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[MegaManTrigger]

After Diddy Kong Racing, I've had renewed interest in the N64 and what Rare had to offer and Banjo Kazooie came to mind. I had heard of the iconic bird and bear ever since I was a child but never played Kazooie or Tooie. What further interested me in the series was a co-worker who had recently immigrated into Canada and got to know me through talking about retro games. We both spoke about games that we grew up in and mentioned tons of Rare games that he had played. He mentioned Banjo-Kazooie being a game that I had to play through and even recommended it to me as I had never played the game before. After two months, I managed to get Kazooie and Tooie and I'm now going through the games for the first time.

When I first booted up the game, I was met with one of the best pieces of music that I've ever listened to. The intro song is catchy, humourous, and charming. I often replay the song on YouTube because of how freaking catchy it is.

Upon starting the game, I had a laugh at how the premise is Gruntilda wanting to be the prettiest "wench" of them all, only to find out that Banjo's sister, Tooty is considered the prettiest. So she goes off and tries to steal her beauty through a beauty-sucking machine lol.

Spiral Mountain and Mumbo Mountain were easygoing and essentially the basics of Banjo-Kazooie's platforming gameplay. It was extremely easy to 100% Mumbo's Mountain even going in without a guide. Of course, being a collectathon, I want to get everything.

The best thing about the game is just how atmospheric the levels are: Treasure Trove Cove does an amazing job conveying relaxation with its choice of tropical colours and music

Spoiler

at least until you hit the water and Snacker comes for you

, Clanker's Cavern does great with giving the player a foreboding feeling, Freezeezy Peak with its Christmas theming, and Rusty Bucket Bay with its deterioration and oily waters. The only levels that I thought were meh were Bubblegloop Swamp and Gobi's Valley and even then, they were fun to play through. All I have left is to 100% Click Clock Wood and go through Gruntilda.

This is probably going to be controversial, but so far with just one level left to fully complete (Click Clock Wood), I love this game a lot more than I love Super Mario 64, and I think it's the superior game over SM64. The level design is top notch with Clanker's Cavern, Mad Monster Mansion, Rusty Bucket Bay, and Click Clock Wood amongst my favourite levels ever in a platforming game (granted, I don't play as many platforming games as I do Action-Adventure or RPGs). The stuff you can do within each level is interesting and enough to get me motivated to further collect jiggies and notes. The humour is just fantastic with Kazooie's snarky banter with most of the characters, as well as the game just oozing with charm. Did I mention the music? It's nothing short of amazing with some of my favourite tunes being Rusty Bucket Bay, Treasure Trove Cove, Gobi's Valley to name a few.

If anyone's on the fence on Banjo Kazooie, I highly recommend it. It still has quirks like pre-2nd stick camera controls being tied to C-buttons on an N64 controller (which I assume is either the face buttons or 2nd analog stick on an Xbox 360/One controller). I'm definitely looking forward to Banjo Tooie after experiencing Kazooie.

 

[Kinsei]

I agree with your assessment that Banjo is better than Mario 64. Tooie is even better than Kazooie IMO.

My favorite level is Mad Monster Mansion and my least favorite level is Gobi's Valley.

 

[VDenter]

Its a great game but i will never understand how anybody can prefer it over Mario 64.

 

[Danis Saur]

One of my favorite games of all time, replay it and don't get bored of it, ever.

Glad you enjoyed it bruh.

 

[pirateluigi]

Its a great game but i will never understand how anybody can prefer it over Mario 64.

Despite being 3d platformers they are very different games. SM64 is technical platforming bliss, but BK is better at exploration. I could easily see how someone could prefer it.

 

[Hubble]

What's awesome is the game holds up really well. I played it with Rare Replay and thought it would feel outdated and unplayable. I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and went on to beat it.

 

[mrlion]

Its a great game yes...but I don't think its better than Super Mario 64. Glad you enjoyed it though.

 

[Rewind]

Click Clock Wood is a masterpiece, I love that level to death.

