Rare Grabs Ghoulies For Microsoft, Gets Mixed Results

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Rare Grabs Ghoulies For Microsoft, Gets Mixed Results

Posted by simoniker on Thursday October 23, 2003 @12:04AM from the kick-in-the-vitals dept.

Thanks to 1UP for their review of Rare's first Xbox title, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, which has just shipped to stores following the company's acquisition by Microsoft last year. The reviewer is lukewarm at best on this swiftly-developed title, arguing it "...really is nothing but monster-punching and room-advancing", and lamenting that "...most of all, the game's short. Really short." While a recent hands-on preview at TotalVideoGames was much more positive, suggesting that "as far as we're concerned the criticism of 'Grabbed by the Ghoulies' has been a little harsh", IGN Xbox have now weighed in with a similarly ambivalent review, praising "some really great presentation", but ultimately suggesting "there aren't any landmark moments or climaxes to diversify the gameplay in any significant matter." So, which forthcoming Rare titles are you looking forward to?

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UK - US translation???? by martin · 2003-10-23 00:57 · Score: 1

DO you guys get his name or not

Do you need a translation for the ghoulies bit and it's use in UK slang?
1. Re:UK - US translation???? by PainKilleR-CE · 2003-10-23 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  I think a dozen or so people pointed it out last time the game was mentioned, and the time before that, and no one in the US really cared about the UK developers' particular use of slang to try to put a pun in the title when the literal title is fairly mundane for the story.
  
  That, or maybe I just don't get too excited about Beavis & Butthead style in-jokes. 'huhu he said Ghoulies' 'Yeah, he said he grabbed them too, heh'
  
  --
  -PainKilleR-[CE]
2. Re:UK - US translation???? by martin · 2003-10-23 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  Fair enough....
  
  They called me Finbar (after Finbar Saunders) at Uni for fairly obvious reasons given my sense of humour, so I couldn't resist ramming the message home
3. Re:UK - US translation???? by oskillator · 2003-10-23 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  It goes a bit beyond using a naughty word. This game's title is some of the most inspired wordplay I've seen in a long while. The alternate meaning of "Ghoulies" isn't just a simple substitution, it completely changes the grammatical form of the sentence!
What am I waiting for? by psp · 2003-10-23 01:06 · Score: 1

So, which forthcoming Rare titles are you looking forward to?

CONKER, CONKER, CONKER! (info)
collectionfest by h0mer · 2003-10-23 01:33 · Score: 3, Interesting

I think Perfect Dark Zero will fit in the Xbox lineup perfectly. As for other titles, I hope they don't decide to put 500 blue things, 200 yellow things and 50 red things to find in each level. All that collecting nearly ruined some of their Nintendo 64 games, like the Banjo-Kazooie series, Jet Force Gemini, and of course Donkey Kong 64.

Rare has made some great stuff, but I want to see them do more with a 3D environment than hide a bunch of fucking coins or gems or dildos.

--

I'm on top of my game like I'm standin' on Xbox.
1. Re:collectionfest by Mechanik · 2003-10-23 02:52 · Score: 1
  
  Rare has made some great stuff, but I want to see them do more with a 3D environment than hide a bunch of fucking coins or gems or dildos.
  
  No, that will be Techmo with its sequel to DOA: Extreme Beach Volleyball. They'll up the ante from buying your girls just swimsuits...
  
  Mechanik
Classic Ultimate game? by BenjyD · 2003-10-23 01:52 · Score: 2, Interesting

The game really sounds more like something from the 'Good old days' of Ulimate Play the Game (now Rare) - trapped in a small area, lots of bad guys to fight, using specific moves/equipment/order to kill the monsters. Like JetPac or Psst! (damn that game was hard).
1. Re:Classic Ultimate game? by easychord · 2003-10-23 10:53 · Score: 1
  
  This game sounds very much like Atic Atak.
  
  Maybe if they are making new sequels to their old games, they will finally get round to making Mire Mare!
Rarely Compelling by Kamalot · 2003-10-23 02:04 · Score: 1, Interesting

Can someone explain to me Rare's appeal? Yes, they made a good first-person shooter (FPS) for the N64. We all know that no matter how good a console FPS is, they pale in comparison to FPS on PCs. While Starfox Adventures (Nintendo GameCube) is one of the most fantastic looking games, the gameplay is uninspired and the story is dull. The game has no soul. Color me jade, Rare does not impress me.
1. Re:Rarely Compelling by Mike+Mentalist · 2003-10-23 02:13 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  We all know that no matter how good a console FPS is, they pale in comparison to FPS on PCs.
  
