Banjo Kazooie

[bob]

and inputting them in the sand castle...

 

No. Just no. I can't even imagine how many hours i spent waddling around, arse-banging on the floor of that sandcastle, only to discover i'd missed one of the letters halfway through the word AGOLDENGLOWTOPROTECTBANJO or LOTSOFGOESWITHMANYBANJOS. Ridiculous cheat system.

 

Rest of the game though = good.

[The Peeps]

Any time someone says something negative about Banjo Tooie I feel compelled to defend it. I remember knowing the game was coming out (I think I must've been buying ONM or something at the time because I wasn't using the internet much at that time) and really looking forward to buying it. My mum's partner had just started a new job as a limo driver and gave me £50 (which was the price of the game when it came out) and I went straight out and bought it.

 

I was not disappointed with it until about half way through. I wasn't so much disappointed as just unmotivated to go on. As others have said, a lot of the levels consist of things you can't actually interact with or reach until you progress further to get new moves or open up passageways between levels. The levels themselves are quite large, making them seem a bit empty as you have to travel a bit before reaching something you can interact with.

 

Having said that, it was a much more challenging game than Banjo Kazooie and although the levels and characters weren't as memorable, it was still a fantastic game. The mini games and mini bosses were a lot of fun and you could even unlock a boss mode where you could fight all the mini bosses arcade style. It brought a lot of new things to the franchise, keeping it fresh and fun. I'm glad they released the games on the 360 and finally resolved the stop n swop eggs (and ice key) in Banjo Tooie. It unlocked a couple of new moves (more funny than practical) and some gamerpics I think.

[Captain Falcon]

Whilst it's difficult to deny that Kazooie is the better of the two N64 outings, you certainly can't fault Rare for trying with Tooie - it was perhaps just a little too ambitious in the end which had the unfortunate side effect of sliding into convulted.

 

I got that game that game at launch... though in fact, I got it a day early and it was my last order from Special Reserve as the only N64 game I had after that was Pokémon Stadium 2 which I bought from GAME on 22 Oct 2001 - I still have a perfectly ledgible receipt inside the absolutely mint box. My Tooie box got a slight dent on the top side in transit but otherwise it's immaculate too. I also had a new mobile phone that weekend, a Seimens C35 to replace my C25 - my mate dropped it off for me when we played football on the Sunday... ah, good times.

 

But yeah, back to the actual games.

 

Kazooie seemed so packed after the more sparse worlds of Mario 64 which is no knock at Mario as they were doing the unthinkable at the time with that one. But all the colours and the characters was fantastic and the humour was spot on throughout with so many winks and nods that if the game was a person, you'd think they had some kind of nervous twitch. And the quiz at the end - genuis, pure genius. The music was also delightful and made the whole thing feel like a cartoon.

 

Tooie tried it best darn it but the worlds got a bit too big and whilst being able to split Banjo and Kazooie up did lead to more varied gameplay, it still brought back that classic irritant of game design - back tracking. Sometimes it was fun to work out how to get one of the pair to a place easily accesible by them both combined but other times it was a pain. I always remember Grunty Industries as a particular annoyance due to the seperating coupled with a generally confusing layout. No matter how many times I played through the game, I could never totally commit that place to memory. It was nice to see Mumbo out and about but I think they could have done more with him as he felt like a one trick pony.

 

But my biggest gripe with Tooie, that pretty much overshadows everything else is easily Canary Mary - especially the second time around. So incredibly frustrating. So all in all, another great game, albeit not as good as the original since for all it's innovations, it lost its focus and the game design got a bit flabby as a result.

[Aneres11]

 

I got that game that game at launch... though in fact, I got it a day early and it was my last order from Special Reserve as the only N64 game I had after that was Pokémon Stadium 2 which I bought from GAME on 22 Oct 2001 - I still have a perfectly ledgible receipt inside the absolutely mint box. My Tooie box got a slight dent on the top side in transit but otherwise it's immaculate too. I also had a new mobile phone that weekend, a Seimens C35 to replace my C25 - my mate dropped it off for me when we played football on the Sunday... ah, good times.

