50%Nintendo 64

Fun little mario 64 wannabe

95%Nintendo Switch

Played for the first time. What an amazing classic experience.
It's not a perfect game because it does have those older game quirks, like an awful camera, some horrible controls (flight...), and really punishing levels. The N64 savestate feature on NSO saved me a lot of grief.

But the levels are the perfect size, controls feel tight for the most part, characters are great, gameplay is super fun, music is PHENOMENAL, and the final boss is genuinely really challenging.

100%Nintendo 64

Extreem cute game. 100% gefinished (alle notes en alle jiggies). Grunty gekilled zonder gehit te worden. Zoveel charm en fijne herrineringen (met Joost). Altijd gedacht dat het spel veel te moeilijk was. Nu het tegendeel bewezen. 10/10. Op herhaling nog een keer op de xbox met pooper

90%Nintendo 64

I loved this game. It was super fun. Fun worlds, controls, and platforming. Classic rare humor. Just a satisfying collectathon/platformer. Fantastic music. Good graphics. Would definitely play this again.

95%Nintendo 64

A difficulty spike in the end doesn't do much to mar this masterpiece. It is so much fun!

100%Nintendo Switch

The Goat

85%Nintendo 64

It really deserves the place of one of the best collectathons in the videogame history. I liked how complex and intricate de worlds and levels were. A little bit of padding in the Click Clock Wood level, and it was kind of frustrating, I mean, i t was a clever use of the seasons gimmick, but I don´t know, it was annoying, maybe because I felt it like a chore, because I wanted to completed 100%.

95%Xbox Series X/S

Great game, I don't know what else to say. Better than mario 64. one of the best games ever made. There was no truly bad level. some are better than others though. I highly recommend this goated n64 classic!

100%Xbox 360

What a joyous game! Banjo-Kazooie is a collectathon that really works elegantly and gleefully across its runtime. By combining charming aesthestics, witty writing, and strong exploration-driven level design, the game becomes one of the best 3D platformer experiences of all time. The essence of play is abound in this game, encouraging the player to unravel the challenges and puzzles of each level with infectious energy and tone. There's always some new mechanic, some new character, or some bit of detail or humor that invigorates the excessive collecting to feel substantial and rewarding. It is mildly dated in some respects (such as controls and minor level design annoyances) and is not uniformly charismatic, but these minor issues do not devalue the incredible overall experience. Banjo-Kazooie is a huge step forward from Super Mario 64 and feels like a full realization of what that game introduced as a path for 3D game design. What else can be said about this silly little game about a bear and a bird? Go play it if you never have!

95%Nintendo 64

When Banjo-Kazooie was released in 1998, it was dropped right in the middle of one of the biggest genre booms in video game history; every developer was trying their hand at the 3D platformer. Whether they were inspired by Nintendo's opus Super Mario 64 or they just wanted to cash in on the latest gaming fad, 3D platformers were coming thick and fast since the release of the Nintendo 64. Because of this, a lot of releases struggled to distinguish themselves from the crowd, and we were left with a lot of mediocre games with no identity. Banjo-Kazooie is the Rare exception.

From the very beginning, this game breathes life, imagination, and creativity. The world the game exists in is fully realized, and exploring it is extremely satisfying. Gruntilda's Lair is an immersive hubworld, and each level has its own charm and personality. One of the most impressive things about Banjo-Kazooie is how it manages to cram so much fun into each of its levels. Most levels are relatively small, which means you're discovering new things at every turn; no space is wasted and no potential is unfulfilled. And while lots of games of this nature do have dense worlds to explore, not many of them hold up to the charm of Banjo-Kazooie. Even today, almost 25 years after its release date, the visuals are still bright and vibrant. The worlds are still colorful and inviting. The characters are still fun to talk to, and the dialogue is often funny and endearing. There's something so great about the (pseudo) final level of a 3D platformer being a giant quiz show. It's just completely unexpected, and yet it somehow fits perfectly. There's a distinctly jovial vibe to the whole game, which makes it a thrill to play through, especially underlined by the game's soundtrack.

Banjo-Kazooie's soundtrack holds up today as one of the most impressive full OSTs in gaming history. Each world has its own theme that does wonders for the game's overall presentation and truly immerses you in the experience. Especially enjoyable is the game's dynamic soundtrack, which slightly changes the song depending on where you are in the level. This was a revolutionary concept in its time, and the fluid transition between versions of each world's theme cannot be understated; it's one of the most charming and enjoyable features of Banjo-Kazooie.

