| Author | Review |
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ButterflyEdge
260,288
TA Score for this game: 91
Posted on 16 April 09 at 11:08 |
This review has 45 positive votes and 12 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
For me, 1998 was a long time ago. In terms of gaming anyway. Ten years ago I was only 13, and although many don't really consider it being retro the Nintendo 64 era is pretty retro to me.
I remember Banjo Kazooie as one of the first titles that really had me hooked. I remember spending endless hours fixed to the screen trying to 100% the levels - almost always unsuccessfully - but still. It's certainly one of the earliest games that I actually dedicated myself to. Not just picking up and playing it, but really putting alot of time and effort into it. In saying all of this, first time round I never actually managed to finish it...
When I got wind of the news that BK was to make it onto XBLA, I was over the moon. Not only is it a classic release - but a lengthy one.
I also got pretty exited with the offer of a free early download of the original game with the pre-order of Banjo Kazooie - Nuts and Bolts, almost a month before the actual release.
I took full advantage of the offer - although my copy of N&B is still sealed a massive six weeks after release..... *cough*...
So, Banjo Kazooie follows the story of the Diddy Kong Racing character Banjo, and his feathered friend Kazooie which - despite her size - lives in Banjos backpack...
Nearby, Grunty - a typically ugly, green witch - discovers that... Believe it or not... She is not the prettiest lady in the land. That would be Tooty, Banjos younger sister. Grunty has her kidnapped and Banjo & Kazooie set out to save her, before Grunty uses her wicked machine to steal her beauty for herself.
B&K make their way to Grunty through her lair, which consists of levels in which 'Jiggys' (jigsaw pieces) and musical notes are collected in order to complete pictures throughout the lair to progress to the next level where you will collect more jiggys and so on and so forth - in an almost Mario 64-esque play style.
The game itself can provide you with hours of decent playtime - which more than justifies it's 1200 point price tag,which I know alot of people aren't too keen on.
The game play is consistently fun - with varying challenges of which some will leave even the mostly skilled gamer screaming at the TV or sending their controllers flying (Gobis Valley, anyone?) Yet still - even the more difficult tasks keep me hooked and trying, rather than going down the turning off and sulking route I usually take.
The game has had a polish in terms of visuals and looks fantastic. Colourful and sharp.
Unfortunately the trademark 64 camera angles haven't been fixed - so expect the occasional camera fit before you go hurtling in the opposite direction. This can get tiresome when your carefully making your way across a teeny bridge above lava of the instant death variety. Trust me.
Overall - even to todays standards this title has alot to offer. It's good fun - plain and simple. It provides hours of entertainment for people of all ages. It could easily be enjoyed by someone new to the title - aswell people like me who spent their childhood playing it. We can but hope we see more games along these lines heading our way too.
8/10
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YEME7H
117,409
TA Score for this game: 270
Posted on 27 December 08 at 22:51 |
This review has 32 positive votes and 5 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Yes, you are not seeing things. The 1998 N64 classic has made its way to the Xbox Live Arcade, complete with an HD makeover at a hefty 1200 Microsoft Points.
When this game first came out on the N64, I remember recieving a promotional VHS tape (VHS? Whats that? lol) showcasing the game in all its wacky levels and crazy moves. I like it, so I went out and bought a copy. To this day, it still remains as one of my favourite and most cherished youth gaming memories, rivalling that of Super Mario and Donkey Kong, and even excelling against them in some aspects as a definitive platformer.
The game revolves around the kidnapping of a young girl, Tooty, by a witch called Gruntilda, in order to transfer Tooty's beauty (which I fail to see...) into herself (which she's desperately in need of). Now, Tooty is Banjo's little sister and as a good big brother should always know, ALWAYS save your sister from a decrepid old hag. Banjo is a bear, but not just any old bear. He strolls along with a female (surprise surprise) bird called Kazooie. They're collaborative partnership is the driving engine of the games premise and as a duo they will end up tackling the challenge faced head on, with the aid of you, mr/mrs gamer of course.
Already im hearing moans and groans about its unoriginality or its cloneness of Super Mario 64, but I beg to defer. What makes this game so special in my opinion is its sheer novel value. The characters, levels and events will imprint into your memories for a long time, they are simply unforgettable. This is up to you to find out, I wont be spoiling anything today.
Your journey will take you across a host of different environments, meeting an array of memorable NPCs, guided by a moley godfather type character named Bottles and a shaman named Mumbo Jumbo who'll be subjecting you to all sorts of body altering wizardry throughout the whole game. Blanket this will a smart collection system of honeycomb pieces and musical notes and you will be left with a charming package of collectability, gameplay, character building and storyline. The scale of this game is very impressive, the worlds themselves are large, but the extra-worldy navigation through Gruntilda's lair will leave you confused due to its sheer magnitude.