 

[1upsuper]

Its a great game but i will never understand how anybody can prefer it over Mario 64.

Yep. But to each their own.

 

[FreeMufasa]

How are the 360 ports?

 

[mokeyjoe]

I don't think it's that controversial. It doesn't innovate like Mario 64, but it definitely looked at it and attempted to outdo it, often in terms of scope or scale. It also looked phenomenal and had some great atmosphere.

At the time it was certainly considered right up there, and such sentiments wouldn't have seemed too odd.

It remains one of the best 3d platformers. Not that there have been that many compared to other genres.

 

[Enzo88]

There is way more gliding than jumping in this game, so i am not sure i would compare it to mario 64. Anyway, controls-wise, mario is way better.

 

[AR15mex]

I havent played in a while due to lack of console (super mario 64 can be played on the VC) I dont play to buy a xbone, but i need to play it again to see if its better...

 

[Kinsei]

How are the 360 ports?

They're good. There is a glitch in the 360 version of the first game that makes it impossible to 100% if you do things in the wrong order though.

 

[Goodstyle]

Tooie is to Kazooie what Age of Ultron is to the Avengers.

 

[guyssorry]

Great write-up, and I also agree that it is (much/insanely) better than Mario 64; better music, creativity, aesthetics, final battle, characters, hub, etc. Such a classic game (its sequel, too).

 

[PSqueak]

Banjo Kazooie is the evolution of the formula of 3d platformers set up by SM64, to me the only thing it does worse than SM64 is not allowing to replay all jiggies/challenges/bosses.

Tooie allows you to access most minigames and bosses from the title screen tho, even making some of them 4 players.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

They're good. There is a glitch in the 360 version of the first game that makes it impossible to 100% if you do things in the wrong order though.

They never patched that?

 

[PeterGAF]

Its a great game but i will never understand how anybody can prefer it over Mario 64.

Mario 64 is better as a pure platformer, but Banjo Kazooie adds in a lot of action-adventure elements that Mario either doesn't have or doesn't do as well. As a result Banjo Kazooie is a better overall game and a natural evolution on the concept, but obviously that doesn't make Mario 64 bad in comparison. Banjo Kazooie wouldn't exist without Mario 64.

They're good. There is a glitch in the 360 version of the first game that makes it impossible to 100% if you do things in the wrong order though.

Really? What's the criteria? I never knew this!

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Its a great game but i will never understand how anybody can prefer it over Mario 64.

Liking BK over SM64 isn't a slight against SM64, it mostly comes down to how people respond to the gameplay premises of the two games. SM64 is more focused on platforming and technical skill vs. BK being less about the technical skill more about the adventure.

Mario 64 is better as a pure platformer, but Banjo Kazooie adds in a lot of action-adventure elements that Mario either doesn't have or doesn't do as well. As a result Banjo Kazooie is a better overall game and a natural evolution on the concept, but obviously that doesn't make Mario 64 bad in comparison. Banjo Kazooie wouldn't exist without Mario 64.

Precisely.

 

[Kinsei]

Mario 64 is better as a pure platformer, but Banjo Kazooie adds in a lot of action-adventure elements that Mario either doesn't have or doesn't do as well. As a result Banjo Kazooie is a better overall game and a natural evolution on the concept, but obviously that doesn't make Mario 64 bad in comparison. Banjo Kazooie wouldn't exist without Mario 64.


Really? What's the criteria? I never knew this!

If the AI Banjo in the bonus puzzles collects a note that you haven't then that note will be gone for good. The easiest way to avoid this is to just save the bonus puzzles until after you have all of the notes.

 

[BaconHat]

Great stuff. For me, banjo-kazooie is THE defining 3d platformer of its era. It was my favorite game growing up and is still one of my top 5 favorites.

 

[NathanS]

Mario 64 is better as a pure platformer, but Banjo Kazooie adds in a lot of action-adventure elements that Mario either doesn't have or doesn't do as well. As a result Banjo Kazooie is a better overall game and a natural evolution on the concept, but obviously that doesn't make Mario 64 bad in comparison. Banjo Kazooie wouldn't exist without Mario 64.