Understandably, as one of the other biggest 3D platformers of the Nintendo 64 era, comparisons to Super Mario 64 are inevitable, and they aren't without their merits. But interestingly enough, Banjo-Kazooie almost feels like the complete antithesis to SM64. While Mario focuses on platforming and movement, Banjo focuses on world-building and exploration. Mario is more challenging; Banjo is more immersive. Mario is fun because of what you put into it; Banjo is fun because of what you get out of it. Each game does have their own flaws too, however minor. Mario can lack personality and character, while Banjo has less impressive camera controls and is less precise. Combined together, they would probably be the perfect game because they make up for what the other lacks so well. But that also means that while comparison does make sense, it's their differences in philosophy as games in general that sets them apart and make them both wholly unique experiences.

Banjo-Kazooie does have its minor flaws, whether it be the one slightly mediocre level, the difficulty in distinguishing breakable surfaces, or the rather harsh "lose all notes on death" system, but its strengths more than make up for them. It's such an easy game to get sucked into playing and finishing because the gameplay is that enjoyable. It is that fun to collect notes, puzzle pieces, and Jinjos, and every thing you collect spurs you on to collect more and explore everything the game has to offer again and again and again. It's joyous, infectious, and brilliant, and it's the kind of game that the medium can just never get enough of.

90%Nintendo 64

100% no save.

90%Nintendo 64

One of the greats of the N64 era

Good
- controls are very smooth. The moveset was really fun to use. Unlocking new moves in each world was also a lot of fun. Always had something to look forward to
- graphics look amazing for its time. Still easy on the eyes today.
- Hub world was well designed. Lots of secrets everywhere
- progression was done well.
- the missions to obtain jiggies were creative
- large variety of environments in each world
- having banjo turn into different things to solve puzzles in specific worlds was a really interesting idea and a lot of fun
- the aesthetics and dialogue are all very charming. The humor is very cheeky. The noises used for the dialogue also gave the inhabitants life and personality. Adding eyes to every character also gave them life.
- the music is fantastic. Love how they reuse the main theme, but transitions it into arrangements that fit each area

Bad
- no map makes traversing the hub world and even individual worlds a bit tedious sometimes. Don't remember which pots teleport me where. No indications as to which jiggies I've gotten and which I have left.
- because of the static camera angle changes, some parts were annoying. Like shooting eggs and some platforming.
- camera not going through objects made some of the platforming sections frustrating

100%Xbox 360

Game fun but hard

50%Nintendo 64

A 3D platformer that shows its age far more than its reputation implies. While the levels are well-crafted and themed to the immaculate, dynamic sounds of Grant Kirkhope's masterwork, many of the platforming challenges either leave plenty to be desired or are so difficult as to be inconceivable for a child to complete. Mastery isn't even the answer for many of them- most of them are unfair, or require knowledge of wild strategies not obvious by the visual cues or dialogue.

This is especially shown in the last two worlds and penultimate "boss fight." Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clock Woods are obnoxiously difficult to complete, though mostly skippable for a player not trying to collect everything. But certain challenges in previous levels require a level of familiarity that's beyond most people's skill. I have played dozens of 3D platformers, some collectathons some not, and nothing is quite as unfair or challenging as the quiz room right before the end. The questions are obnoxious, the punishments unusual, and the challenges often ramp up already-hard portions of the game to obscene and dubious levels. It feels like arcade-style life-padding in an otherwise child-friendly game.

I've dabbled in noob-level Jak & Daxter: TPL speedrunning, I've conquered some of Crash Bandicoot's hardest challenges, I've stomped every painting in Super Mario 64, and I make my yearly pilgrimage to Spyro 1's Tree Tops, and Banjo-Kazooie might still be one of the hardest 3D platformers I've ever beaten. I don't really recommend it for that reason alone, but if one can ignore this flaw: be ready to pull out Nintendo Switch Online's save state system, because you're not beating it without that.

95%Nintendo 64

A near perfect 3d-platformer. Graphics are way beyond what I thought this generation of consoles were capable of. Audio is awesome. Tight controls and interesting level design. I think this might be peak of Rare's platformer days, and I already thought that DKC 1-3 were top of the line. Highly recommended. I dismissed this game for 20 years before giving it a chance. Don't make the same mistake!

65%Xbox 360

6.5/10

60%Emulated

I appreciate its world design and how collecting everything doesn't have me grasping at straws or feeling like I'm missing out on something, like Super Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild, but as I play through my backlog wanting to try these older 3D platformers, I find that I have little patience for slippery controls and uncooperative cameras. This was tolerable in a game like the original Ratchet & Clank where you can get away with standing around for a little longer, but a game like Banjo-Kazooie where movement is the primary mode of gameplay, the camera and controls just aren't that fun for me. I appreciate all of the personality in this experience and want to like it, but I just don't think I'm really clicking with it.

