Banjo-Kazooie
Reviewed by Scott McCall
Banjo-Kazooie was originally first revealed under the moniker
of "Dream." Well, since then, we've found out that the game
really has nothing to do with dreams or even the musical instruments
from which the characters are named. Nevertheless, Banjo-Kazooie
could very well be called a "dream game." This Rare-developed
title for Nintendo only goes to show how delays can make a game
that much better. If you've been disenchanted with your Nintendo
64 recently, it's time to succumb to the system's magic once again.
Banjo-Kazooie, quite simply, is the evolution of Super Mario 64
and its 3D platforming action. It takes a familiar concept to the
next level, much like Rare's GoldenEye 007 took the Doom concept
into the stratosphere. But if you think Banjo-Kazooie is too much
like Super Mario 64, then you better think again. If you miss out
on this game, then you're missing out on one of the best games
for any system.
So when you turn on Banjo-Kazooie for the first time, you're
treated to the same loud, robust, clear stereo sound that you've
come to expect from Rare. If you don't touch any buttons, you're
treated to a little real-time introduction of some of the game's
characters playing musical instruments. Pretty cool. Now once you
start the game, you're thrown into the file select screen. Unlike other
games that have static file select screens, Banjo-Kazooie is so
polished, so detailed, and so great that the individual save slots are
picked from three scenes inside a cabin. The first one has Banjo
sleeping, the second one has Banjo cooking, and the third one has Banjo
playing Game Boy. Further evidence of Rare and Nintendo's attention
to detail is that the music and sound effects change to suit each theme.
Unbelievable. If you're selecting a slot for the first time, you're then
treated to the story of the game.
A summary of the story is that Gruntilda -- she's an old, dirty, ugly
witch -- has kidnapped Tooty, who is Banjo's little sister, because
she's the "prettiest of all." Kazooie, the wise-cracking bird friend
of Banjo, hears the ruckus outside and wakes Banjo up. So the
polite honey bear grabs his backpack with the Breegull in it and
heads outside to save Tooty. Bottles the mole warns Banjo and
Kazooie that there is a difficult quest ahead and offers to help
them along the way. Thus begins the great adventure.
Once you're into the actual game, you come out of Banjo's house
into a world that serves as training. Bottles will help you out by
teaching you techniques. You can't use a particular technique until
you're taught it. You'll also be learning more techniques in other
worlds throughout the game. This training world is where you're
start to grasp the game's incredible depth and beautiful surroundings.
Before talking about how the different moves/techniques in
Banjo-Kazooie are used, a generalization of the play control should
be mentioned. Basically, the control is similar to Super Mario 64 but
slightly different. You still use the Control Stick to move, the A
button to jump, and the B button to attack. But the camera is a little
different. Being a second-generation N64 game, the camera in
Banjo-Kazooie, though not perfect, is much more intelligent and
useful than previous 3D action games. Hopefully, The Legend of
Zelda: The Ocarina of Time will virtually eliminate all camera problems,
but Banjo-Kazooie has taken a step in the right direction.
The Left and Right C buttons are used to rotate the view around.
It works pretty much exactly like Super Mario 64, except you can
go a full 360* from any position. The Top C button is used to go
into a stopped, first-person viewpoint. Again, unlike Super Mario
64, you have 360* of viewing no matter where you're at. The
same button must be pressed again to get out of the perspective.
That leaves the Bottom C button to zoom in and out. But there's
also a great new function for the camera. Tapping the R button
will move the camera behind Banjo and holding it down will force
the camera to follow directly behind. So now you don't have to
stop, rotate the view, and struggle with the camera like in Super Mario 64.
A few parts of the control are quirky, however. Like Super Mario
64, it's difficult to become proficient at swimming in Banjo-Kazooie.
You just can't seem to move Banjo underwater exactly like you want
to move him. Also, shooting eggs doesn't make full use of the numerous
individual steps of the analog controller. It's difficult to aim exactly
where you want.
Now let's take a look at the vast array of moves in the game. Banjo
(the male bear) and Kazooie (the female bird) need to use teamwork
in order to rescue Banjo's sister. Besides the standard climbing,
running, and swimming moves, there are many other special moves
the duo can learn. "Feathery Flap" is the double jump in the game
(sorry, there's no triple jump here). Just jump and press A again
to have Kazooie flap her wings to give them a little more height.
