showing little interest. On September 23rd, 2002, ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox Adventures}}'', the last Rare game released during their partnership with Nintendo, was released on the GameCube. One day later, Rare was fully acquired by [[Microsoft]], with all their in-development projects either being moved to the Xbox; reworked to feature Rare's original stable of characters in place of the ''Donkey Kong Country'' characters, which Nintendo retained the rights to; outright cancelled; or - in the case of ''Donkey Kong Racing'' - all of the above.

 

Now a part of Microsoft, Rare would make games exclusively for {{iw|wikipedia|Xbox}} brand consoles and eventually PC. These titles include ''Grabbed by the Ghoulies'', ''Kameo: Elements of Power'', and the ''Viva Piñata'' series. While few of the original titles under Microsoft were critical failures, many fans of Rare's output before the buyout were opposed to the company's new direction, in part due to their controversial attempts to revive their existing characters in the vehicle-building sandbox title ''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'' and the heavily censored remake ''Conker: Live & Reloaded''. Rare would also briefly collaborate with {{iw|wikipedia|THQ}} to publish several games for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS based on their existing franchises and characters, as well as partner with Nintendo again for remakes of earlier ''Donkey Kong'' games, followed by a drought in content for Nintendo platforms between 2007 and 2019. Through the early 2010s, Rare would choose to primarily work on the moderately successful Xbox Live Avatars and games utilizing them, particularly with the Kinect accessory. Rare would eventually find the biggest success they had experienced since their collaboration with Nintendo in the pirate adventure game ''Sea of Thieves'' for Xbox One and PC. They additionally assisted with outsourced installments of the ''Battletoads'', ''Conker'', and ''Killer Instinct'' IPs for Xbox hardware; and are currently working on expansions for ''Sea of Thieves'' in addition to the upcoming ''Everwild''.

Rare is credited for the modern version of  of [[Donkey Kong]] for virtually all of his future video game appearances and were the original creators of four characters that appeared as fighters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series: [[Diddy Kong]], [[King K. Rool]], [[Banjo]] and [[Kazooie]]. All ''Donkey Kong'' music sourced or rearranged from Rare games credit them for their compositions, even after the Microsoft buyout and before the collaboration to bring Banjo & Kazooie to ''Smash''.

{{SSBM|Donkey Kong}} returns in ''Melee'', representing his universe alongside numerous content originating from Rare games. [[Congo Jungle]] reappears as a Past Stage, while {{SSBM|Kongo Jungle}} and [[Jungle Japes]] are two new stages from Rare's ''Donkey Kong Country''. Characters from the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series such as [[Dixie Kong]] and [[King K. Rool]] appear as trophies in ''Melee''. The [[Barrel Cannon]], which debuted in ''Donkey Kong Country'', appears as an item and stage element. The [[Motion-Sensor Bomb]] returns, keeping its ''GoldenEye 007'' appearance in international releases of ''Melee'', while resembling the design of and being called the Proximity Mine from Rare's ''Perfect Dark'' in the Japanese version of the game. The [[Cloaking Device]] from ''Perfect Dark'' serves as another new item. Members of Rare's staff acted as voice actors for the [[Star Fox Smash Taunt]] in ''Melee'', later reprising their roles in ''Star Fox Adventures''. These voice clips would return in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'', and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.

{{SSBU|Donkey Kong}} and {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}} both return as veterans with {{SSBU|King K. Rool}} appearing as a newcomer. [[Klaptrap]], an enemy type from the original ''Donkey Kong Country'', appears as the series' first Assist Trophy. [[Kongo Jungle (SSBM)|Kongo Jungle]] (now known as Kongo Falls), [[Jungle Japes]] and [[Kongo Jungle (SSB)|Kongo Jungle 64]] all return as famliar stages. The King K. Rool outfit for the {{SSBU|Mii Brawler}} returns, along with an additional Mii hat based on [[Dixie Kong]]'s beret and ponytail that's available for all [[Mii Fighter]] types. Additionally, [[Krystal]] - appearing as she does in the Rare-developed ''Star Fox Adventures'' - debuts as an Assist Trophy. Multiple Rare-created ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Star Fox'' characters also appear as [[Spirits]]. {{SSBU|Banjo & Kazooie}} also make their debut as a [[Downloadable content (SSBU)|DLC playable fighter]] in Fighters Pass Vol. 1, along with an accompanying [[Spiral Mountain]] stage and multiple ''Banjo-Kazooie''-themed Spirits. Notably, they are the first fighter created for an original series by Rare to appear in ''Smash'' (as opposed to created for an existing Nintendo series), as well as the first form of original Rare content altogether to appear in ''Smash'' since the Microsoft buyout. Rare's logo makes an appearance on Banjo's backpack when it is opened.

*Rare is the first company located outside of Japan to receive representation in ''Smash'' via a playable character, with [[Diddy Kong]]'s inclusion in ''Brawl''. In addition to getting [[King K. Rool]], [[Banjo]] and [[Kazooie]] in future installments, they would later be joined by [[Retro Studios]] with [[Dark Samus]], [[Mojang Studios]] with [[Steve]], and [[Disney]] with [[Sora]].

**Rare is also technically the only third-party to be represented in ''64'' at all. However, the company was a second party at the time.