No multiplayer at all in this game, this is one for the lonesome, yet soothingly attractive to a younger audience if they decide to watch or even have a play themselves. All ages should give this game its deserved chance on their screens and Xbox 360's. Platformers this novel and this classic dont come by very often. A mention goes for the achievements too, they are well balanced and should provide something for both the casual gamer and for the collectathon completionist.
You're looking at 8-10 hours to fully complete for the average gamer so if you are struggling to find something worthy of your 1200 points, and think other cheaper arcade games are a bit 'meh', look no further than Banjo Kazooie, great value for that price and an unrivalled gaming experience on XBLA to treasure.
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Helmaroc
104,132
TA Score for this game: 270
Posted on 09 March 10 at 18:41, Edited on 19 May 11 at 00:08 |
This review has 23 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Back in the day Rare was on top of the world. They were constantly pushing out new, and sometimes innovative, games year after year for the N64, with the likes of Donkey Kong 64, Goldeneye 007, and their grand opus, Banjo Kazooie. After the huge success of Super Mario 64, many other games tried to copy it, with none coming as close as Banjo Kazooie. Now, it's been remade for XBLA, with slightly buffed up graphics and some leaderboards, but does it stand the test of time, or should it go back to where it came from?
STORY
Like most platformers back then, the story was simple, and unimportant. Basically, the evil witch Gruntilda has captured Banjo's sister Tootie, so she can transfer Tootie's beauty over to her. It's up to Banjo and his bird pal Kazooie to rescue Tootie and finish off Grunty.
As I said, it's a simple, yet slightly chamring, story. You won't care much about it while playing though.
DESIGN
Basically, there are 9 different levels connected by an overworld that you must traverse through. In each level, there are 10 jiggies you must collect. These jiggies are used to finsih various puzzle boards, so you may unlock the next level. There are also 100 notes in each level, used to open various doors in the overworld, allowing you to explore more of Grunty's castle and find new puzzle boards to unlock more levels. The notes are scattered throughout the levels, while the jiggies are found through various different ways. It's a tried and true formula and it works great in this game.
Throughout the game, you'll also meet various characters. Bottles the Mole will teach you new moves, Mumbo will turn you into various animal or objects, that can only be used in the level you were transformed in, and Brentilda, Grunty's sister, will tell you various gross facts about Grunty that are used later in the game. Gobi the Camel also shows up a few times as some great comic relief. Each level also has their own unique characters. For example, Treasure Trive Cove has a fellow named Blubber while Freezeezy Peak has Boggy the Polar Bear, who shows up in later games in the franchise.
One of the few new features are the leaderboards, to see how you rank up against other people, in relation to fast you completed each level. Another new feature is that now, when you complete level, the notes you collected will be permanently collected, unlike in the original version where it only saved your high score, menaing if you went back to the level, you would have to recollect all the notes.
So basically, the game has a simple design, which is easily compared to Super Mario 64, but that is never a bad thing.
GAMEPLAY
There are many, many different moves in this game, way more than in other platformers. Most are used in conjuction with Kazooie. Examples are giving you an extra boost when jumping, shooting eggs from her beak, using her beak to stab people or using her as a protective, golden shield. Some Banjo specific moves include punching and rolling. One you will use quite often is using Kazooie to run faster; Banjo is just too slow by himself. Many of these moves are used in various situations, usually to get a Jiggy or get to another part of the castle.
As mentioned earlier, Bottles teaches you most of the moves, so even if know how to use them beforehand, you won't be able to until he actually teaches you. Besides just Banjo and Kazzoie moves that are performed by themselves, there are some that need ammo, or an item. For example, flying uses red feathers, the protective shield uses gold feathers and shooting eggs needs, well, eggs. There are also various shoes, like runnign shoes to go even faster or boots to walk through normally hurtful terrain, though these can be only be used for a set period of time.
All these great moves make for a thoroughly enjoyable game.
PRESENTATION
First thing you will notice is that this still looks like an N64 game. It does have alot smoother and brighter graphics than the original version did, though.
The next thing you will notice is the AMAZING music. I love it. I constantly hum it at random times, and I'm sure you will too. It is seriously one of the reasons I love this game so much. When people say music isn't a big factor in a game, they haven't played a game with such memorable tunes as Banjo-Kazooie has.
Another thing you may notice is the lack of voice acting, which was normal for the time period. Instead, you get text that is accompanied by random garbles from each character. Luckily, these garbles don't get too annoying, at least for me. The actual dialogue is also pretty humorous at times.
All in all, this is a great game; it's one of my personal favourites. The levels are varied and large, the music is catchy and there is a wide plethora of moves. If you haven't experienced this classic, what are you waiting for?
