"Banjo-Kazooie" Non-Gamer/First-Time Gamer review

Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, I [Mario] "Yippee!" Oh...Fine I'll just get onto the review, don't worry about that. [Cartoon falling noise followed by jaunty music] When Super Mario 64 and the Nintendo 64 console came out, it seemed like gaming had truly transitioned to 3D and life as a gamer couldn’t possibly get any better… okay, well it was probably sure to, anyway. The developers at Rareware came up with the idea of a game featuring a young boy who fights pirates, but instead decided o

n a bear teaming up with a bird in his backpack. The result is Banjo-Kazooie, a 3D platformer adventure that may have just beaten Mario at his own game. The fairytale-like story feels somewhat familiar to previous platforming adventure games. The evil witch Gruntilda has kidnapped Tooty [Banjo the bear’s sister] and it’s up to you to save her before her beauty is swapped with that of the antagonistic ugly green hag. Aiding you in your quest is the knowledgeable mole Bottles, the shaman with magi

cal powers Mumbo Jumbo, and of course the sarcastic, foul-mouthed female red-crested bird Kazooie who stays in Banjo’s backpack as his ever loyal companion. Much like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie is a 3D platformer where you control the title duo from a third-person perspective and explore expansive environments, of which there is a large variety, all accessible from Gruntilda’s lair. To open the doors to these worlds, you will have to fill in jigsaw puzzles by finding the pieces, known as Jigg

ies, of which there are ten in each world. To explore further in Gruntilda’s lair, you’ll have to find musical notes as well. This is what gamers and critics would classify as a ‘collect-a-thon’, but in Banjo-Kazooie, it’s actually a lot of fun and is paced and structured very well. In fact, if you collect enough notes and Jiggies, you can even skip levels if you want. In the game you can execute a variety of moves, which are taught to you by the aforementioned mole Bottles. You will learn to ju

mp, attack enemies, shoot eggs, and even fly, and more besides. The combination of a bear and a bird is actually an imaginative idea. Flying, for example, is done by Kazooie sticking her head and wings out of Banjo’s backpack and taking to the skies dragging the title bear with her. Actually, it is done by standing on a Flight Pad and pressing the A button. You will also come across Mumbo Jumbo the shaman who will transform you into various animals and objects, who are capable of going into area

s that Banjo and Kazooie can’t. This is all fun, though some of the transformations can move a bit too slowly and are generally not able to attack enemies. With that in mind, while the controls could potentially appear complicated at first, they really are not, provided you pay attention to Bottles. The Control stick moves, the A button jumps, the B button attacks, the Z and C buttons works in conjunction with these for other moves, as well as controlling the camera. Speaking of the camera, the

third-person perspective in these games tends to come under criticism, and Banjo-Kazooie is unfortunately not an exception. You can use the C and R buttons to center the camera behind you, as well as to the side and viewing in first-person. However, the camera can move or get stuck while you move which is annoying and may lead to some unfair injuries, deaths or falling off. Jumping is not too much of a problem in this game. You can measure your jumps fairly accurately, but it can be extremely fr

ustrating when the platforms are almost too narrow to traverse. In regards to this, the level design is exceptional in this game. The levels are fairly big indeed, but it is next to impossible to get lost in them because they are structured and laid out very well. For the most part, the levels consist of a central landmark or platform, such as a giant snowman in Freezeezy Peak or the title garbage compactor in Clanker’s Cavern. If you want to find absolutely everything in the game, you will be s

pending hours on your first playthrough trying to get to the end of the game. This may all sound like a different take on a familiar genre [which is true] and this also applies to the production values. The graphics are some of the best on the Nintendo 64, and are colourful and vibrant. The polygons of the characters aren’t actually that bad, and they are animated well and charming to boot. The textures do feel bland and blurry, especially by today’s standards, complete with poor looking environ

mental objects such as trees. Despite all this, the game is very easy on the eyes even today, mostly due to the charm and personality put into the game – even objects such as wrapped presents have eyes on them. The developers certainly managed to work with the limitations of the Nintendo 64 to still make the game look nice, and this also applies to the sound. There is no voice acting as such – the characters talk in gibberish with the dialogue shown on screen. This is actually more amusing than

it sounds, and it gives each character depth. [Gibberish talking sounds] The writing is actually really good, and funny, with the witch Gruntilda for example speaking in rhymes. [Gibberish talking sounds] If anything else, this is entertaining and elaborates on the simple 'rescue the girl' premise. Considering that the title of the game references the musical instruments of a banjo and kazoo, the music is amazing. The variety of tunes are very well composed, catchy, charming and complement each

area of the game very well. What is especially impressive is that each tune changes slightly depending on where you go in the level. For example, when you swim underwater, the recognizable melody of said level will almost sound like it’s being submerged. [Jaunty music that changes instrumentation and effects to sound like you're swimming underwater] This also applies to caves and other sections of a world. And the tune barely stops during these transitions, which makes for a great atmosphere. Th

ere’s a good chance the soundtrack will be an earworm in your head, and for good reason. And through all of this, the technical performance of the game is solid, with any slowdown, if at all, being easy to ignore. Banjo-Kazooie is indeed a fun and charming game. It is easy to call the game childish, right down to the dancing that occurs after obtaining every Jiggy which, while endearingly cute, can get a little annoying after a while. But don’t be fooled by the colourful characters – this game i

s a challenge…for the most part. The difficulty level borders a little on the easy side, but it does gradually get more difficult, complete with tougher platforming challenges, puzzles and boss fights. In the original release of the game, if you died, then you had to redo the collecting of notes and rescuing of creatures named Jinjos in a level all over again, which could potentially be tiresome. However, it is rarely unfair, the controls and gameplay mechanics are understandable and it is just

plain fun – meaning that Banjo-Kazooie is not a bad introduction to 3D platformers for those new to the gaming world. This visually and audibly pleasing adventure was also released on Xbox 360 with up-scaled graphics. If you have an Xbox 360, or even an Xbox One or Nintendo 64, and you haven’t played this landmark title…what is wrong with you? Or if you have played it, you can do what I did and just play it yet again! Oh, and Merry Christmas! :)