by: Chris Vavra

August 28, 2009

Two years after Banjo-Kazooie, Rare released Banjo-Tooie near the end of the N64’s life cycle in 2000. This title is not as well-known as its predecessor in part because of timing. I admit it had been several years since I had played this game and was curious to see what my reaction would be this time around. Thanks to some framerate and graphics polishing by developer 4J Studios (the same people who cleaned up Kazooie) the game holds up very nicely and is another solid 3-D platforming title. It is certainly deeper and more complicated, but it is also just as fun. Rare adds enough wrinkles to keep the gameplay fresh and make this a worthwhile buy.

The game itself picks up a few years after the original with Banjo and Kazooie going after series villain Gruntilda, who has been resurrected—partially—by her sisters Mingella and Blobbelda. She is just a skeleton now, but her sisters plan to restore her to her original form. Banjo and Kazooie, along with some familiar and new friends, are the only ones who can stop her now. Mumbo Jumbo returns in this game as a playable character—at certain points—and Bottles the Mole has a small role, as well. New characters include Jamjars, Bottles’s brother, who teaches you new moves when you get enough notes. Mumba Wumba, a medicine woman and Mumbo’s rival, will do much of the transforming here. The jiggies (Banjo’s version of stars) and the jinjos also play a larger role in the game as they become actual characters who can help you.

The eight levels and the land that connects them are quite similar to what you saw in Kazooie. The main difference is how interconnected everything is. Moves and tricks you learn in one world will be essential to unlocking jiggies in prior worlds. This idea had been touched in Kazooie, but never really explored. Tooie takes it up several notches, encouraging and demanding the completionist to unlock everything and find everything. Luckily, if you’re not that type of gamer, you only need about 60% of the jiggies in the game to finish. I think Rare went overboard, but for the most part many of the connections are obvious enough and there are subtle hints for many more.

Another major change is that Banjo and Kazooie will be separated for the first time because there are certain puzzles and jiggies that only they can acquire. This doesn’t happen until Witchyworld, the third world, but it, too, becomes a major component. Kazooie, as expected, is smaller, faster, and more agile, but Banjo has more offensive moves. This doesn’t very often, but it is required to finish the game so deal with it.

What I found interesting about Tooie is that it suffers from the opposite problem Kazooie had. Kazooie got off to a great start with the first five worlds. However, once you enter Gobi’s Desert the game gets a bit lethargic with its game design and puzzles. Aside from Rusty Bucket Bay, there isn’t a lot of inspiration. Tooie gets off to a slow start with the first four worlds. Witchyworld is the only level that has any genuine inspiration by turning the theme park into a proverbial house of horrors. After that, it gets much better with Grunty Industries and Hailfire Peaks and so on. They are multifaceted, engaging levels that have clever puzzles and fun challenges waiting at every corner. It’s an interesting switch, but I’d rather have Tooie’s slow start because I know it gets better at the end. At least the first four levels aren’t interminable, but they don’t have much energy, either.

Multiplayer is also present for the first time. The games include Targitzan’s Temple Shootout, which is Banjo’s take on an FPS, and Mayan Kickball Challenge, which can be an engaging and challenging four-player game. There’s quite a variety to be had and the games available are ones you will encounter in the main quest. Some like the kickball game are actually pretty good, but many of them leave a lot to be desired and are nothing more than brief, fleeting diversions.

The graphics have been cleaned up a bit and the framerate holds steady. The character designs haven’t changed much and the worlds are given more attention to give them more dimension and life. Pop-up is a mild problem, but so it went back in 2000. The music isn’t as catchy as Kazooie, but there are some good tunes that will keep you from turning the sound off. The characters continue to speak in their gibberish, leaving us with the text. Kazooie, by the way, gets really mean in this game. Some of her one-liners and comments are intended to be humorous but they really don’t come off that way. Even Banjo chides her at various points. But since she provides most of the offense when the two are together, it is almost a necessary evil.

I think I prefer Kazooie over Tooie, but both games are extremely well-made and hold up nicely today as deep, 12 hour excursions. The perfectionist will need closer to 25, but either way there’s a lot to do and a lot to explore.

Share this:

8 7 8 8 9 8

Rare may not have reached the bar set by Mario 64, but the two hacks they took on the N64 with the bird and bear were pretty admirable and they remain so today. Tooie is a worthwhile 1200 point purchase.

Discuss this in the forums!