Really? What's the criteria? I never knew this!

It's an evolution, not the "natural" like I don't even see it as a platformer, it is an adventure game with platforming elements, and that's far from the "natural" evolution of SM64. And if I judge it as a platformer? Hooo boy, it stinks. Judge as an Adventure game with platforming elements? Solid.

 

[Tarextherex]

Tooie is to Kazooie what Age of Ultron is to the Avengers.

One of the worst posts I've ever seen, wrong on every level


Tooie is a great sequel OP. As it actually implies you played through the previous game, the first area is much more complicated than Mumbo's Mountain. If you enjoyed Kazooie for being more of an adventure game rather than purely a platformer, you'll enjoy Tooie as well. While some people prefer Kazooie's faster pacing, Tooie is essentially "bigger and better" with its very unique and expansive levels. The things you need to do in that game to get jiggies are much more elaborate than in Kazooie, sometimes there is even interactions between two different levels as some are connected. For some people it was too long/big for what was a simple platformer/adventure, but if that's the aspect you enjoyed the most about the game you'll feel right at home, the humor, the levels' settings and the compelling nature of the challenges are just as good, if not better than Kazooie's.

 

[Stopdoor]

Yeah, SM64 comparisons are always tired - they're both pretty different games, with similar structure. The atmosphere of BK can't be beat.

 

[Mohasus]

Just don't go into Tooie expecting something as good as the first one and it'll be fine.

I hope you like mini-games.

 

[War Raichu]

If the AI Banjo in the bonus puzzles collects a note that you haven't then that note will be gone for good. The easiest way to avoid this is to just save the bonus puzzles until after you have all of the notes.

they patched this iirc

 

[Crayolan]

Don't worry OP, I also prefer BK to Mario 64. They're both great games though.

 

[The Hermit]

Click Clock Wood is a masterpiece, I love that level to death.

One of the finest 3D platform level ever.

Banjo Kazooie was fantastic, too bad the sequel was nearly as good.

I enjoyed it more than Mario 64, even though Mario was the foundation of basically every 3D platformer.

 

[danm999]

I liked Tooie even more, it expanded the exploration elements and had even better levels in my opinion.

They clearly looked at Click Clock wood and used that as a template for a lot of levels.

 

[Zocano]

Click Clock Wood's music is forever ingrained into my brain.

And I am one of those people that like Tooie more as well.

Both I like over SM64 but not by much.

 

[sazzy]

You're in for a treat with Click Clock Wood and the Gruntilda pre-boss and boss fights.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Tooie is to Kazooie what Age of Ultron is to the Avengers.

🙌

 

[Spukc]

I agree with your assessment that Banjo is better than Mario 64. Tooie is even better than Kazooie IMO.

My favorite level is Mad Monster Mansion and my least favorite level is Gobi's Valley.

TBH that fact is so fing obvious.
That is like saying Mario kart 64 is better than diddy kong racing.

I understand why sigeru hated donkey kong country.
europe beat them at their own damn game

 

[Salty Hippo]

Kyle Bosman hates Rare and Banjo-Kazooie made into his top-20 games ever when he played it for the first time last year. If that isn't a testament to its quality and holdupness, I don't know what is.

Enjoy one of the best endgames in gaming history, OP.

 

[Bakkus]

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

 

[arigato]

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

I am currently playing through the XBLA version and so far this version is pretty good with a consistent framerate. Not sure which is the definitive version though since I never got to play the N64 original.

 

[Grassy]

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

The Rare Replay version runs at 1080p, with 4 x MSAA and a solid 30fps, which is more aimed at Banjo-Tooie as it had sub 20fps sections on N64 I believe. They 'feel' exactly the same control-wise.

 

[FataIChoice]

they patched this iirc

That was what I thought too, and if I am remembering correctly the bonus puzzles are quite out of the way to access.

