Banjo-Kazooie (video game)
| Banjo-Kazooie | |
|---|---|
| Banjo-Kazooie U.S. N64 box cover | |
| Developer(s) | Rare |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Gregg Mayles |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Release |   May 31, 1998  July 17, 1998 December 6, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer, Action/Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Banjo-Kazooie is a 3D platform/adventure video game for the Nintendo 64. It was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 1998. Known by the project name Dream until it was first shown at the 1997 E³, it received a significant amount of hype, partly due to being marketed as the game that would be to the N64 what Donkey Kong Country was to the SNES in terms of an advancement in graphics. Originally, it was supposed to be released as Nintendo of America's big holiday game for 1997 with a Taco Bell toy promotion lined up, but Rare needed to delay it several months. Instead, Diddy Kong Racing took its place, and with Banjo as a character in that game as well, it turned B-K into an incidental spin-off of the Donkey Kong franchise. Banjo-Kazooie went on to become one of the most popular games for the console.
The game stars a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie who set out on a quest to rescue Banjo's sister, Tooty, who has been kidnapped by the witch Gruntilda. Along their journey, Banjo and Kazooie receive help from Mumbo Jumbo, the shaman, and Bottles, the mole, as well as from various other characters in smaller roles.
The Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack, composed by Grant Kirkhope, was released on a limited edition CD.
Story
The story begins one day at Spiral Mountain, an area inhabited by Banjo, Kazooie, Bottles, and several other creatures, including giant hopping carrots and other vegetables. On that particular morning, while the sun is shining and the fauna are flourishing, Banjo lies snoring in his bed while Tooty is waiting for Banjo to "go on an adventure" with her.
Meanwhile, Gruntilda is hunched over her cauldron admiring her own beauty; even though she is the ugliest hag of all, she remains convinced that she is the loveliest in the land. Asking her magical cauldron, Dingpot, if she indeed is the fairest of all, assured that she will hear her own name, Dingpot answers that it is in fact not her, but Tooty who is the fairest in the land. Gruntilda is enraged by this and sets out to Tooty's house to kidnap her and steal her beauty.
Meanwhile, back outside Banjo's house, Tooty is talking to Bottles the mole when Gruntilda sweeps down and kidnaps Tooty, who does not go without a fight. Banjo, of course, sleeps through the whole thing and only walks out of the house shortly after Gruntilda has flown away with Tooty. After hearing what transpired from Bottles, Banjo and his friend Kazooie begin their journey up Spiral Mountain and inside Grunty's Lair to save Tooty.
Gameplay
Banjo-Kazooie adopted many of its central game play mechanics from Nintendo's groundbreaking title Super Mario 64. For instance, the player must similarly explore non-linear 3D worlds and gather tokens in the form of "Jigsaws" (like Super Mario 64's "Stars") to unlock new worlds. While some considered Banjo-Kazooie an evolution of Super Mario 64, others have criticised Rare for lacking innovation in this respect. [citation needed] However, the game did introduce a number of innovative features, such as the ability for Banjo and Kazooie with the aid of Mumbo's magical powers to transform into other creatures such as a termite, crocodile, walrus, pumpkin and a bee, the ability for the characters to learn new moves (as taught by Bottles), the game's extensive use of textures for surfaces where other N64 games would have used plain colors, extensive lighting, and music that dynamically changes style in order to reflect the environment and dangers to the characters.
Like Super Mario 64 before it, the player proceeds through the game by finding tokens. There are three kinds of tokens that help the player in his or her progress through the game, namely Jigsaw Pieces, Musical Notes, and Mumbo's Tokens. The first, "Jigsaw Pieces," open doors to new worlds by collecting enough to complete a particular jigsaw puzzle. There are ten "jiggies" (as they are sometimes called) in each world: nine must be sought and found, and one is granted by finding all five "Jinjos" on each world. The second, "Musical Notes," open magic Note Doors that allow Banjo and Kazooie to progress further into Gruntilda's lair. There are 100 notes on each world, and 900 total in the game. The third, "Mumbo's Tokens," grant the player magical transformations at Mumbo's hut when the player collects a sufficient amount. Each hut that the player visits will yield only one of the following transformations: termite, crocodile, walrus, pumpkin, or bee.
