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Jarrod's Banjo-Kazooie Review
RARE, as usual has outdone themselves in the graphics department. This
game truly blows Mario 64 away. As of this games release in the summer of
'98 there is no other game that looks as good. The bear and bird duo of
Banjo Kazooie look great thanks to their great polygonal models and the
creative staff at RARE. This is obvious after watching the humorous intro
sequence that introduces Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo, and Tooty. They move with
very fluid animation, every move looks as realistic as possible (or about
as realistic as a bear and a bird working together would look), and are
just plain cool. RARE even went out of their way to come up with some
great idle animations for when you dont touch the controller. All of
the games various quirky characters look great too and also have great
animation. The game's worlds are filled with great textures, lighting and
particle effects, and their is none of that N64 "fog" to be seen. The
world's are huge but amazingly their is no framerate problems with the
game. Even in Clanker's Cavern in which there is a HUGE mechanical shark
that takes up most of the space of the entire level. In the games oceanic
level, Treasure Trove Cove, you can get to the very center and highest
part of the level, then via Top C you can look around the entire level
and see practically everything without any of that nasty fog. You'll be
stopping your game play a lot in this game just to have a look around at
the creative worlds. Case and point, go to the top of Freezeasy Peak's
Snowman and look around at the world below and the moon above. Very
touching. Also RARE utilizes a great draw in distance effect to combat
frame rate problems. No matter where in a level all structures are
visible and as the player gets closer to items (musical notes, eggs,
feathers) they are gradually faded in. This is done very nicely. All of
the worlds are huge. A lot bigger than Mario 64. The beautiful levels
such as deserts, graveyards, forest, ocean, snow, are large but not
overly tedious. RARE has done a good job at creative level design which
helps add to the games non linear gameplay. No matter where in the world
you decide to go you will always find something to do. No space in the
game is wasted. A nice puzzle fade in and out is utilized in the game as
well. When entering an exiting rooms in Gruntilda's Lair the screen fades
out in the shape of a puzzle piece and then fade's back in the same way.
When getting Game Over or entering the Lair the fade features Gruntilda's
silhouette. Even the health bar is unique. When at full health Banjo and
Kazooie's faces (shown beside the health bar) are happy and the more
health you loose the more unhappy there mugs become. Who knew frowning
bears could be so interesting!?
9.0
For a game named after musical instruments it sure does, unsurprisingly,
have good music and sound effects......scratch that. GREAT music and
sound effects. Grant Kirkhope uses whistles, slides, saxes, xylophones,
brass, and even the occasional steel drum to create a unique sounding
type of music for this very unique game. This is fact is proven in the
above mentioned intro sequence. The Banjo-Kazooie Main Theme is very
catchy and is used repeatedly throughout the game. It works like a charm.
The music is also dynamic, meaning it changes accordingly to where you
are in a level. For example, in the games starting point, Spiral
Mountain, the music is bright cheery with a little touch of country
redneck, but becomes much more dark and menacing as you approach
Gruntilda's Lair. Even in the game's worlds this technique is used. IN
Freezeasy Peak, the games snow level, the music is very Christmasy and
fast paced but when you visit 3 sad polar bear cubs the music slows down
into a sad version of the music to represent the cubs sadness. All of the
other levels feature good music. Fantastic even. You will not be
disappointed with the music from Treasure Trove Cove, Freezeasy Peak,
Gobi's Valley, or Click Clock Wood among others. Also of notice is the
main Lair theme of Gruntilda's Lair. It is a haunting rendition of the
classic piece "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and really really helps add to the
menacing, mysterious atmosphere of the witches lair. Heck, Kirkhope and
RARE even went so far as coming up with a very catchy pause screen
featuring a remix of the BK main theme that will have you pausing your
game just to listen to it! The games music will stay with you long after
you turn it off. Days, weeks, months, or even years! Now on to the games
sound. What should now become a trademark of the series, is the unique
way RARE chose to do the characters voices. Instead of just being blan
and boring with only text boxes, nor going so far as to have actual voice
acting, RARE utilizes a bunch of sounds and audio samples to create the
voices. For example Logo the toilet speaks in farting noises which is
rather humorous, the Zubbas (bees) speak in buzzing noises, and Conga the
Gorilla speaks in monkey chatter. This unique way of voice acting is
incredibly unique and help make this game so special. The sound effects
are top notch and fit each effect nicely. Musical notes make a musical
sound when collected, feathers have a high pitched whistle, eggs make a
bouncing noise. It all works good. The jingle that plays when you receive
a puzzle piece is also neat and fitting as it is a banjo strumming. As
for Banjo and Kazooie themselves, well they sound cool. Kazooie makes a
bunch of garbled birdish sounding sounds and tooting noises when shooting
eggs from her rear. When pecking or flying she makes "breee" like noises
that make the birdy breegull sound birdy. Banjo has a country accent as
his name would suggest and says things like "Guh Huh" "Whooo!" and "Ho!"
So in short the sound is phenomenal.
10.0
One word: Tight. Very tight. After playing this game all other 3d
platformers seem clunky. The game features a lot of moves, a fairly
decent amount, but enough that you would think that there would be no way
to perform them all on the N64s controller. Wrong. Rare has found a way
using variations of holding Z and pressing a specific C Button among
others to pull it all off weather it be shooting eggs, flying, or riding
on birdback. Controlling two characters at once has never been easier.
