Grabbed By The Ghoulies - Grasped

Thanks to GameSpot for their updated impressions of Rare's Grabbed By The Ghoulies, following the Xbox title's mixed reception at E3. The article suggests: "While the game features a pretty basic old-school beat-'em-up mechanic that's easy to pick up, there's a bit more to it", and goes on to conclude: "We're a bit disappointed to see that it doesn't have any multiplayer support, but any game that has a level featuring vampire chickens is clearly doing something right." Will this title go any further towards answering the eternal 'Have Rare lost it?' conundrum?

Comments

Of Course Not

[redune45]

Everyone was so quick to judge Grabbed by the Goulies, saying that it was just another example of how Rare is falling to its demise.
But no one ever considers that it may just be fun to play.
It looks foolish, But who would have thought that Banzoo Kazooie would have been so absolutely fun to play-it looks even more generic.
Give the guys a chance, you may me glad you did.

Sounds interesting

[jrc313]

This could turn out to be one of those very simple yet highly playable games that the XBox could really do with.

Not having a multiplayer option would be a shame. Anyone that's played "Zombies ate my neighbours" on the SNES will attest to the crazed arguments that can result from one player stealing all the good pickups.

Remake?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm certain the title "Grabbed by the Ghoulies" has been used in a computer game before. Oh, for people born on the wrong side of the pond, "goolies" is a colloquialism for bollocks.

Re:Remake?

[Froggie]

And if that didn't help, bollocks is a collquialism for nadgers.

Re:Remake?

[gkelman]

and collquialism is a colloquialism for colloquialism

Has Rare Lost It? We'll Have to Wait and See...

[Gothic_Walrus]

Let's face it: Rare's most successful titles were pioneers for their time. Donkey Kong Country was successful, in part, because of its graphics. Goldeneye was a huge hit because the FPS genre had never worked very well on consoles prior to Rare's intervention. Battletoads was one of the first games where you could play as a mutant frog. Many of Rare's games has succeeded, and not always for expected reasons.

As long as Rare's new games continue to bring new elements to gaming, they'll do just fine. If, on the other hand, Rare stagnates and starts churning out cookie-cutter sequels to once-successful franchises, Microsoft's investment will be for naught.

Rare never had it

[gamgee5273]

Again, I hate to beat a dead horse, but there has been nothing from Rare (save GoldenEye and Conker's Bad Fur Day) to merit such praise of those developers. Other than those two games (and Conker wouldn't have been as satirically impressive if it wasn't on the "kid console" N64), they're middle-of-the-road and rather mediocre.

Re:Rare never had it

[Mike Mentalist]

What, apart from the fact that they were the darlings of the Spectrum back when they were called Ultimate Play the Game you mean?

People who say that Rare have lost it aren't looking at the whole picture. When they first went from developing for the Spectrum to the NES they had lots of employees leave and everyone said the same thing about them back then.

Rare have been making quality games for YEARS, and many of their titles for the N64 were superb - Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64.

Every developer releases 'bad eggs', but that doesn't mean they are going down the pan at all.

Re:Rare never had it

[Trapp]

I agree, the older they've gotten, the less impressive they've become. I'd like to see them come back, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re:Rare never had it

[jherekc]

Jet Force Gemini is one of the best games I have ever played. In fact I still play it to this day. To start with I was annoyed by the fact the I had to go through the enitre game again to collect all the parts from the spaceship, but then realised that there is alot more to the game than first meets the eye.

A fine example of a game if ever I saw one.

Re:Rare never had it

[mausmalone]

Well, Rare had "it," but sadly, that was during the N64 era. DKC was sweet, and Battletoads, but Goldeneye is what really made them. Banjo Kazooie was a lot of fun (until you realized it was all about collecting puzzle pieces... snooze). Conker BFD was amazing. Perfect Dark was extremely cool. Heck, even Jet Force Gemini was a good-yet-ugly game. Star Fox Adventures was even reasonable (but again, once you realized you were just collecting stuff, it was pretty pointless). Both Killer Instinct games still hold up today (at least the arcade versions).

So Rare definitely had "it," but they have a very distinct style, and not all people like it. Even if they make good games, there's a portion of the gaming public who looks at their stuff and goes "well, it's just not for me." Still, like Nintendo said when they ended the partnership... huge investment, little return. Mostly due to extremely long development cycles.

