Back in September of 2023, I decided to replay both Banjo games to see how much I still liked them. It had been around 10 years since I had played Kazooie since then, and 4 years since I'd last played Tooie, so I was excited to dive into both games. Well, as it turns out, I loved replaying both so much I decided to replay them directly after. I very rarely do that, so I just knew I had to bump both games to a 10. Well, after my whole review purge, I decided to replay these once again and rereview them all over again. Only 7 months later after playing them both twice before, I'm a madman I know (haha you won't get this reference because those reviews are now deleted). Anyways, just like before...I had a blast replaying Kazooie and consider it one of the best N64 games ever.
The first thing I'll get into are the controls and Banjo-Kazooie's moveset in general. I honestly think this game controls masterfully, Banjo and Kazooie have such a varied move set that flows well with each of the levels. The talon trot is a must in every level as it let's you go through each area that much faster. With the c buttons, it's also really easy to remember how to perform it too. In fact, I haven't played the game on anything but the N64 itself, but idk how I'd feel about playing it on another controller just cuz I find the N64 controller fits it perfectly lol. Besides the talon trot, you also have a roll attack, rat-a-tat rap which is an aerial move, golden feathers which you can use to turn invincible as long as you have them, red feathers which you can use to fly (and the flight in this game is more satisfying than Mario 64), the beak bomb which is an attack you can use while flying and more. All of this you unlock gradually while playing and is all used plenty through-out the game. You also have two power-ups that let you either traverse unsafe ground (wading boots) and the speedy shoes which, as the name implies, let's you go fast. Even the swimming in this game is pretty nice once you know how to use it. I've seen some people say it's awful because it's so clunky. Which, if you're not holding the R button then yeah totally, but if you are it's very nice and smooth as you have a breast-stroke and a paddle you can perform depending on what you need.
The game itself is incredibly charming, both aesthetically and comically. The world's all look lovely and is just full of that N64 Rare ware charm. When playing through a world, you would be hard pressed to not see a pair of googily eyes on an enemy or even the items (when the item explanation first pops up) and for how lighthearted this game is, it very much fits. That's not to say the dialogue is all light-hearted. It's not as dark as Tooie obviously but they still put in a couple of dirty jokes hear and there. The dialogue itself, while not nearly as funny as Tooie imo, its witty enough especially Gruntilda's dialogue.
Going into Gruntilda and her lair in general, both are fantastic. The lair is a tightly designed hub world that is super memorable, not just because of it being compact in size and easy to traverse, but because the whole way through Grunty insults you and eggs you on. Kazooie has way less dialogue than Tooie, and Grunty herself I find more menacing in that game, but when it comes to her insulting rhymes...they're easily the most memorable pieces of dialogue in the game. Even on this most recent playthrough, I was still hearing rhymes I've never heard before. Really makes me wonder just how many there are in total lol.
When it comes to the worlds themselves, they are excellent tightly designed levels just like Grunty's lair was. Mumbo's Mountain is the worst one imo, and that's just because of how small it is...which makes a ton of sense because it's the first world. All the rest are very enjoyable, with some of my favorites being Freezezey Peak, Clanker's Cavern and Click Clock Wood. Now you might be saying to yourselves, Clankers Cavern? Yeah, idk why but it might've been my favorite world this time around. I honestly don't have an issue with the swimming portions, I love the track that plays in it and the dank grimey atmosphere I find wonderful (which makes sense because I love Tooie and it has a lot of that). It feels like one of the more unique world settings next to Rusty Bucket Bay. Speaking of Rusty Bucket Bay, it has the infamous engine room area and yeah that's still my least favorite part pf the game. It's not TOO bad if you do that part right away, but I still died like 5 times this playthrough. I also died to Click Clock Wood very stupidly, those two levels even now can still get me as they're easily the two hardest in the game. Going back to the engine room tho, the reason it's so hated is because it's the only world with an instant death pit. In the N64 version, instant death means you lose all your notes as the game tracks a total note score in this version rather than keeping your notes when you die like in the Xbox version. This is also a small gripe I have, but only in these last two levels because I pretty much never die in any of the earlier ones.
The music in this game was done by Grant Kirkhope and he's absolutely legendary. He has a very distinct bouncy style to his music and it absolutely fits here with how goofy this game is. My favorite tracks in the game would have to be Rusty Bucket Bay, Spiral Mountain, Clanker's Cavern, and The Final Battle. The entire soundtrack is wonderfully though, and I especially love Grant's use of dynamic music. His work on Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, and DK64 show he's a big fan of it and it's perfect in these types of games.
