Jet Force Gemini is coming to NSO. Will Diddy Kong Racing and DK64 ever show up?

With Jet Force Gemini announced for the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack and Banjo Kazooie and GoldenEye already on the service it is clear that Nintendo and Microsoft are able to work together to get games added to the library. I fully expect to see Banjo Tooie, Blast Corps, and even Perfect Dark eventually added. I think the real question is whether Diddy Kong Racing and DK 64 will ever go up. Diddy Kong Racing is arguably the most beloved Rare game after the Banjo Titles, and DK 64 is iconic in its own way, though much less universally beloved.

I think the sticking point is that the other games are all available on Xbox too. Rare Replay has had the Banjo games and Jet Foce Gemini since it launched in the early days of the Xbox One. GoldenEye went up at the same time on Xbox and Nintendo. However I do not see Nintendo being willing to put Donkey Kong games on another console, even if the companies are friendly. Nintendo will let Microsoft put Minecraft, Ori, and Quake games on the Switch but it is very protective of its IP and it has not been willing to let anyone else touch it since the days of the Phillips CD-I. I don't see Diddy Kong or DK 64 going up on Xbox...ever.

The question is whether Microsoft will sign off on the games with no reciprocation. I'm not sure. I think they probably should, since it's not like not having Diddy Kong Racing on NSO actually helps Microsoft in any way, and they might be able to use it as a gesture of good will to further improve their relationship with Nintendo, which has been useful for them in a number of ways (Minecraft sells great on Nintendo platforms and they have worked with Nintendo for special DLC packs; Nintendo didn't get in their way in the Activision merger.)

On the other hand I understand that Microsoft wants to claim Rare's legacy for its own and it might stick in its craw to have more games on Nintendo platforms but not Microsoft platforms even after gestures of good will like letting Nintendo put Banjo in Smash and make an Amiibo. Already the Donkey Kong Country games are on NSO but not Xbox, and are a huge missing part of Rare's legacy on the Xbox platform, though I think the ownership rights of those are purely with Nintendo anyway.

It's worth noting that DK64 did show up on Wii U virtual console (so maybe Nintendo owns the full rights? I don't believe so) so the deal has been made before, but that was prior to Microsoft really focusing on building out its legacy content.

I think that if Microsoft is serious about making games accessible they should just sign off on these games going up on the service. Especially now when Microsoft's own IP vault is brimming with Activision games that it could bring out on Xbox if it wanted to.

Hell yeah, Jet Force Gemini keeps me coming back to N64 emulators every few years and lately, trying to emulate that game has been terrible. Project 64 no longer renders the targeting reticle for half of the guns and there was one other emulator I tried that wouldn't run the game at all. I don't remember what it was called. I've been considering finding the cheapest xbox series S or One S just to get the Rare Replay collection. That might still be the more interesting option over paying $50 for Nintendo Switch online but I'm glad there's more options on the table.

I would have thought that Nintendo owns the full rights to DK64. DKR I'm not sure about, because it includes some presumably Rare-owned characters like Banjo and Conker. I guess DK64 does contain Jetpac, but I wouldn't think MS would be too stingy about that IP...

@wollywoo: Let's not forget Tiptup!

@mobiusfun: We found him, you guys! The one Jet Force Gemini fan! To be serious though, it's great you love the game. One thing worth noting is that I believe the Rare Replay version had modern dualstick controls patched in while the NSO version probably won't based on GoldenEye. I don't know if that matters for the game's biggest fan ever. Series S consoles have been very cheap this Black Friday (and even Xs have been reasonable) but buying a full console for one old game compilation is...a lot. I love Rare Replay but I wouldn't buy a system for it. On the other hand NSO is a $50 rental so...no great choices unless you want an Xbox for other reasons.

@wollywoo: Game ownership is complicated. It's quite possible for a studio to own a game they made with someone else's IP. They can own the game and the IP holder owns the IP so the game can't be re-issued without both parties sign off (this is essentially what happened with Goldeneye except in that case both Rare and Nintendo had stakes in the game, while the Bond people owned the IP.) I don't know whether Jetpack is really the only issue with DK64 or whether Rare owns the game or some of the original characters in the game but while it's possible Nintendo owns the whole thing that isn't what I understood.

@chamurai: Who could forget Tiptup? I hear that Microsoft is abandoning that new Perfect Dark game they announced to focus all their resources on a AAA Tiptup title. It will be their biggest launch of all time.

@bigsocrates said:

Hey! There are dozens a couple of us! A couple of us!!

And I know I am looking forward to Tiptup: Shelling Out, the hardcore FPS + shopkeeper tycoon we've all been hankering for!

I still wish they put Rare Replay out on PC or something.

Some of the control improvements made to Jet Force Gemini in the Rare Replay version really helped make this game feel playable in a modern context.

I'm assuming the NSO release is going to be more of a raw ROM dump, and if that's the case, playing it will likely be a reminder of just how rose-tinted the JFG nostalgia goggles are.

Another JFG fan chiming in over here! I was obsessed with the game as a kid, even had a poster hanging up that was included with the strategy guide. I know it gets some flak for requiring you to collect everything, but I really enjoyed backtracking to all the levels with different characters, new abilities, and a whole new arsenal. It's a very sort of checklist game for me, like get through to the midpoint where everyone meets up, then going through the planets again and crossing them off one by one.

I played through DK64 a while back (even got the 101%), and as much as I liked it as a kid, I don't think it held up very well. Once you unlock all the Kongs, it gets extremely tedious having to go through every level 5 times, sometimes more because one Kong's abilities are needed to unlock another Kong's banana. I've been curious to play through it with the instant-switching mod, but the last time I checked in on it, it seemed like it only worked on real hardware with a modded cart, which was way more effort than I was willing to put in for it.