Banjo and Kazooie do exactly as you tell them with the controller. The
response time is immediate. Flying is also done very well in this game.
Much better than in Mario 64. A is used to fly higher, B can be used to
dive bomb, and R can be used for more precise steering. R can also be
used in swimming. Swimming however may cause some gamers some slight
problems but it can be very easily mastered. Same goes for the camera
system, while great, it occasionally, but not very often, gives gamers
trouble. All of Mumbos various transformations control well too.
9.5
Aside from the game obviously getting its inspiration from Mario 64, and
the Wizard of Oz, this game is totally original. Gruntilda the Witch is
upset that she is no longer the fairest of them all and is out to get
that certain beauty that out beauts her, that girl being Banjo's little
sister Tooty. Having developed a machine that will take Tooty's good
looks and transfer them to her, Gruntilda races out of her mystical lair
and captures Tooty while Banjo sleeps. Kazooie wakes him up and then they
leave after Grunty in hot pursuit and thus starts the game. This is all
shown in a splendid opening cinema scene that hits right on and sets the
games mystical/magical mood. You cant help but be intrigued by seeing
Gruntilda and her magical pot and broomstick high up in her dark murky
lair. During the game you will come across two items known as Jiggies
(think Mario 64's stars) and musical notes. The Jiggies are used for
opening new worlds; by finding them you can go to certain spots in
Gruntilda's Lair in which there is a picture that is missing pieces. By
using these Jiggies you can fill in the pictures and open up new worlds.
There are 100 jiggies in all. The musical notes are used for you to
progress further through Gruntilda's Lair by opening up new areas inside
in order to reach these new worlds unlocked with the Jiggies. Throughout
the game you will run into many quirky yet cool characters that have been
designed very well. RARE's graphic artists have really done a terrific
job of creating a brand new and unique world that is Banjo Kazooie. This
new world pulls you in and wont let you go. One of these characters is
Bottles the Mole who throughout the game teaches you moves. At the games
start all you have is your jump move but as you progress you will
gradually learn such moves as the Rat-A-Tap Rap, Beak Buster, Wonder
Wing, and the Beak Barge. As you can see the moves even have very
original and creative names. Another of the games main characters is the
shaman Mumbo Jumbo. In various levels of the game you must find little
skull tokens known as Mumbo Tokens which are used for obtaining new
transformations. These include a termite, seal, pumpkin, bee, alligator,
and more. These help add to the already varied gameplay. Speaking of, the
game also features a few well thought out mini games to take part in
including defending a jiggy from bees, eating more yumblies than another
crocodile, escaping from a maze before its too late or putting puzzle
pieces into a picture before the time runs out. They are all a challenge
but not too hard. Two other great characters in this game are already
well known to the DKU, Titup the Turtle and Naughty Beaver. Yes, the same
turtle from Diddy Kong Racing and the same boss beaver from Donkey Kong
Country can be found in the games worlds. And as for worlds, they are
very original and much more creative than your typical snow, desert, and
haunted themed levels. Click Clock Wood is highly innovative as well. In
this level you must change between the four seasons in order to collect
all the puzzle pieces and whatever action you take in a season effects
the other. If you plant a flower in spring, it will be growing in the
summer, or if you feed a baby eagle in autumn, he will be grown into an
adult in winter. A wonderful script has also been created for this game
and has a lot of crude, but funny humor. Also some of the words spoken in
this game seem to have a double meaning and there are cleverly hidden
references to male body part shrinkage and women's breasts. Heck, there
even is a character called Big Clucker! Gruntilda's constant hagging of
the bear/bird duo, done always in a rhyme, is another plus and highly
enjoyable. Now I'll just to take a little short time to tell you another
original idea RARE has put into this game. The file selection screen is a
common place among video gamers and usually consists of a mostly blank
screen with the various number of files to choose from. Well Instead of
just having that silly little screen RARE has made Banjo's house an
interactive file selection screen! Game File 1 features Banjo in bed
sleeping, 2 features Banjo at a stove cooking, and 3 features him playing
a Gameboy. Its these nice touches that make RARE games so RARE. Even when
walking in a kitchen and jumping into some hot soup actually causes you
to get burned. Lovely detail and references to other RARE games are
abound in this game.
9.0
This game is highly satisfying. It is unputdownable.....if thats even a
word. From the moment you pick it up you wont want to quit. With gameplay
that gets progressively harder the further you get, this game's 9 worlds
should take most gamers around 15 to 20 hours or so there first time
through, but increasingly shorter the more times you play it. Yes, that
means that this game definitely has replay value. Just like the Donkey
Kong Country games before it you can pick up BK at anytime and enjoy it
all over again. If you beat the game without all 100 jiggies
well......you will definitely be given a reason to go back and play to
get them. The game features a highly unique and innovative ending that
eludes to something bigger and better. This game has a lot of secrets and
mysteries that will keep gamers exploring Banjo's world a long time after
you beat it. This game......wow, if you don't have it already please, for
the love of God, go out and get it! You so will not be disappointed!
9.4
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