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JungleWookiee
95,872
TA Score for this game: 270
Posted on 06 May 11 at 14:06, Edited on 10 May 11 at 10:08 |
This review has 10 positive votes and 0 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Banjo-Kazooie.
Back in 1998, there were some harsh debate about it being as good or not as the other poster boy for the N64 3D platformer games. And that is saying something as this other game basically defined the genre for the years to come.
So Rareware gives us at the time one of the best games for the N64 console, and today, this XBLA re release offers slightly better graphics and achievements. How great is that ? Anyway, let's review it a bit.
Graphics :
It was beautiful back in the day, really. Everything is colorful and all, the environments are diverse enough to not be boring, including Grunty's Lair. This XBLA version gets a minor update, but it isn't really noticeable other than character faces. You are playing a retro game and you know it by how it looks. Perfect Dark HD gets a much better upgrade in comparison, so it could have been better and that's too bad.
8.5/10.
Audio :
Wonderfull soundtrack making all of its scores an Ear Worm. Grant Kirkhope is a really good composer as every Rare title from the late 90's get great music, and Banjo-Kazooie is no exception. Sound effects are well-done and funny, and contribute to the fun atmosphere of the game. Back throwing an egg in a Mad Monster Mansion flower pot and getting a Thaaaank Youuuu from beyond is a great experience by itself.
10/10.
Gameplay :
Here is the frustrating one. The game is classic 3D platformer at its finest and you spend most of your time running around collecting Goodies. The controls are great, even if some button combination seems odd because of the 360 pad, like the use of the golden feathers. Banjo and Kazooie respond quite well and have a nice and diverse move set, making the whole experience pleasant and never repetitive. But there are two real flaws. First, the camera really is outdated, hard to control and you will find yourself falling or running into enemies from time to time because of it. And second, the underwater controls are just awful and the camera issues just makes it worse. The second to last level in the game is largely considered the hardest just because of its aquatic parts.
5.5/10
Achievement :
Pretty good list IMO, most of them just require to play the game and are really hard to miss, some ask a Hundred Percent Completion and some other are completely skippable if you don't know what you're doing. They are pretty easy anyway and you don't have to force you out to get this, you will just have to enjoy this great game.
9.5/10.
Conclusion :
Banjo Kazooie was a great game back in the day, and it still is if you enjoy the 3D platformer genre. The camera is a bit frustrating at time, but it will not ruin an otherwise great experience.
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KNIGHTF0XX
91,073
TA Score for this game: 270
Posted on 01 August 10 at 09:41 |
This review has 13 positive votes and 7 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Banjo Kazooie was released in 1998 on the Nintendo 64. It was one of the best games in that point of time and today is classified as a game of all time, up there with legend of Zelda.
The genre of this game is puzzle and adventure with elements of RPG to it.
I was only about 5 years old, but according to my parents that all I used to play. Gaming at that stages wasn't big at all, not many people had a 64. Looking back it was the only game that I found challenging with also trying to collect everything in the levels. Could only do Mumbos Mountain for memory, at that time I couldn’t get past the note door to get through to Click Clock Wood. I finished the whole game 12 years later, without using any guides.
I always wanted to be a bear when I was a kid, thanks to this game that came true for me. So you are a strong and smart bear. With a cheeky but helpful Chicken (Who is a female, but I didn't found out till Nuts and Bolts came out)
A friend told me that B&K was on XBLA, I thought that was really cool. I couldn't wait to get MP for it. When I downloaded it, I listened to the song at the start for about an hour before I pressed start.
The story is a green ugly Witch called Grunty, who founds out that she isn't the prettiest girl in the land of Spiral Mountain, she goes on her broom to kidnap Tooty who is banjos sister and takes her back into her lair to transfer Tooty into an ugly girl and Grunty into a hot lady.
Bottles who is a mole helps you through out the game by teaching you skills that you need and also want. You go into the lair and there are 10 levels that have notes and jigsaw pieces. Notes are used for getting into the next are, where the jiggys are used to ope new levels to play on. Each level is more challenging that the last. It is the same as it was on the N64. The play time is about 20 hours and also the game never gets boring. There are some challenges where it's nearly impossible to do, but throwing the controller at the TV never helps. (Collecting every note on Click Clock Wood).
Compared to the N64 version this B&K has had a few things fixed like once you collect a note, it doesn't appear when you die. Also the picture itself can be played on HD, sharper and smoother. The music for the game is famous, enjoyable and can listen to it over and over . Only complaint is that the camera angle controls, but that didn't affect me.
On of my Favourite games, totally worth the 1200, also for the achievements hunters, it’s an easy 12 achievements for 200 points. Recommend this to everyone.
10/10
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