Be Rare or be Square: Which was the most epic for you personally, Rare on the N64 or Square on the PS1?

[Discontent]

How amazing was it that we got two of the greatest runs by any company in a single generation in the same gotdamn generation? It was even more amazing that it happened again in 6th gen with Sega and Capcom but I don't think it's happened since, unfortunately but I'm all for listening to any picks you guys might have for great single generation runs.

Both companies were prolific af especially when you consider that it wasn't the longest generation of gaming, 1996-2000ish. Square made considerably more games but there's no denying the quality of Rares output and how content-packed their games were. And both companies have games that are still heralded as being among the best of all time. It's hard not to paint Square as being all about the JRPG's because the vast majority of their output was exactly that but they still provided a few killer games from different genres. And Rare were really making some diverse ass motherf---- games and almost always knocking it out of the park; kart racing, FPS, platformers and even whatever the hell genre Blast Corps falls under.

Rare:
Killer Instinct Gold
Blast Corps
Goldeneye 007
Diddy Kong Racing
Banjo Kazooie
Jet Force Gemini
Donkey Kong 64
Mickey's Speedway USA
Perfect Dark
Banjo Tooie
Conkers Bad Fur Day

Square (best games listed only to keep the numbers as even as possible lol):
Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Front Mission 2 and 3
Einhander
Xenogears
Parasite Eve 1 and 2
IS: Internal Section
Threads of Fate
Legend of Mana
Brave Fencer Musashi
Chrono Cross
Vagrant Story

 

[sir_crocodile]

SNES Squaresoft > N64 Rare > PSX Squaresoft

 

[Phalk]

Definitely Square as you can see on my avatar.

Their games and the messages inside it shaped so much of my teenage days.

 

[VyechnayaSlava]

Rare by a mile. If we were talking SNES Square it might be a different story

 

[ghostcrew]

Square made some of my favourite games ever on PS1 but, I think for variety alone, Rare's N64 run has to take this.

Look at that list... arguably the best shooter, the best platformer, the best kart racer and the best fighting game on the platform. And then crazy games like Blast Corps and Jet Force Gemini.

Rare were on fire for the period. The N64 would've been dead without their games.

 

[plow]

I didn't play one game from that "Rare" ist apart from Golden Eye i think.

So yeah it's definately Square. I would argue PSX Square won't get beaten by anyone bar PS2 Rockstar.

 

[ffvorax]

Square, not even a contest. The quality was too high to be real.

 

[Imperfected]

The only N64 Rare game I actually liked was Perfect Dark, so while I don't think that was Square's best era, I'll still give it to them.

 

[mopinks]

the N64's dependence on Rare games was very rough on me as a Nintendo Kid Who Loved RPGs

 

[Adam_Roman]

Rare for sure back in the day. I was a kid who loved character platformers and was bored to death with JRPGs. As I've grown, not much has changed.

 

[Izanagi89]

Square, but looking at those lists, both had really influential games. 007 was important for MP FPS and FF7 for console RPGs. But as a JRPG fan, Square will always trump everything during that period.

 

[killuglypop]

Square, and I'm not even a massive RPG fan. I will say that as a child flicking through magazines, I used to dream of playing and owning games like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. Apples and oranges really though with Square being Japanese and Rare being a UK powerhouse

 

[EvilBoris]

Rare for me, they made a much more diverse range of games in different genres.

 

[MavFan619]

Square quite easily for me. And I loved Rare on N64 but still, it's free.

 

[Mr. Virus]

Rare cause I didn't have a PS1 growing up (and got an N64 really late).

Also EU lol. We got maybe 5 or 6 of those games listed?

 

[Wackamole]

Never played any of the Square games. I started FFVII but couldn't get into it.
So Rare it is. Played plenty of their games on N64 and really enjoyed them.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Rare as one single studio, with their variety of genre and the fact that many of their games looked better than Nintendos own on a hard to develop N64 is just amazing.

 

[GenG]

Squaresoft's record on PSX was absolutely incredible and still making ripples today.

 

[Riven]

I thought Squaresoft was better and more influential on the SNES than PSX.

 

[Irene]

Squaresoft in the mid to late 90's and early 00's feels like it were one of the most legendary eras of gaming.

Final Fantasy VII is an undisputed classic, that followed up a classic before it. VIII and IX are both fantastic games in their own right. Xenogears is a cult classic. Chrono Cross followed up yet another classic.

I haven't played Tactics or Vagrant Story myself, but from what I've heard, they're amazing games as well.