"Forward Roll Attack" is accomplished by running and pressing
the B button. It's a safe and easy way to beat a lot of enemies.
"Rat-a-tat Rap," which is done by jumping and pressing B while
in mid-air, enables Kazooie to use her beak to attack enemies that
are higher up in the air. "Flap Flip" is the somersault jump in this
game. It's performed by holding Z and pressing A to jump. You can steer
with the Control Stick while in the air, too.
As you head from the training world (Spiral Mountain) into the actual
game, you'll find even more moves to learn. For instance, the "Talon
Trot" lets Kazooie extend her legs and carry Banjo around. This move
is needed to get up steep slopes and can be used to move the duo even
more quickly than Banjo by himself. The move is accessed by holding Z
and pressing Left C. Then you have to keep Z held down while running
round. "Beak Buster" is a powerful stomp attack. It's done by jumping
and pressing the Z button while in mid-air. "Egg Firing" is a very cool
technique that's not only used for attacking but also for puzzles. You
need to have eggs to use this, though. In order to fire an egg forward,
you must hold Z and press Top C. To send an egg backwards, just
hold Z and press Bottom C instead. There's also the "Beak Barge," which
is a powerful sliding attack. You can use this by holding Z and pressing B.
No, we're not done yet. There are six more moves to learn! The
"Shock Spring Jump" enables Banjo and Kazooie to reach new heights.
You must simply find a green Shock Spring Pad, stand on it, and hold
down the A button (then let go) to spring up. You can steer in the air
with this move, too. And what good would a bird be if it couldn't
fly? "Flight" is accomplished in Banjo-Kazooie by doing two
things: 1) Picking up Red Feathers that enable you to flap your wings,
and 2) Finding red Flight Pads to launch from. Just press A to jump
when you're on one of those Flight Pads. And once Kazooie is flying
in the air, you can press the B button to send her at something like a
heat-guided missile. This move is called the "Beak Bomb."
If you haven't lost interest by now, then imagine if I didn't split this
up into multiple paragraphs! Remember, there are three more moves
to learn. If you have Golden Feathers, then you can do the "Wonderwing"
technique. Just hold down Z and press Right C. With Z held down, you are
invincible. But the problem is that a Golden Feather is used up every
two seconds. These last two special moves are aided by new footwear
for Kazooie. The "Stilt Stride" can be used when you find a pair of
green Wading Boots. It lets Kazooie, for a limited time, carry Banjo
through otherwise impassable parts of worlds -- piranha-infested
water or super-hot quicksand, for example. Finally, there's the
"Turbo Talon Trot." You must find white running shoes to activate this
move. It will enable you to achieve certain tasks that would not
otherwise be possible with Banjo's slow speed, Kazooie's regular
Talon Trot, or even by flying. Both of these moves involving footwear
start automatically and can be ended prematurely by pressing B.
Whew. Now that all of the moves you'll learn in Banjo-Kazooie
have been described, let's move on to some of the items. There
are two equally important items that must be collected in order to
progress further into the game. First is the Jigsaw Piece, or "Jiggy."
They're kind of like stars from Super Mario 64. There are 10 hidden
in each world. Jiggy pieces are needed to complete picture puzzles
of the worlds. For example, in order to enter the first world, "Mumbo's
Mountain," you must first find one Jiggy piece. Subsequent worlds will
need increasingly more Jiggy pieces to enter. Once you have the Jiggy
in hand, you can find and stand on the puzzle switch in front of the
picture to the world. Unlike Super Mario 64, though, you don't jump
into the picture. You're shown a cut-scene of the entrance to the
world and then must find it yourself. Beyond the closely linked
picture and entrance of the first world, you'll find that the other
worlds can be downright perplexing to find. The other equally
important item in Banjo-Kazooie is the Musical Note. These are kind
of like coins from Super Mario 64. There are 100 hidden in each world.
Your grand total from all worlds in the game is used to open up Note
Doors. Passing through those will let you get to other parts of
Gruntilda's Lair.
