I was a Nintendo kid back in the day that felt a semblance of bittersweetness in regards to the loss of Rare. I think at that point I'd already gotten accustomed to the knowledge that Microsoft weren't going to allow Rare to do the things I'd personally want out of them. Nonetheless, me being a young teen at the time, I would still wistfully fantasize about potentially getting a new Banjo, even when knowing I couldn't afford, nor that my parents would willingly buy me more than one console each generation. This frustration would only amplify when IGN finally released what seemed to be the first teaser to the new Banjo. The graphical style took a bit of time to get used to, but I didn't mind it that much. More importantly I already started thinking about whether or not they were teasing at some of the abilities you'd get in the new game. Would you use Kazooie to pick open locks, or some kind of new jackhammer ability?
And all that immediate fantasizing came to a head when I saw that glimpse of Spiral Mountain - even with it being CG, the intention seemed 100% clear, and that short split second of Banjo dashing into the vista was something that I was convinced for a second was actual game play - it looked so dynamic for the lack of a better word; fast, snappy.
I obviously couldn't hide my excitement but also slight sadness in the fact that I couldn't see myself playing the game in the situation I was in back then. A friend of mine I made on a forum responded to one of my posts pretty succinctly about it "better get an Xbox, or no Banjo for you". A simple and succinct post which was what finally broke me and had me take my first part time job so I could save up for a 360.
Obviously it wasn't a regrettable purchase by any stretch of the imagination... but it's kind of funny to look back at it. Especially when we finally got a closer view of what the game was actually going to be about.
At the time I definitely responded to the full reveal with a very bemused head tilt. It focused mostly on vehicular building... but there was still footage of the characters being on foot. I think I recall reading some interview that suggested the vehicles weren't going to be the only way you make your way around, merely that they were going to be a supplement to the good old fashioned Banjo game play. A lot of buzzwords about the game had me excited, namely that the hub world they'd designed was their biggest one ever, how there's an entire level with references to past Banjo worlds... one thing I could not fault about the game was it's ambition. With that in mind I was still fairly excited about it. Up until the demo released anyway.
The sinking feeling of how much the vehicle portion actually dominated the game, and how that reflected on the mission structure and world design gave me a sinking feeling that was pretty inescapable - so much so that it was one of the few times back when I wasn't in a rush to get a game from a franchise I loved, until about a month or two after release.
There was a lot of novelty to find in this game, personally speaking. As much as vehicle building can be tedious, there was something rewarding about gaining super powered parts and building a hyper juiced up ride that could fly and blaze across the worlds at crippling speeds - even if I could never quite overlook how manufactured the entire game's presentation was and how the world design still seems like it wants to be a Banjo game to some degree, which makes the mission structure feel like too much of a checklist, and some of the later world designs absolutely insufferable. The vehicle parts were held back by its heritage, and its heritage was held back by its vehicle parts. What it ends up with is a game that feels like a hodgepodge of design ideas that the developers were unable to consolidate - and also not be able to provide a good framerate for.
To me, this game will remain an example of how imaginative Rare can be, but also how absolutely ungraceful they were with some of their design sensibilities. I actually got quite a few good hours out of it - but I've never been compelled to revisit it ever since, as after a point the frustrating, hollow feeling really began to sink in. It probably wasn't helped by how this was a game that completely destroyed the fourth wall altogether and built it's entire foundation on it's own self-awareness, which was only played for cute nods in previous titles. A game about games.... which is hard to sympathize with in this case, given the glass houses at play.
... But that's just my personal look back at it anyway. No doubt plenty of other people have some other stories and opinions about the game they'd like to share that differ greatly from my own.
Happy birthday to this strange, divisive game. Hard to imagine it's been 10 years since the last time Banjo got a chance to be in the spotlight. Knowing where the company is at now, it's hard to imagine it won't be at least another 10 until the next time that may be.
