I greatly enjoyed my time with this game. However, I would not have enjoyed it without save states. It was much more flawed than I was expecting, even for an early 3D game; the fact that music note progress resets upon leaving a level or dying is the worst part.

However, the game was clearly experimental for its time, and there's many great ideas here. The game is especially adept at hiding its collectibles. I'd usually collect about 60-70 notes in a world and half the jiggies, and then spend another hour or two scrounging around for the rest. I especially enjoyed how clever they were with hiding sub-areas throughout each map to give it more depth.

Having played Mario Odyssey just before this, I feel like Odyssey refines this level design concept really well: Big, open playgrounds with loads of collectibles, where you kinda just do whatever's in front of you rather than a specific mission. Only thing I think it could use is more collectibles that provide varied rewards, just like Banjo does with things like feathers, eggs, and jinjos.

Grunty's Lair is the best hub world I've ever seen in a video game. I think the fact that level entrances and level unlocks are separate places really helps the design in this regard; it lets them provide meaningful rewards for exploration throughout the entire lair. There's not a single room that feels like a waste of time.

I enjoy that laying eggs is accompanied by a fart sound effect.

Honestly ? One (if not the best, personally) platformers on the N64. Awesome music (and damn, there's a ton), really attaching characters, a simple story but that does the trick, challenging levels and a really, really good final boss fight.
THOUGH, holy shit does that game plays bad with the camera always looking at the wrong way, banjo and kazooie's slippery feet, THAT DANG PROPELLER SECTION, and the fact you need to play each level without dying once if you want the 100 notes and the 100% ending. Cruel.

I’m going to be honest and say that I did not actually finish this game completely, in that I did not finish the final boss. This is because even with the goodies you get from 100%ing everything else, the final boss is overturned and sucks ass. I think playing it on NSO instead of with the original controller makes it a lot worse than it might have been just because a joystick is a lot fiddlier than the C-buttons and it’s kind of a problem I had with the game generally… egg aiming is just bad in this game, dog. I completed everything else, I did my time, I have seen the ending elsewhere, Grunty can have the win there.

Despite leading this review with a harsh criticism this game is truly peak N64 collectathon! I did my damnedest to get everything and honestly only one or two jiggies stick out in my mind as being truly awful (fuck rusty bucket bay all my homies hate rusty bucket bay outside of the music which whips). Everything else was a lot of fun! Everything is so charming and it generally feels really good to play. The levels aren’t the most original in theming but they have fun little touches to them, like Clanker the gigantic cyborg sharkwhale who’s forced to eat trash as the resident of the sewer level.

Banjo and Kazooie also have fun dialogue, especially Kazooie, and man the Mumbo transformations are cute as fuck. I love the little gator the most even if he has the worst minigame. Honestly I didn’t actually find the majority of the minigames that bad in this one but Mr. Vile can fuck right off.

As stated previously, the music is good as hell. Grant Kirkhope’s work is so good, man. I remember actually getting the soundtrack as a child and dancing around my living room to the CD on repeat, and it absolutely holds up. There is not a single bad song in there dude it’s sooo good.

I am hoping the NSO gets Tooie at some point because I did find myself missing some of the QoL features from that game like first-person aiming and notes staying collected, because holy shit Click Clock Woods nearly defeated me. I would not have finished it if not for save states and I only got the last three notes by pure chance. If I had to replay the entire level again for three notes I would simply not have. I don’t actually think it’s required for every reward but it’s the principle of the thing you know? Outside of that, though, I thought the number and challenge on the collectibles was entirely reasonable which is perhaps not the case for Tooie. I’ll have to replay it myself to say for sure.

Still, this game is great and absolutely holds up, it’s worth playing!

Bater de frente com Super Mario 64 não é pra qualquer um. E Banjo-Kazooie consegue ir além com seu carisma e jogabilidade que lembra um metroidvania na maneira como elas vão sendo liberadas. Visualmente envelheceu bem, o que é um feito e tanto, os jogos de N64 são bem sofríveis. A câmera em alguns momentos vai causar problemas. Tem hora que a física meio estranha vai te derrubar de algum lugar alto super chato de chegar. Mas nada disso tira a satisfação que é jogar esse collectathon que não se tem mais hoje em dia.

One of the all-time greats, plain and simple. Given that, and given its status as the blockbuster release of the Summer of '98, it's a remarkably humble little adventure (up until the point where they announce a sequel within the game itself - but by that point B-K's earned a little swagger). The actual focus of the game is on exploration, not action, but it always feels good to explore the game's worlds (well, maybe you have to psych yourself up for Clanker's Cavern and Rusty Bucket Bay). It's difficult for me to define the appeal of the game otherwise, but it really is something you have to sit down with and see for yourself.

What's really impressive to me on revisit is how complete the game is, knowing how many more features they wanted to put in. Everyone knows about Stop 'n' Swop these days, but there's also stuff like the unused worlds and the planned second quest. The game still hints at all of these things, but the game doesn't feel like it's missing something by their absence - as it is, it's a great, well-paced little adventure. The only thing that feels off is the strange maximum Note total - 900 rather than a round thousand - but even that's excusable as an eccentricity.

Grunty's Furnace Fun is quite simply one of the greatest sequences in all of gaming, especially if you're not briefed going in. Holy moly, was that a fun surprise on my first playthrough.

fun game but holy shit is it awful to control, not the best game/level design, notes reset when you die, rusty bucket bay...

but other than all that it was pretty fun and unique and some of the parkour and puzzles were really cool. loved most of the levels and the music was all really good, and for the most part the mechanics are fun when they work.

as someone who loves collectables and 100%ing games, this should theoretically be perfect for me, but the controls and gameplay are so finnicky, mainly the CAMERA, which makes me want to smash my computer

A masterpiece of 3D platforming. The characters are all charming, funny, and full of personality. The music is top-notch with a silly overtone. The story is simple but Gruntilda's regular heckling makes for an engaging villain. The moves you learn are fun to pull off. The star here, and what makes me love the game so much, is the level design. Each world is compact, yet expansive at the same time and dense with collectibles. Each level is very fun to explore, and some make for great challenges (Treasure Trove Cove, Mad Monster Mansion, and Rusty Bucket Bay in particular). The only frustrating bit is your collected Notes not saving in the original release.

Still, this game is so awesome, it never gets old. It's one of my favorite games of all time and it'll always hold a special place in my heart. I dressed as Banjo for Halloween as a kid, I always use to sketch the Banjo and Kazooie in my notebooks and I've played it many times over through my life. An absolute classic.