Rare Replay is a golden gem of retro classics

Forget all of the remasters that have come out recently. The best re-release of old games are all in Rare Replay. Recent re-release of games are nice because they upgrade the graphics, but most of them are from games that were out just a few years ago. Not to mention you only get one or three games at the most. Rare Replay does things differently as it includes 30 classic games for you to play. Nearly all of them are games that are hard to get because they were originally out on older consoles. However, now Xbox One gamers can experience some of the best games ever made in one sweet collection. Rare Replay offers 30 of the UK developer's best original IPs. The number 30 was chosen on purpose it marks over 30 years of the studio being in the video gaming industry. During that time, the developer has touched the hearts of many with its great selection of games. The games span from 1983 until 2008. You can discover games from more obscure systems like the ZX Spectrum to more mainstream consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Xbox 360. All of the games are playable in full so you don't need to worry about content being hidden by a pay wall.  The game selection is excellent as it includes many of the classic games older players grew up to love. The very hard yet playable Battletoads video games are here as well as the Banjo Kazooie games too. Older gamers will love the more mature titles like Killer Instinct Gold and Conker's Bad Fur Day just to name a few. The variety of games in Rare's illustrious career is to be commended as well. The studio didn't specialize in just one genre as it developed games for everyone's taste. As stated above, there are also games available for both older gamers as well as for kids too. It's also fun going back to see how games were made back in the era that they were released in. The Battletoads series were out in the early '90s and 2D beat-em-ups were the most popular gaming genre at that time. Fast forward to the late '90s and the Banjo Kazaooie games were popular as 3D platformers became popular thanks to the release of Mario 64 in 1996. In the '00s, Rare made Perfect Dark which is its own original FPS game. Most of the games in this collection are represented in their original format. They have not been "remastered" per say to fit in the HD generation. In my opinion, this is good as the games all look and sound the way that they should. It's not like the Star Wars movies where George Lucas ruins people's childhoods by adding extra scenes or replacing actors. The Rare Replay features the games how you remember them as a kid. However, the Rare Replay does feature some new gameplay elements to make some of the older games easier for new-school gamers. Battletoads for example allows you to have infinite lives. The game also adds a "rewind" feature too. When you die, you can rewind time to try again. This was very helpful during the game's infamous speeder bike level... Also added are numerous new achievements for you to unlock and several behind the scenes videos from the developer itself. It's like a digital museum as the game takes you back in history to teach you what games were like back in the past. Rare Replay will offer enjoyment to both new and old-school gamers.  The only flaw that I can find in this collection is that licensing issues have prevented the game from including some of Rare's more other famous games. Obviously the developer's excellent Donkey Kong games are sadly missing because that character belongs to Nintendo and not Microsoft.  The saddest omission is that it does not include 007 Goldeneye too. Again, this is something beyond Rare's control as the James Bond license is now owned by Activision. Not to mention they would also need permission from all of the actors from the film too.  Other that that, Rare Replay is like going through a time machine. Most of the games are fun and they are quite different to all of the games you see out today. I would go as far as saying this is my favorite re-release of all time because no other collection includes 30 full games for you to play.  Verdict: 9.0/10