Pantsboard Responses – December 2009

	December 2009's Burning Question: How and when were you first introduced to the crazy world of Rare (or Ultimate)? Does your very first Rare game still hold the best memories?   First Rare game? Well, it sure wasn't Jetpac – I didn't discover how good that game was until it got re-released with Donkey Kong 64... My first Rare memories were of playing two excellent NES games at a friend's house – Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, and R.C. Pro-Am. R.C. I was never very good at – great fun watching friends play though, and seeing someone pick up the rubbish bomb powerup that no-one ever wanted was always hilarious. But SR&R was always the highlight because of the co-operative play. Loads of fun gobbling up Nibblies while dodging giant feet and killer toilet seats in an isometric crazy world where you looked at something the wrong way and you died.      Ahh, bliss.      Too hard for kids these days though. They'd all complain about how there's no auto-tutorial for an entire level that tells you "Press A to Jump" and that you have to figure things out for yourself, like what the "Y" icon did and why some lives were fake-outs that exploded shortly after they appeared (how delightfully sadistic!).      Never had a NES myself, so when I heard there was a Game Boy version of the game called Sneaky Snakes coming out, I got pretty excited about it! Saved up my pocket money to buy it, and played it for ages. Like all the early games, it was bloody tough though – never finished it, got up to... level 7, I think? The one with the water. That's value, that is. Don't know if anyone who worked on Sneaky Snakes is still there, but yeah – thanks for that. Damn hard, but great fun. And of course, thanks to the guys who worked on the original too – a lot of good times spent playing that!      Ben K.   To the Pantsman,      Rare is associated with my earliest gaming memories, and I've stuck with them since. The year was "Before-Banjo-Tooie-Came-Out", and I received a Nintendo 64, my first gaming console ever, from my grandmother for my birthday. I received both Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie with it, and they were a blast. I remember later playing the original Super Smash Brother and complaining that none of DK's moves were from his game.      As for has it stayed with me? Definitely. To this day, the island theme from Donkey Kong 64 is my favorite piece of video game music ever. Lanky Kong inspired me to play to take up the trombone in fourth grade, and seven years later I'm still playing it. And, of course, Banjo-Kazooie is just unforgettable. Every couple of years I erase my file and play the whole game again.      ...You know, typing this all out makes me realize really how much Rare affected my childhood. Thanks, I guess.      No No No, Wrong Way! No no no, thank you! If there's anything Rare will be able to boast about to its collective grandchildren many years from now, it's this proof that their excellent orang-utan character inspired people to take up the trombone. Not just the trumpet – the trombone. If my lungs (which I presume are sketchy 2D affairs if they exist at all) had the capacity to operate wind instruments, that's definitely the one I'd go for as well.   My first experience with Ultimate/Rare was the classic, fantastic, anything-ending-in-ic Jetpac, the game itself predating my birth of roughly eight years. I was like four years old, and already taking time-travel through my cousin's Spectrum, and frequently having arguments with him on who was better. Indeed, he frequently beat the hell out of my hi-score, and to date, I still can't beat his.      Concerning the "nowadays" Rare, my first contact with the amazing British touch came not by the super hit DKC, but rather by Killer Instinct (don't panic, I'm not gonna pull a "OMG R U GOIN 2 MAEK KI3?!!!one"... or did I? My bad) and here again, it was the contest of "Who can beat Eyedol without continues" or "Who will be the first to pull off a 30-something hit combo". This is probably my greatest pride, I still own my SNES with the original black KI cartridge. Never played the Arcade version, Arcade cabinets are almost non-existent here in France.      Lou, French dude still hoping to play Mire Mare someday   I used to think it was Donkey Kong Country, but I later discovered that it was Sesame Street 1-2-3. And I always forget, until I look up YouTube footage of it for whatever reason, how much the visual effects and music delighted me as a child (big ups to David Wise).      Unfortunately I don't have much to expand on that, since the only two activities in that game were matching shapes and counting. And then there was Solar Jetman, which was preposterously difficult and made me very angry, but I thought the way the ship rotated was pretty. Oh, and Jeopardy! Junior Edition, which offered as a grand prize a trip to fabulous Washington, DC, some thirty minutes from where I live.      But, again, I only really knew of Rare as an entity with Donkey Kong Country. I notice that now that everyone touts it as overrated, but I could never get behind that – it always felt so smooth to play, and the pitch-perfect music and sound effects gave the game a genuine atmosphere beyond its glossy CG graphics. Especially in Snow Barrel Blast, where that serene and sinister music somehow builds up in sync with the increasing snowfall, reaching a crescendo just as the snow hits its heaviest point – maybe a glorious coincidence, but to this day I'm still reminded of that during a heavy snowstorm. (Big ups to David Wise, again, and whoever your graphics people were.)      Aaron Goodier   My first contact was with the SNES, playing Donkey Kong Country, a very good game, but still not my favorite.      I played a lot other games Rare, one that I loved Diddy Kong Racing was incredible multiplayer game and solo too!      