Besides these primary tokens, players may also collect items which are used in performing certain moves. Bottles the Mole must teach Banjo and Kazooie the move before the item can be utilized. Items include: Eggs, Red Feathers, and Gold Feathers, which can be held in quantities up to 100, 50, and 10, respectively. Eggs are fired as projectiles or ejected from Kazooie's rear, which would bounce slowly until it either hits an enemy, or it breaks on its own, Red Feathers are utilized in flight and flying attacks, and Gold Feathers are for the most powerful attack, "Wonderwing," which uses Kazooie's wings to make her and Banjo invincible and can kill most any enemy, or at least protect the bear and bird. Furthermore, rarer temporary items can be found which have specialized use in puzzle-solving, namely "Wading Boots," which enable the crossing of hazardous terrain, and "Running Shoes," which grant extra running speed, often as part of a race or a time-based puzzle. Finally, there are powerups, such as "Extra Lives," which look like golden Banjo statues and grant one extra life each, and "Honeycomb Energy," which incrementally increases the player's health and can be found in each level.
A large feature of gameplay is that the characters make limited speaking-like sounds when they talk. The voices were not real speech, but rather a looping of voice-like sounds when text bubbles were displayed. This artistic choice was likely made due to memory limitations on Nintendo 64 cartridges; however, this added considerably to the atmosphere and uniqueness of the game.
Besides the technical aspects, Banjo-Kazooie's rich characters were what really made the game come alive. Gruntilda the witch always spoke in rhymes (which she would declare inexplicably as Banjo and Kazooie wandered about her lair), such as "it really does sound quite absurd, adventure of a bear and bird!" Kazooie was always very annoyed at Bottles the mole, and various other smaller characters made memorable appearances. One notable motif is that nearly all objects, including wrapped presents, mines, and vegetables, had eyes.
Spiral Mountain
In the Banjo and Kazooie game series, Spiral Mountain is home to many characters, including Banjo himself. Banjo’s house lies on the outer part of Spiral Mountain. Not only is Spiral Mountain the home of Banjo.
Gruntilda's lair
This is the main area, you'll find most of your game time is spent here, you will find bottles, Brentilda, and Grunty's Minions constantly, the Lair also has 4 sets of 8 colored cauldrens which allow you to skip over parts of Gruntilda's lair to reach the top. After opening all cauldrens, you can skip to the top. Gruntilda's lair also leads to the final fight and has powerful spells called Note Doors, to open these your note scores must be higher than the number on the door.
Mumbo's Mountain
Mumbo's Mountain, a jungle themed world, is the smallest world, which, for the most part, serves a training ground for basic moves such as swimming, jumping, climbing and others.
Treasure Trove Cove
Treasure Trove Cove is an island consisting of hot, sandy beaches and a lighthouse perched high up upon the cliffs. The indestructible shark Snacker (he can be killed but he will come back to life shortly after) appears in the water surrounding the main island if Banjo and Kazooie fall in.
Clanker's Cavern
Clanker's Cavern is made up of various flooded caves and disposal pipes. Clanker is a gigantic, but gentle, mechanical shark who functions as Gruntilda's garbage disposal (much to his dismay), but crushing so much garbage gives Clanker frequent tooth aches. A large portion of this level is played inside his belly.
Bubblegloop Swamp
Bubblegloop Swamp is a swamp world inhabited by piranhas, frogs, and a menacing alligator, Mr. Vile, who resides in a massive alligator head. Much of the level revolves around collecting the "jiggies" while using wit and cunning to keep the pair out of the dangerous swamp waters.
Freezeezy Peak
Freezeezy Peak is a snowy montainous world with various Christmas-themed scenery; at its center is a giant snowman with a flurishing red-and-yellow scarf which the player can use to reach the top. It is home to Boggy the polar bear and his children, who will play important roles in Banjo-Tooie. This world is also the home to the Ice Key, which is located inside Wozza's cave.
Gobi's Valley
Gobi's Valley is an Egyptian-themed desert world with various pyramids and a large, talking Sphinx, all of which hold many ancient secrets and booby-traps within. Players have to be wary of the hot bubbling sand-pits and sand slides. A camel named Gobi plays a large role in this level, although it is never explained if the desert is named after the camel or if the camel is named after the desert.
Mad Monster Mansion
Mad Monster Mansion is a Halloween-based world with a haunted house, a oversized church complete with oversized organ, skeletons and ghosts, moving gravestones, as well as other nasties running around. It is, apparently, Gruntilda's family mansion. This world is also the home to two mystery eggs. The Green Egg located in the bathroom, and the Cyan Egg, located behind the X barell in the basement.