And personally, I hold Parasite Eve as one of my favorite video games of all time. It's just impeccable in it's execution, it's audiovisual framing and unique setting.

 

[oni-link]

It's Square

Rare were amazing, but we tend to remember Rare more as Rare and Nintendo basically held the N64 up by themselves

Square were amazing but were also competing with every other amazing developer making games for PS1

 

[carrot_]

The only Rare game from that list I played was Jet Force Gemini. And while that game is AMAZING and one of my favs (particularly the music!), I'll go with Square because that has Brave Fencer Musashi (and also Legend of Mana, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy IX).

 

[OrangeNova]

Square by a fucking mile.

There is a totally different volume to the games that Square put out compared to Rares games

The fact that Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 all came out between 1997 and 2000, is bonkers, then throw the rest of the games they made in there too and it's just absolute insanity.

 

[eXistor]

The few good Rare games don't even compare to Square's PS1 output.

 

[Discontent]

I voted Rare but looking at the Square games I'm having second thoughts lol. Nah, DK64 wins on how underrated it is.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Square just safely continued on from the same games they made on SNES. In terms of mindblowing run, Rare fits the bill much better, because they owned like six different genres, creating some of the best games for each of them.

(NB this is not about which games I like more, in which case they're more evenly matched)

 

[Discontent]

Square made some of my favourite games ever on PS1 but, I think for variety alone, Rare's N64 run has to take this.

Look at that list... arguably the best shooter, the best platformer, the best kart racer and the best fighting game on the platform. And then crazy games like Blast Corps and Jet Force Gemini.

Rare were on fire for the period. The N64 would've been dead without their games.

Click to shrink...

Yes the variety and them not making a single game below 8/10 gives Rare my vote.

 

[GalvoAg]

Square but I loved Rare as well back then, it's like picking between your kids

 

[bakedpony]

Square and its not even close. A lot of great games are not even listed in the OP such as SaGa Frontier and Bushido Blade.

 

[B. Spaceman]

Rare's output was a lot more varied

 

[Deleted member 81119]

Square by absolutely loads, which is crazy because Rare trumps them on variety. But you've got several of the all time greatest games, all better than Rare's best on N64 (Banjo).

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

I don't have much of an attachment to Rare games on the 64 beyond Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing.

Square though? Final Fantasy VIII blew my mind. Then there was VII, IX and Vagrant Story. Amazing games.

 

[thetrin]

Square by a country mile. Their output shaped my taste in games for decades after that.

 

[Guaraná]

Both were at their peak, but Square was on another level.

 

[N64Controller]

To me the best game of that N64/PSX Generation is Chrono Cross by miles. Aside from that I also really liked Xenogears and FFIX.

It's overall pretty equal in my book, I think Square had higher heights, but Rare was more consistent. Gonna say Rare for that reason.

 

[fiendcode]

No to both.

Give me Enix on PS1 and Treasure on N64.

 

[Deleted member 1102]

Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX

Click to shrink...

You could have ended Square's list here and it still would've won

 

[SwampBastard]

I have zero use for anything on the Square list, so Rare wins by default.

 

[Deleted member 79517]

It's Square. Rare had a very good run, but the further you get into the list the more the quality starts to slip. Square never really let up on the PS1.

 

[Discontent]

You could have ended Square's list here and it still would've won

Click to shrink...

:3

 

[BadWolf]

How is this even a comparison lol.

Square obviously.

 

[bushmonkey]

Pure Quantity of quality titles : Square. They released so many games that generation and so many classics, it's unreal.
BUT without Rare, the N64 would have been a terrible console with only half a dozen decent non-Rare Nintendo titles and for that reason, I have to give it to Rare.

 

[Pein]

square.

Man, they were cranking out hits back then.

Rare had an incredible run too, they made the N64, nintendo not buying them was a huge mistake. I mean that out put for a single studio was nuts.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

My two favourite publishers on their respective platforms... But Square wins it out for me. FF7 and 9 hold too strong a place in my heart.

 

[Discontent]

The real question is what's more catchy: FF7 battle theme or this lmao

 

[Deleted member 54073]

Square.

No contest.

 

[FreddeGredde]

Their outputs are so wildly different that it really depends whether you love RPGs or not. If you do, it's Square. If not, it's Rare.

I don't care for RPGs, so it's easily Rare for me.

 

[Discontent]

Uematsu wishes he had this swag.

 

[Sword Familiar]

Square all the way for me.

 

[Discontent]

Square all the way for me.

Click to shrink...

Did you even listen to the song I posted above lol. How are people still voting Square smh