Then came GoldenEye 64, it was my birthday present. I would like a remake of this game although I know that you can not. Still, as a result of no longer exist, my favorite it's Perfect Dark, this great title was a hit in my gaming history, I hope that the PDZ would have been something like this.      PDZ was very nice changes, but in terms of history can not say much, because everything took another sense of the game.      Perfect Dark had a wide variety of characters, and great choices in each of the missions.      Therefore, I opt for a sequel to Perfect Dark on all games.      Thank You =)      Ricardo Vazquez Consejo Oh man! I can't help feeling that we speak the same language, deep down in our souls. Much as I would like to send you a complimentary cheat code to play as me in PD XBLA, unfortunately I can't as a result of no longer exist. Never even exist in the first place, sadly. But you'd have loved that bad boy, Richard!   For me, it is either Banjo-Tooie or DK64. My mom got a N64 with her car, and I was looking for games to play on it. I rented tons of stuff, Yoshi's Story, Paper Mario, DK64 (but that really didn't get me into Rare). Honestly, I would say that Paper Mario really got me into video games, but Banjo-Tooie brought me into video games further. I played Tooie at a friend’s house originally and it sort of clicked. Banjo-Tooie is a game that I bet I have played more than the developers have, and I still don't have everything. I have rented Banjo-Tooie possibly thousands of times. My greatest memory of the game is when my mom promised me a copy of the game (to finally own, I was only allowed to rent it) if I learned all of the Division Flash Cards. One hour later, all of the flash cards were memorized and shortly after I was basking in my reward of playing through the game. I didn't use a guide, but I managed to get about 64 Jiggies in about 55:30 hours of game play. When I say that I played it more than the developers did, I mean accounting all the time I interacted with the game, all the new games I started, the boss fights and minigames I played, and every single time I rented the game. My favorite part of Tooie was probably the bosses, I believe that Rare is best at making fun boss fights that are challenging and fun. Every single boss fight in Tooie I enjoyed, and I was disappointed that there were not any new boss fight characters in Nuts & Bolts. Going back on topic, I can really honestly say that Banjo-Tooie is one of my favorite games of all time, and I could pick it up right now and just start playing.      Adam Seidel   Back in '98... Goldeneye 007... The first game coming with my N64 (other than SM64). Played it once back then, waking up the day after getting the N64 only to know that your parents gave the game to my cousin because they would not allow me to play it. So tragic, so sad. What had the world come to, not letting under-aged kids play games with guns. Ever since I first booted up the game I knew it was from Rare. The best memories are obviously sneaking over to my cousin's house to play some 007. That's how I got introduced to the crazy world of Rare. Yay.      Brandon "Ikuto" F.   I think my first Rare experience was... er... Pictionary on the NES. That WAS you guys, wasn't it? I just found the cartridge somewhere, I think someone left it in the back seat of my Ford Escort.      If that wasn't you then I'd have to say my first Rare game was Battlemaniacs, which I honestly thought at the time was a Bucky O'Hare spinoff or something. They had toads as villains you see.      Cabbage In A Pot      PS Please make a new Battletoads please please please please please please please... Pictionary? No way, you crazy funster! You're crazier than the dude up there who thinks my parents gave a game to his cousin or something. My parents were travelling doorknob salesfolk and part-time conmen and fraudsters who didn't even know what videogames were. I didn't come in here for the accusations, man!   Dearest Mr. Pants,      With the influx of news being slow as molasses as your creator mentioned, this Pantsboard could not have come at a better time. I'll try and make my letter as brief as possible. As to the how and when in terms of being induced in the Rare world: my very first visual experiences with the games were in 1996, when a sibling of one of my relative's friends had the DKC series and played them at night. I was amazed at the graphics in the DKC2 ship levels, and my friend at the time tried replicating the white screen glitch (which I missed dearly in later ports of the game) in the first game. It was magic. As for the latter question: yes and no. The first Rare game I own, Diddy Kong Racing, certainly does hold a fair share of nostalgia, yet it isn't the game that holds the most memories to me. That honor goes to Conker's Bad Fur Day (and your own puzzle title, of course).      May the Pants bless Rare,      Mark "darkmark8" Mazzei   Hello, my name is Nathan Burnham and I was first introduced to Rare's gaming greatness when I was about 5 years old. My older brother was given a copy of WWF WrestleMania for his NES (basically my NES due to obsessive playing). After blowing into the cartridge and firing up the power button, I had a blast playing as Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, and the Honky Tonk Man while listening to the music which when put together, was an awesome experience to a little kid who loved wrestling!      Although I had fun with that old WrestleMania game, it does not contain my best memory. My greatest Rare memory is simple but great and at the time I thought it was the first Rare-developed game I had ever played. I was around 8-9 years old and I remember waking up one cold morning at my grandmother's, relaxed by the warmth of the house. Without waking up my cousin next to me, I quietly get up and look out the window and all I see is snow. I decide my best interest is to just sit down in the blankets and play some Donkey Kong Country.      