Editing Rare Ltd.

{{company infobox
|logo=Rare logo 2015.svg
|width=200px
|founded=1985
|first_release=''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[List of games by date#1994|1994]])
|latest_release=''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' ([[List of games by date#2007|2007]])
|president=Craig Duncan
}}
'''{{wp|Rare (company)|Rare Ltd.}}''' (also shortened to just '''Rare''' and trade-named '''Rareware''' up until ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge}}'') is a British video game developer based in Twycross, Leicestershire. It was founded in 1985 by [[Stamper brothers|Chris and Tim Stamper]], as the successor company to {{wp|Ultimate Play the Game}}. As a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, Rare created the successful [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] games ''{{wp|Wizards & Warriors}}'', ''{{wp|Battletoads (video game)|Battletoads}}'', and ''{{wp|R.C. Pro-Am}}''. Rare's only involvement with the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] was creating several ''[[Donkey Kong (franchise)|Donkey Kong]]'' games, beginning with ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''. Since then, Rare has produced other well-known titles such as ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie}}'', ''{{wp|Perfect Dark}}'', and ''{{wp|Sea of Thieves}}''.

In 2002, following the original North American release of ''[[lylatwiki:Star Fox Adventures|Star Fox Adventures]]'' on the [[Nintendo GameCube]], Microsoft completed its acquisition of Rare, affecting the status of several games of the ''Super Mario'' franchise, including ''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]'', ''[[Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers]]'', and ''[[Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)|Diddy Kong Pilot]]''. Under the terms of the merger, Nintendo retained the rights to all the ''Donkey Kong'' characters along with [[Krunch]], while Rare maintained the rights to its own intellectual properties such as [[Banjo]] and [[Conker]], both of whom appeared in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''. Consequently, [[Dixie Kong]]'s hat no longer bore the Rare logo. For a while, Rare developed games for Nintendo's handheld systems, since Microsoft has not entered the dedicated handheld console market. Two of the games, ''{{wp|Banjo-Pilot}}'' and ''{{wp|It's Mr. Pants}}'', were redeveloped from ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' and ''Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers'', respectively. After the merger, there was a hard stop to using Nintendo and Rare characters in the same works of media, with even ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' being unable to use Banjo or Conker in the character roster. ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' would include one of Rare's properties, Banjo and Kazooie, as playable characters.

Nintendo itself would later publish [[reissue|remake]]s of a few ''Donkey Kong'' titles made by Rare, including the original [[Donkey Kong Country (series)|''Donkey Kong Country'' trilogy]] for the [[Game Boy Advance]], as well as ''Diddy Kong Racing DS''. While the first ''Donkey Kong Country'' was made available on the [[Virtual Console]] within a few weeks of the [[Wii]] being released, and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]'' being rolled out there in 2007, all three games were delisted on November 25, 2012,{{ref needed}} and were gradually re-listed from 2014 to 2015,{{ref needed}} this time on both the Wii and [[Wii U]], and all releases of the game have remained listed since then to the extent the consoles' online game stores have remained online. The Rare-developed game ''[[Jetpac]]'' remained intact in the ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' port for the Wii U Virtual Console.
==History involving the ''Super Mario'' franchise==
===''Mario Kart'' series===
Rare is listed in the credits of ''[[List of Mario Kart 64_staff#Special Thanks|Mario Kart 64]]'' and ''[[List of Mario Kart: Super Circuit staff#Game Developed By|Mario Kart: Super Circuit]]'' as "Donkey Kong 3-D model provided courtesy of Rare U.K."

===''Donkey Kong 64''===
Rare appears in ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' in a few ways, and the company is named "Rareware" in the game. Rareware and Nintendo are the sponsors for the boxing match between the [[Kong]]s and [[King K. Rool]] as mentioned by the [[Microphone]]. Two items bear the logo of Rare: the [[Rareware Coin]] and a specific [[Golden Banana]] that is obtained from the [[Banana Fairy Princess]].

===''Diddy Kong Racing DS''===
Rare appears in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]'' with its logo appearing on the [[coin]]s.