 

Ahh I loved this story Captain. Could give or take your opinion on the games etc - but this I liked.

I jest ha.

 

Isn't it funny how you remember really random things like that though!

 

But yeah back to the game -I do fully intend to play Tooie one day and am really looking forward to revisiting Banjo!

[The Peeps]

Canary Mary is a bitch... but actually pretty easy to get around once you work out the mechanics behind her. Unfortunately it will take a good 10-20 fails before you realise what you have to do.

[Shorty]

Banjo Kazooie is one of my all time favourite games, and the one that convinced me I wanted an N64. Not Super Mario 64, not Goldeneye, not even Ocarina of Time (mind you, the friends that owned those never seemed to let me have a go) but Banjo Kazooie. It was the one I got on Christmas morning with the console itself (along with V-Rally Edition '99 from my Mum's cousin, for some reason).

 

It's just a perfectly crafted game. I still marvel at the size of Treasure Trove Cove, Freezeezy Peak and of course, Click Clock Wood.

 

Banjo Tooie was a little bit too spread out. I bought the Xbox version recently and got most of the way through the first level, then put it down for a month. When I came back I was completely lost on the overworld, finally found my way back to the first level and then failed for 30 minutes to figure out where the remaining Jiggy was. I remember this being a problem on the N64 version, and I don't think I ever got all the jigsaw pieces even back then.

 

BK on the other hand, I flew back through on the 360 because I'd finished it so many times I remembered where everything was!

[Dog-amoto]

I still enjoyed Tooie.

 

If I remember correctly, it came out months earlier in Australia, so I ended up importing it because I didn't want to wait. Was still PAL so worked fine.

[Captain Falcon]

Canary Mary is a bitch... but actually pretty easy to get around once you work out the mechanics behind her. Unfortunately it will take a good 10-20 fails before you realise what you have to do.

 

You mean there were mechanics that extended beyond mash the A button until you are close to breaking your controller? Most of the times, I did in in one or two tries but there was one time were I must have hit double digits. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if it wasn't such a long track. The length is just about bearable in Glittergulch but Cloud Cuckoo really goes on for far too long - I'm knackered by the end of it.

[LegoMan1031]

BK is amazing, I have replayed it many times and loved it again when it was released on XBLA (once again 100% it on xbla)

 

For some reason I never played Tooie on the N64.... I bought it when it was released on XBLA but I never completed it...

 

I don't know why, I just got a little bored with it and lost interest. I kept meaning to go back to it but never did. There is still time though!

[The Peeps]

You mean there were mechanics that extended beyond mash the A button until you are close to breaking your controller? Most of the times, I did in in one or two tries but there was one time were I must have hit double digits. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if it wasn't such a long track. The length is just about bearable in Glittergulch but Cloud Cuckoo really goes on for far too long - I'm knackered by the end of it.

 

It's as simple as keep behind her until the last little bit, then mash until you overtake. Every time you overtake her she is designed to overtake again and you end up having to mash harder to overtake again when she'll just overtake over and over. If you keep her ahead from the start, she'll stay relatively slow and you can just overtake her right near the end before she has a chance to overtake you back.

 

^For Cloud Cuckoo anyway. I think in Glittergulch mine she's not that hard to keep ahead of.

[Jimbob]

BK is amazing, I have replayed it many times and loved it again when it was released on XBLA (once again 100% it on xbla)

 

For some reason I never played Tooie on the N64.... I bought it when it was released on XBLA but I never completed it...

 

I don't know why, I just got a little bored with it and lost interest. I kept meaning to go back to it but never did. There is still time though!

 

Probably be a lot of time as well, Ninty will let you cross VC purchases from what i've read over from the Wii to the WiiU so i guess Microsoft will let Arcade titles cross over from the 360 to the 720 (or whatever it is called)

 

I'm in a similar boat, never got round to beating Tooie the first time and the 2nd time now.

