Banjo-Kazooie Review – Kowbrainz
Kowbrainz, 7th October ’07
November 1997. Rare puts ten characters head-to-head in arguably the best racing game created for the N64. Among those characters is Banjo, a honey bear sporting bright yellow shorts and a blue backpack. Little did he know that a year on from his racing debut, he’ll be glued to a red-feathered, loud-mouth and spun off into his own series: Banjo-Kazooie. Little did he know that this new title would soon raise the bar for all platforming games around the world – a game several years ahead of its time.
During the unveiling of Banjo-Kazooie at E3 1997, many gamers questioned what direction Rare was going with the game. Critics began labeling the game as a cutesy rip-off of Nintendo’s hit platformer, Super Mario 64. Banjo-Kazooie was a 3D platformer with several colourful worlds and numerous moves you could pull off using the bear and bird. Everything was the same as Super Mario, except with a bear and bird pasted where Mario’s face used to be. What these gamers didn’t understand was that this ‘cutesy’ game was not trying to rip off Mario and his 3D masterpiece at all – Rare was only expanding on Nintendo’s initial idea in such a way to take 3D platforming to another level.
Story
Up in her castle lair, a warty-green Gruntilda bends over her cauldron and asks it who the prettiest in the land is. The pot replies, however it isn’t the name the witch had expected, but instead Tooty, a young and pretty brown bear. Gruntilda snatches up her broomstick and flies down to capture Tooty – if this girl is prettier than herself, she’ll just have to steal her looks instead. Banjo awakes groggily to find his companion, the red-crested breegull Kazooie, to be squawking madly on the floor of his house. As it turns out, Tooty is gone, and the duo will have to go up to the hag’s lair themselves if they want any chance in saving her.
The story seems to borrow elements from several fairy-tales and throw in some comical characters to set the scene. It isn’t really any different from Mario or other titles, as it’s still the clichéd ‘save-damsel-in-distress-from-evil’ storyline. There aren’t any twists along the way, you don’t have to start guessing plot lines as it’s all very linear.
However, the main thing that sets it apart from titles such as Super Mario 64 is the character development. The game isn’t an RPG, but from the little text spoken by each character you can really tell what their personality is like. One particular example is Gruntilda. You don’t get to see the hag again until the very end of the game, however her character is built up by the things she shouts down at you every now and then in the lair, and by what her good sister, Brentilda, says about her. Being able to develop characters like this is just genius – by the time you make it up to the top of the tower, you’ll feel like you already know Grunty inside-out.
Graphics
There’s no denying it. Banjo-Kazooie had the best graphics on the N64 for its time. BK’s graphical ability was far ahead of its time, and you’ll witness it yourself as soon as you boot up the game. Somehow Rare has managed to fit all of it into one little cartridge, too. Look around you when you enter a room – any room, even one which seems totally insignificant to the game. Take a look at the walls, at the objects, the characters, and you’ll find that everything is just riddled with detail. You may notice some seams between the textures close up, however when you’re playing through a level normally, this remains un-noticed, and all of the textures will seem to blend in together, creating a really good feel everywhere you go.
Another thing Rare has really perfected in Banjo-Kazooie is the way objects fade in as you go towards them. Instead of objects popping up in front of you as you move through a level, the fading effect makes scenes a lot more realistic – something far off in the distance may be unseen, but as you edge closer it slowly comes into focus instead of popping up in front of your nose. It may not seem like much, but it really makes the difference in the end.
Finally, Rare really tops the whole graphical aspect of the game off with their lighting. Banjo-Kazooie’s lighting is just superb, and wherever you go it just fits the mood Rare is trying to convey. Take Treasure Trove Cove – a sunny, beach level. The sun makes the whole level bright and colourful, as well as reflecting off the water beautifully. If you look up into the sun, the camera will get a lens-flare effect – something not seen in other platformers for another few years. Let’s jump out of the beach setting and go somewhere else. In a certain part of Gruntilda’s lair is a room filled with lava below a small, stone walkway you must cross. The walls will glow red with reflection of the light below as the sea of magma tosses and turns; at times you might be left in the dark whilst crossing the ledges above, but only for a few seconds before your path is lit up once again. Another example of excellent lighting you’ll find when you reach a later level, Mad Monster Mansion. The eerie beamlight of the moon lights up the darkened stage, and the yellow glow of the mansion’s windows finishes the spooky effect. It’s the lighting which really turns this level from a regular old house into a spooky mansion.
It’s anyone’s guess how Rare managed to pack so much into the game whilst keeping the game playable. Unlike other graphically advanced titles, Banjo-Kazooie keeps its superior graphics whilst staying playable, with not a hint of lag when playing.
Sound
It doesn’t matter what type of gamer you are, you won’t be disappointed with the sound in this game. Each of the game’s tunes really sets the mood for the world that you’re in, from the upbeat melody of Mumbo’s Mountain, to the spooky song of Mad Monster Mansion; from the fiery beat of Gobi’s Valley to the relaxing tune of Freezeezy Peak. Each level has a unique song, and you’ll catch yourself humming out numerous tunes after you’ve beaten the game. What really sets the music apart from Super Mario 64 is the way slight changes are made within levels to the main theme when you enter different rooms or places. Take Mad Monster Mansion, for example: outside you’ll hear the hoots of owls and the howling of wolves with the organ chords in the background, a whole orchestra playing out the melody. Go inside the church, and the song will change slightly, more focused around the loud chords of the organs. Go inside the mansion, and all will be quiet, with some low notes being stummed out with a double bass and chords with higher pizzicato-string chords plucked out. Go underwater and the mood will change again. These music transitions really immerse the player in the game – they give the most lifeless of places a new spark. You’ll really notice it if you go back to Super Mario 64 after playing through Banjo-Kazooie.
