Retro|Spective 104R: Banjo Kazooie

[Neon Ignition]

We're currently several weeks into to two franchises revisits that are long running franchises, however on our greatest hits tour of RS's to return to there are a small number of short running franchises that have remained well known names despite the limited number of titles released in their name. Here we mix things up by looking at one of those franchises with:



Banjo-Kazooie
"Gu-huh!"


Game 01 - Banjo Kazooie

Unmistakenly taking inspiration from Super Mario 64, BK was the result of an isometric SNES title being steered into a 3D RPG when the N64 took over before being scaled back to the form everyone is familiar with now. With Banjo the bear and Kazooie the bird working together, they face off against the rhyming witch Gruntilda through several 3D worlds containing multiple objectives. With more moves and more detailed visuals than Mario 64, the game is arguably the closest experience to a sequel players have ever received but Banjo launched a run of follow up titles in its own name.









How did Banjo fare against the might of Super Mario 64 and other 3D titles of the era?

[Asura]

Paging [MENTION=16665]Blobcat[/MENTION]

[Dogg Thang]

I think the first one is the only one I ever played but it sits in my memory in the same category as Spyro and a bunch of others - early 3D platformers that just felt bland and a little aimless. Like they could create characters that moved pretty well, some pretty good environments but struggled to deliver a game I actually wanted to play through.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm almost the opposite. I think Banjo might be the closest anyone has ever come to challenging Mario 64's crown outside of some of the later Mario entries. There are some things it doesn't do as well but also a lot that it's better than SM64 at too, considering the early state of 3D platformers the game was amazing in its day and an ocean away from the lower bars set by other platformers of the day. It's not a view I hold on the titles that followed though sadly...

[Neon Ignition]

Game 02 - Banjo Tooie
Gruntilda is resurrected by her sisters and another 3D adventure begins on the N64 with the bear and bird learning new moves and tackling much bigger worlds. The expansion of the game proved taxing on the engine with frame rate drops being fairly severe at times but broadly the sequel was well received and sold several million copies.







Tooie Good or Tooie Bad?

[Neon Ignition]

There are parts of Tooie that I enjoyed and I've never gone back to try it without the burden of its framerate issues but without question it suffered from that growing Rare issue of the time of bloat. The game could and should have been reigned in more and tightened to something a little closer to the original and then they might have struck lightning twice.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 03 - Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
Rare set about making a Banjo game for the Game Boy and eventually settled on this top down installment that followed Gruntilda's latest attack via going back in time and preventing the original games events from happening. The 2D stripped down approach led to a surprisingly accurate recreation of the experience though some criticism went on how easy and short the game was.







Third time the charm?

[Neon Ignition]

It took me quite a long time to go through the GBA title but to be honest it is a really good adaptation of the gameplay. It borders on being a portable remake at times but considering the hardware it's very impressive

[Neon Ignition]

Game 04 - Banjo Pilot
Often overlooked is this other GBA entry that focused on airborne racing. Playing like Mario Kart, nine characters race in GP's in what was originally intended to be a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing. The game launched but was seen as inferior to the games it was following so never made much impact.







Did you enjoy this Rare racer?

[Mayhem]

BK1 - loved, aside from parts of one world (the one in the big metal ship?) that frustrated. The gameshow at the end was hilarious.
BK2 - also loved, but as mentioned, the frame rates issues grated at times.
Grunty's Revenge - enjoyed but yes, a bit too easy and way too short.
Banjo Pilot - not as good as Diddy Kong Racing.

[Neon Ignition]

I did own this one at some point but if I'm being honest I think I roughly recall it being more forgettable than even the Mickey Speedway racer was

[Neon Ignition]

Game 05 - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
The final entry in the franchise arrived fourteen years ago. Rather than deliver a traditional sequel the game mixed in larger environments with a vehicle building system where players would create contraptions to overcome puzzles. The game received good reviews but its sales were never strong with the gameplay additions often raised as a point of contention.








Bolt of Genius or a Nuts Idea?

[Asura]

Game 05 - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
The final entry in the franchise arrived fourteen years ago. Rather than deliver a traditional sequel the game mixed in larger environments with a vehicle building system where players would create contraptions to overcome puzzles. The game received good reviews but its sales were never strong with the gameplay additions often raised as a point of contention.
Bolt of Genius or a Nuts Idea?

This is one of those titles which suggests, for me, that "mixing up the formula" is dangerous and often unwelcome.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is a good game. However, it's a bad Banjo Kazooie game, considering that the series had previously established itself as a Mario 64-esque 3D platformer (outside of a few small spinoffs).

Microsoft are a massive corporation with deep pockets. Why not make a new IP, if you want to make a new game? They had time to make dross like Azurik and couldn't spare money to allow Rare to make something new?

[Neon Ignition]

Nuts and Bolts is like a solid platformer where Rare opened up the side, stuck a vacuum nozzle in and sucked out all the fun every time the vehicle creation came into it.

I've seen decent things made with it but ultimately it's a deeply off putting and joyless experience on the first pass, let alone the many others where you make something, it doesn't quite work so back you go and again and again till it works and then the next objective tasks you with making another vehicle - rinse and repeat.