Wikipedia:Featured and good topic candidates/Rare Replay/archive1

Rare Replay
Rare Replay is a 2015 compilation of 30 video games from the 30-year history of developers Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles—from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360—and retain the features and errors of their original releases with minimal edits. The compilation adds cheats to make the older games easier and a Snapshots mode of specific challenges culled from parts of the games. Player progress is rewarded with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews about Rare's major and unreleased games.

The compilation was one of several ideas Rare considered to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Inspired by fans, upcoming Xbox One backward compatibility features, and the idea to connect Rare's past and future, the company sorted through 120 games to choose titles that best represented its oeuvre. They prioritized games with characters and environments original to the company. Rare incorporated six hardware emulators in the package, and worked with its parent company, Microsoft, to use its unannounced Xbox 360 emulation. Rare Replay released worldwide as an Xbox One exclusive on August 4, 2015.

Rare Replay reviews were generally favorable. Critics appreciated the package's design and craft and called the release a new pinnacle for compilation releases. They commended its "rewind" and Snapshot features, but criticized technical issues in the Xbox 360 emulation and game installation. Rare's Nintendo 64 classics, with Blast Corps in particular, were communal favorites among reviewers, while Perfect Dark Zero, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and the Spectrum games were liked least. Some reviewers were disappointed by the absence of the Donkey Kong Country series and GoldenEye 007 due to licensing issues, while a few thought the package was fine without them. Critics deemed the archival game content and developer interviews as among the compilation's best features, but were upset to see the content hidden behind time-consuming in-game challenges. Reviewers noted that Rare's founders, the Stamper brothers, were conspicuously absent from the interviews. Rare Replay became Rare's first United Kingdom all-format charts bestseller since Banjo-Kazooie in 1998.


 * Contributor(s): czar, Jaguar Also Famous Hobo and pre-2015: Niwi3, MuZemike, CALR

31 articles! It's been a haul. As for the criteria, the topic is discrete: the compilation's thirty component games are each individually notable. I wasn't sure whether to include Perfect Dark (2010 video game), the Xbox remaster of the original Perfect Dark. While several of these games were remastered for the Xbox 360's high-definition output, the PD remaster is the only release with a separate article (and it was technically the version that bundled in the compilation...) Anyway, your call on that. We got through the majority of the entries late last year and I've dragged my feet on the last few until recently. Turns out that the hardest articles are the ones about which you care least. When I see this many GAs, though, I think about that many reviewers who have endured the articles as well: Thank you. czar 09:27, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

We finally did it! Echoing on what czar said, the majority of the lesser-known titles in this topic were in fact the most difficult to write. Just like to add that Solar Jetman was by far the most dull, tedious, and agonising thing I've ever done on here. It must have taken me longer to write that article than they did designing the game. JAG UAR   16:50, 18 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Support. What a monumental task. I've been following this project since day one, and I'm so glad to see it finally completed. Czar and Jaguar (and all others involved), you should be immensely proud of your work. As a reviewer of four of these articles at GAN, I'm happy to endorse this candidacy—every article is clearly within the scope of the topic, and they're all excellently researched and written. Congratulations. – Rhain  ☔ 10:07, 8 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Support: I have reviewed quite a lot of them, and I agree that they are all excellent articles. I am sure that the rest of them are equally good and impressive. Well done! AdrianGamer (talk) 10:24, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Support. An amazing amount of work has gone into this topic and I can see that the dedication shown by Czar and Jaguar finally paid off. They're all really well written and deserve the title of GA/FA. (Note: I didn't receive any pings, AFAIK, even though I was included in the list of people. Is this a bug?)  Anarchyte  ( work  &#124;  talk )   11:51, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * You were not on the ping list? ☺ ·  Salvidrim!   ·  &#9993;  13:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * .  Anarchyte  ( work  &#124;  talk )   13:47, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Wow. For some unfathomable reason I thought this was posted by .... no idea why. I guess I need more coffee. ☺ ·  Salvidrim!   ·  &#9993;  13:59, 8 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Support - Although I would replace Perfect Dark with  Perfect Dark (the remaster), because that is the software bundled into Rare Replay, and it's a different enough game to gave a separate article and not just a mere "HD remaster". ☺ ·   Salvidrim!   ·  &#9993;  13:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Support; nice topic. Meets the criteria. - Yellow Dingo&#160;(talk) 23:51, 12 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I waver back and forth on this, but I think that the 2010 Perfect Dark remaster should be included alongside the original Perfect Dark, since they are both represented in the package (the core game through the included 2010 remaster). I would think that we would include the HD remasters of the other N64 games too, if they indeed warranted separate articles. Pinging in case there are any objections: . czar  19:42, 13 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I have no strong opinion on keeping or removing, but I see no reason to not have it in the topic.  Anarchyte  ( work  &#124;  talk )   01:42, 14 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Support and immense respect for the hard work that you guys have put into it. Really a great inspiration. — I B  [ Poke  ] 12:59, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Support: Impressive work. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 05:47, 19 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Support. Really nice work, both in terms of quality and quantity. Though I haven't contributed myself, I've been following the progress of the Rare Replay project for most of its existence, and was particularly happy to see the older games with only little online sources available get improved.--IDVtalk 18:40, 21 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Closed with a consensus to promote to Good Topic.--  十  八  20:23, 2 August 2016 (UTC)