As soon as I choose the game file, I find myself at "Gorilla Glacier". When I enter the area, I see snow and the first map "Snow Barrel Blast". I was in awe with the level and its weather effects as well as its theme "Northern Hemispheres". The moment was perfect as the weather was similar to what I was seeing out the window and I never felt so into a game before. It's one of my greatest gaming moments, which means a lot to me.      I had many other great Rare moments in other games such as Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Donkey Kong Country 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Perfect Dark Zero, and Banjo: Nuts & Bolts. With all these moments, I think I owe Rare a big THANK YOU and I hope to add to those memories with future Rare titles.      Nathan Burnham Can't help noticing a lack of GBA puzzle epiphanies in your list, Burnside, but apart from that it's a touching memoir. Monkeys in the snow! Those cynical designers knew that no child in the world could fail to empathise with such imagery. Based on the traditional Pants family December street party, you know... the one in 1993 famously got out of hand with all the improvised circus routines and inexplicable vultures.   I wouldn't know without some serious rummaging through my memories, but I believe my first Rare game was Banjo-Kazooie (either that or GoldenEye), which I got for my eighth birthday. I can still remember staring in awe at it and getting very angry at the game when I couldn't work out how to get out of that little area of Grunty's Lair with the little pool before you enter the lobby for Treasure Trove Cove. Not to mention actually trying to fight Gruntilda herself without the aid of any of Cheato's codes. Eight years old and I came to the conclusion that BK was host to the most difficult final boss ever created. At least, until I got my hands on Banjo-Tooie...      Playing through it now gives me some glimpse of how amazing it was when I first played it, but ten years of grizzled gaming leaves the challenges that once seemed impossible a mere fleeting use of my time.      Having said that of course, Canary Mary seems harder for some reason.      Yours nostalgically,      Mop   I first had a Nintendo when I was very young, I think the first game I played was Super Mario 64 or Diddy Kong Racing, but my favourite console game of all time has to be Donkey Kong 64, the graphics were great for 1999, sounds were good still. My favourite character is Lanky Kong, I have almost completed the game but just need to get the Nintendo coin on the 1981 classic Mario game.      I think you should create another DK64 game.      Neil Seagrave   To the pants;      My first Rare memories also double as my first memories of videogaming, and, well, life in general. Until I was about seven, I did not have the luxury of having a video game console of my own. Instead, I had to resort to using my best friend's older brother's Super Nintendo. Childhood sessions of Super Mario World, F-Zero, and some game based on Biker Mice from Mars that is likely a lot better in my memories filled our childhood years with joy, but the game that he and I turned to every single session was good ol' Donkey Kong Country. We'd spend hours upon hours upon hours trying to nail down as many secrets as we could find. Granted, I was absolute rubbish at the game. About 65% of the time, it was my friend taking the charge, but still, our oldest memories of our friendship are those nights where we could try to cram in one last level before my mother swung by to drag me away.      The years have gone by, and he and I are now both college freshmen. The night before he and I were to leave the comfort of our homes, he came by my house for one last session of gaming. In my room, now fully stocked with the appropriate number of games you would have after spending the past nineteen years of your life with an unhealthy obsession over said games, we played through the usual titles; Halo 3 and Rock Band 2. But there was one game on my Wii that brought a large grin to both our faces. The last thing we did together before college was one of the first things we did together as little kids. We played Donkey Kong Country... And lost in the second world. Turns out DKC is not like riding a bike.      Also, the first game I ever owned was Diddy Kong Racing, the first game I ever bought with my own money was Banjo-Kazooie, and my first crush was on Vela from Jet Force Gemini... No, wait. Second crush. My first was Phoebe from The Magic School Bus.      ...We were all young once.      "Papa Bear" Zach Rich Not Candy Kong? Good. That's a good thing, Papa Bear. Seeing a lot of love for DKC in here today, very little of it improper or subversive. We could almost convince a courtroom that the Rare fanbase isn't riddled with dangerous obsessives! Holy mother of Malkovich!   How did I first find out about Rare? Hmm... well, I really didn't know the chain of great games I was playing came from you guys, so I guess I found out when I played Banjo-Kazooie, the first N64 game I ever saw (I still remember first seeing it at a friend's house, we walked in and the TV was on with the game paused and Banjo sitting on that little island in the water by the entrance of Mumbo's Mountain, with the Jinjo still in the air being collected and some being shown on the pause screen). Now, I'm only 16 years old, but due to my parents' lack of interest in video games we started with the NES and moved up in chronological order through Nintendo, so the first Rare game I ever played had to have been Marble Madness. Still, the first game I thought was amazing you guys made had to have been DKC. Simply awesome.      