The coolest item, however, has to be the "Jinjos." There are five
of these cute, small creatures hidden in each world. If you find all
five, they'll give you a Jiggy. And when you get near them, they call
for help. Who can resist that? Eggs are an important part of nutrition
and are important in Banjo-Kazooie, too. As described above, you can
use these for attacking and for completing puzzles. You can hold up to
100 of them. Red Feathers, as stated, are used for flying. You can hold
50 of these. Finally, there are the Golden Feathers that make you
invincible. You can only hold 10 of them, though. You'll also find Extra
Lives in the form of golden Banjo statuettes; Honeycomb Energy,
which can be acquired individually by beating enemies or collectively by
swatting beehives; and extra Honeycomb Pieces, which will add one
to your life meter every time you find six pieces. Adding to your
health meter worked in Metroid and Zelda, and it certainly works here.
Wait...did I forget something? Of course not. How could I forget
Mumbo Jumbo? Mumbo is a Shaman who practices the art of voodoo
magic. He's not in every world, but you'll meet him more than a few
times. For a small fee in the way of Mumbo Tokens, he'll turn you
into a native animal, such as an ant or an alligator. You can then stay
as that animal for as long as you like and use its abilities to get
Jiggy pieces. As a nice gesture, it doesn't cost anything to get turned
back into your normal self.
Confused about all the items and moves yet? Don't worry. Banjo-Kazooie
takes a very active approach to teaching you about all the numerous
special moves and items; there's no passive learning here. Absolutely
everything is taught to you on a step-by-step basis. In fact, even all of
the individual items you pick up for the first time end up talking to you,
telling you what they're used for.
So let's tie this all together and go into the gameplay of Banjo-Kazooie
a little bit. Inside each of the worlds -- Mumbo's Mountain, Treasure
Trove Cove, Clanker's Cavern, Bubblegloop Swamp, Freezeezy Peak,
Gobi's Valley, Mad Monster Mansion, Rusty Bucket Bay, and Click
Clock Wood --are Jiggy pieces to be collected and Musical Notes
to be found. Sounds like Super Mario 64, right? Well, only in theory.
In practice, Banjo-Kazooie requires you to solve puzzles, which so
happen to be more complex and clever than in Miyamoto's game, for
every Jiggy piece and to search every inch of the world to find all
100 Musical Notes. (There are only 100 on each world and no more.)
Another great thing is how the worlds in Banjo-Kazooie are much
larger than that game, too. In addition to the core of each world,
there are many sections to be explored. So you'll be going inside
plenty of rooms in the most of odd of places....
But the one really, really cool thing about Banjo-Kazooie is how
it remembers everything you've done in the world. There are two
sides to this. For example, say you leave some Honeycomb energy
pieces lying around on the ground in Treasure Trove Cove. Now if
you go inside the pirate ship and come back out, you'll find that
the pieces are still there! How many other games keep track of that?
The other side is the information the game saves. The game will save
how many Musical notes you got, how many Jiggy pieces you got,
how many Red Feathers you got, how many Golden Feathers you got,
how many Eggs you got, and how many Mumbo Tokens you got. When
it comes to Musical Notes, they will reset once you exit a world. So
they will only be added to your grand total once you pass your previous
record for Musical Notes in that world. Jiggy pieces, on the other hand,
are saved for good. You can go back and do the same thing to get a
Jiggy, but you'll find that it won't appear if you've already got it.
Also, you'll find that extra lives are not saved.
Gameplay-wise, what really separates Banjo-Kazooie from Super
Mario 64 cannot be classified as one thing, since there are so many
things that help. The game just takes the whole search-and-find
concept to a whole new level. Because of the tremendous variety
in the puzzles, it doesn't get tedious to find Jiggy pieces like in
Super Mario 64. And a lot of the variety can be attributed to the
many special moves, which is the result of the character's team
nature, that must be used in various situations and the fact that
you can be turned into different animals by Mumbo. Another thing that
really helps is that you aren't taken out of the world after finding a
Jiggy. Remember, in Super Mario 64, after finding a star, you were
transported out of the world. That meant everything would reset.
That's not the case in Banjo-Kazooie, and it's much better so that
enemies will stay dead and energy won't reappear. Speaking of which,
when you go underwater, you have a separate meter for air, which
means you can't just jump in the water to get health. Another important
facet of Banjo-Kazooie is its personality. Along your quest to save
Tooty, you'll find many magnificent and creative characters and worlds.
