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Banjo Kazooie (Nintendo 64) discussion [game]
 
Banjo Kazooie on the Nintendo 64
9.1/10 from 63 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for Banjo Kazooie on the N64!

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So I had some Microsoft Points to burn, and instead of downloading some highly-acclaimed, new LIVE ARCADE game, I opted for an old N64 favorite from back in the day. Why? I dunno. I guess I was feelin' the nostalgia bug this weekend or something. Whatever.

I was honestly kind of expecting to have buyer's remorse... I mean, the game was great, but was it the kind of game that really stands the test of time? Well, after having put in several hours last night (and unlocking a handful of achievements) I can safely say that, YES, the game is still good. Great, even.

Now I think I want to try out the sequel, Banjo-Tooie, a game I regret to admit that I've never played. I can't remember exactly why I didn't play it, considering I like the original so much. I think at the time, I was a poor college student, so I had to really cut back on my expenses. (I remember wanting buy, but not being able to afford, games like Excitebike 64, Ogre Battle 64, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day and others as well)

So, for those that HAVE played the sequel, is it as good? Worth downloading? It's only like, $10, I think... so either way I guess it's worth checking out, at least. Right? Or should I not even bother, and just stick with the original game and pick up something else on LIVE?

B... Banjo-Kazooie fans.... unite?

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09/20/10, 21:12  
 
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A lot of people disliked Tooie (compared to Kazooie), but I thought it was pretty good. What I played of it. It's a bit different, but it's also kind of crazy ambitious.

I had the opposite reaction to the XBLA demos, though. I can't go back to those games.

Does anyone know what Rare did with Tooie's multiplayer on the 360 port?
09/20/10, 21:20   
Edited: 09/20/10, 21:21
I loved the first, I wonder if I could go back to it though? Unfortunately I may never find out, as I sold it during a period of unemployment where I sold a bunch of games... I now regret this.

Only played the second a bit at a cousin's house. It wasn't bad or anything, not sure why I never gave it a real chance (other than not owning it, but why didn't I own the sequel to a game I loved?!)
09/20/10, 21:32   
I loved the first one, but for some reason I never played Tooie on the N64. I eventually downloaded it when it came to XBLA, and I think it's a little too ambitious for its own good. I feel like the worlds are too big or something. Whatever the case, I never finished it despite being hugely excited for its release.

Banjo-Kazooie is still awesome though. And so is Nuts & Bolts -- don't believe the hate.
09/20/10, 21:41   
I always liked Banjo-Kazooie better than Super Mario 64. I need to go back and play it again. I rented Banjo-Tooie, but did not finish it, nor have he urge to purchase it. I don't even remember why, but I didn't like it as much as Banjo-Kazooie.
09/20/10, 22:00   
Haha, everyone is ambivalent about Tooie for weird, ephemeral reasons. We should try to figure out why (and expand the discussion to include DK64). I think having collectibles scattered across the whole world (instead of just self-contained in each level) was one part of it.
09/20/10, 22:12   
Banjo-Tooie was just too...massive. It was tedious getting from one point to the other.
09/20/10, 22:39   
Zero said:
I loved the first, I wonder if I could go back to it though? Unfortunately I may never find out, as I sold it during a period of unemployment where I sold a bunch of games... I now regret this.

Only played the second a bit at a cousin's house. It wasn't bad or anything, not sure why I never gave it a real chance (other than not owning it, but why didn't I own the sequel to a game I loved?!)

You should go back to it. If you can still go back to SM64 then BK will be no problem.

Getting the HD remake of BK gives it a bit more kick to it, but yea the N64 version still holds up, I played some of it again last summer. Such a great game.
09/20/10, 22:41   
I didn't even know it had collectibles scattered across the whole world.

Actually, thinking back on it, I suspected something and right now went and confirmed it. It came out November 2000. I had moved into my dorm in September? 2000 and never got around to setting up a TV, so I barely played video games the whole 9 months I lived there. I remember buying Majora's Mask and not finishing it until after I moved back home because I had nowhere to play at school, and I think I bought ExciteBike 64 because I saw it super cheap at the Blockbuster by my school, but those were probably the only two video games I bought while away at school.

And then Gamecube came out in 2001, so... I dunno. Maybe not necessarily lack of interest but just bad timing for me and Tooie, I suppose.

Donkey Kong 64, on the other hand, I know why I disliked that game. Going into the same areas 5 different times with 5 different monkeys (and/or chimps, apes, etc.) to collect 5 different colors of bananas? No thanks.
09/20/10, 22:41   
Edited: 09/20/10, 22:45
Tooie is not as good as Kazooie for the following reasons:

*The levels are too big, and Rare made a huge mistake in listening to the whiners about the collecting in Kazooie and took a lot of it out. The result is that the pacing of the game is all out of whack. You're going around in these huge worlds with not nearly enough to do. Banjo is a big, oafy bear and it takes him forever to get anywhere in these big worlds. If anything, they should have added MORE collecting to Tooie to compensate for the ginormous worlds in the game. That was my biggest complaint with the game. Bad pacing.