Joel Bryner   The first Rare game I got was Banjo-Kazooie when I was 4 (that's a year after its release). It was probably the most fun game I ever had (even though I didn't know what most of the text said until I was 7. Luckily, I still managed to read a little bit and get through the game). It still is my favorite game of all time. Well, that and Banjo-Tooie. Banjo-Tooie was also really fun with its mix of platforming and mini-games and I enjoyed all the jokes added in there. But I would always play Banjo-Kazooie on Saturday mornings when I was younger. Ahhh... I can remember how much fun I had doing all those peculiar yet funny and enjoyable tasks. I even remember how I always get this good rewarding feeling whenever I get a Jiggy. In my view, it's a perfect game and everybody should try it even though it's almost 12 years old. I hope that Rare can make another platformer with those two characters, or at least attempt and tell us they tried. But I don't want to push them. Especially because they take their time in order to make all their fabulous games.      Well, I better wrap this up. This was the first Rare game I have ever played, and it became my favorite game quickly. So thanks guys for making these great games, and keep up the good work!      Sajextryus   Hello Pantsboard. Here's my story of my first Rare experience.      I was only 2 years old when my life was about to change forever. My very first video game (unaware that it was from Rare), Diddy Kong Racing. That game got me accustomed to all the great characters we know today. Diddy Kong, Banjo, Conker, and all the rest. It wasn't until Banjo-Kazooie until I realized that all those characters came from the most original video game company ever, Rare(ware), I was kinda disappointed that I couldn't fall off the courses and hear humorous screams, but the hovercrafts and planes made up for it! And that's my story.      Harrison Mays Do I sense a shift in affections from monkeys to bears over the last few letters? Well, I say affections, you specifically wanted to hear them all shriek as they plunged to their deaths in a fireball of igniting petrol, but generally. Not that I should be seen to prefer bears over monkeys or vice versa, man. I'm 100% mammal-agnostic!   It was Christmas Day and I was 4 years old. For Christmas Santa got me a N64, my first video game console, and two games. Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing. I spent that whole day racing with my family in Dino Domain and going into Gruntilda's Lair in search of Jiggies. My first video game experiences were both from Rare, and since then I have been a video game addict. If it wasn't for Rare I may have never become the gamer I am today. I sill love both of those games dearly, as well as the rest of Rare's N64 library.      Thanks for introducing me to the world of video games Rare!      Zach Clark   Mr. Pants *dramatic pause* hello!      The first Rare game I played was Donkey Kong 64 and to be honest, it was my first video game I ever owned. I had a lot of memories playing that game whether it would be single-player or multi-player. I got other Rare games for N64 after that like Banjo-Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Mickey's Speedway USA, Banjo-Tooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day. I don't know, all these games give me fond happy memories.      Mike Baller   To Master Pants,      What can I say about Rare? This company played quite a huge role in my childhood. I remember my first experience with Rare like it was yesterday (well... somewhat). It was 1995, my parents picked up a copy of Donkey Kong Country 2 (which was my first Rare game) for me. When I first popped this beast into my SNES, I was simply dazzled by its awesomeness. From the moment I started playing it, I fell in love with the bloody thing. Even the instruction manual was amazing. It is my favorite videogame of all time. That being said, it was also one of the most difficult games I have ever played. I remember having a lot of trouble with the "Windy Well" level. Eventually, I got past it and beat the rest of the game. I never found all of the DK coins though. In conclusion, it was a truly magical first encounter.      I've been a follower of Rare ever since. I was introduced to Rare's other wondrous games and franchises over the years. Rare quickly became my favorite videogame developer. Good on ya, Rare!      Vederla dopo.      Anthony "Old_Buzzard" Iacono   Dear Pantsman      My favorite moment in my gameing history was when i first heard the sweet intro song of banjo-kazooie. my second favorite moment was when i brought home me game boy advance and plugged in banjo-kazooie: Grunty's revenge. I dont have a third favorite moment. I got to go now. Keep it real,      Jon dv      (yes i am the Jon dv that sent the horribly written banjo 3 rumor letter. ive improved, havent i?) Totally unrecognisable, amigo! I've left your letter unedited to allow the dramatic improvements to stand out. But why no third favourite Banjo moment? Is this a dig at Tooie or Nuts & Bolts or do you make a point of not having a third favourite anything? No worries, fella – whatever soaps your clavicles!   