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Slush's Banjo-Tooie Impressions
Before we kick things off, please excuse me if these impressions sound a bit off and make little to no sense. I'm battling a severe case of head cold, and I'm fairly doped up right now. Anyway, let's get rolling.
Remember when Banjo-Kazooie came out? It's been so long I won't blame you if you don't. 1998, I believe? Yes, that sounds about right. It's long awaited sequel, Banjo-Tooie (one of the only sequels to be practically announced the day the first entry in the series came out) was originally supposed to come out in 1999. Then it got pushed to 2000. And it got pushed further and further into 2000 until it could get pushed no more before hitting 2001. Now it appears B-T will hit in late November (which, not counting 1998, has been the annual timeframe for the big DKU release of the year). People can say what they want about graphics, sound, play control, etc. The truth is, Banjo-Tooie has been known for one thing in this pre-release stage, and that's the Banjo-Kazooie secrets. We got 'yer Ice Key, and we got 'yer "? Eggs." Being that they're the most infamous part of the game right now, I'll talk about them first.
Whenever a discussion about B-T has come up on the internet or in other gaming circles, the big debate has been "how will Banjo-Tooie interact with Banjo-Kazooie?" We've heard everything from lock on cartridges to "hot swapping" the games. We've even heard it was going to be as simple as a password. With the mystery still intact after all this time, the newest rumor (confirmed by a Nintendo PR, no less) is that the secrets will already be programmed into Banjo-Tooie. Either Rare had a nifty way of getting the secrets that fell through, or this was there plan all along. I seriously doubt the latter, because the Gameshark grabbers have already proven you can collect the items (it even opens up a new menu when you press pause for the secrets). Of course, this could all be hogwash by the PR to throw gamers off track and make the surprise even grander. He could also be a misinformed dick. We shall see.
The graphics look far more impressive than Banjo-Kazooie, which already had some great visuals. This is without a doubt the prettiest 3-D platformer on the Nintendo 64 (and do I dare say any system?). Prettier than last year's DK64? You betcha. A grand leap from Banjo-Kazooie? Not really. Like the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, this simply improves the graphics of its ancestor slightly. It is noticable though. My opinions on the music are that it's pretty much the same as B-K (which isn't a bad thing). In this case you wouldn't want a radical change.
Play control should pretty much be the same as Banjo-Kazooie, with a ton of new moves thrown in the fray. Again, if it isn't broke then don't fix it. The BIG changes are the characters. We are introduced to more of Gruntilda's family, relatives of Bottles, more Jinjos, the brand new Minjos, a honey bee named Honey B., and more mindless idiots than you could shake a stick at. Of course, Mumbo Jumbo has also moved up the ladder to fully playable hero status. The storyline, in true sequel fashion, is also much grander than Banjo-Kazooie's. Since we've already been introduced to the core characters, they go all out with this one. We've got machines sucking life forces here, people! This story is even better than DK64's, mainly because you don't have to know what happened in previous installments to appreciate the depth. In my opinion that's a plus.
Now of course I haven't been able to check out the play control, but from what I've heard about all the E3, Space World, and ECTS ramblers, it's great. Expect some old 2-D action mixed in with Banjo-Kazooie's stylee, and you'll get an idea of what the control is like. Super.
To tell you the truth, I haven't followed this game with as much enthusiasm as DK64. One reason is that I had a longer time to anticipate DK64 (even though it seems like it's been ages since B-K first came out) and another reason is I'm kind of burned on videogames right now. The main reason is I'm getting tired of all these cameo games coming out every month. It's really killing my passion for the DKU. But if one thing can restore it, it's Banjo-Tooie. I'll get more excited once I finally get the game home, I bet.
My opinion? Buy this game. You wouldn't be reading this if you weren't considering it. It should be another five star Rare classic. It has to be better than "Hey You Pikachu!," no?
by SirSlush2
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