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Banjo-Kazooie (Nintendo 64)

Reviewed by: Frank GameTZ Subscriber 800 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (13) Has Written 11 Reviews Secret Santa
Reviewed on: 19-Nov-2010

Description

Storyline

One beautiful morning, Tootie, Banjo's sister, was taking a nice run around Spiral Mountain. Meanwhile, the evil witch Gruntilda (aka Grunty) is at her mountain lair talking to her magic mirror who tells her she is not the most beautiful girl of all. She learns that in fact, the most beautiful is Tootie. Filled with rage, Grunty swoops down from the sky on her magic broomstick and kidnaps Tootie. Her plans are to transfer all of Tootie's beauty into herself, and transfer all of her ugly into Tootie. Now it's up to Banjo and Kazooie to rescue Tootie and put an end to all of Gruntys wrong doings.

Game Play

Banjo Kazooie is a 3D platforming game and plays a lot like Super Mario 64 does. Actually, it should due to the fact that it is based off of the Mario 64 game engine. You run around as Banjo traveling to multiple worlds, all conveniently located inside Gruntys lair, collecting jigsaw pieces, aka Jiggies. Jiggies act as the stars do in Mario 64. The only difference is you continue on with the world after you've collected a Jiggie, however, if you leave the level without completing it you will loose all of the Jiggies you've earned. Jiggies can be collected by either finding them laying around, beating/killing a certain enemy or boss, performing tasks for people, rescuing the five Jinjos in each world, or collecting the 100 music notes (similar to the coin in Mario 64), in the level. You will happen upon honey combs in each world. If you collect enough honey combs your health bar (Displayed as honey combs) will go up one. Along your journey you will also encounter mole holes in the ground where Bottles the Mole is located. Talk to him and he will teach you new moves that will help you get through certain obstacles or kill certain enemies. Learning the moves is necessary to continue the game, so finding all of Bottles mole holes can get annoying at times.

Graphics

Banjo Kazooie is one of the best looking N64 games on the console. The backgrounds are full of detail and very colorful and bright. The graphics style is a cartoony, almost fairy tale, theme. The cartoony, fairy tale theme fits in very well with the game, and shouldn't have been done any other way. The enemies in the game are very unique and are usually different per world. The only two problems I have with the graphics are the fact that occasionally Banjo's neck-lass, or eyeballs will disappear when he's gloating about getting a Jiggie, and sometimes backgrounds will loose detail as you walk further away. Other then those two issues, the graphics are great!

Controls

The basic controls are the analog stick to move around, A button to jump, B button to attack, and various other button combinations to use different attacks and moves. If you've ever played a 3D platformer, then you'll feel right at home with the controls. If you're new to platforming, the controls are very easy to get used to. The controls feel very solid, and you feel like you have complete control over Banjo and Kazooie.

Sound/Music

The music in this game is incredible! The music is incredibly catchy and overall enjoyable. The music matches its surroundings perfectly.When you're in Banjo's home village, Spiral Mountain, the music sounds very country. You can hear acoustic guitars, flutes, and banjos. The music suddenly changes when you enter Grunty's lair. Inside her lair, the music suddenly changes into a sorta upbeat spooky tone. The music fits into the game very well and is likely to stick around in your head for a while.

Overall

This is the game that started the series! Banjo Kazooie is one of those games that, if you own a Nintendo 64, you must buy. It's just a wonderful, high quality gaming experience. I personally think it's one of my favorite games of all time! The story line is really funny (sometimes funny in a corny way), so not only is the game play good, but the game's story will keep you entertained and on your toes. If you like 3D platformer games, adventure games, and just an overall fun game, then this game is definitely for you.