Once you beat every single world, and have obtained enough notes and jiggies to progress, you enter Grunty's Furnace Fun. This is basically a giant quiz show that puts your knowledge to the test. It's very goofy and fitting for the type of game Banjo Kazooie is. The questions consist of listening to the voice of a character or song of a level and guessing who/what it is, random trivia, playing a mini-game from the main levels or a Grunty question. The grunty questions consist of trivia about Grunty herself that you must know to answer. To find these out in-game, you must hunt down her sister Brentilda, who is hidden in specific areas of the lair. You might think, meh I'll just look the answers to these online. But they're randomized per playthrough so you simply cannot do that. Luckily, with the joker card which let's you skip 2 spaces on the board, you can bypass these if you weren't able to find Brentilda. Same with the instant death skull spaces which are usually just a basic trivia question, but still are very nerve-wracking. After you get to the end of the board, you get a hilarious joke where Grunty makes her escape by forcing credits on you. After that though, it's actually time to fight her.
Before you fight Grunty, depending on how many collectables you have gotten, you can unlock consumable refills and even double health. Once you've gotten what you need, it's time fight Gruntilda herself. The final battle may honestly be in my top 20 fights ever, it's super good. It tests you on many of your moves you've learned through out the game and it has a killer boss theme to boot (as you know with my favorite songs portion). The end of it is super satisfying too, with the Jinjonator being summoned to defeat her. If there's any one thing I love more than Tooie, it's this final boss and cutscene. The Hag-1 is a fine enough final boss for that game, but it pales in comparison to Kazooie's final fight.
All in all, I'm glad I replayed this once again as it's still amazing and still one of my favorite games ever. Back in September, I stated I might love Tooie even more for the things it improved on and its expanded worlds, and yeah I probably do in the end. However, Kazooie has its own strengths , some even over Tooie's and it's still a must play as an N64 fan. Next up though is Tooie, and I simply cannot wait to replay it so look forward to that review coming soon!!
The first thing I'll get into are the controls and Banjo-Kazooie's moveset in general. I honestly think this game controls masterfully, Banjo and Kazooie have such a varied move set that flows well with each of the levels. The talon trot is a must in every level as it let's you go through each area that much faster. With the c buttons, it's also really easy to remember how to perform it too. In fact, I haven't played the game on anything but the N64 itself, but idk how I'd feel about playing it on another controller just cuz I find the N64 controller fits it perfectly lol. Besides the talon trot, you also have a roll attack, rat-a-tat rap which is an aerial move, golden feathers which you can use to turn invincible as long as you have them, red feathers which you can use to fly (and the flight in this game is more satisfying than Mario 64), the beak bomb which is an attack you can use while flying and more. All of this you unlock gradually while playing and is all used plenty through-out the game. You also have two power-ups that let you either traverse unsafe ground (wading boots) and the speedy shoes which, as the name implies, let's you go fast. Even the swimming in this game is pretty nice once you know how to use it. I've seen some people say it's awful because it's so clunky. Which, if you're not holding the R button then yeah totally, but if you are it's very nice and smooth as you have a breast-stroke and a paddle you can perform depending on what you need.
The game itself is incredibly charming, both aesthetically and comically. The world's all look lovely and is just full of that N64 Rare ware charm. When playing through a world, you would be hard pressed to not see a pair of googily eyes on an enemy or even the items (when the item explanation first pops up) and for how lighthearted this game is, it very much fits. That's not to say the dialogue is all light-hearted. It's not as dark as Tooie obviously but they still put in a couple of dirty jokes hear and there. The dialogue itself, while not nearly as funny as Tooie imo, its witty enough especially Gruntilda's dialogue.
Going into Gruntilda and her lair in general, both are fantastic. The lair is a tightly designed hub world that is super memorable, not just because of it being compact in size and easy to traverse, but because the whole way through Grunty insults you and eggs you on. Kazooie has way less dialogue than Tooie, and Grunty herself I find more menacing in that game, but when it comes to her insulting rhymes...they're easily the most memorable pieces of dialogue in the game. Even on this most recent playthrough, I was still hearing rhymes I've never heard before. Really makes me wonder just how many there are in total lol.
When it comes to the worlds themselves, they are excellent tightly designed levels just like Grunty's lair was. Mumbo's Mountain is the worst one imo, and that's just because of how small it is...which makes a ton of sense because it's the first world. All the rest are very enjoyable, with some of my favorites being Freezezey Peak, Clanker's Cavern and Click Clock Wood. Now you might be saying to yourselves, Clankers Cavern? Yeah, idk why but it might've been my favorite world this time around. I honestly don't have an issue with the swimming portions, I love the track that plays in it and the dank grimey atmosphere I find wonderful (which makes sense because I love Tooie and it has a lot of that). It feels like one of the more unique world settings next to Rusty Bucket Bay. Speaking of Rusty Bucket Bay, it has the infamous engine room area and yeah that's still my least favorite part pf the game. It's not TOO bad if you do that part right away, but I still died like 5 times this playthrough. I also died to Click Clock Wood very stupidly, those two levels even now can still get me as they're easily the two hardest in the game. Going back to the engine room tho, the reason it's so hated is because it's the only world with an instant death pit. In the N64 version, instant death means you lose all your notes as the game tracks a total note score in this version rather than keeping your notes when you die like in the Xbox version. This is also a small gripe I have, but only in these last two levels because I pretty much never die in any of the earlier ones.
