If Rare managed to keep up their form from when it used to make games for the SNES and N64, then they would have been contender for the very best developer of all time. As it stands, their catalogue of games between 1994 and 2001 still comfortably gets them onto this list. Rare was prolific back in the days of the NES, probably best known for its Battletoads games and the NES port of Sid Meier's Pirates. But things really took off for them with the release of Donkey Kong Country for the SNES in 1994, after which point they went from strength to strength - trailblazing whatever genre they touched. There was Killer Instinct in beat-'em-ups, legendary 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong for the N64, not to mention Goldeneye and Perfect Dark - two shooters that revolutionised split-screen gaming on consoles. Since Microsoft bought them out, Rare has been reduced mainly to remakes and remasters (and, erm, Kinect Sports games), but their golden age should never be forgotten. Notable titles: Banjo-Kazooie series, Killer Instinct, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Battetoads, Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
