Rare is a studio that's always been known for being one of the most prolific and beloved developers on Nintendo consoles during the 16 and 64 bit eras. Responsible for classics like the Donkey Kong Country series, Banjo-Kazooie, Goldeneye 007, and more, the studio's resume is nothing if not impressive. Of course, they were also keen to branch out into new and sometimes bizarre gameplay types, as was recently alluded to in a video about It's Mr. Pants.
Mr. Pants began as something of an inside joke around the studio, where the poorly drawn character in red underpants would make cameo appearances in other Rare games. When the GBA eventually came on the scene and Rare was developing a new puzzle game for the system, they needed a character to give the game a unique selling point, and Mr. Pants made his starring debut in a video game. The original development staff recently put together a video detailing the development of this odd game, check it out here:
What do you think? Do you remember Mr. Pants? Should the character be brought back? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 22
i used to have this game. i kind of miss it actually. i wonder if i can find a used copy
@DarthNocturnal How did you miss it? Obviously the 26-bit era consisted of the PlayStation 0, Nintendo 26, and SEGA Attachment #49261!
Love-hate relationship doesn't even begin to describe what I feel about It's Mr. Pants.
@DarthNocturnal we audiophile now bois
We need 24-bit dynamic graffex
@DarthNocturnal Don't you remember? It came right after the 13 1/2-bit era with such classics as Spodermon 2 and Big's Big Fishing Adventure 3.
Ahh the 26 bit days... I can remember playing classics like "Plumbers who kill mushrooms" "Slow the demented Bear cub"
and who could forget "Why am I playing this? 4"
I remember the ants as pants cheat in jet force gemini
@DarthNocturnal Lol, it was one of those underground movements that never really took off! Nintendo launched the Game Man, but it just didn't have that mass market appeal.
That thing about Wikipedia had me in stitches.
I bought this game way back when it came out on GBA. I found the puzzle game itself to be a solid, well thought out game with good strategy and an addictive aspect to it like many other great puzzle games. It was different enough to set itself apart from games like Tetris while still retaining that familiar feel. But throw in the Pants and it was just hilarious. The cutesy art style and the unexpected but funny sounds made it all the more fun to keep playing. I still have this game and need to dig it out and play again. It's sad the eShop won't bring things like this out on the 3ds. But fortunately some of us old timer game collectors can enjoy these goodies from our own stock whenever we get in the mood to play.
Mr Pants has a cameo appearance in Banjo-Tooie's Hailfire Peaks world, go to Boggy's Igloo and look at his telly.
Nice. I didn't catch that Rare Replay yet. I love Mr. Pants! I still have his game.
@SMW You guys should get an Xbox One or Xbox One S and Rare Replay because you get 30 of the best Rare games, excluding Donkey Kong Country trilogy which you can get on Wii U or 3DS and Diddy Kong Racing and Goldeyene which stay as Nintendo 64 exclusives. Donkey Kong 64 is the other game that comes to mind but you can get it on Nintendo 64 if you want (and it's not one of my favourites, to be honest).
Some of the games on Rare Replay are remastered. For instance, Grabbed by the Ghoulies which plays great at 60fps 1080p. Conker's Bad Fur Day looks great at 1080p, too. Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are the 360 remakes. Killer Instinct Gold was one childhood favourite but haven't aged well (and you can get Killer Instinct 3 for free anyway). I'm even enjoying the Spectrum games (thanks to the rewind feature)!
@AlanJones84 That is true, there's a video about it on Rare Replay.
I always thought Mr Pants was invented by one of the Scribes-readers. Well, at least it was a character made famous by Scribes and it did make cameo's in a few games (as explained in the video).
However, Its Mr Pants really started out as Donkey Kong coconut crashers. The only reason they chose Mr Pants was because they couldn't use the Nintendo IP anymore, because Rareware was bought by Microsoft (or at least it was set into motion). That's also the reason why Diddy kong pilot became Banjo pilot. I also think It's Mr Pants was the last GBA Rareware-game.
I just checked, I did not know that the game was released for mobile phones:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Mr._Pants
But it's not available on Google Play...
My first memory of Mr. Pants is the unlockable option in Jet Force Gemini to turn all the aliens into Mr. Pants! Because of that, I'll always remember Mr. Pants!
@Capital70Q
For some reason I misread that as Big's Big Fisting Adventure. Lol
I have never heard of Mr. Pants.
@VanillaLake Yep! Definitely. I missed out on all of Rare's Xbox games, so Rare Replay is definitely a no-brainer for me. I just need to get money together for a console. Right now I'm saving up for NX, so no Xbox for me yet.
@SMW Yep, just wait until you find a good deal, when Scorpio is released perhaps Xbox One S will be quite cheap.
@Tempestryke "Big's Big Fisting Adventure" Heh, well that sounds, erm, fascinating...
@MitchVogel
To say the least. Lol
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...