The Jinjos alone make you wonder what these guys were on. Now couple
that with the witty screen text, and you've got a game oozing with
personality -- something that's usually missing in video games. Finally,
like most of Rare's other games, Banjo-Kazooie is easy to learn but hard
to master. Yes, the game is actually very challenging. Considering many
of the N64's games are too easy, it's nice to have a long, difficult, and
perplexing game.
Complementing the incredible gameplay is equally incredible
graphics and sound. The graphics in Banjo-Kazooie are just phenomenal.
The animation is stellar, from the movements of Banjo and Kazooie
to the involved, fully animated worlds. There are also an unbelievable
number of textures in the game. While many other N64 games use
either many basic textures or a few detailed but repeating textures,
the developers of Banjo-Kazooie somehow managed to fit tons of
different graphics into the game. Banjo-Kazooie even makes full use
of the N64's ability to generate real-time sequences. The game
switches to real-time sequences when talking to important people
or when something special happens. It makes great use of it.
Banjo-Kazooie also manages to virtually eliminate the three
graphical problems associated with 3D games: fog, pop-up and
clipping. First off, there is absolutely zero fog in the game, but
there are many distant horizons. On the second world, you can go
to the lighthouse on top and look down at the world below without
having anything impede your view. Second, there is a surprising lack
of clipping. It's probably impossible to eliminate it completely, but
there are many carefully planned camera angles to avoid it. Plus, it
just didn't happen as often as I thought it would. Amazing. Finally,
pop-up has been kept to a minimum. OK, there is some occasional
character-based pop-up in the game, but it sure beats the constant
background pop-up of other games. Rare has apparently developed a
proprietary technique that only draws the characters and items when
you get close enough to see them. For the most part, it works very well.
You will sometimes see Musical Notes or such just pop-up in front of
you, but that's no big thing. A few other times, though, it does seem a
little odd. For instance, on the first world, when you get to the
top of the mountain and look down at where Conga is supposed to be,
you'll notice that he's not there. This trade-off is certainly worth it,
though, as it beats slow down and dropped frame rates.
The sound in Banjo-Kazooie is just as remarkable, so it makes you
wonder how all of this was fit onto a 128-megabit cartridge. Somewhat
surprisingly, the sound effects get the nod more so than the music.
There are just tons and tons of different sound effects for the
characters and situations. The sound effects are just great; it's
almost like a cartoon. There's not really any Super Mario 64-like
voice, either. Oddly enough, instead of having full speech for the
characters, Rare decided to go with a generic Star Fox-like
mumbling. Each character has his or her own sound, though. It was
originally a little annoying, but I've grown to like it. As far as the
music goes, it makes fantastic use of MIDI, it is composed very
well, and it fits each world perfectly. Impressively enough, while
each world has its own music, there are different parts in each
world where the music will change slightly. You can still tell it
follows the same rhythm and timing pattern, but instruments might
be added or changed and it might be sped up or slowed down. This
is the best use of MIDI yet and demonstrates how it's better than
CD-ROM's red-book audio when used properly.
How can Rare be so good? It might soon surpass -- if it already
hasn't -- Nintendo's EAD teams as the world's greatest game designers,
because Banjo-Kazooie just rocks so unbelievably hard. Is it better
than Super Mario 64? Absolutely. It's like going from Super Mario
Bros. to Super Mario Bros. 3. There's so much more strategy, technique,
and control because of the dual-character nature. There's so much
more variety to the gameplay. The presentation is so much more
immersive and engrossing -- "interactive cartoon" probably fits.
The story is so much more involving and has so much more
personality. And for all the gamers out there who cringe at "cutesy"
games, rest assured that Banjo-Kazooie has enough humor and
challenge to keep you interested, yet isn't too happy to make you
vomit. Yes, friends, Banjo-Kazooie is the reason you bought an N64
in the first place, the reason why Nintendo's systems are so loved
altogether. It now stands as one of the two best games for the system,
along with that other Rare game, GoldenEye 007.
Graphics: 4.8 out of 5
Sound: 4.7 out of 5
Control: 4.5 out of 5
Gameplay: 4.9 out of 5
Lastability: 4.3 out of 5
Overall: 4.8 out of 5