Rusty Bucket Bay
Rusty Bucket Bay is designed as a port, centered around a large cargo ship and various warehouses. Gruntilda supposedly uses the "Rusty Bucket" to ship supplies to her lair. Once on board, the player can explore the deck, the ship's funnels, the gremlin crew's dorms and the Captain's bedroom. This world is the home to the Mystery Red Egg, which is located inside the captain's cabin.
Click Clock Wood
Click Clock Wood is centered around a giant tree in a forest. Four doors (once unlocked) will lead to the same level but in the four different seasons. The player will be able to see changes in the weather, the scenery, the grow and decay of plant-life etc and the inhabitant's preparation for winter hibernation. The challenge in the level comes from the changing scenery and the puzzle elements which require an event in the past to trigger a future event. This world is the home to the Mystery Yellow Egg, which is located inside Nabnut's house in the winter.
Unfinished worlds
There were also to be more worlds; however, they were never completed due to time restraints and were subsequently scrapped. Some include:
- Fungus Forest (a picture of it can be seen in Banjo's house next to his bed). It was instead used in Donkey Kong 64 as Fungi Forest.
- Hammerhead Beach (now this level is widely considered to have been a working title for Treasure Trove Cove).
- Mount Fire Eyes (the lava room in Gruntilda's Lair is believed to be where the entrance was to be located) This level was nearly finished when they decided to cancel it so as to get the game out faster. It later became the lava side of Hailfire Peaks in Banjo-Tooie. Gobi makes a reference to this world when you chase him out of Click Clock Wood once the massive flower grows completely.
Stop 'N' Swop
"Stop 'n' Swop" is a hidden feature in Banjo-Kazooie, and the subject of much discussion and speculation amongst fans of the game.
The game contains seven special items — specifically, an Ice Key, Sand Key, and twelve different-colored eggs (Pink Egg, Blue Egg, Cyan Egg, Yellow Egg, Red Egg, Green Egg, Golden Egg, Silver Egg, Light Pink Egg, Gray Egg, Rainbow Egg, and Orange Egg.) with question marks on them that can be accessed during gameplay, using in-game codes. If the player collects all 100 jiggies and completes the game, a cutscene is displayed, showing some glimpses of a player entering the (now unlocked) areas and standing in front of the items. Rare announced that these areas were only to be reached by completing certain tasks in the sequel, Banjo-Tooie, and linking that game up with the original in some unspecified way to unlock them. This was later dubbed "Stop 'N' Swop", after the screen which lets a player see the items. While the code for this presumably exists in the Banjo-Kazooie cartridge and has been sought after, the rest of it was apparently never implemented in Banjo-Tooie. Although smaller versions of the Ice Key and the pink and blue eggs could be found in Banjo-Tooie, no way to link the games has ever been found. Rare has said nothing more on the topic except to comment on the Banjo-Kazooie fanbase's fascination with it and to include reference to it in future games. Ways to reach the secret areas in Banjo-Kazooie have been found by entering certain GameShark codes, and in-game 'cheat codes' in the sandcastle at Treasure Trove Cove have been discovered to unlock access to the secret items. However, once a player has an item, he can never be rid of it: The items taken are taken in each of the three files of the game and do not disappear even when data is erased.
A popular misconception explains that only the middle four eggs (Pink, Blue, Red and Green) were meant to be collected as well as the Ice Key, as the remaining eggs were fakes meant to throw off hackers. If a player collects all but the fake items, they will be able to access one of the doors of Grunty's machine to Stop 'N' Swop. This, however, is not true.
Another popular explanation for this is that the linkage was originally intended to be accomplished by use of the Expansion Pak[citation needed] of the Nintendo 64 system, which would allow data to be stored in the pack while cartridges were "hot-swapped." Originally, it was planned that the Expansion Pak would be packaged with Banjo-Tooie; however, Nintendo decided instead to include it with Donkey Kong 64. It would be unreasonable to expect players to buy the expansion pack solely for Stop 'N' Swop, so Rare decided to use a rather complicated three-way swapping system between Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64; this is evidenced by various references to Banjo-Kazooie in beta versions of Donkey Kong 64 such as a shower in Donkey Kong's treehouse with Banjo and Kazooie on it [1]. This was considered too complicated, and the whole Stop 'n' Swop venture was scrapped. This storyline has not been officially confirmed by Rare, but hackers have found lines of code in all three games that seem to support this line of reasoning [2].