Rare hasn’t just perfected the music in Banjo-Kazooie, though. The sound effects used are always fitting; whether it be the sound of the bubbles as you go underwater, or the resonating sound of steel as you climb a ladder. It doesn’t stop there – the best part of it is arguably the characters’ voices. Character voicing was a tough question for Rare – they wanted something better than plain lines of text when characters spoke, however voice acting was out of the question since the N64 had so little space. So they went for the next best thing. Rare assigned several sound effects for each character’s voice, so that when they spoke, a random sort of incomprehensive gibberish would be heard. Each character would have a different set of sound effects from others. This gave each and every character personality – whether it be the mumbles of Banjo, to the Eekum Bokums of Mumbo Jumbo the Shaman or to the shrieking noises of Gruntilda. Each character (and even some items, too) had their own voice – even if they didn’t actually speak a word. It was original, and it was wacky, but it worked, and even today players still love it.
Gameplay
Banjo-Kazooie wasn’t exactly the most original game in terms of gameplay. Any gamer could see that several elements of the game were borrowed from Super Mario 64; Banjo and Kazooie had a similar control scheme to Mario. Instead of collecting power stars to progress through the castle and open the worlds, you collect jigsaw pieces, or jiggies. However, what sets Banjo-Kazooie apart from Mario is the way which it expands on every element of gameplay.
In Banjo-Kazooie, you don’t have all of your moves at the start of the game. You have to learn them progressively – some of which you won’t obtain until halfway through the game. You still have the same moves as Super Mario 64: you have your jumping skills, your backflip jump, your ground pound move and are able to fly. However, Banjo-Kazooie gives a larger variety of moves, as well as improving some of the controls for those moves which were covered previously by SM64. Take flying, for example. In Banjo-Kazooie, Rare developed a way to fly in a much easier way. You had a lot more freedom: you could ascend easier, you could control and direct yourself more accurately, and later in the game you were even able to attack from the air. Another example of improved control is with Banjo and Kazooie’s swimming abilities. Whereas BK kept the same basic controls, such as pressing one button to swim fast and one to swim slowly, controlling yourself underwater became a whole lot easier. Banjo and Kazooie would respond quickly to your commands, and if you wanted to turn sharply you could hold R as well. It was these changes which really set the bar above Super Mario in the end; new moves and techniques are great, but it’s nothing compared to being able to change the control of something so that it is easier for the player to perform. Freedom is what players want in games, and in Banjo-Kazooie, it was given to them.
Freedom was probably Rare’s main focus when creating Banjo-Kazooie. Whereas in Super Mario 64 the levels were quite linear, in Banjo-Kazooie, the worlds are so expansive and just so open, and the player is free to do what they want in whatever order they wish. This doesn’t make the game easier, though – it makes it harder as it challenges players to think about how they tackle the tasks of the level without backtracking as much.
One original part of Banjo-Kazooie’s gameplay was the many transformations which were available for use from Mumbo Jumbo. In several levels within the game, Mumbo Jumbo the shaman would transform you into certain creatures to help collect items Banjo and Kazooie couldn’t reach on their own. In the first world, in order to scale a Termite mound to collect a puzzle piece, you are transformed into a Termite. Like all the transformations, the Termite provided an alternate form to play as, as well as new moves and techniques to collect items with. The termite could scale steep slopes with ease. Another transformation, the crocodile, could get into small nooks and crannys as well as being impervious to the creatures lurking within the swamp waters. Adding transformations like these to the game was a wonderful idea on Rare’s behalf, as it provided hours of new gameplay to the player. If you got sick of traversing the world as Banjo, why not transform into a crocodile for some fun?
The only real gripe I have in this game relates to the collecting of particular items – in short, picking up notes. There are 100 individual notes in each level, and you must pick up as much of them as you can within one run of the level to add them to your total. One run means without leaving the level, and that includes dying. During the later levels, you may find yourself up to the last few notes in a level, then fall into a pit or off something and end up killing yourself. That means that all the notes come back again and you have to start all over from the beginning. For some people, this may just be that thing which makes the game difficult; but for others it can become a nightmare.
The same rule applies to the Jinjos – five of these creatures hide in each level, and you must collect all within one run to obtain a jiggy. However, these aren’t nearly as frustrating as notes. Rare changed this in the sequel, making notes and Jinjos a one-time collectable, similar to Jiggies. Whilst it does take away a lot of the frustration, it also takes away a bit of the challenge involved in some levels.
Replay Value
I think once you play through this game, you’ll find it’s set at just the right length for any platformer. It’s incredibly satisfying to beat the game, and the whole way through you’ll be enticed by the action within the levels; the difficulty rises at just the right rate. Even though counting all the individual items you’ll be collecting gives a number high enough to make the head explode, you won’t feel bored from collecting too much during the game. Banjo-Kazooie is set at just the right length for a platforming title; it definitely isn’t so long that you’d never pick it up again after beating it, and it isn’t too short, either. That being said, there isn’t a lot more to do after you beat the game – there’s a few secrets you can try out, but in the end it’s a 1-player adventure game, and the difficulty isn’t going to change the next time you play it.
Overall:5/5