[Captain Falcon]

It's as simple as keep behind her until the last little bit, then mash until you overtake. Every time you overtake her she is designed to overtake again and you end up having to mash harder to overtake again when she'll just overtake over and over. If you keep her ahead from the start, she'll stay relatively slow and you can just overtake her right near the end before she has a chance to overtake you back.

 

^For Cloud Cuckoo anyway. I think in Glittergulch mine she's not that hard to keep ahead of.

 

So is it full rubber band style where she slows up if you fall too far behind or is just rigged entirely in her favour? It was a rare occasion when I've been able to come back from behind. I normally just go wild out of the blocks and hold on for dear life, and it usually worked.

 

All this Banjo talk has got me in the mind to replay one of the games but I'm not sure if I want to put up with N64 resolutions and framerates. Tooie had a particular habit of dropping the framerate like it was going out of fashion.

[The Peeps]

Basically any time you overtake her she'll increase her speed to overtake you again. So if you don't overtake her at all until right at the very end, she'll keep to an easily reachable pace.

[Captain Falcon]

Basically any time you overtake her she'll increase her speed to overtake you again. So if you don't overtake her at all until right at the very end, she'll keep to an easily reachable pace.

 

So it's just like racing Samurai Goroh in F-Zero GX's story mode - stay as close behind as possible and then do him at the finish line :p

[The Peeps]

Exactly

[WackerJr]

I'd just like to add my admiration to the glowing memories of Banjo-Kazooie. The tightly designed levels were great in that there was always so much to do & not far from a collectible, enemy, or challenge. Special mention must go to the wonderfully designed Click Clock Wood, and the consistently excellent and memorable soundtrack.

 

It's a shame that they were never able to fully implement Stop N Swop, one of the great mysteries of the N64 generation. Wozza and Ice Mario were persistent in their search for the truth and uncovered so many additional unused features and ideas (Bottles Revenge anyone?) that they even added to the legacy of the series.

 

Grunty's Revenge was a good effort at bringing the Banjo gameplay to the GameBoy Advance. Banjo-Tooie was probably too large, which detracted from the ideas it had and some of the clever integration between levels. Oh, and the walking innuendo that was Jolly Roger and his whole level! Rare's sense of humour at it's finest!

 

How it'd be great to see another proper Banjo platformer. Rare's priorities don't seem to be on that type of game at the moment, but I suppose you never know what the future holds!

[The Peeps]

It's a shame that they were never able to fully implement Stop N Swop, one of the great mysteries of the N64 generation. Wozza and Ice Mario were persistent in their search for the truth and uncovered so many additional unused features and ideas (Bottles Revenge anyone?) that they even added to the legacy of the series.

 

If you have an xbox 360 you can get both original games on the arcade with fully implemented stop n swop. It unlocks gamerpics and a couple of things in the game (new moves/items). If you also get nuts n bolts there are further unlockables through the stop n swop thing.

[WackerJr]

If you have an xbox 360 you can get both original games on the arcade with fully implemented stop n swop. It unlocks gamerpics and a couple of things in the game (new moves/items). If you also get nuts n bolts there are further unlockables through the stop n swop thing.

 

That's true that Rare were good enough to include some Stop N Swop rewards with the XBox versions. It would've been really interesting to know just what the original rewards would've been (as Gamerpics clearly weren't the original intention).

 

Banjo-Kazooie served as a wonderful insight into the ideas that go into games and the type of features that were developed but never fully implemented.

[Cube]

That's true that Rare were good enough to include some Stop N Swop rewards with the XBox versions. It would've been really interesting to know just what the original rewards would've been (as Gamerpics clearly weren't the original intention).

 

I think one of the ideas were new levels - a fire level in BK (which became the Fire/Ice world in BT) and a Jungle level in BT (which became Jungle Japes in DK64).

[Beaneth007]

I always thought that BK was by the most charming platformer on the n64 but Mario 64 was was more pure fun. I'm so glad i gave both my full attention at different times of the n64's life as ive got a feeling one would have been ignored had i owned both at the same time! Loved Banjo Tooie though, very much agree that it was a bit too big and got quite tedious with all the back tracking and collecting but overall it was a hoot!