Re:Rare never had it

[fireduck]

"Rare have been making quality games for YEARS, and many of their titles for the N64 were superb - Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64."

I concur. For example, Diddy Kong Racing. Several aspects of DKR beat Mario Kart hands down. Level design, number of levels, gameplay options, variety in gameplay, minigames, graphic quality, character choices (and impact on gameplay). All tilt to DKR. it did have it's downside. I hated the plane levels. plus, I found playing with less experienced players, I totally dominated the game, while in MK, games were far closer and much more interesting (probably do to powerup effects and/or level design).

MK I'd pull out only when I had friend over. DKR I'd get out both with friends and alone (trying to beat the the shadow clock was frustrating, but very rewarding for the few levels i did beat him).

I was seriously looking forward to the GC update, Donkey Kong Racing. Don't know what's going to happen to it (whether nintendo took over or it just died, I haven't been following the news at all)

Re:Rare never had it

[PainKilleR-CE]

I was seriously looking forward to the GC update, Donkey Kong Racing. Don't know what's going to happen to it (whether nintendo took over or it just died, I haven't been following the news at all)

The last rumour I heard was that Nintendo handed it over to Namco, but I'm not sure whether that's been confirmed or not.

Re:Rare never had it

[bitrott]

Let's also be real. Conkers was a terrible game. The worst camera I've ever seen, graphics that were just barely par and horrible controls. It's wit was barely smart enough to keep people interested. The Matrix spoof alone was reason to chuck it out the window.

Re:Rare never had it

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole of CBFD was movie/comic book spoofs. That should have been clear becasue the game starts with a Conan the King bit. Anyone not understanding thos needs to go back and try again.

Re:Rare never had it

[bitrott]

I don't think it's funny so I don't understand satire? What kind of idiot logic is that?

Horsepuckey

[ChibiLZ]

What's really funny is that if this game was slated for the GC, it would be praised for it's imaginative concept, crisp graphics, excellent gameplay, etc. People just expect different things from different systems, as well as all the fanboys still angry over losing Rare. Not that I see what the big deal is, Rare's nothing special...

Rare's status

[Metroid72]

Although the Stamper brothers are probably still there, Rare had an exodus of developers. I think Tradewest owns the 'Battletoads' franchise?? [Any updates on that will be welcome]
Unless M$ is going to give this studio complete freedom, I don't think we'll see very innovative games coming down the pipe
The past was ver bright though:
Snake Rattlen'Roll
Wizard & Warriors I & II
RC Pro-AM
Cobra Triangle (that was basically Pro'AM with boats)
Off Road
Battletoads Series
DK Series
Goldeneye

I think it would have made more sense to buy Treasure or Falcom.

Re:Rare's status

[edwdig]

If the Stampers are still there, they probably won't be for a lot longer. The word going round was the sale came about because the Stampers wanted out, but Nintendo didn't want to pay them what they were asking.

Re:Rare's status

[CashCarSTAR]

Exactly..Rare is a lot more than just the N64 games. You forgot two games 'tho.

Pinbot: The best pure pinball game in the 8-bit and most of the 16-bit generation IMO.

Killer Instinct:Amazing graphics for the time, and an interesting style.

The sad thing is, GbtG more than likey will be slammed by the X-Box fanboys, and be an amazingly big flop. At the same time, it'll more than likely be a lot of fun.

Too bad.

Rare has lost it far as I'm concerned

[BruceTheBruce]

Their stuff was once really innovative and fun, and sure they've done some great things in recent years like Conkers, Goldeneye, and Banjo Kazooie (though Tooie was a distinct disappointment). At some point they just decided to just seize onto the "multiple playable characters" mechanic by the goolies and not let go! Thus they gave us huge games with unfocused levels but that we're supposed to think are fun just because we get to play them three or four times with different characters, none of which are terribly distinct in terms of playing style. Their "design philosophy" is almost as lame and transparent as Naughty Dog's. I think they have the possibility to do great things based on their track record, but I personally don't expect a whole lot.

Just Out Of Interest

[gowen]

Does "Grabbed by the ghoulies" have the same sexual connotations in the US that it has in the UK?

Re:Just Out Of Interest

[FrEaK7782]

no

Re:Just Out Of Interest

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes!