===''Super Smash Bros.'' series===
In the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]], "Rare Limited" appears in the Sound Test of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'', and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' as the original composers of several ''Donkey Kong'' songs, although the information clarifies that Nintendo fully owns the copyright to the compositions.

==Appearances in the Super Mario universe==
*[[Dixie Kong]]'s hat is occasionally pinned with Rareware's logo. This can be seen clearly in some ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]'' promotional artwork, as well as ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]''.
*{{file link|Wrinkly Save Cave DKC3 group art.jpg|One artwork}} of [[Wrinkly's Save Cave]] for ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!'' has Rareware's logo framed.
*[[Timber]] has a cap with Rareware's logo on it. This was changed to the [[Nintendo DS]] logo for ''Diddy Kong Racing DS'', and the [[Nintendo]] logo for ''[[Timber's Balloon Pop]]''.

==List of ''Super Mario'' games==
{|class="wikitable"style="width:50%;text-align:center"
!Title
!Year released
!Console
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''
|1994
|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Land]]''
|1995
|[[Game Boy]]
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]''
|1995
|SNES
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Land 2]]''
|1996
|Game Boy
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]''
|1996
|SNES
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Land III]]''
|1997
|Game Boy
|-
|''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''
|1997
|[[Nintendo 64]]
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong 64]]''
|1999
|Nintendo 64
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)|Donkey Kong Country]]''
|2000
|[[Game Boy Color]]
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country]]''
|2003
|[[Game Boy Advance]]
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country 2]]''
|2004
|Game Boy Advance
|-
|''[[Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country 3]]''
|2005
|Game Boy Advance
|-
|''[[Diddy Kong Racing DS]]''
|2007
|[[Nintendo DS]]
|}

==Notable employees==
{{columns|count=2|
*[[Kevin Bayliss]] (former)
*[[Grant Kirkhope]] (former)
*[[Leigh Loveday]]
*[[Eveline Novakovic]] (former)
*[[Gregg Mayles]]
*[[Steve Mayles]] (former)
*[[Stamper brothers|Chris Stamper]] (former)
*[[Stamper brothers|Tim Stamper]] (former)
*[[Mark Stevenson]] (former)
*[[Chris Sutherland]] (former)
*[[David Wise]] (former)
}}

==Gallery==
===Logos===
<gallery widths=150px>
Rare logo 1980s.jpg|Rare's first logo, used from 1987–1990
Rare logo 1990.png|Logo used from 1990–1994
Rareware logo.jpg|Logo used from 1994–2003 for the "Rareware" trademark
DK Diddy Rareware Logo.png|Donkey Kong and Diddy with the Rareware logo
Rare logo 2003.png|Logo used from 2003–2010
Rare logo 2010.svg|Logo used from 2010–2015
</gallery>

===Screenshots===
<gallery>
Rareware screen DKL3C.png|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Land III|Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong]]''
Rareware screen DKCGBC.png|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[Game Boy Color]])
Rare Logo DKCGBA.jpg|Splash screen from ''[[Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)|Donkey Kong Country]]'' ([[Game Boy Advance]])
Rareware screen DKP.png|Unused splash screen from ''[[Diddy Kong Pilot (2001)|Diddy Kong Pilot]]'' (2001)
</gallery>

===Logos of canceled games===
<gallery>
Donkey Kong Art and Logo - Donkey Kong Racing.png|''[[Donkey Kong Racing]]''
DKCC-Donkey Kong Art.jpg|''[[Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers]]''
Diddypilot.jpg|''[[Diddy Kong Pilot]]''
</gallery>

==External links==
{{NIWA|LylatWiki=Rare|NWiki=Rare|SmashWiki=1|StrategyWiki=Category:Rare}}
*[https://rarewiki.com/wiki/Rare_Ltd. Rare Ltd.] on the Rare Wiki
{{Companies}}
[[Category:Developers]]
[[Category:Companies]]
[[de:Rare]]
[[it:Rare Ltd.]]