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| {{company infobox | | __NOTOC__ |
| |logo=Rare logo 2015.svg | | {{company-infobox |
| | |logo=Rare logo 2015.png |
| |width=200px | | |width=200px |
| |founded=1985 | | |founded=1985 |
| |first_release=''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[List of games by date#1994|1994]]) | | |firstgame=''[[Donkey Kong Country]] |
| |latest_release=''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' ([[List of games by date#2007|2007]]) | | |lastgame=''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]] |
| |president=Craig Duncan | | |president=Tim and Chris Stamper |
| }} | | }} |
| '''{{wp|Rare (company)|Rare Ltd.}}''' (also shortened to just '''Rare''' and trade-named '''Rareware''' up until ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'') is a British video game developer based in Twycross, Leicestershire. It was founded in 1985 by [[Stamper brothers|Chris and Tim Stamper]], as the successor company to {{wp|Ultimate Play the Game}}. As a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, Rare created the successful [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] games ''{{wp|Wizards & Warriors}}'', ''{{wp|Battletoads (video game)|Battletoads}}'', and ''{{wp|R.C. Pro-Am}}''. Rare's only involvement with the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] was creating several ''[[Donkey Kong (franchise)|Donkey Kong]]'' games, beginning with ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''. Since then, Rare has produced other well-known titles such as ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie}}'', ''{{wp|Perfect Dark}}'', and ''{{wp|Sea of Thieves}}''. | | '''[[Wikipedia:Rare_(company)|Rare Ltd.]]''' (also known as '''Rare''' and formerly '''Rareware''') is a British video game company based in Twycross, Leicestershire, formerly working exclusively for [[Nintendo]] before being bought out by [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]], and the owners of characters such as [[Banjo]] and [[Conker]]. Before Microsoft bought rights to Rare, they had the rights to Nintendo's ''[[Donkey Kong (series)|Donkey Kong]]'' series. |
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| In 2002, following the original North American release of ''[[lylatwiki:Star Fox Adventures|Star Fox Adventures]]'' on the [[Nintendo GameCube]], Microsoft completed its acquisition of Rare, affecting the status of several games of the ''Super Mario'' franchise, including ''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]'', ''[[Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers]]'', and ''[[Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)|Diddy Kong Pilot]]''. Under the terms of the merger, Nintendo retained the rights to all the ''Donkey Kong'' characters along with [[Krunch]], while Rare maintained the rights to its own intellectual properties such as [[Banjo]] and [[Conker]], both of whom appeared in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''. Consequently, [[Dixie Kong]]'s hat no longer bore the Rare logo. For a while, Rare developed games for Nintendo's handheld systems, since Microsoft has not entered the dedicated handheld console market. Two of the games, ''{{wp|Banjo-Pilot}}'' and ''{{wp|It's Mr. Pants}}'', were redeveloped from ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' and ''Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers'', respectively. After the merger, there was a hard stop to using Nintendo and Rare characters in the same works of media, with even ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' being unable to use Banjo or Conker in the character roster. ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' would include one of Rare's properties, Banjo and Kazooie, as playable characters. | | In 2002, Microsoft paid $375 million for a 100% acquisition of Rare. The company then began to produce games for the competing Xbox systems, resulting in the cancellation of ''[[Diddy Kong Pilot]]'', ''[[Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers]]'', and unofficially, ''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]''. Under the terms of the merger, Nintendo retained the rights to all ''Donkey Kong'' characters, while Rare maintained the rights to their intellectual properties. |
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| Nintendo itself would later publish [[reissue|remake]]s of a few ''Donkey Kong'' titles made by Rare, including the original [[Donkey Kong Country (series)|''Donkey Kong Country'' trilogy]] for the [[Game Boy Advance]], as well as ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''. While the first ''Donkey Kong Country'' was made available on the [[Virtual Console]] within a few weeks of the [[Wii]] being released, and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]'' being rolled out there in 2007, all three games were delisted on November 25, 2012,{{ref needed}} and were gradually re-listed from 2014 to 2015,{{ref needed}} this time on both the Wii and [[Wii U]], and all releases of the game have remained listed since then to the extent the consoles' online game stores have remained online. The Rare-developed game ''[[Jetpac]]'' remained intact in the ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' port for the Wii U Virtual Console. | | However, they continued to develop games for Nintendo's handheld systems, since Microsoft has not entered the handheld console market. Such games included enhanced remakes of the three [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] ''Donkey Kong Country'' games for the [[Game Boy Advance]] and ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'', as well as redeveloping their cancelled ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' and ''Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers'' games into ''[[wikipedia:Banjo-Pilot|Banjo-Pilot]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:It's Mr. Pants|It's Mr. Pants]]'', respectively. |
| ==History involving the ''Super Mario'' franchise==
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| ===''Mario Kart'' series===
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| Rare is listed in the credits of ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' and ''[[Mario Kart: Super Circuit]]'' as "Donkey Kong 3-D model provided courtesy of Rare U.K."
