It would be a steep understatement to say that Rare was my favorite games developer in the late 90s. Donkey Kong Country was, and is to this day, one of my favorite games. I knew every Ultra Combo in Killer Instinct, and I even liked their generally maligned Starfox Adventures (deal with it). Of course, all good things must end, and Rare was snapped up by Microsoft in 2002.

Since then, it’s safe to say the quality, or at least the impact, of their games has gone somewhat downhill. They still continued to make good games, but unfortunately it just didn’t seem like the demand was there. As a result, Microsoft eventually had to lay off a significant portion of the studio. Now, four of those ex-developers are creating a brand new game company, called Starfire Studios.

Their only announced title at the moment is Fusion: Genesis, noted as a cross between a space shooter and an MMO. The game is headed directly to Xbox Live Arcade, and as a Rare devotee, I can assure you that I’ll be picking it up.

This seems to be an increasing trend in the world of video games – developers are leaving big name studios either of their own volition or as a result of some sort of company decision, and then starting a small-team studio to focus on downloadable titles or mobile games. The future of gaming will involve a lot more small studios, which in turn gives gamers tons more options. Sure, we’re painting this fall as the time of CoD, Skyrim and BF3, but there are going to be dozens of game releases during the same period of time.

Once Fusion: Genesis comes out, maybe Starfire can get to work on a spiritual successor to Killer Instinct. Maybe an open-world game set in the KI universe, starring Fulgore as a down-and-out robot?

What I’m saying is, someone please make another Killer Instinct game.

Via GameSpot

Tweet

100% of voters think this story ROCKS!

Vote Now!    (1) (0)