Hello people at Rare. Rare has been my favorite developer ever since I first knew what a developer was. The first Rare game I ever played was Banjo-Tooie. I was very young and did not really care that I should play Banjo-Kazooie first. When I first started playing video games, it was one of the games my brother played. I made it to all the levels, but since I was so young I decided to just use cheat codes. I also played the original Banjo-Kazooie after that. I only made it to level 3. The only other Rare games I recall ever playing are Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. I never got very far in it either. I had always hoped for a remake so I could finish it, like Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, but Donkey Kong is Nintendo's character and the bottom of rareware.com shows Microsoft. I have perfected Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, with the exception of the final Canary Mary race in Tooie for the Cheato page and the arcade game in N&B's download. I do not want to do it until I get the "Paint the town gold" Achievement, which I earned but was not rewarded due to some Xbox Live glitch. I beat Grunty's Revenge, but I lost it and cannot perfect. I would have played all of the other Banjo games like Banjo Pilot, but they were so old by the time I knew about them that it was too late. My favorite part of Banjo-Kazooie games is how Jiggies are placed throughout the level and only odd challenges unlock them. I hope any possible future Banjo-Kazooie games are like Kazooie and Tooie. My second favorite thing is the music. If there was a soundtrack of all the songs from both games, I would buy it. I already downloaded everything from Tooie in this website. My third favorite thing is the moves and items that are unlocked.      I am very sorry for wanting to ramble and ramble, but I don't want to send any more than one of these and I want to praise and elaborate as much as I can on this.      Your fan,      Branson   My introduction to Rare was when I received Banjo-Kazooie as a gift a couple weeks after its original N64 release. It was the first Nintendo 64 game I ever actually owned (having always rented previously), and to this day it is, strangely enough, the cleanest and best-working of all my N64 cartridges, despite being the oldest. It definitely holds the best memories for me, having been my only N64 game for a long time ... and somehow, taking 8 years to finally be able to beat the witch was kinda fun (I was 7 when it was new and it took me a while to really learn how to play, plus it was always at my grandparents' house that I couldn't get to very often, cut me some slack here).      Will Tinoco Mercy! Some of you people are so young it makes me feel like my first appearance was as a shaky cave painting by some drunken Neanderthal. Ideal subject for a rubbish picture attachment! Don't let me down next time, all you 'professional artists'!   When I was but a wee baba, my Dad got me my very first games console, the Super Nintendo! I only had one game at the time but I would play it religiously which was Donkey Kong Country. I was mesmerized... the sprites were amazing, the music was outstanding and the humor was what I came to love about Rare. From this game I knew I wanted to work in the industry and it has a very special place in my heart.      Fast forward a couple of years and the N64 had come out, every week I would go to Currys with my Dad (my poor father) and stare at this N64 which was always playing Banjo-Kazooie. I wanted it so bad. I'd press my little nose right up to the screen and watch this bear run around in a colourful world. As I just finished my primary school days my dad gave me a gift. My very own N64 with a red controller and my very own copy of Banjo-Kazooie. Not only did I want to work in games, I wanted to work with Rare!      These games have made a huge impact on me and my life, given me something to aspire to be. Thanks Rare, I can't thank you enough!      Stevie Cole   I remember a day many years back. I believe it was 1994 to be exact that a friend of mine acquired a little game called Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. We played it nonstop and eventually we beat it. I didn't know who this "Rare" was that had their logo on the title screen but I knew they were going to be a special part of my life for years to come. It's now 2009 and I still love you guys and everything you do. I only hope for good things in the future so I can look back with my kids one day and share all the awesome new games that you guys are developing.      Zachary Walton I      P.S. We still want KI3.   My first encounter with Rareware was when You guys did Nintendo the massive favour of working on Donkey Kong Country. Ever since that moment, I knew you were the underdog third-party developer of that generation. Making games such as Killer Instinct, sequels to Donkey Kong, and follow-ups to Battletoads, I anticipated what You guys had in store for Nintendo 64.      What You had in store then, was more than any man could ever ask. GoldenEye 007, the title itself is world-known for bringing back memories of pure FPS nostalgia, the kind of memories where a guy could chuckle as he remembered how far Dr. Doak actually flew across the lab when his computer was detonated by a mine.      Perfect Dark was the icing on this cake for me. Not only had you improved on the already great GoldenEye 007, but you had expanded on the FPS universe, offering new innovative ways to kill the A.I. such as cloaking devices, laptop gun turrets, poison-dipped knives, and of course, Farsight.      Nothing was heard of You as much as everyone would have thought during the Gamecube ages, the last game I played from you great guys was Star Fox Adventures. After that, the gaming community had the major heartbreak that You guys left Nintendo. From there on in, I must admit, I sucked it up and kept playing Your *best* titles on N64 and SNES. Dr. Doak eventually left Rare, and from there I can't say you guys have made anything ground-breaking like You did back when I was a kid.      C'mon guys, bring back the glory days! Battletoads, Donkey Kong, Killer Instinct (360 sequel please?) GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, damn, You guys were so epic back then. Don't let it be in vain.      Chris Gillon Oh man, what do they call you, Fun-Killer? There I was, seeing the capitalised word 'You' and thinking all the niceness and happy thoughts had overspilled into scary religious worship, then you turn around and cuss us bad. Sorry to hear you've hated absolutely everything we've done on Xbox, 360, GBA, DS and XBLA. That's some pretty hardcore disregard, Gillian!   