*The graphics are actually inferior to Kazooie. I noticed this the first time I saw the game demoed at TRU when it came out. The graphics are not as good and the framerate on the N64 version was pretty bad. I've heard they've fixed the framerate for the XBLA version and they cleaned up the graphics and it runs in HD now, so that stuff shouldn't be as much of a problem.

For $10, I would recommend picking it up still as it still is a fun game, despite its overly-ambitious worlds and pacing issues. Someday, when I get a 360, I will most likely buy both of them, unless of course Microsoft decides to support the 3DS with Rare's old games. *prays*
09/20/10, 23:08   
Banjo-Tooie is an incredibly worthwhile sequel, and in some respects I think it tops the original. The memorable goofball characters are present to make you smile, and the mini-games and platforming feel just as rewarding as ever. I too prefer the first game, but Tooie still feels like an ambitious and charming platformer all the same.
09/21/10, 00:05   
I just played it over and fully beat it the other week. I bested my time. Love some Banjo. I enjoyed Tooie very much too-ie. However as bpumpkin777 stated, the levels are pretty huge. I did once in a while wish I could move around more quickly but still I had a lot of fun. Definitely play it GDG.
09/21/10, 00:09   
I loved the original and did 100% it but never got around to trying Tooie.

You have got me playing Nuts and Bolts again now as I haven't really given it much of a chance before. I think I might be hooked now and am really enjoying it.
09/21/10, 00:10   
Banjo-Kazooie is an AWESOME game and has held up very well in my eyes. The soundtrack in particular is one of gaming's greatest.

Not enough people have played Tooie, apparently. I like it quite a bit. At times it's a little too ambitious for its own good and some of the worlds are pretty massive, but as far as platforming/explory games go, it's solid. One of my big gripes about it back in the day was that the framerate was rather bad in several spots, but if they cleaned that up on the Xbox version, then great. The visuals, otherwise, are really nice for the N64, and the soundtrack is good as well. The game's chock full of innuendo (unlike the first, which was a little subtler). Not sure how well it has held up over time--some of the Jiggies are a little convoluted to get (switch to Mumbo to bring the train through this world into another world, etc), but it'll last you awhile. There's less "stuff" to grab but oddly, more stuff to do, so it can still feel overwhelming at times.

I still liked it a lot, particularly several of the stages: Witchyworld, Jolly Roger Lagoon, Terrydactylland, Hailfire Peaks, and Cloud Cuckooland.
09/21/10, 00:11   
I bought both on XBLA, and I dislike both. This was my first time ever playing them (I 100% Kazooie, got about as far as I could stomach in Tooie before "shelving" it). Just could not stand them at all. I hated the bear, I hated the bird, I hated the humor, I hated the constant fetching and collecting and I really just hated everything about it.
09/21/10, 00:44   
missypissy said:
I hated the bear, I hated the bird, I hated the humor, I hated the constant fetching and collecting and I really just hated everything about it.

missypissy said:
I 100% Kazooie


...

Why?
09/21/10, 00:49   
Loved it since the day it came out. Got it on XBLA and yes, it's still a great game. As for the sequel I actually never got it in the day but was horribly turned off when I saw my friend's game which was at 100%. The amount of stuff in the game is pretty idiotic actually. Rare took the fetch quest to new levels with that game it seems. I also didn't care for mazy/uninspired designs (or so it looked to me).
09/21/10, 00:52   
I love the original game, and probably always will. It's amazing.
09/21/10, 01:15   
Both Banjo games have a lot of fun gimmicks, gizmos, and games tucked in each world. Tooie might have taken it a few steps further, but the experience didn't feel very contrasting to the original's.

The mini-game where you have to jackhammer away at the A button in a flying race still haunts me though. I never did beat it.
09/21/10, 01:19   
Hm. Sounds like Tooie is a "love-it-or-hate-it" kind of game. I... guess I'll have to check it out for myself. It's only $10. If I hate it... then. Oh well. I'm out $10. *shrugs*

I'm going to try and finish up Kazooie first though. One thing at a time, so to speak.
09/21/10, 03:36   
Banjo Kazooie is imo the best 3D platformer ever made that doesn't have Mario on the box. And even then only Galaxy 2 would I place ahead of it.

Tooie though... I wanted so much to love it however I just didn't dig it. I never even beat it. Rare went off the deep end with the mountains of frivolous shit you had to collect and it lost the beauty of the relatively simple yet fantastic worlds of the original.
09/21/10, 03:43   
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