Retro Review: Banjo-Tooie

When I first played the original Banjo-Kazooie in 1998, I loved it. Everything about the Nintendo 64 classic-game play, graphics, music, challenge, and appealing humor-was superb, and helped to solidify my love for Rareware. Naturally, I was excited when, soon after the game's release, Rare announced that a sequel was in the works. It seemed like an eternity, but when it finally arrived in late 2000, Banjo-Tooie proved to be worth the wait. As it was released near the end of the Nintendo 64's life, Rare was up to the challenge of creating a masterpiece which, along with Conker's Bad Fur Day, would prove to be a fitting exit for the venerable system. I dare say that they succeeded rather well, and I shall share with you the reasons why I think this is the case.

The story begins two years after the events of the first game. Gruntilda the witch, Banjo and Kazooie's archenemy, has been trapped under a heavy boulder, but on a dark and stormy night, her sisters, Mingella and Blobbelda, come to her rescue. Using their magic to destroy the rock, they release Grunty, who is now an animated skeleton. Nevertheless, she decides to use her powers to attack Banjo's house. Witnessing all this is Mumbo Jumbo the shaman, who was playing cards with Banjo, Kazooie, and Bottles the mole when the witches arrived. His timely warning saves the bear and bird from certain doom, but the house is destroyed and Bottles is killed in the process. Now our heroes must stop the three evil witches before they can unleash their ultimate plan: using their B.O.B. (Big O'Blaster) weapon to drain the life forces of everyone on the Isle O'Hags so that Grunty's body can be restored. This tale is certainly darker than that of the first game, and I was surprised that Rare would take this route, but it makes for a situation that requires urgent action.

If you have played Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie possesses the same basic type of game play. The eight worlds that our heroes will need to visit can only be unlocked by collecting Jiggies-golden jigsaw pieces-that have been hidden in many locations. As before, Jiggies can be found in hard-to-reach places that require new moves (more on that later), given as prizes for completing mini games, given as rewards for aiding various characters, and offered to you after defeating bosses. Each world has ten Jiggies for you to find, but unlike the first game, you will be unable to collect them all in one shot in most worlds. A number of jigsaws will require you to learn a new move or solve a puzzle in a later world. This time, the worlds are connected, and you will often unlock a route that takes you from one world to another. The Jiggies are often harder to collect than the previous game, as well, so you can look forward to an even greater challenge here.

Our heroes will have to master a lot of moves in order to accomplish each task. They actually begin the adventure with all of the moves that they learned in the last game, and there is an optional tutorial session for people who have not played Banjo-Kazooie or who need a reminder of how the moves work. However, you will not be limited to these basic moves. Early in the game, you will meet Drill Sergeant Jamjars, Bottles' brother, who takes over the deceased mole's duties of teaching Banjo and Kazooie over twenty brand new moves. They range from shooting eggs in first person mode, to wearing shoes that let you walk up walls in certain spots, and even changing Kazooie into a hand held gun and letting you take on first person shooter challenges (there are not many to be found, but what there are of them are loads of fun). You will need musical notes to learn the moves, and this time, they can be found in nests of five, and sometimes twenty, notes apiece. Unlike the first game, the notes do not regenerate when you exit and re-enter a level, so you are no longer forced to pick them all up in one visit.

While Banjo and Kazooie will do plenty of adventuring together, there are times when they will need to separate and go exploring on their own. Using special pads, the duo can split up, allowing you to control either character. A lot of tasks can only be completed by either Banjo or Kazooie, or sometimes both characters if the need to divide the work between the two arises. This gives the game even more variety than the first title as the solo challenges are often exciting and make you think a little harder. Switching between the two characters is a simple matter of pressing the A button while on a split up pad or conveniently-placed swap clouds, and reuniting them is as easy as having them touch each other.

Sometimes, magic is needed to complete challenges or unlock new parts of a world, and that is where two talented magicians come into play. Mumbo Jumbo becomes a playable character this time, and his powers can be used on pads with his face on it to cause all sorts of amazing things to happen. He can bring a golden statue to life, make things grow, make it possible for Banjo and Kazooie to breathe underwater, and more. For transformation spells, our heroes will turn to Humba Wumba, who can change them into such things as a dinosaur, a van, and even a washing machine. Most transformations come with methods of attack as well as other benefits that are needed to help you get the Jiggies that you need. Both Mumbo and Humba require a pink creature called a Glowbo in order to help you in each world. Luckily, most of them can be found not far from where the magicians dwell.