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| ===''Donkey Kong 64''=== | | ==Appearances in the ''Donkey Kong'' series== |
| Rare appears in ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' in a few ways, and the company is named "Rareware" in the game. Rareware and Nintendo are the sponsors for the boxing match between the [[Kong]]s and [[King K. Rool]] as mentioned by the [[Microphone]]. Two items bear the logo of Rare: the [[Rareware Coin]] and a specific [[Golden Banana]] that is obtained from the [[Banana Fairy Princess]].
| | *[[Dixie Kong]] and [[Timber]]'s hats once had Rareware logos on them. |
| | *In ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'', Rareware, along with [[Nintendo]], sponsor the boxing match between the [[Kong]]s and [[King K. Rool]] as mentioned by the [[Microbuffer]]. Also, it is possible to collect a [[Rareware Coin]] by beating [[Cranky Kong|Cranky's]] score in [[Jetpac]], and a [[Golden Banana]] with Rare's logo on it by collecting all of the [[Banana Fairy|Banana Fairies]]. |
| | *In ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'', the [[Coin (Diddy Kong Racing DS)|coins]] have the logo of Rare on it. |
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| ===''Diddy Kong Racing DS''===
| | ==''Mario''-related games developed== |
| Rare appears in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' with its logo appearing on the [[coin]]s.
| | {| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%;text-align:center" |
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| ===''Super Smash Bros.'' series===
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| In the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]], "Rare Limited" appears in the Sound Test of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'', and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' as the original composers of several ''Donkey Kong'' songs, although the information clarifies that Nintendo fully owns the copyright to the compositions.
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| ==Appearances in the Super Mario universe==
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| *[[Dixie Kong]]'s hat is occasionally pinned with Rareware's logo. This can be seen clearly in some ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]'' promotional artwork, as well as ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]''.
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| *{{file link|Wrinkly Save Cave DKC3 group art.jpg|One artwork}} of [[Wrinkly's Save Cave]] for ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!'' has Rareware's logo framed.
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| *[[Timber]] has a cap with Rareware's logo on it. This was changed to the [[Nintendo DS]] logo for ''Diddy Kong Racing DS'', and the [[Nintendo]] logo for ''[[Timber's Balloon Pop]]''.
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| ==List of ''Super Mario'' games==
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| {|class="wikitable"style="width:50%;text-align:center" | |
| !Title | | !Title |
| !Year released | | !Year Released |
| !Console | | !Console |
| |- | | |- |
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| |SNES | | |SNES |
| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Donkey Kong Land 2]]'' | | |''[[Donkey Kong Land II]]'' |
| |1996 | | |1996 |
| |Game Boy | | |Game Boy |
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| |1999 | | |1999 |
| |Nintendo 64 | | |Nintendo 64 |
| |-
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| |''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)|Donkey Kong Country]]''
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| |2000
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| |[[Game Boy Color]]
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| |-
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| |''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country]]''
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| |2003
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| |[[Game Boy Advance]]
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| |-
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| |''[[Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country 2]]''
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| |2004
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| |Game Boy Advance
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| |-
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| |''[[Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country 3]]''
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| |2005
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| |Game Boy Advance
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| |- | | |- |
| |''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' | | |''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' |
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| |} | | |} |
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| ==Notable employees== | | ==Previous Logos== |
| {{columns|count=2|
| | <gallery widths=150px><center> |
| *[[Kevin Bayliss]] (former)
| | Rare first logo.png|Rare first logo. |
| *[[Grant Kirkhope]] (former)
| | Rareware logo.png|Former Rare logo, used from 1994-2003 for the "Rareware" trademark. |
| *[[Leigh Loveday]]
| | Rare logo 2003.png|Logo used from 2003-2010. |
| *[[Eveline Novakovic]] (former)
| | Rare logo 2010.png|Logo used from 2010-2015. |
| *[[Gregg Mayles]]
| | </center></gallery> |
| *[[Steve Mayles]] (former)
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| *[[Stamper brothers|Chris Stamper]] (former)
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| *[[Stamper brothers|Tim Stamper]] (former)
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| *[[Mark Stevenson]] (former)
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| *[[Chris Sutherland]] (former)
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| *[[David Wise]] (former)
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| }}
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| ==Gallery==
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| ===Logos===
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| <gallery widths=150px> | |
| Rare logo 1980s.jpg|Rare's first logo, used from 1987–1990 | |
| Rare logo 1990.png|Logo used from 1990–1994
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| Rareware logo.jpg|Logo used from 1994–2003 for the "Rareware" trademark
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| DK Diddy Rareware Logo.png|Donkey Kong and Diddy with the Rareware logo
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| Rare logo 2003.png|Logo used from 2003–2010 | |
| Rare logo 2010.svg|Logo used from 2010–2015 | |
| </gallery> | |
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| ===Screenshots===
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| <gallery>
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| Rareware screen DKL3C.png|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Land III|Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong]]''
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| Rareware screen DKCGBC.png|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[Game Boy Color]])
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| Rare Logo DKCGBA.jpg|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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| Rareware screen DKP.png|Unused splash screen from ''[[Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)|Diddy Kong Pilot]]'' (2001)
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| </gallery> | |
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| ===Logos of canceled games=== | | ==Trivia== |
| <gallery>
| | *Even though Rare has cut ties with Nintendo, their company name, written as "Rare Limited", appears in the Sound Test of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U]]'' as the original composers of several ''Donkey Kong'' songs, although the information clarifies that Nintendo fully owns the copyright to the compositions. |
| Donkey Kong Art and Logo - Donkey Kong Racing.png|''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]''
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| DKCC-Donkey Kong Art.jpg|''[[Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers]]''
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| Diddypilot.jpg|''[[Diddy Kong Pilot]]''
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| </gallery>
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| ==External links== | | ==References== |
| {{NIWA|LylatWiki=Rare|NWiki=Rare|SmashWiki=1|StrategyWiki=Category:Rare}} | | <references/> |
| *[https://rarewiki.com/wiki/Rare_Ltd. Rare Ltd.] on the Rare Wiki
| | {{NIWA|DKWiki-p=Rare, Ltd.}} |
| | {{BoxTop}} |
| {{Companies}} | | {{Companies}} |
| [[Category:Developers]] | | [[Category:Video game developers]] |
| [[Category:Companies]] | | [[Category:Companies]] |
| [[de:Rare]]
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| [[it:Rare Ltd.]]
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