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

The XBLA port is very good, it would be how I suggest people to play it if they haven't played before. One of the QoL improvements was the cause of the above mentioned glitch, but it is still the best version.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I thought Banjo over Kazooie was widely known. I recall Polygon writing an article about it last year.
You mad late, but it's all good. I like this game a lot as well. I still never played Tooie, but it's hardly talked about so I'm afraid it might be bad, but I want to know what that ice key is for.


Nintendo should've bought the rights to it so we could get more games and so the duo could be in Smash.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

stable framerate (30 iirc) and much better graphics (in terms of being sharper and less blurrier than the N64 version).

 

[Bakkus]

The Rare Replay version runs at 1080p, with 4 x MSAA and a solid 30fps, which is more aimed at Banjo-Tooie as it had sub 20fps sections on N64 I believe. They 'feel' exactly the same control-wise.

Ah guess that makes it superior assuming you can handle that Mumbo Jumbo's Xylophone in the intro no longer has 'Nintendo' written on it, lol. Should hold on until I'm able to play XOne and RR then.

 

[skullmuffins]

I own this game, but I wonder, is the XBLA/Rare Replay version much better? In terms of visuals, framerate and overall feel?

The xbox versions are much cleaner (1080p/30, widescreen rendering) and there's a minor QoL improvement in that the notes you collect carry over, so you don't need to gather all 100 them in a level in a single attempt.

I had Banjo-Kazooie on the N64 as a kid and enjoyed it enough, I guess, but was never really -that- into it and I remember never making it past the final battle - I always thought it was pretty cheap. And no, I will never understand those folks who think it's better than Mario 64.

I grabbed the 360 Banjo bundle on sale like a year or two ago and finally finished off that witch, but I gotta say, Rare's writing was still corny as hell. Still, it was pretty enjoyable (and I appreciated it more than I did at release), and the genre still isn't well-represented in the modern era, so go for it.

 

[Saucestin_Roast]

Kyle Bosman hates Rare and Banjo-Kazooie made into his top-20 games ever when he played it for the first time last year. If that isn't a testament to its quality and holdupness, I don't know what is.

Enjoy one of the best endgames in gaming history, OP.

Damn. When did he say it's in his top 20? That's crazy.

OP, now try Tooie. It's not for everyone I guess, at least according to this board, but I had a great time with that game. Love the ways the different parts of the world interconnect.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Damn. When did he say it's in his top 20? That's crazy.

OP, now try Tooie. It's not for everyone I guess, at least according to this board, but I had a great time with that game. Love the ways the different parts of the world interconnect.

I definitely intend to try Tooie with how many glowing reviews I've heard both online and offline. The only N64 game that I'm apprehensive about for the same reasons people are negative on Tooie (as far as huge levels and tedium are concerned) is DK64.

 

[Wedzi]

This is probably going to be controversial, but so far with just one level left to fully complete (Click Clock Wood), I love this game a lot more than I love Super Mario 64, and I think it's the superior game over SM64.

You might enjoy this video. It does a great job talking about the creative differences between Mario 64 and Banjo and why Banjo resonates more with some people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KefouzkH7k

 

[Stopdoor]

they patched this iirc

Did they ever patch the music being out of sync with the intro cutscene in Tooie? Really ruins some great scenes in an otherwise perfect port.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

You might enjoy this video. It does a great job talking about the creative differences between Mario 64 and Banjo and why Banjo resonates more with some people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KefouzkH7k

Oh, that was Polygon, not Kotaku. Let me edit my post.

 

[Kinsei]

I definitely intend to try Tooie with how many glowing reviews I've heard both online and offline. The only N64 game that I'm apprehensive about for the same reasons people are negative on Tooie (as far as huge levels and tedium are concerned) is DK64.

Yeah, DK64 isn't great. It relies too heavily on mini games and you should have been able to change characters from the pause menu instead of having to go to a tag barrel. It's still a good game though.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

SM64 to Banjo to DK64

Clearly the most collecty timeline