Reveal: 4.5/5
Character: 3/5
Stage: 3/5
Music: 4/5

Banjo himself is fine, but you just had to be there for the reveal.

outside of watching old YouTube videos of it back in the day, I can't really say that I really grew up with the Banjo-Kazooie franchise so my reaction ended up just being "oh whoa they finally did it that was unexpected" on top of that I just think the pack is alright. nice gameplay, nice stage, nice music but nothing too mind-blowing.

that said, seeing all the people who did grew up with this game and characters cheer and cry tears of joy when these two were revealed put a big smile on my face, so that's deserves a high rating in my book :^)

Love them so much, such a good representation of the characters, the absolute best animated characters in the game, seeing them and Spiral Mountain rendered like this after so long was an unreal feeling, i really like how their moveset let you set your own pace for the match just like playing BK and feeling the difference in the raw power of Banjo and the sharp hits of kazooie that add up with just how persistent she is with her attacks i so good. Love the Spiral Mountain stage it looks beautifull and plays well, the remixes of old songs are fantastic too, just wished theyd have some from Banjo-Tooie that goes for the stage cameos too, though the ones we do have look fantastic

Even as someone who's never played a Banjo game but knows about the series through YouTubers I watched as a kid, I remember being blown away when these two were revealed as playable Smash characters at E3 2019. I straight up dropped my phone when the jiggy bounced and I couldn't image how actual Banjo fans felt at that moment. The character himself imo is fine. It's not a playstyle that personally clicks with me but I don't find it infuriating or disappointing like many others tend to see it and I like all the references to the source material packed in.

The stage and music are really the best that they could do when it comes to Banjo Kazooie. Spiral Mountain was the go to pick from the beginning and Freezeezy Peak's theme is all I needed.

Inclusion: The score might tell you otherwise, but I don't really mind Banjo as an inclusion. I'm not super fond of the games he comes from but I'm aware that he's pretty beloved by the community, even if I think his relevance in gaming is grossly overhyped. Now that the passes are done, he also stands out from all of the other DLC by being a "scrimblo" as people say. He fits well with the other legacy characters and his looks have a ton of personality.

Fighter: I don't like how Banjo plays at all. His playstyle is incredibly boring when played optimally both as or against him, and his agressive manuvers aren't super interesting. There's another DLC character that's far worse in this regard, but Banjo is definitely one of my least favorites in Ultimate or this.

Stage: This stage would be perfectly fine, I like the setting and think its a really strong environment. But the moments where the stage spins ruin the whole thing for me. Beyond how it affects the layout, like how the bridge to Gruntilda's lair just appears and disappears in rotation, the way the whole stage spins independent of the characters makes it incredibly disorienting to play on, far more than any other stage with moving parts. It's one of the first Ultimate stages I turn off with random settings.

Music: I'm not too passionate about the music, but I think it's really cool that they actually got Grant Kirkhope to compose an original remix for the game, especially since he's the only western composer to do a remix.

Yeah, aside from his existence and the music, I don't really like anything about this pack.