 |
|
 |
| |
Screenshot Analysis
Who's better at making pretty pictures than Rare? Nobody! Who's better at analysing pretty pictures than DKVine? Nobody! The twain were destined to meet.
 Let this shot stand as proof of just how increadibly awesome Rare is. Banjo's house is damn near replicated to perfection. The shingles on the roof, the trash cans, even Roysten on the grill. There are some changes, though. The fence has been remade so that the yard is smaller, and the door has been rehinged so that it swings out. Also, the cliff edge on the very left is new, unless they compressed Spiral Mountain a bit and that's the ledge where you learned B attacks in Banjo-Kazooie. This shot is probably part of the opening cutscene, since Banjo and Kazooie shouldn't be seperated this early in the game.
 This shot is somewhat of a mystery. Its obviously some sort of timed minigame, but beyond that, its rather ambiguous. There's some sort of power meter at the top left and a counter in the top right. The image next  to the counter is strange. They look vaugely like fish. Perhaps you throw fish at the sheep. At 2:00 AM, that sounds like the coolest minigame ever.
 SIMON! IT'S SIMON!!! This is an interesting shot of the interior of Mumbo's hut. There's 4 spots, 3 with ?s and one shaped like Banjo. It seems that there are 3 transformations here, and the 4th spot changes him back to Banjo. Can you imagine how fun the puzzles would be with multiple transformations per level? Also, what the hell is that golden dog statue doing there? Perhaps its the pagan idol that Mumbo worships before deciding on a life of Voodoo. Or maybe its just a fifth choice that's currently selected. You tell me.
 Oh come on! Would they really release screenshots of the final battle. I'm almost certain that this means you fight Grunty several times over the course of your adventure. Or maybe just once after she first wakes up. Breegull Blaster mode is back, unfortunatly, but it seems to have been simplified down, and Grunty's hands are stained with the blood of the innocent, which is always a plus.
 At first glance this is Klungo channeling Grunty's spirit from under the rock, into the Hag 1. However, if that is the rock in question, then it's substantially changed its shape and surroundings. Something is fishy here, and it isn't the sheep. Klungo looks vaugely odd, but that may just be the angle. Also notice Mumbo spying on the proceedings while hiding behind the bush at the top. I say hiding even thoughs he's in a direct eye-line with Gruny's diembodied spirit. I suppose as long as we can't see him, they can see him. Video game logic at its finest.
 Another random minigame, at least on the surface. This one seems to involve Banjo and three competitors bashing the hell out of each-other with cannonballs on jet-skis. But these aren't just any cannonballs. These are faery cannonballs. Rather than causing you to lose limbs and spurt tremendous amounts of blood, you simply blink for a few seconds and maybe spin out. As interesting as that is, there's more. Lets take a look at those competitors once again.
HIPPOPOTAMI!
And who's everybody's favorite hippopotamus who rides jet-skis? That's right. It seems pretty likely that Rosie O'Donnell will be in the game.
 Here is Banjo talking to Bottles' supposed grandfather, Bozzeye. He looks a bit barbaric here, yes, but he's much cleaner in his renders.  Of particular interest is his speech. Notice how it's structured? With Grunty also rhyming in this one, that's two characters rhyming. A bit too much? That's for you to decide.
 We're obviously inside Jiggywiggy's temple here. The whole deal with him this time is that he can't use the Crystal Jiggy to open the worlds because Grunty used her magic to stop him from using it. Kind of makes you wonder whether Jiggywiggy's faith is shaken by the fact his all-powerful artifact can be negated by a single person. That object Banjo is offering his jiggies to seems to be the Crystal, but it's a bit small. Maybe it's the magic, I dunno.
 Interesting one, this. That large statue there is called the Jinjo Oracle, and is in charge of doling out jiggies and such when you rescue the jinjos. My only question is, why wasn't it consulted in BT? I'm thinking it contains the spirit or essence or whatever of the Jinjonator, but that's purely speculative. Also interesting, Rare calls the oracle a "she". They're introducing gender into the Jinjos. Maybe we get to see whether Toots really is a baby Jinjo.
 Here we have Banjo running up towards Mumbo's Hut. Those familiar with some of the IGN movies they released recently will realize this isn't the same one from the movie with the mouse. So yeah, It seems there are multiple huts in this game. I'll give you a minute to collect yourselves, seeing as how shocking that is. Okay. Some would argue that the Gruntling up in the corner means that this is on the overworld, but seeing as how there's fifty million pictures with gruntlings in them, this is doubtful. That clam looks familiar, though. Could this be Treasure Trove Cove? OMG STOP N SWOP
Now this is an interesting setup. That's obviously a tank transformation in both shots, but the two are in highly disparate locations. Hmm. Maybe the transformations are obtained on the overworld, or the overworld is made of smaller hub-worlds, and each has its own hut. Who knows. And better yet, who cares? Also of interest between these two is the way the Gruntling in the snow world looks very much like a statue. Maybe the snow level has a gimmick where you hit pads like the one in the screen, and make statues come to life. That would be the crappiest gimmick ever.
Wait, nevermind.
 Ah, another Grunty battle. So we do battle her several times throughout, it seems. Hmm. I have no clue what that blue streak in the center of the screen is. I've narrowed it down to either an egg in mid-cracking, or Grunty's patented ass-cannon. You know, to compete with Kazooie on a more even level. Ahem. Of more importance is where the environs suggest the battle takes place. Notice the grey stone walls, the sandy ground, and that slimy green stuff on the wood, common near water. Yep, this is likely Jolly Rogers Lagoon. Now we've got suggestions that both JRL and TTC are in this game. And pirates. Combined with that dodgy Rare interview, it looks like it's possible that Stop n Swop may happen. Oh, Yes.
 Here we have a sunken ship.
Audience No shit!
Its probably in the Jolly Rogers Lagoon look-alike/is-alike level. Also, this Jiggly looks damn easy to find, which leads me to beleive this is one of the earlier levels. At least I hope so. This game had better take more that 5 hours to complete. Also, notice those odd crustaceans. Imagine how many poor familys you could feed with a lobster the size of a bear.
 Almost certainly the same level. There's another of the jumbo JUMBO shrimp and Snorkel, the unlucky dolphin from Rusty Bucket Bay. He's bound to give us some sort of quest or objective. Maybe we have to save him from Grunty's Treacherous Tuna Company.
 This seems to be Grunty's Lair, but there are a lot of differences. Notice the scaffolds on both sides of the head. It might be in the process of being built. If you could explore it in perfect detail, killing construction workers and causing industrial accidents, why... excuse me. I need to be alone for a little while.
Whew, that felt good. B&K seem to be under some sort of time contraint. Maybe racing to the top. Also, check out the pile of sticks in the center. could that be Bozzeye's version of a molehill?
 This appears to be a robotic snowman in a large pool of lava.
........
........
Next image!
 Oooo, a pirate ship. Pirates have historically permiated the best of the best DKU games, and hopefully this won't be an exception. This one appears to be a boss of some sort. Also, with all the recurring characters, and an ambiguous pirate just waiting to get his glory back, the could very well be Captain Blackeye's ship. Actually, we know two ambiguous pirates, but if this were Jolly Roger's ship, it would probably look more like this:
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