It's still just a beat 'em up

[Anonymous Coward]

I played this at E3, yet haven't played the newest release (should have it this week.) However, from reading the Gamespot article, it's basically the same as it was at E3, a mindless beat 'em up that kids will enjoy and adults will burn out on after 5-6 levels. It doesn't matter that there's 100 items to use to hit something with, since that's ALL you do in this game...hit things. There are no puzzles to solve, no platforming bits. You just run from pretty room to pretty room, flinging hamburgers and cokes at bad guys and moving to the next room. Oh, there's the "scary" moments where you have to waggle the stick as fast as you can to regain your composure. This is a dull game, doesn't matter what platform it's on. All the pretty character models in the world can't save this from ending up like Whacked!, Cel Damage and Blinx.

Re:It's still just a beat 'em up

[rhuntley12]

According to you 90% of the games out there aren't repetetive? I mean take a dozen random games, and see if you are just doing the same thing over and over. You either build army - kill other guy run around collect stuff hit things shoot things How about people wait until it comes out to bitch? Is it not on your favorite system or something?

Microsoft got a bad deal

[xenocide2]

Everything that made RARE worth what it is has gone. Much of the talent behind Goldeneye has left to form a studio of their own. Their product was time splitters and timesplitters 2. I'm not sure how much longer the Stamper Brothers will remain with RARE, as I believe that MS bought some assets from them. I haven't seen anything nearly as original as Blast Corps from RARE in a long long time. I'd say its Microsoft's loss, but really I think the video game player has lost a quality game source as well.

$375 Million!

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft pays $375 million dollars to get grabbed by the ghoulies.

Most Brits can get them for free.

Dont judge a book by its cover.

[AzraelKans]

I think is way too soon to judge "Grabbed". first of all, this are the same guys who have made a great title from just about every cliche genere in the market: fps (goldeneye) beat'emup (killer instinct great combo system and gameplay) and even a Kart game! (diddy kong racing, check it out if you dont believe me.)

Second: the XBOX needed a good family title badly, the closest thing there was is "Blink the boring cat" and er... Halo (I guess).
Now Rare could have pulled a simple Mario clone but they went for a kid fighting ghosts and vampires with lots of comic relief instead, which one you would've preffered?

Anyway is not like this is the only title they are working on, conker MP may sound dissapointing but as far as I remember conkers multiplayer was a blast (I still play "the heist" from time to time). I can't wait to see them on xbox live (I wonder if you could use the sound filters to sound like a weasel hmm?) also you have to remember conker (and perfect dark) came out in a bad time, the n64 was in it's way out and cartridges were considered way too expensive by then (not to mention you needed the memory expansion) so many people never played the title and just knew about it from reviews.

Maybe we just set our expectations with them too high and thats all whatever the case may be we will just have to wait and see, this guys may still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Re:Dont judge a book by its cover.

[AzraelKans]

I'm going to go a bit of topic just to share with those out of you who werent lucky enough to enjoy conker subtle and ellegant MP mode here are some of the game styles it featured.

The Heist: (My personal favorite)
4 weasels in a competition to rob a bank's "money bag" maim each other using several weapons including a 1 shot rocket launcher, tommy guns and kitchen knives. the catch: once you had the money bag you were unable to defend yourself your only chance was to run like hell to base. Seriously seing a cartoon weasel grasping his troath pierced by a kitchen knife is like watching a Walt Disney cartoon from hell.

Jew invasion (not actual title):
A jew family arriving to an island try to pass through a barriage of artillery fire from Killer Teddy bears (no, I'm not kidding) you take the side of the jews elluding bullets and running to base or the teddies blasting the poor guys off the island. Fun for the whole family!

Dinos and cavemans (not actual title):
Following the "jew invassion" theme, a tribe of caveman try to foolishly steal the eggs from the lair of some tyranosaurus rex's you either take the caveman or the dinos, the dinos proceed to eat the caveman on sight (in a pretty gross way I may add) or feed them to their cubs. Is like aliens vs predator with cartoons!

Deathmatch (not actual title):
The ordinary deathmatch you've seen everywhere conker style! this one features the characters you've seen through the game (weasels, teddies, etc) avoiding traps all over the place like heating stoves, electrical charges, flamethrowers, etc. And when you play in the bathroom you get to use the ultimate weapon your own urine! (I wish I was kidding) you can even held a contest on who pees farther!

There were other (the only one I didnt like was one involving tanks) but this are the ones I remember the most (for obvious reasons).

Well there's a taste of what RARE can do, and is coming soon to your xbox live.

enjoy!