I have always been fond of the Banjo-Kazooie series. I've been playing since the first one on the Nintendo 64 and I was certainly more excited for Banjo-Tooie than I was of any other game on that platform (yes, that includes Majora's Mask and Pokémon Stadium 2). I read every single theory on Stop 'N' Swop I could find on the internet, and I made my brother input the sandcastle floor codes on his file because I was so scared of losing my game data. When I heard that they were being ported to the XBLA, I gobbled them up there as well, itching to obtain all the achievements as fast as possible to show my love of the series. However, before they were re-released, another sequel in the series was released; Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (hereby known as N+B).
Now, I realize that it was a rather large departure from the series norm -- run here, collect here, beat up here. With N+B, they were adding a vehicle building engine and everything became vehicle-based. Upon the game's reveal, a large majority of series fans were rather disappointed. I will admit I was a bit disappointed; what would then happen to the days of simple collecting and learning moves? Regardless, I pre-ordered that shit as fast as I pre-order the next Sonic game.
I will admit I was disappointed by the beginning of the game. Though the story intro is rather amusing, it basically attempts to explain where the bear and bird have been for almost a decade: eating a lot of food and doing a whole lot of nothing. As such, they are overweight and have forgotten all their moves. Add in L.O.G. and his desire to return BK to their former glory and there's your story. It's very light, very basic, and all the mystery the series had behind its characters is kinda lost. Regardless, the dialogue is much more entertaining this time around and there are some new characters. But then the vehicle building begins.
At first, you are given a small amount of parts to build basic crafts, as well as some starter pre-built vehicles and their blueprints. It feels all kind of narrow and simplistic. That is, until you're let free to run around Showdown Town, the game's hub world. You begin to discover Mumbo crates that offer more parts and they are strewn about the town -- all 57 of them need collected and brought back to Mumbo's motors! This one aspect was extremely exciting for me, as each box contained a mystery (that usually paid off). Once you get so many parts, it becomes the open-ended racing game of the year.
I will admit that the game "worlds", while bigger, don't actually feel bigger. They are HUGE on foot, but the vehicle aspect puts them on a much smaller scale. What is ultimately disappointing is the lack of depth these levels lack. There just aren't a lot of secret areas and most of them just feel cluttered. Not to say that they aren't fun! Each level holds its own quirk that makes it feel different than the others and the style is just simply beautiful.
I also have to say that the way things are set up is a bit boring. You enter different Acts of one game world that have a certain amount of Jiggies to win and Jinjos to find. After a while, even though the game's challenges are decently varied, races become tedious and other tasks become a matter of just upgrading previous saved blueprints with new parts you've obtained.
No, I suppose the real fun of the game, the one thing that will desire you finish and get as many Jiggies as possible are the vehicle parts. The game's engine allows for so many possibilities and it's fun to just sit and make vehicles that serve no purpose whatsoever. I spent a large amount of time building things like space shuttles and commercial jets and rocket biplanes that could carry large parts of the scenery. The real fun is found outside of the game's challenges, and its real depth shines here.
I would strongly recommend that if you were a fan of the series before, you should give this game a try. Though it may not feel like Banjo-Tooie's proper sequel, the characters and humor are still there. Deep down it's trying to feel like a Banjo-Kazooie game with vehicles, which is everything Rare said it was.
Pros:
Deep, complex building system
Collecting still exists!
Great characters and entertaining sense of humor
Cons:
Feels a bit demanding/repetitive
Things sometimes feel cluttered and frustrating
Not recommended if you don't like vehicle-based games
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