Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll (1990)
This is an isometric platformer. Again, the view makes it hard to properly line up attacks and jumps. However, the snake characters you play as are pretty adorable, and I did enjoy the colorful graphics. I also got to swim up a waterfall at one point, which was kind of cool.
Solar Jetman (1990)
This is a successor to the first game mentioned in this article, Jetpac. You’re still searching for fuel for a space ship, but now you have a capsule, so you can fly around moon caverns. It has a lot more depth than the original, but the capsule can be a pain to control. You have to turn it and then fire a thruster to move, so it’s easy to accidentally crash into a wall. Also, picking up an item like fuel or a spaceship part significantly weighs the capsule down and really makes it a pain to maneuver.
Digger T. Rock (1990)
This one is actually pretty similar to Underwurlde. You’re a guy exploring caves and searching for treasure. It’s kind of like an early precursor to Spelunky, but with wonkier controls and a confusing inventory system. The sprite for the main character, however, is adorable.
Above: Battletoads.
Battletoads (1991)
Here we go. Battletoads is a classic beat-’em-up for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Even today, its oversized fists and exaggerated sound effects make pummeling its enemies super-satisfying. It also has the greatest pause screen jam of all time. Yeah, it’s incredible difficult, but Rare Replay’s rewind feature (you can hold the L button for select games to rewind time) actually helps you finally beat this monster from your childhood.
R.C. Pro-Am II (1992)
This is a lot like the first one, but tracks have more slopes, and you can use a store between races to improve your car. It’s definitely a bit better than the original, but the isometric view still makes it difficult to actually see boosts and items. Still, as far as NES racers go, this might be tops.
Battletoads Arcade (1994)
This is a Battletoads sequel a lot of you might not know about, since it never got a console release. It’s awesome. The graphics and sound are much better than they were in the NES game. It’s also a lot more violent. You’ll actually see some blood on the screen. It’s great to finally have this game easily playable.
Killer Instinct Gold (1996)
We’re now entering Rare’s golden era on the Nintendo 64. I actually didn’t really play much Killer Instinct back in the day, so 10 minutes wasn’t a lot of time for me to get a handle on special moves and combos. Still, I was beginning to figure things out and was even able to take down a couple of computer opponents. Really, having a fighting game in the collection really spices up the variety. Also, you have to love that announcer: “C-c-c-combo breakerrrr!”
Blast Corps (1997)
This is a game that could only exist in a pre-9/11 world. You drive around vehicles and mechs with the sole purpose of destroying buildings to make a path for a nuclear missile carrier. Yeah, it’s silly, but it’s fun. You have a nice variety of vehicles, and each one has different abilities. This is really a great showcase for Rare’s creativity.
Above: Banjo-Kazooie.
Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
Banjo-Kazooie is a delightful 3D platformer starring a bear and a giant bird that lives in his backpack. I never found the 3D acrobatics to feel quite as immaculately responsive as they are in Super Mario 64, but Banjo-Kazooie makes up for that with loads of charm and a great soundtrack. Ten minutes hardly gets me past the tutorial, but Rare managed to even make that part entertaining and rewarding.
Jet Force Gemini (1999)
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter in which one of the characters is a dog with a laser gun strapped to his back. Sadly, 10 minutes didn’t give me enough time to play as the deadly pooch. As a shooter, Jet Force Gemini can feel a bit dated and wonky. You move your character like he was in a 3D platformer with the left stick, and the right stick strafes. You hold down the L button to manually aim, but the slightest movement on the stick sends your cursor flying. The soundtrack, however, is pretty awesome.
Perfect Dark (2000)
I’m going to be a grump here, as I was never a big Perfect Dark fan. It’s basically a sequel to Rare’s 1998 GoldenEye game. Playing Perfect Dark now reminds me of everything I used to dislike about shooters: the unclear objectives, the dead-end rooms and confusing labyrinths of levels, and the blocky, boring textures. You want to excuse Perfect Dark for being a product of its time, but Half-Life came out in 1998, two years before this, and is way more sophisticated. Also, my 10 minute experience was kind of unsettling. I was just walking around some building easily killing people with one shot of a pistol (thanks to some generous auto-aiming) while they said things like, “Please don’t kill me.” I felt more like a psychopath than a spy.