Banjo-Kazooie XBLA Review - Xbox 360

8

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Audio: 8
Innovation: 6

Introduction

Rare’s classic 1998 release for the Nintendo 64 has drawn plenty of attention over the years. At the time of its release it was praised for its open, interactive worlds and endearing look and characters. Later on the game drew attention for its elusive Stop ‘N Swop feature which was never meant to be discovered, a unique, yet unfinished link with its sequel, Banjo-Tooie. Now, to coincide with the release of the new Banjo-Kazooie game, Nuts & Bolts, a lightly modified port of the game has been released on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade, so how does it shape up?

Gameplay

The game’s story is simple; Banjo and Kazooie are a bear and breegull duo, with Kazooie living inside Banjo’s small blue backpack. One fine day, the evil witch Gruntilda decides she’s just too old and ugly and sets out to find a young girl whose youth she can take for her own using her youth transferral machine. Unfortunately, the girl she decides on happens to be Banjo’s sister, the innocent Tooty. Suddenly swooping down from the sky, she snatches Tooty and takes her back to her lair. Banjo and Kazooie are shocked, and set out to rescue her.

The game is split up into multiple worlds, which are all accessed from within Gruntilda’s Lair, each of which must be completed to a degree before progression onto the next is possible. Before you can access it, each world must be unlocked by completing its respective jigsaw puzzle, which is usually found nearby. This requires Jiggies, golden jigsaw pieces which are your primary prize for completing challenges within the worlds. As you would expect, the number of Jiggies required to open a new world increases as you make your way through the game. Another thing to consider is Notes, golden musical notes, 100 of which are strategically scattered throughout each world, and must be collected in addition to Jiggies. These serve the purpose of opening Note Doors, which block the way to new areas of Gruntilda’s Lair, which contain the jigsaws to open new worlds. Banjo-Kazooie is not an easy game any way you look at it, if you want to finish the game you’ll have to collect nearly every Note and Jiggy in the game.

The gameplay really hasn’t changed at all from the original. The A button still makes Banjo Jump as always, X is used for basic attacking, and the left and right triggers are used for pulling off the slightly more complex moves, such as the Talon Trot (which allows you to run up steep inclines). The pause menu now shows the achievements you’re earned, as well as a leaderboard showing the level totals of all the other people who have played the game, or are still playing it.

The game is a straight 3D platformer, much like Super Mario 64 (a game which it is often accused of being a clone of), where your progress through the game relies on your knack for jumping, climbing and ...