The music in this game was done by Grant Kirkhope and he's absolutely legendary. He has a very distinct bouncy style to his music and it absolutely fits here with how goofy this game is. My favorite tracks in the game would have to be Rusty Bucket Bay, Spiral Mountain, Clanker's Cavern, and The Final Battle. The entire soundtrack is wonderfully though, and I especially love Grant's use of dynamic music. His work on Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, and DK64 show he's a big fan of it and it's perfect in these types of games.
Once you beat every single world, and have obtained enough notes and jiggies to progress, you enter Grunty's Furnace Fun. This is basically a giant quiz show that puts your knowledge to the test. It's very goofy and fitting for the type of game Banjo Kazooie is. The questions consist of listening to the voice of a character or song of a level and guessing who/what it is, random trivia, playing a mini-game from the main levels or a Grunty question. The grunty questions consist of trivia about Grunty herself that you must know to answer. To find these out in-game, you must hunt down her sister Brentilda, who is hidden in specific areas of the lair. You might think, meh I'll just look the answers to these online. But they're randomized per playthrough so you simply cannot do that. Luckily, with the joker card which let's you skip 2 spaces on the board, you can bypass these if you weren't able to find Brentilda. Same with the instant death skull spaces which are usually just a basic trivia question, but still are very nerve-wracking. After you get to the end of the board, you get a hilarious joke where Grunty makes her escape by forcing credits on you. After that though, it's actually time to fight her.
Before you fight Grunty, depending on how many collectables you have gotten, you can unlock consumable refills and even double health. Once you've gotten what you need, it's time fight Gruntilda herself. The final battle may honestly be in my top 20 fights ever, it's super good. It tests you on many of your moves you've learned through out the game and it has a killer boss theme to boot (as you know with my favorite songs portion). The end of it is super satisfying too, with the Jinjonator being summoned to defeat her. If there's any one thing I love more than Tooie, it's this final boss and cutscene. The Hag-1 is a fine enough final boss for that game, but it pales in comparison to Kazooie's final fight.
All in all, I'm glad I replayed this once again as it's still amazing and still one of my favorite games ever. Back in September, I stated I might love Tooie even more for the things it improved on and its expanded worlds, and yeah I probably do in the end. However, Kazooie has its own strengths , some even over Tooie's and it's still a must play as an N64 fan. Next up though is Tooie, and I simply cannot wait to replay it so look forward to that review coming soon!!
Full thoughts on the Use Your Items podcast:
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-vykhj-1539f4c
For the love of Gruntilda, play the Rare Replay version Xbox 360. That version gets an extra half star.
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-vykhj-1539f4c
For the love of Gruntilda, play the Rare Replay version Xbox 360. That version gets an extra half star.
Crease her jordans Kazooie
Childhood game, love it.
The fact that there was a time when you could make a game about a bear that carries a bird in a backpack and make it one of the greatest games of all time keeps me going
Mad monster mansion was peak.
Games like this one hit different when you play them in their respective consoles, they are timeless clasic that will never die. Spent all friday and saturday playing it on my Nintendo 64, and had the time of my life. Truly a masterpiece.
im sorry to people who really like this game but,this one’s overrated not to say its badly overrated its just not as good as tooie
also the grunty fight i solo’d on my first try,and y’all said she gave all of u trouble back in the day
also the grunty fight i solo’d on my first try,and y’all said she gave all of u trouble back in the day
5 star review without Rusty Bucket Bay
What can I say what haven't been said about this game yet? It's my favorite game of all time, just the happy vibes I get from the game, the cozy worlds and the challenge are just perfect, nothing difficult and a real N64 classic!
GOAT
One of the only games with great quality on the Nintendo 64, and it is so that Banjo-Kazooie is one of my favorite Nintendo 64 games and one of my favorite 3D platformers of all time! The charm is great, along with the soundtrack, art style, and even the gameplay was astounding all the way through!
Some of the best levels in any 3D platformer I've played and an absolute joy to 100%.
Banjo-Kazooie is a pure blast of platforming joy! The worlds are colorful and creative, the characters are brimming with personality, and the music is absolutely iconic. Collecting Jiggies, learning new moves, and battling Gruntilda is a ton of fun, even if the camera can be a bit clumsy at times. It's a true classic of the N64 era, and any fan of 3D platformers needs to experience it.