Hey-Hey Mr. P!      My tale of running into Rare was fairly unavoidable for ol' Zenek. WAY back when I was 8 years old, I was given a SNES / Donkey Kong Country bundle package for my birthday by my grandparents. It's not like I was the "N64 Kid", but I was super-psyched all the same. (I mean, who couldn't be? It was the mid '90s and I had DONKEY KONG FREAKIN' COUNTRY!) Had fun exploring the island from the tree house to the galleon with Dad and had a blast. Other games I'd end up getting for the ancient machine couldn't hold a candle to the great ape & little simian buddy's grand adventure and it is still my favorite game to date. (DKC2 was = in awesomeness to DKC, by the way). A few things I should note for giggles, as I was more concerned with having fun rather than tracking the people who make entertaining games:      –That one "touch the letters to get an item" bonus game in DKC that spelled "R-A-R-E" left me confused back in the day. "What the heck is a 'RARE'?!" ;)      –I remember my 2nd Rare experience in a Walmart display playing Killer Instinct and thinking how cool it was to "beat the crap out of the alien as this raptor." (A notion that holds to this day!)      –It was about Diddy Kong Racing / Banjo-Kazooie when I realized that Rareware wasn't just about great DK games, but about great games overall.      And here I am today, missing the good old days when you could bop an anthropomorphic crocodile over the noggin with a gibbon and have the green blood of a cyborg splattered all over the floor as a mutated dinosaur, while looking to the future. :)      Zenek      PS. I just hope the future is full of Kremlings, dinosaurs, gibbons, and Grabbed by the Ghoulies 2. Just saying...   Dear the ware that is so rare, Mr. Pants,      I remember a time where the sky was blue and the grass was green. The sun shone bright and the wind oh so gently brushed my cheek. There wasn't a care in the world as I skipped through the field of dandelions or even the local sewer. Then I was introduced to Donkey Kong Country. The sky became black and the grass grew, well, less green. The outside world was never seen again and I started my new life as a basement dweller. I spent my days trampling Kremlings and protecting my bananas. I sought new challenges from the upcoming games from Rareware and started my collection. My life turned completely upside down. And I never regretted my decision. I still have memories of my old Super Nintendo collection and they will always be considered my glory days. Thank you Rareware, for the shining light of awesome that you bestowed onto my life. I will never forget you.      From a fan of those glorious pants,      George the Hippie Chick They are pretty damn glorious. You can't see it, but the pants I'm wearing as I write this are a prototype I came up with for MC Hammer at the peak of his popularity, designed to self-inflate like a driver's airbag at a single snap of the fingers. I don't think he liked the colour. Waste not, want not, Hammer! I wear them to walk the dog on Wednesdays and Sundays.   I was first introduced with Anticipation for the NES console, and it was really fun at the time. It helped me spell because there was no room for error in the spelling, and you only had a few tries, but after a while you memorized the pictures, and it was no longer any fun. I still have it, but I'll never play it again just to keep the fond memories of playing that game with my folks. The most memorable one I played was the Killer Instinct cabinet back in '94. My friend mastered the ultra combo for Orchid, and he always kicked my arse because I didn't know the combos, or breakers. Frustrating as Hell. It just made me look up the controls, and I was soon a master at that game until KI2 came out and changed everything. It was even better with sexier graphics and when I saw it in the arcade, I couldn't control myself. I spent countless quarters at the arcade, and bought an N64 solely for KI Gold, and to this date, no fighting game has ever touched the greatness of this franchise. The satisfaction of pulling a 70+ hit combo without having to touch the buttons for half of the combo, so you could point at the screen and comment "Who's hitting you? How can I be kicking your arse so bad without me even touching the controller?" The sheer joy of actually pulling off a stage knock-off because God knows how hard it is to do that against a mobile opponent. It was nothing short of beautiful.      Craig Haro        'Twas the Christmas of 1999,      presents under the tree, forming a neatly curving line.      Waking up early, just to see make sure they were there,      erectly I stood, taking in the holiday air.      Ripping packaging open, not wanting to wait,      my father approached with a slowly paced gait.      The staff would've loved to see the smile on my face,      all that worked paid off, even at back-breaking pace!      Months of delays had all paid off,      that was something I could now laugh at, and scoff.      Slapping the cartridge in, I felt I would die!      I read the label: Jet Force Gemini.      Ants, Plasma shotguns, and all things bizarre,      it was all worth it to defeat Mizar.      I thank you, Rare, for such great memories,      I hope we may some day meet.      Michael Sassin Hey! That last bit doesn't scan or rhyme. To be honest some of the other bits are pushing it too, but you can't fault the sentiment. Kill ants, save bears! Unless we're talking Ants Into Pants mode, in which case back down, homeboy – this handsome son of a gun's got you surrounded!   Dear the Most Beautiful Fat Stick Figure Wearing Underpants,      To answer your question on what my first rare experience was... It would have to be the time I walked around a mall dressed as Banjo. That was a very rare experience.      