  They certainly do not. If the game is designed around a control pad then it is fine.
  
  While Starfox Adventures (Nintendo GameCube) is one of the most fantastic looking games, the gameplay is uninspired and the story is dull. The game has no soul. Color me jade, Rare does not impress me.
  
  For me, the games that Rare put out were the best for the system.
  Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were fantastic, I preferred Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 to Mario 64, Diddy Kong Racing had a much better single player than Mario Kart and Jet Force Gemini was sublime stuff.
  
  --
  I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
2. Re:Rarely Compelling by soluzar22 · 2003-10-23 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  We all (apparently) know that console FPS games pale in comparison to PC FPS games?
  
  News to me!! I know nothing of the sort. I play games regularly on my PC, but not FPS! Not since the dark ages! I can't get into any of the stodgy, dodgy FPS titles that come out on the PC these days.
  
  Halo and 'Splitters 2, OTOH are a different class, in my mind. Have you played either of the above?
  I do agree with you that Rare are largely rubbish, I've recently posted to that effect myself, and Starfox Adventures takes my fancy not one bit, but I can hardly believe that you prefer PC FPS games to console in this day and age.
  
  --
  Sign the FSF's Anti-DMCA petit
3. Re:Rarely Compelling by NexusTw1n · 2003-10-23 02:45 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I suspect Rare's appeal comes from journalists and gamers old enough to have been playing games in the 1980's.
  
  Ultimate Play the Game were the best software house during the 8 bit home computer days. At least as far as the UK is concerned. This perhaps would be less true in the states where the NES took the place of the Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad.
  
  From Pssst! to Jet Pac to Knight Lore and Underwurlde every single game was an addictive well made classic.
  
  They were legends and their refusal to do PR interviews help magnify their mysterious God like qualities. The silent software house would just quietly and without fuss churn out hit after hit like Willy Wonka's mysterious Chocolate Factory.
  
  They have never been a "nice" software house, being the or at least one of the first 8 bit companies to switch from the 5.99 game price to 9.99 in an oversized box that doesn't fit on your shelf.
  I believe they still threaten legal action against anyone trying to offer emulation versions of these ancient games. Possibly because I think we'll see mobile phone versions of some of the classics before too long.
  
  But as you say, since evolving into Rare that old magic has gone and there has to come a point where they have to create their own reputation, not rely on one created 20 years ago.
  
  --
  It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. --Albert Einstein
4. Re:Rarely Compelling by Kamalot · 2003-10-23 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  FPS
  
  I own Time Splitters 2. It has decent control and is very fun. The storytelling is terrible and makes little to no sense. The mission objectives are sometimes very unclear, especially on the stealth levels.
  
  Halo has a better story than Time Splitters 2 and does an excellent job of making the world feel like a "real" (as real as an alien ring in space can be) place. Yet the levels in Halo are so monotonous and dull. It has a few moments of brilliance in the action separated by gulfs of boredom. Halo's saving grace is Cooperative play.
  
  The controls on all console FPS are lackluster to those found in a FPS. While I do like having analog movement rather than the W,A,S,D keys, the lack of a mouse is still irrating.
  
  Nothing beats Half-Life on the PC. The pacing and atmosphere keep the game compelling to this day..
  
  I do have to give props to Metroid. The world created in Metroid is very immersive and truly feels like an alien world. Say what you will about bump maps or graphic effects, Metroid Prime is the best looking FPS out there. The artistic direction is unequaled. The fact that the goal of the game is not to destroy everything, but rather to explore is a very refreshing change.
5. Re:Rarely Compelling by edwdig · 2003-10-23 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  The Donkey Kong Country was really good. DKC 2 was good. DKC 3 was blah. DK 64 just had too much in it.
  
  Killer Instinct was a pretty decent fighter.
  
  Obviously Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were huge hits.
  
  Conker was a great game, but it was last major N64 game released, so not many people payed attention to it.
  
  But they've had a lot of bombs. Banjo Kazooie was kinda painful (one death and you have to collect all 100 notes in the level again). Banjo Tooie fixed the problems in the first game, but then ended up having way too much to collect. Jet Force Gemini was another painful collectathon. Star Fox Adventures, well, at least it looked really pretty.
  
  I think it comes down to Rare really shined when Nintendo first bought a chunk of them, but since then it's been downhill, with an occasional flash of brilliance.
6. Re:Rarely Compelling by NanoGator · 2003-10-23 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  "Can someone explain to me Rare's appeal?"
  
