Banjo- Kazooie

November 19,2008 - The original Banjo- Kazooie was a pleasant surprise in the Nintendo 64 era, offering up an adventure full of originality, excitement, and creativity. It is only fitting then for Rare to release one of its most beloved games onto Xbox Live Arcade for many new gamers to enjoy. Surprisingly enough, Banjo- Kazooie holds up well by today's standards, and although the camera could have used some fine-tuning, the game is still as addictive as it ever was nearly eleven years ago.

The game begins with Banjo returning home to find his sister, Tootie, has been kidnapped by Gruntilda. Gruntilda plans on utilizing a secret potion which will in turn make her beautiful while turning Banjo's sister into an ugly witch. The story is quite charming, and you will in fact get to see the transformation take place if you happen to die at any point during the game. Whatever the outcome, the basic concept of the game is to travel to various worlds and collect enough jiggies to reach Gruntilda's lair and defeat her to save Tootie.

The worlds themselves are quite varied, with each level focusing on a specific theme. One world is modeled after a horror movie, so naturally you will fight evil-looking enemies and work your way across spider-webs and bat infested chimneys. Other interesting worlds take you to the Egyptian desert, underwater caverns, and bug-infested swamps. Every level is uniquely designed to be different from the next, so never expect the same action or objectives in any two levels.

Part of the fun of Banjo- Kazooie is transforming into various animals and objects in order to tackle certain puzzles. Mumbo Jumbo, the notorious voodoo man, will reward you with special traits by collecting jiggies and jinjos (small-colored birds) scattered around every world. Transformations include turning into a crocodile (to easily pass the murky swamp waters), a walrus (to help with swimming great distances), and even a pumpkin to help light your way in the dark. These transformations can be obtained at any time after unlocked, and can be combined to open new doors and objectives.

Banjo- Kazooie is in ways very similar to Mario 64. You have to collect a certain amount of jiggies in order to advance further in the game, and musical notes are also available to collect which can open secret doors. Like red coins, jinjos are found in every level which when collected; reward you with a jiggie as well. Similarities aside, Banjo- Kazooie differentiates from Mario 64 with its oddball humor, often degrading players when they do a bad job at a task or giving hilariously engaging rhyming texts to encourage you to play on.

The controls seemed to have hit a snag in the re-creation process, because they never seemed to have been this flustered. There are times when controlling Banjo's transformed state becomes a hassle, and to make matters worse, the camera often swings wildly around every which way, making it impossible to see enemies or level boundaries. Of course, this scenario often forces an otherwise untimely death, and it’s a shame to fathom this scenario in an otherwise solid re-creation of an enjoyable title. 

A new feature, entitled "Stop and Swop" has also been included with allows you to uncover items within Banjo- Kazooie (and later Banjo- Tooie) to unlock hidden areas within Nuts & Bolts.  Its an unique idea which will surely lengthen your adventure a bit more given you spend enough time looking for these hidden items and figuring out how they implement into each game respectively. 

With a solid level design, unique transformation mechanic, and plenty of loveable charm, Banjo- Kazooie still holds up well to the stringent of today's gaming market.  If you can look past the shaky camera then you will be in for a treat, as Banjo- Kazooie is still loads better than Rare's latest effort, Nuts & Bolts.

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