Now I don't know if you want to know this, but I'll tell you anyway. My first experience with Rare Ltd.      I was about 4 or 5, and my cousin let me borrow Banjo-Kazooie because she liked it so much and she wanted to alienate me into liking it because I was at that sort of age where I was extremely impressionable. Anyways, I got my parents to get me the game so I could play it whenever I pleased and it was my most favorite game EVAR!!! Then the following Christmas I was blessed with my first Banjo and Kazooie plush, that my Dad put in a Huggies box to trick me into think he got me butt wipes! I was dissapoint. But I laughed my head off when I saw the bear and bird duo sitting in there all snug! :3      I won't go on about Banjo-Tooie, and how me and my two other cousins who were living with me played it NON-STOP, and how I would pretend I had Claw Clamber Boots on by putting my pajama pant leg openings over my feet, because I'm sure you're bored.      THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE MY EARLY YEARS WITH BANJO!!      Sincerely, Future Rare Employee:      BanjoBoy123   To your Pants-wearing awesomeness,      Rare entered my life almost at the same time as my major video game interest in general came to be. Around the summer of 1998, I had recently dusted off my old Game Boy and played it constantly. My game library at the time was very lacking, only containing three games, so I was looking for something more. When browsing the local store, I came across Donkey Kong Land, a title which had fleetingly been referenced as a good game by other people. Looking at the boxart, I thought to myself that "there's no way the graphics can look that good in the game". I bought the copy though, went home to try it out, and found to my amazement that the graphics indeed were, to my 8-year old perception, just as good as the boxart! But what I got with the game was so much more than nice graphics, the pure fun of the controls and level design amazed me to no end, and I didn't wait longer than a week to go out and buy Donkey Kong Land 2 as well. Eventually I got a Super NES and Donkey Kong Country 3 for Christmas, and that's where the story really picks up. DKC3 was everything the Game Boy games were, but so much more. Out of nearly 300 video games played throughout my life, it still stands today for me as one of the best, if not the best, video games ever made. Over the years, I've caught up well on both the earlier Country-games as well as Donkey Kong Land III, and it's definitely the single video game series I hold dearest of all.      Next came the Nintendo 64, and with it games like Donkey Kong 64 and the Banjo games, all of them making a much greater impact on my life than any Super Mario 64 ever could. I've always had a fondness for Rare games since I first played Donkey Kong Land, and it was eventually due to Rare that I abandoned my fanboyish Nintendo-purity to invest in an Xbox alongside my GameCube.      Fearnavigatr I naturally approve of the handheld system big-ups given that my own starring role occurred on said platform, and according to all the kids at the time it was, like, totally satin. DKC3, wasn't that the one with all the bears? Brothers Bear, Honey Bear, all those 'bears' in Jet Force – we must be at bear saturation point by now. Creative Director! Reduce Natal bear quota, stat! Are you listening?   The first game I ever played on any console was Donkey Kong Country. I got it for my 5th birthday and I was obsessed with it. I even stayed up until 10pm playing it (which didn't go down well with my mum). Even when I play it now it still grabs me and makes me feel all tingly.      Donkey Kong Country was the game that made me want to become a video game artist and since the age of 5 I've been designing worlds, characters and storylines for games. My dream is to one day become a concept artist for a games company (especially Rare) :)      Thankyou Rare for inspiring me and introducing me to the world of video games.      Tom Bradbrook   For some it might have been GoldenEye, but for me it was Banjo-Kazooie. I must have been 10 or 11 and I didn't have a clue what was wrong with me, but when Wal-Mart showcased BK for the first time ever, my eyes were totally glued to the screen. I couldn't believe what I saw. Was that a bear and a bird beating down a blue ox? Or what about that big gorilla throwing oranges at you? What kind of twisted mind could have invented that?! It was sheer genius! All of it was there; the cheeky humor, the long and dangerous adventure, and the lovable characters. It took me a quite a while to purchase the console, but when I did eventually get it you could probably guess which game I bought? My heart had never glowed more. I'm 21 now, and if there is any bit of softy left in me, I blame it on that stupid bear and bird.      On the other end of the spectrum lies a monster addict who loves first-person shooters and has become rather picky about which one he chooses to buy. With so many shooters available now, I flat out ignore most of them if their story isn't compelling, or their multiplayer feels saturated. If my previous experiences with Rare's titles have taught me anything, it's to have more insight into video games. Having played both GoldenEye and Perfect Dark (especially Perfect Dark), I choose to settle for nothing less than the best. That means no CoD, Halo, or Unreal; and more Crysis, FarCry 1+2, Borderlands, and Mirror's Edge instead. I also made Perfect Dark Zero my first choice for the 360 and had spent many hours through online and offline. I'm still proud of myself for beating it on solo, Dark Agent. It was definitely no cakewalk. But the original will still remain my favorite FPS of all time and you can guarantee that I'll be drooling all over it as it hits the Marketplace.      