Compared to its sequel, Kazooie is much tighter and focused, the mechanics rival similar games of its era like SM64 and being quite a bit shorter is very replayable. That said, I personally struggled to get into it and found the 'high score' system for notes a really puzzling (pun not intended) choice. Maybe I'll try the port that removes it one day?
Excelente juego, por lejos mi favorito de N64
Pas un très grand fan, honnêtement. Par contre l'OST est une merveille, même encore à ce jour
I can see why people love it so much, it’s oozing charm and creativity and is super memorable. That being said I would not have been able to remotely enjoy that without save states. There’s so many frustrating parts and the camara is somehow worse the Mario 64.
The 30 something Nintendo Youtubers were sadly onto something with this one
I'll preface this review by saying that I played Banjo-Kazooie on the original N64 when I was a kid and on the Xbox, Switch, and emulator more recently. In short, an amazing early 3D platformer and one that deserves your time to this day. If Super Mario 64 was the birth of the genre, Banjo-Kazooie was the first evolution. The game breathed new life by satisfyingly combining platforming with exploration, puzzle solving, story/character interactions and an ABSOLUTELY BANGER SOUNDTRACK. SM64, the hallmark of the time, I would say is the better game in terms of strict platforming, but it doesn't hold a candle to Banjo-Kazooie when it comes to any of these other factors. This is a game which you can really tell was made with charm and style forefront in mind, from its quirky cast of characters (with their iconic, and frankly genius, dialogue audio) to its inspired and thematic level designs. In what other game can you get a game over screen where a green witch who only speaks in rhymes steals your kidnapped sister's beauty and transforms into a stereotypical hot woman? These sort of touches are what makes Banjo-Kazooie a gem among its peers which stands out even in the modern era. I could wax poetical on this game all day so I'll end it with this: Banjo got into Smash get fucked everyone who told me he wouldnt.
Recipe for a Great Game
Ingredients:
-Extremely high fun factor
-Well-designed levels (size perfectly, place collectibles well)
-Fantastic, delightful music
-Some of the best graphics on the console
-A fuckton of silly charm
Directions:
-Mix well.
---------------------------------------
(only one huge flaw to speak of, we all know what it is; and it was fixed in the Xbox version)
Ingredients:
-Extremely high fun factor
-Well-designed levels (size perfectly, place collectibles well)
-Fantastic, delightful music
-Some of the best graphics on the console
-A fuckton of silly charm
Directions:
-Mix well.
---------------------------------------
(only one huge flaw to speak of, we all know what it is; and it was fixed in the Xbox version)
Played on N64/replayed on Xbox One(Rare Replay)
Classic in every sense of the word, great graphics and tight, varied gameplay, a staple for both Rare and the N64 as a whole .
Grunty's castle just begs to be explored to it's fullest, every stage brims with life and interesting characters and is sharply written overall, with Grunty being a standout villian you love to hate, music is also fantastic and iconic
Minor complaints would be having to recollect musical notes on death (remedied in the Xbox version) not a big fan of the end game quiz section and the final boss does ask alot of the player in regards to collectables but I didnt mind as that's kind of the point of the game, final boss really tests your skills which is appreciated and very satisfying to complete
Maybe someday we will get a true successor to this franchise but this is one I love to return to time and time again, a must play for any N64/Xbox owner and an example 3d platformers should strive to follow
10/10
Classic in every sense of the word, great graphics and tight, varied gameplay, a staple for both Rare and the N64 as a whole .
Grunty's castle just begs to be explored to it's fullest, every stage brims with life and interesting characters and is sharply written overall, with Grunty being a standout villian you love to hate, music is also fantastic and iconic
Minor complaints would be having to recollect musical notes on death (remedied in the Xbox version) not a big fan of the end game quiz section and the final boss does ask alot of the player in regards to collectables but I didnt mind as that's kind of the point of the game, final boss really tests your skills which is appreciated and very satisfying to complete
Maybe someday we will get a true successor to this franchise but this is one I love to return to time and time again, a must play for any N64/Xbox owner and an example 3d platformers should strive to follow
10/10
n64 banger
Banjo and Kazooie are a hilarious duo, with one being an easy-going bear who's okay with the cartoon hell he exists in, and the other a very cynical bird who makes people hate her almost as fast as she'll hate them.
The two are a hilarious duo in a creatively worked out collect-a-thon that still feels good to play in the modern day. With each puzzle being creatively planned, yet challenging and each world having a fun theme within a witches castle, it's no wonder Banjo-Kazooie still manages to be a classic game that just feels fun
The two are a hilarious duo in a creatively worked out collect-a-thon that still feels good to play in the modern day. With each puzzle being creatively planned, yet challenging and each world having a fun theme within a witches castle, it's no wonder Banjo-Kazooie still manages to be a classic game that just feels fun
Ahhhhh, that’s what all the YouTubers meant.
rare, why did we ever let xbox take you