The Rare Witch Project later discovered that actual Cheat Codes (which, like all other game cheats, are input in the sandcastle in Treasure Trove Cove) were programmed into the game to allow these teaser Eggs, the Ice Key, and a few other Eggs, to be accessed. However, they still served no purpose in the game whatsoever, aside from unlocking the Stop 'N' Swop Portal to the next sequel of linkage.
In 2005, a patent by Rare was discovered [3]. This patent suggests that Stop N Swop did not involve swapping the cartridges with the power on but with the power off (the Rambus retained memory for sixty seconds after the system was turned off). As a result of changes done to the Nintendo 64 systems produced in 1999, the system could no longer do this (the cartridges would have to be swapped in about two seconds).
Cameos
- In Click Clock Wood, Banjo and Kazooie meet a character named Gnawty the Beaver. This character is also an enemy from the Donkey Kong series, also made by Rare. The Gnawty in this game looks very similar to the ones in Donkey Kong 64, only its skin is brownish and not blue (although there were brown Gnawtys in Donkey Kong Country including a Boss called "Really Gnawty").
- Tiptup makes an appearance in Bubblegloop Swamp. Tiptup was one of the racers from Diddy Kong Racing, a racing game from 1997 which also featured Banjo as a playable character. Tiptup also makes a cameo in Banjo-Tooie.
- An early screenshot for Donkey Kong 64 showed a shower in Donkey Kong's Treehouse with Banjo and Kazooie's head on it. However, the shower was removed before the game was released. Also, an early screenshot of Banjo-Kazooie showed Donkey Kong's picture on Banjo's wall instead of Tooty's.
- The heads of Banjo (as a trophy above the fireplace) and Kazooie (as the handle of an umbrella) can both be found in Rare's M-rated platformer release for the Nintendo 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day.
- Monsterous versions of Banjo and Kazooie's head can be found in the hallway in Grabbed by the Ghoulies for the Microsoft Xbox. The game also holds many pictures and gag memorobilia sponsored by the various characters found throughout the game. It is also believed that the goldfish in the classroom is Roysten, the very same fish Banjo kept as a pet who would always get abused and/or cooked throughout the franchise.
- Not only is Roysten in the classroom, but on the white-board, a few maps are pictured, one of them being Treasure Trove Cove. On the map, Sharkfood Island is marked with an "X", where the secert pink egg is located. Underneath the maps, 4 eggs and the Ice Key are shown next to each other with "=?" shown after. This has led fans to believe that only four eggs were meant to be collected. A screenshot and more info can be seen at this link. [4]
- Another Rare game, Kameo: Elements of Power for the Xbox 360, features a radio in one character's house which plays a remix of the Banjo-Kazooie theme.
Awards
At the 1999 Interactive Achievement Awards, Banjo-Kazooie won in the "Console Action/Adventure" and "Art Direction" categories, and was nominated for "Console Adventure Game of the Year" and "Game of the Year."
Sequels
- Banjo-Tooie - N64 (2000)
- Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge - GBA (2003)
- Banjo-Pilot - GBA (2005)
- Banjo Kazooie 3 (Working Title) - Xbox 360 (TBD)
On November 30th, 2005, EGM rumored that Rareware was working on two titles for Nintendo DS, and that one of the titles is going to take place in the Banjo-Kazooie universe. It seems though that with the announcement of Diddy Kong Racing for the DS at E3 2006, this was the title EGM was referring to. On September 27th, 2006, A new Banjo-Kazooie trailer was shown, for the Xbox 360.
The Rare website has recently announced that there will be a sequel for Xbox 360, and has included a trailer that shows new models for Banjo and Kazooie. While still wearing the same identifiable clothes, they are both significantly different from Rare's usual style. Spiral Mountain is still identifiable by a few of its signature landmarks, although it is much more abstract, and apparently it seems to resemble something of an obstacle course. Although she doesn't appear in the video, judging by the appearance of entrance to Grunty's Lair, which is not focused on, but can be seen past a slight fog in the distance, Grunty does not seem to have gone through the same changes as Banjo and Kazooie.
