I don't really have a funny anecdote or some sincere personal history with this game to overshare. I rented it once as a kid and I hated it, then I went most of my whole adult life until a few years ago not really thinking about Banjo-Kazooie at all. When I committed to building a physical N64 collection, I wanted to be thorough. Anything I had played as a kid or that was generally associated with the N64 in particular? Well, I was going to pick that up.
Mostly I think Banjo-Kazooie is mediocre, but I was never enamored with the collect-a-thon genre to begin with. Even during their heyday I was pretty upset that platformers had largely shifted focus from having well designed levels that drove the player forward to sandboxes full of collectables you had to tick off a checklist. But people ate this shit up, and Rare was always ready with another heaping spoonful of slop.
Banjo-Kazooie is at least the least offensive collect-a-thon I've played that doesn't have "Mario" in the title. Rare's unique sense of humor shines through as always, and aesthetically it's not hard to see why people fall for Banjo-Kazooie's charm. It's a pretty good looking game for the N64, and if you hate Grant Kirkhope's excellent soundtrack then I'm afraid I need to check to see if you actually have warm blood running through your veins.
It then almost goes without saying that most of my issues are with the gameplay. This criticism is one that can largely be blown up to encapsulate my issues with the genre as a whole, but I just don't find the structure of these games to be appealing. Running around and initiating dull little minigames to get yet another jiggy isn't my idea of a good time. Having to collect every musical note in one smooth run only highlights some of the design shortcomings of some stages and amplify control and camera issues, and yeah maybe this one is on me trying to get 100% completion knowing full well all it unlocks is an advertisement for a cut feature.
I did really enjoy the gameshow sequence, and while I think there is just a bit too much fat with the amount of things you have to collect, it is comparatively a much more focused game than its sequel.
I am out of things to say about this fucking video game.
Mostly I think Banjo-Kazooie is mediocre, but I was never enamored with the collect-a-thon genre to begin with. Even during their heyday I was pretty upset that platformers had largely shifted focus from having well designed levels that drove the player forward to sandboxes full of collectables you had to tick off a checklist. But people ate this shit up, and Rare was always ready with another heaping spoonful of slop.
Banjo-Kazooie is at least the least offensive collect-a-thon I've played that doesn't have "Mario" in the title. Rare's unique sense of humor shines through as always, and aesthetically it's not hard to see why people fall for Banjo-Kazooie's charm. It's a pretty good looking game for the N64, and if you hate Grant Kirkhope's excellent soundtrack then I'm afraid I need to check to see if you actually have warm blood running through your veins.
It then almost goes without saying that most of my issues are with the gameplay. This criticism is one that can largely be blown up to encapsulate my issues with the genre as a whole, but I just don't find the structure of these games to be appealing. Running around and initiating dull little minigames to get yet another jiggy isn't my idea of a good time. Having to collect every musical note in one smooth run only highlights some of the design shortcomings of some stages and amplify control and camera issues, and yeah maybe this one is on me trying to get 100% completion knowing full well all it unlocks is an advertisement for a cut feature.
I did really enjoy the gameshow sequence, and while I think there is just a bit too much fat with the amount of things you have to collect, it is comparatively a much more focused game than its sequel.
I am out of things to say about this fucking video game.
2 Comments
I do rather like Banjo Kazooie itself, but I do think most games that tried to emulate it were pretty unsuccessful, the biggest example being Spyro 2.
On a separate note, having to get all of the notes in one go was actually a hardware limitation and was changed for the later Xbox releases, which certainly makes the game a much better time.
On a separate note, having to get all of the notes in one go was actually a hardware limitation and was changed for the later Xbox releases, which certainly makes the game a much better time.
Archagent
1 year ago