  Don't you remember Donkey Kong Country?
  
  The reason that Rare has such a following is that they consistently surprise people with what the hardware can do. Though I agree with your opinion of Star Fox Adventures, that game was still very impressive graphically. It was so startling to see fur and grass in the scene.
  
  Rare is a team of very creative and talented people. They have the same sort of appeal that Pixar does in some respects. "Man, what are they going to do next?"
  
  --
  "Derp de derp."
Re: Quality of Rare software by soluzar22 · 2003-10-23 02:14 · Score: 1

IMO, Rare have made a total of two great titles: Jet Force Gemini, and Goldeneye.

Since then, loads of their devteams have jumped ship, and they are continuing to make great titles, ie Timesplitters 2 to name but one.

I've never understood why Rare had such a following. The Donkey Kong games in particular grate on my nerves.
-- Soluzar

--
Sign the FSF's Anti-DMCA petit
Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Mushouden! by malverian · 2003-10-23 02:28 · Score: 1

Ohhh.. rare with a capital 'R' .. silly me :-P

--
You're just mad because the voices in your head talk to me.
Bluntly by Kyouryuu · 2003-10-23 03:14 · Score: 2, Interesting

To put it bluntly, I don't feel Rare has made anything worthwhile since Goldeneye. Perfect Dark was plagued by a choppy framerate that only marginally improved with the N64 memory expansion. Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, and Donkey Kong 64 were all mediocre easter egg hunts under the disguise of pretty graphics. Starfox Adventures is a dull adventure game with Zelda elements seemingly thrown in at the last moment. Maybe Ghoulies is changed - I don't know.
What Rare really needs to do is find some way of reinspiring and reinvigorating its games, especially in the way of gameplay. They are just tired models of gameplay - Rare should try their hand at something bold and new instead of the neverending item hunt. They have talented artists, designers, and programmers. It's making a compelling game with fun mechanics where I feel Rare continues to fall short. All of the graceful programming and pretty graphics can't save a game with a lackluster basis to begin with. And while there are some people who really enjoy item collection games, Rare slit its own throat by producing one after another after another on the Nintendo 64.
1. Re:Bluntly by scot4875 · 2003-10-23 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  Thing is, I really *liked* Jet Force Gemini. I thought it was a fun and original game... Until you get to what should have been the end. Instead, you're treated to another trip through every level to find the tribals you missed. It's about a 7-hour game that they extended to 15 hours by forcing you to hunt down each and every one of those damn things.
  
  I wholeheartedly agree with your assesment of their recent boring games. I don't know what was going on with Rare during the N64 years, but they kept putting out games that could've been fun if they'd just taken out (or at least made optional) all the collection elements.
  
  Personally, after Starfox Adventures, I couldn't care less about Rare moving to Microsoft. It's still one of the prettiest games on the console, but like so many of their recent games, it just wasn't any fun.
  
  --Jeremy
  
  --
  Jesus was a liberal
None of them. by BruceTheBruce · 2003-10-23 03:16 · Score: 1

They're the English equivalent of Naughty Dog. Brilliant coding abilities, but so-so design skills. Rare has certainly had its moments in recent years (Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Conker) and will eventually make more great games no doubt. But they've proven they think multiple characters and endless fetching/collecting chores make a great game. I quit playing Donkey Kong 64 because it got tedious playing the exact same (difficult to navigate) level five times over. Ditto for Banjo Tooie, which utterly lacked the brilliant level design that was on display in the original. I guess I'm so harsh on them because it seems like a horrible waste of a company with an awesome pedigree that could really be making nothing but great games.
Re:The next non-XBox release by Mike+Mentalist · 2003-10-23 03:16 · Score: 1

Too sad those M$ idiots didn't realize that all games RARE produced so successfully for the N64 did contain concepts that are Nintendo ONLY. $375 Million for a few programmers without concept is a little much isn't it?

Yes, I am sure that Nintendo had a great deal of input on the games that Rare made for the Spectrum.

--
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by soluzar22 · 2003-10-23 03:27 · Score: 1

Oh, never knew Killer Instinct was RareWare...

Never liked KI, myself. Fell out of love with beat-em-ups from mid SF2 era, and didn't start playing 'em again until Tekken 2 came out.
Highly unlikely I'll get to play KI now. Did it even have a home console version? If so was it any good?

-- Soluzar

--
Sign the FSF's Anti-DMCA petit
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by PainKilleR-CE · 2003-10-23 03:30 · Score: 1

Highly unlikely I'll get to play KI now. Did it even have a home console version? If so was it any good?

