This game was a late addition to my collection, I ordered it from eBay a couple of years ago. When I played it, I wondered how I had let this true gem of a platformer elude me for so long. Despite the advancements of modern gaming, I was still impressed by the huge, expansion, and intricate worlds that Rare managed to create on Nintendo 64 hardware.
Coming off of just playing Banjo-Kazooie, there were a few little things that caught my attention. The animation is improved, giving the characters even more personality. Banjo's backpack loosely bounces around as he walks and moves, something I actually didn't really notice before. His shadow is now the shape of his body instead of just a circle, and is cast across the floor and walls based on nearby light sources. The texture work in the original game was already very good, so there isn't much difference in that aspect.
It didn't take long before I stopped thinking about the game in terms of its technical feats and became immersed in its world. I jumped into the first level, the Mayan Temple, and started the search for jiggies. Running up the hills and steps to the other side of the level, I came across Mumbo's Skull and remembered that he is a playable character this time around. Deciding to start there, I gave him the little creature wandering around his hut, and set off with the little skull-headed freak. I came across the Mumbo Pad, and used his magic to take control of the giant gold statue. There's something about the way that the statue kicks at enemies and breakable objects that I find looks funny. It's these kind of moments which make every world in the game a unique and enjoyable experience.
A half hour doesn't do this game justice. Wanting to complete the level as much as I could, I played for two straight hours and got 8/10 jiggies. I may yet have to continue with this one. I was quickly relieved when I remembered how much better the collecting aspects were in this game. Feathers and eggs are now found in bunches, so having to run around and restock them is never a worry. Notes and Jinjos no longer must be found all in one run. which is made a good thing all the more when you consider that the worlds in Banjo-Tooie are at least twice the size of those in the original. The warp points are a welcome addition as well, making traversing the levels much easier.
This is a sequel which really surprised me. The vast worlds and intricate graphics and effects had me in disbelief of what could be accomplished on the Nintendo 64. Lots of new moves and tweaks were added to Banjo's moveset, which gave variety to every task. Even my complaints about the first game have all been addressed. It almost feels like someone designed this game specifically for me. Aren't I special?
Score: 10/10
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Banjo-Kazooie
Hi all!
I never owned this one back during its time. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure some of you would consider that to be blasphemy, but what can I say? I actually never even HEARD of it, but this was before the widespread days of the Internet, and I never heard anyone talk about it. It wasn't until I started collecting that I bought this game. I completed it then, but I haven't really played it since that time.
Some may call this game an evolution of Super Mario 64, which is true in some ways. To me, it's quite different, and feels more like an adventure game. That's no criticism of the game, it's more like an observation. Banjo doesn't really have any spectacular jumps or much variety in that area, so it doesn't contain much in the way of pure platformer action. The worlds are quite open, with a number of tasks to accomplish, which can often be completed in any order you choose. This is a pretty big deviation from the more clear-cut goals of the "go from point A to point B" structure that a platformer typically has, but it works.
Starting up the game, the first thing that hit me was how catchy the music is. I'm surprised I had forgotten about it in the first place, and it's stuck in my head as I write this. There's no way to skip the opening tutorial of sorts, which I wanted to do because I still remembered the moves. After that, I jumped into Mumbo's Mountain wondering if I could complete it within the half-hour that I planned on playing. As I wandered around the level collecting everything and finding the new moves, it was all coming back to me. I rounded up the final notes and got the last jiggy, then exited the world at the forty-minute mark for playing the game.
I'd forgotten how enjoyable this game can be. I'm actually tempted to continue with it, but I'm not sure. What really brings this game down is that it has one too many collectibles. Mostly, that would be the 100 notes on each level that annoy me. Since they must all be collected in the same run, it can be a real chore in the later levels which have a few places with cheap deaths. There's also the Jinjos, I hate those little colourful creatures.
Still, I've missed this game. I've completed it just the one time when I bought it, so it is still kind of fresh on my mind. Forty minutes wasn't enough, I kept going and went on to Treasure Trove Cove. There were a few jiggies here that I remembered being annoying... but I actually didn't have much trouble collecting all of the jiggies and notes. I think this one took about forty minutes as well. It's got me wonder though... The reason I haven't tried playing this game again is because of the parts that I found to be a chore. What if that would no longer be the case? Maybe now that I know almost everything about the game, or would remember it when I got to that part, perhaps it wouldn't be so much trouble on a second time through?
Of course, there's also that playing through this will delay my quest to play every game, which I am already pretty behind on. I guess I'll just have to live with that. Banjo-Kazooie is a well-crafted platformer/adventure game that would please fans of either game type. It has a few small flaws which are now more apparent than ever, but it stands the test of time.
Score: 8/10
-Mop_it_up
I never owned this one back during its time. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure some of you would consider that to be blasphemy, but what can I say? I actually never even HEARD of it, but this was before the widespread days of the Internet, and I never heard anyone talk about it. It wasn't until I started collecting that I bought this game. I completed it then, but I haven't really played it since that time.
Some may call this game an evolution of Super Mario 64, which is true in some ways. To me, it's quite different, and feels more like an adventure game. That's no criticism of the game, it's more like an observation. Banjo doesn't really have any spectacular jumps or much variety in that area, so it doesn't contain much in the way of pure platformer action. The worlds are quite open, with a number of tasks to accomplish, which can often be completed in any order you choose. This is a pretty big deviation from the more clear-cut goals of the "go from point A to point B" structure that a platformer typically has, but it works.
Starting up the game, the first thing that hit me was how catchy the music is. I'm surprised I had forgotten about it in the first place, and it's stuck in my head as I write this. There's no way to skip the opening tutorial of sorts, which I wanted to do because I still remembered the moves. After that, I jumped into Mumbo's Mountain wondering if I could complete it within the half-hour that I planned on playing. As I wandered around the level collecting everything and finding the new moves, it was all coming back to me. I rounded up the final notes and got the last jiggy, then exited the world at the forty-minute mark for playing the game.
I'd forgotten how enjoyable this game can be. I'm actually tempted to continue with it, but I'm not sure. What really brings this game down is that it has one too many collectibles. Mostly, that would be the 100 notes on each level that annoy me. Since they must all be collected in the same run, it can be a real chore in the later levels which have a few places with cheap deaths. There's also the Jinjos, I hate those little colourful creatures.
Still, I've missed this game. I've completed it just the one time when I bought it, so it is still kind of fresh on my mind. Forty minutes wasn't enough, I kept going and went on to Treasure Trove Cove. There were a few jiggies here that I remembered being annoying... but I actually didn't have much trouble collecting all of the jiggies and notes. I think this one took about forty minutes as well. It's got me wonder though... The reason I haven't tried playing this game again is because of the parts that I found to be a chore. What if that would no longer be the case? Maybe now that I know almost everything about the game, or would remember it when I got to that part, perhaps it wouldn't be so much trouble on a second time through?
Of course, there's also that playing through this will delay my quest to play every game, which I am already pretty behind on. I guess I'll just have to live with that. Banjo-Kazooie is a well-crafted platformer/adventure game that would please fans of either game type. It has a few small flaws which are now more apparent than ever, but it stands the test of time.
Score: 8/10
-Mop_it_up
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