In addition to Jiggies, Glowbos, and notes, there are plenty of other items to collect. The Jinjos have been scattered throughout the land once more, and our heroes must try to come to their rescue. As before, they are hidden well in every world, but the Jinjo system works a little differently here. This time, you are awarded a Jiggy only when a Jinjo family has been reunited. Each family is a different color, and there are 1-9 members in a family. The Jinjos are always in the same places, but each play through has a random Jinjo in a certain place (ex. a red Jinjo in one play through might be replaced by a black Jinjo in another run through). Also, you can collect eggs for attacking and feathers for flying and invincibility. For added protection, you can pick up empty honeycombs and give them to Honey B. for more energy. Lastly, you can find spell book pages that can help you unlock cheats that make the game a little easier.

The worlds in Banjo-Tooie easily dwarf those found in Banjo-Kazooie. They are massive, with lots of ground to cover and many tasks to accomplish. Rare wisely decided to reduce the amount of time to travel from one part of a world to another by placing warp pads throughout the worlds. Once activated, these pads can warp you to any other active pad in the same level. Most worlds have five pads for convenient warping when you need it. Also, you will often discover signposts that can give you valuable hints on how to perform a variety of tasks.

One of the best parts of the game is the amount of humor to be found. Practically every chance that they get, Rare offers a joke or gives the characters' witty remarks to say. Oftentimes, the fourth wall is broken, such as one point when someone is about to curse, and Banjo reminds him that they are in a family friendly game. References to other Rare games can be found in many places, and there is even a Mario reference hidden somewhere (this was back when Rare and Nintendo were close). This is a fine example of the charm that Rare offers to make their games really stand out, and as per usual, they succeed.

As you play the main adventure, you can unlock features that you can replay from the main menu. There are lots of exciting mini games to play, from first person shooting challenges to kickball games and even one that requires you to destroy germs. Also, you can rematch any boss that you have defeated, and the fights here are nothing short of epic. You can fight a pair of dragons, an inflatable dinosaur, and even a nearsighted welding torch, and each battle is challenging and filled with clever twists. For multiple players, you can challenge each other to the various mini games and see which of you will come out on top. This gives the game a lot of replay value that will certainly have you coming back for more.

There is a lot to love about Banjo-Tooie, and I have already mentioned plenty of its superb features. As for other such positive aspects, the challenge level is higher this time around, though many of the tasks are still not terribly tough. The game has a nonlinear feel, so you can complete the worlds in any order you wish, and you are not forced to collect every single Jiggy, note, etc. in the game if you do not wish to do so. Many of the challenges are fun and clever, there are many surprises to be found, and the Rare charm really shines through. About the only complaints that I have regarding the game play is that some tasks are tedious and require some backtracking, though the warp pads make them a bit easier to swallow; and the Stop and Swop mystery is not really solved here. As a whole, however, this game has taken its rightful place as one of Rare's greatest masterpieces.

For a game that does not require the Expansion Pak, Banjo-Tooie looks better than its predecessor. The environments look beautiful, the lighting is improved, and our heroes now have a realistic shadow instead of a circular one. Granted, the improved graphics result in more slowdown and slightly longer loading times, but I can live with it. The music is as wonderfully goofy as ever, and most impressively, the world music changes from one arrangement to another seamlessly as you explore. The cartoon voices return, and they are still amusing. Rare is often known to turn their games into visual and audio masterpieces, and this is no exception.

Banjo-Tooie stands as one of the last great Nintendo 64 games, as well as one of Rare's last great classics. After this and Conker, they began to go downhill with Star Fox Adventures. The sequel to Banjo-Kazooie is nothing short of spectacular, and remains one of my all-time favorite games. If you wish to experience the original version for the Nintendo 64, track down a copy on e-bay or someplace. If you must play it on the Xbox 360, then download it from the Live Arcade store. Either way, you are in for an amazing journey filled with humor, challenge, and loads of fun. Now if only Rare would release a real "Banjo-Threeie" or something other than a vehicle-based game so that the bear and bird may return to their former glory...