Super Nintendo.

Best part, imo, was that it had a full tournament mode that allowed you to enter names and then it'd simply tell you who was playing the next round. It worked out great for my friends and I, since we usually played after parties or even just while sitting around having a few (dozen) beers. That and Mario Kart pretty much is all I remember from my first year of college.

--
-PainKilleR-[CE]
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by soluzar22 · 2003-10-23 03:42 · Score: 1

Ohhhh... Mario Kart and college and good buddies and beer..

*SIGH*
It is not fair to fling that much nostalgia at a bloke without some warning. :-)

--
Sign the FSF's Anti-DMCA petit
Conkers Bad Fur Day, amoung coolest games EVER. by pecosdave · 2003-10-23 03:53 · Score: 1

I've said many times letting Rare go was one of the biggest mistake the big N could have ever made. Something about Rare seemed to just go with Nintendo. I'm sure Conker Live and Uncut will be fun on the XBox, but it just wont be right. Like the fact I can turn on my gameboy right now and play Sonic the Hedge Hog not right. At least it seemed not right at first.

Now that I've played some Sega Games on the Gameboy and the Gamecube Sega may pick up some of the slack left over from Rare. Rare was kick-ass with Killer Instinct, Conker and Donkey Kong, but that's old Nintendo. Nintendo really needs to make sure they keep a good relationship with Sega and maybe even seduce them into the type of relationship they had with Rare. I'm playing Skies of Arcadia Legends on the cube right now. I'm impressed. Nearly everything Sega has put on Nintendo hardware has impressed me, and Skies of Arcadia is a 3/4 year old port of a Dreamcast game.

If Rare pumps out garbage after going to MS they wont make it long and I doubt MS will let them go back to Nintendo. I've always wanted to play Perfect Dark on a PC. I was hooked after I got it for my 64 and I've always wanted to try it with a real video card and the standard mouse/keyboard combo. Laptop gun anyone? But with MS holding the keys, the chances of a Linux port of the game engine seems some what slim, so I wont be able to play it anyways.

Here's an idea to throw out to all the Rare developers who think joining MS was a bad idea: Jump ship, go to work for Sega, talk Sega into making more Nintendo games than other types.

--
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
Come on it was bought by MS. by kabocox · 2003-10-23 03:58 · Score: 1

Come on Rare was just bought by MS. That means that all new and sequel games from Rare will be beta verisons for the third game.
Gosh, what did you expect?
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by karnal · 2003-10-23 05:23 · Score: 1

Actually, you should be able to find a copy for mame... if I recall, I've got... I mean, I have a friend who has a hard drive image to use with mame to play in an arcade cabinet....

--
Karnal
The new Donkey Kong title... by Cranx · 2003-10-23 07:10 · Score: 1

Donkey Kong Forever.
1. Re:The new Donkey Kong title... by Bagels · 2003-10-23 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, Nintendo kept the rights to Donkey Kong and company, so Rare will have little or nothing to do with any future Donkey Kong games.
  
  --
  --- Bwah?
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by M3wThr33 · 2003-10-23 07:18 · Score: 1

What, so you forget about the GB and N64 versions, too? AND the SNES sequel?
BIGGEST EXAGGERATION EVER... by bitrott · 2003-10-23 07:48 · Score: 1

Conkers is SO bad. Slow, unfunny, horrible graphics, terrible mechanics. It's incessant pop-culture references will date the game faster than pong. It failed as a 3d platform game. Rare's never put out anything very interesting frankly.
Re:The next non-XBox release by NanoGator · 2003-10-23 08:17 · Score: 1

"Too sad those M$ idiots didn't realize that all games RARE produced so successfully for the N64 did contain concepts that are Nintendo ONLY. "

Troll? Well maybe, but he does have a point. Rare's adventures with Nintendo properties have generally been good.

--
"Derp de derp."
Where's Perfect Dark Zero? by randomizer9 · 2003-10-23 11:43 · Score: 1

Conker should be fun, but I want Perfect Dark Zero, the first was a great game that was hampered by the N64's limitations. Heck a re-release of the first one with updated graphics would be nice.

--
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men... --Willy Wonka
Re:You forgot about the best RARE game... by PainKilleR-CE · 2003-10-23 23:06 · Score: 1

Considering that I owned neither a GB nor an N64, this seems pretty likely. Actually I didn't own an SNES, either, my roomate did.

Anyway, I played the sequel in the arcade once, and it seemed to be missing something the original had, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

--
-PainKilleR-[CE]