Looking back on Banjo-Kazooie (N64, media heavy)

[Deleted member 6223]

I remember in September 1998, months after having missed Banjo-Kazooie's initial debut, seeing this game at Walmart's shelves; It really caught my eye as a child, and so with the little cash I purchased it as I seldom bought games on my own.

Well over 20 years later, I absolutely see it's very much a fine platformer, even if there are some flaws. Regardless, having come directly from Super Mario 64 to this game, I was blown away by the variety within the worlds and the level design. The transformations were all hilariously fun too. The controls weren't perfect but given the N64 controller itself, they were as competent as could be and it wasn't too bad there.

I really loved the cartoony artstyle of the game, and it succeeded where many of the other 90's era mascot style platformers failed I feel. The artstyle still had detail to it too, which helped! Incoming screenshots from the Xbox 360 version:

The music was also absolutely wonderful-Lots of classic tracks by Grant Kirkhope:





It's just a really wonderful game. I haven't played it in about 13 years but I plan on giving B-K (along with Tooie, never played it surprisingly) another go through one way or the other, and hopefully the pair get another chance soon enough in the coming week! Any memories/thoughts you have of Banjo-Kazooie, members of Era?

 

[Falcon511]

All these Banjo threads. Please don't give me hope.

I have hope.

 

[Mandos]

I go back and play both Kazooie and Tooie at least once year, they are two of my all time faves. Had Tooie first though. On my n64 of course

 

[Garrett 2U]

I absolutely love the game and it's always very charming to go back to. Each of the levels is so iconic and memorable. And who could forget the music, Grant Kirkhope is a legend.

 

[NotLiquid]

An odd memory I have of Banjo is I almost never got this game. My mom was going to take me to the store to get it, but when I tried it out at the kiosk for the first time, it somehow didn't leave me with the instant gratification I think I expected it to do, and I ended up getting Yoshi's Story instead since that was a game I'd played at one point and heavily enjoyed.

It wasn't until roughly a year later when a friend of mine came over from out of town and kept talking up the game since he had just gotten it, that I began regretting not jumping on the opportunity to get it the first time around (he didn't bring over the game but he did bring the instruction manual and I used to be a sucker for perusing those back in the day), and it helped that I'd recognize Banjo from Diddy Kong Racing at that point, so I managed to convince my mom to get the game for me some weeks after the fact. Let's just say I looked back on my year-younger self with contempt since it quickly became one of my favorite games on the console.

Thankfully I experienced the game well before Banjo-Tooie came out so I got that one as a birthday gift in 2001.

 

[Deleted member 6223]

I absolutely love the game and it's always very charming to go back to. Each of the levels is so iconic and memorable. And who could forget the music, Grant Kirkhope is a legend.

Click to shrink...

He absolutely is. The man has composed some of my favorite music ever made, especially during that era.

 

[Blader]

I love this game. It was one of my favorites as a kid and when I replayed it on 360 10 years ago (shit that time just flew by!) I was so pleasantly surprised to see that the game had really held up perfectly. It was as good and fun as I remembered it being.

 

[FarSight XR-20]

The best platformer of the N64. The game was full of life.

And the soundtrack was lovely.

 

[russbus64]

Everything about this game is so good. The music and the way it changed based on where you were in the overworld or in a level. The jiggies were a nice mix of discovery and puzzle solving without being obtuse. Note layout guided the player and gave them a tour of the level.

I didn't play Grunty's Revenge until a few months ago. It is surprising how good the gameplay translated over despite the isometric design.

 

[Phantom]

Back when 3D platformers were all the rage and devs didn't try to squeeze every dollar from their fans.

 

[Byronic Hero]

3D platforming/Collect-a-thon at its finest. Both Kazooie and Tooie are incredible, I remember constantly getting my parents to take me to Blockbuster just to rent B-K so much that at a certain point they just bought it for me. Loved the franchise ever since. From the music to the level design, everything in those games just screams personality.

 

[G_Shumi]

I go back and play both Kazooie and Tooie at least once year, they are two of my all time faves.

Click to shrink...

I do too, moreso with Kazooie than Tooie since Tooie takes longer to get through. They're still such fun games to play through to this day and play really well on Xbox 360/Xbox One.

 

[Zutrax]

I like banjo Kazooie more than Mario 64, it's always been my favorite 3D collectathon game. Love everything about it and I'm very excited for the prospect of a new one this E3.

 

[Kandinsky]

Man I remember how hyped I was when this game was called Project Dream, ahhh to be a teenager again time sure flies... D:

 

[GuEiMiRrIRoW]

Played it in january after 10 years. I just... man, memory sometimes decept reality.

I see banjo kazooie as a nice prototype of something that was never created.

I now appreciate mario odissey even more.

 

[AtomicShroom]

This game was an absolute wonder when it came out! I simply couldn't comprehend how Rare were able to make such a non-blurry N64 game with blending textures that seemed to be higher-res than anything I had ever seen on the system prior (and after). It was a technical marvel to witness and the gameplay and level design were just as impeccable and memorable. It's a shame they inevitably got caught up in the "bigger is better" mentality for the sequel. It's like they were never able to properly grasp what made this game so good in the first place.

 

[Xbox Live Mike]

I remember getting a Banjo-Kazooie VHS tape in the mail, those were more simple times. Back in my day we lucky to watch a 240p video in Quicktime and IGN updated once a day plus we walked 100 miles uphill to Babbages/FuncoLand.

 

[Deleted member 19702]

This was the real follow up for Super Mario 64 at the time. In many ways, it was a step up above it. Rare was great at the N64 days and was a really shame Nintendo decided to sell instead of reestructuring the studio. They could have made great works together till today, unlike the shell of it's former self that Rare is now under MS.

 

[Deleted member 13015]

Nearly everything is memorable in this game. Characters, level design, the sounds that everything makes, the music.

I get giddy when I start hearing them talk in gibberish on every first play-through. Banjo's Ugh ugh and Kazooie's Wah wah wah.

I think it aged well, I don't find anything hard or awkward when it comes to controls or level design.

Its definitely on my Top 10.
and the funny thing of it all, I played the Xbox 360 first when it came out on Xbox Arcade, not the N64 version.