Overall, the N64 was the best video game experience that I've ever had. It ended up being the perfect opportunity for the most renowned developers to show off new IPs for the 3D generation. To name a few: Battle Tanx, WipeOut, Mario 64, Rayman 2, Zelda, F-Zero X, Forsaken, Mario Tennis, Worms: Armageddon, Army Men, and Star Fox 64. All of them had some sort of unique experience, and all which were oustanding! Unfortunately, the world is full of yummy candy and someone is bound to miss a few pieces here and there... but I can't believe two of them had to be Jet Force Gemini and Conker's Bad Fur Day!!! Sigh! Hopefully, Rare will pull some strings and perhaps we'll find Jet Force Gemini on Arcade.      Thanks again for the memories.      Eli Davies   Dear Pantsboard,      My earliest memories of a Rare game date back to R.C. Pro-Am. It might not have been the first that I ever played, but it's been so long that I can't remember for sure. What I do remember is that it's the first one that left a significantly memorable mark. The game was so much fun! Almost everything about it was so well done. It controlled nicely, had awesome weapons and pickups, and fun speed boosts. Also the music was just perfect for getting you pumped up for a race.      However one aspect of the game that always enraged me to no end was Mr. Orange Car. You know, the total jerk who would gain a sudden unexplainable massive speed boost that lasted until the end of the race, promptly ensuring that I always finished second at best? Yeah. That guy! I usually always quit playing the game at that point because I felt so totally cheated. Screw you, Mr. Orange Car! Who the hell thought this was a good idea, anyway? Like, why? Just... why? Is he still at Rare today? If so, I want him fired!!      Jean-Marc Chill your boots now, Canada Boy! I'm not sure whether you're picking on a programmer/designer or anthropomorphising the car itself, but I don't see any orange cars in the Rare car park, which is frankly a surprise considering some of these muppets will drive anything. As soon as I see one coming around the bend I'll rush out and squirt maple syrup in the driver's eyes, acceptable?   The earliest game I remember playing is Battletoads. I still love that game, I still have my NES just so I can play it. I've been hoping one day that there would be a new one or even just a release of the old one on Wii or PS3 as a download. The best Battletoads game is when they teamed up with Double Dragon. My other favorite game would have to be Conker's Bad Fur Day.      Kyle Mahler   Memories of Rareware? It'd probably be the original Donkey Kong Country. I'm now 24 years of age, and that game takes me back to when I'd have been 9 years old when it was launched. What a fantastic game. Didn't own a SNES, had to spend every other minute around my best friend's house playing it. Then I got my N64 and spent hours of my life playing GoldenEye 007. It's still so much fun to this day, such a tragedy it'll never get a Wii Virtual Console or XBLA re-release. I'll happily settle with Perfect Dark though and have the points ready and waiting on my XBL account so I can download it the second it's released. My N64 is still hooked up to my 42" HD telly so I can enjoy the N64 classics. Granted, they look a little grainy on a screen of that size, but it doesn't take away the fun. Nothing beats the satisfaction I felt of finally finishing Aztec on 00 Agent. Damn, you guys made that level such a tough cookie :( It was a good day when I 100%'d all of GoldenEye though, and finally unlocked all 23 cheats.      I owned pretty much every Rare game going for the N64. Off the top of my head, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, both of the Banjo games, Diddy Kong Racing, Blast Corps, DK64, Conker's BFD, Killer Instinct Gold... I owe thousands of hours of boredom prevention to you guys. I even looked up careers in video game design when I was younger on the old website of yours, then realised I didn't have the brains for it :( I can vividly remember being furious about all the delays of Perfect Dark back in 1999 and being told to wait a further few months, I was so furious but on the flipside back then I was a little nipper and had no patience, now I realise that it was all about perfecting the game. I'm so looking forward to its re-release, after going through some depression as a young adult at the moment I'm really looking forward to something that takes me back to my childhood, something that makes me forget about the stresses of being an adult for a small period, something that makes me feel like a kid again.      Thank you, Rare, for making my early years very, very happy. Much love to you all.      Rory   It was my first day of kindergarten. I made friends with this kid Anthony and he lived pretty close to my house, so I went over. We went in his room and he had an N64. I hadn't seen anything but an NES in my life. So he started up Banjo-Kazooie. I went ballistic. The game was beautiful, colorful, and the music was tight and upbeat. It still remains my favorite and most memorable game of my life.      Brandon Sylver Take that, sceptical world! Evidence of Rare games preventing boredom, relieving stress and aggravating Brandon Sylver's ADHD... wait, no. We'll deny that last one.   Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe and the Pantsboard! And wasn't that a heartwarming edition? Nice to see so many of you lot admit to being cheerily press-ganged into the world of gaming by the likes of DK, Bond and Banjo; hopefully a few happy (maybe even festive) memories were jogged for those of you who didn't get around to sending in your own.      Pants in the city, pants in the valley, pants in your soul – loosely translated you can take that as a suggestion to enjoy what's left of this crazy year, munchkins! I'm off to put some tinsel underwear on a Russian dwarf hamster and encourage it to cling to the top of the Xmas tree. Bon voyage!

	Pantsboard Responses – December 2009