70%Wii U

As someone completely removed from all nostalgia from this game, it's still pretty damn good. It just has this child-like joy that sucks you right in.

10%Nintendo 64

Man this is an awful game. I can appreciate how cool it might have been at the time, but video games have come a long way since this. My main complaint is the camera - it snaps around to various angles (like Mario 64, yet somehow way worse) and will randomly change to a static camera occasionally, causing you to miss jumps constantly. Then there’s the sound - music is ok but repetitive, but I mostly couldn’t stand the noises the characters made (like animal crossing but crank the annoying up to 11). Finally there’s the gameplay - it’s just collecting various useless progression tokens so you can keep doing the same thing, all the while trying to fight with the games platforming and camera. Avoid like the plague.

70%Nintendo 64

7.5/10

70%Xbox Series X/S

A classic

90%Nintendo 64

Rare was a powerhouse developer for Nintendo in the 90's, especially after their Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the SNES. After a few other awesome releases on the Nintendo 64, Rare took to creating another platformer game, only this time in 3D, and Banjo Kazooie was the result. I never tried this game back when it released, but after finishing it I can see why the game is often praised.

I have to start with the music in this review because eve before you start the game you are hit with a great tune just for the title screen, and the rest of the music is just as good. Not only is the music good, but i enjoyed the gibberish spoken dialogue used by all the characters in the game. None of it real words, and you still have to read the text, but the noises used gave each character a charm to them.

Speaking of the characters, something I enjoyed throughout the game is the interactions and dialogue that occur between them. Kazooie in particular is fun since she is a wise cracking bird who constantly berates the other characters, and her dialogue is often quite funny. Despite mostly seeing and controlling Banjo, it often feels like he is overshadowed by his feathered companion hiding in his backpack.

Visually this game does look quite good, even if it has the typical N64 texture blur that is present in pretty much all 3D N64 games. I will say some of the areas are a tad on the darker side compared to Mario 64 (which is much more bright), but it was never to the point where I couldn't see what was in front of me.

The controls in Banjo and Kazooie are quite good, moving banjo is very intuitive and the camera didn't fight me as much as it does in Mario 64. There are a plethora of moves to use that are all mapped intelligently to the controller, they are also slowly introduced as you play so you arent overwhelmed at the start. The only exception to the controls is the dive bomb move while flying. It can be really hard to use this move where you intend to, and since this move flings your character forward at high speed, missing your target often results in a death as Banjo would sail off of a ledge, this was particularly frustrating during the final boss fight.

Banjo is structured very similarly to Mario 64, in that you must collect "Jiggies" (essentially jigsaw pieces) that will unlock other worlds within the main hub world of Gruntilda's castle, and the player will also need to find music notes that unlock each floor of the castle. I enjoy this structure and it makes finding these items feel rewarding to unlock the next area. My only gripe comes from the hub world itself, which is a bit on the large size and needed more quick travel options to unlock to help expedite traversing the castle, especially when you need to back track to earlier floors. The hub world does require some exploration in order to progress as well, and I do appreciate that there is more to the hub than just a blank area that houses the worlds you go into. Speaking of the worlds, the variety is quite good, and strays a little bit from the standard worlds you see in these types of games.

Rare's first 3D platformer is a great game, it has some issues, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, and there are some unique ideas found in this game that I really enjoyed. You owe it to yourself to play this game, especially if you like platformers.

Pros:

+ Fantastic tunes that are very upbeat and catchy
+ Charming characters that have some fun and witty dialogue
+ Individual worlds are varied and fairly large
+ Banjo controls very well, and the camera doesn't fight you like other 3D platformers
+ Interesting interconnectivity with the main hub area, that feels like a world of its own....

Cons:

- ...the hub world is a bit too large, with too few quick travel points within it meaning lots of long back tracking treks
- The dive bomb move while flying is frustratingly difficult to aim

100%Xbox 360

Gameplay 5/5 outstanding platformer gameplay. So many great abilities that are added throughout a playthrough.
Visuals 2/2 fantastic art style, holds up well.
Audio 2/2 great music and fun character noises
Story 1/1 not the focus but definitely fun

Highly recommend 100% completion for the gameplay

70%Nintendo 64

Overrated at the time, underrated nowadays... just choose your side. Banjo-Kazooie obviously has a lot to offer, it's a very generous game but sometimes it can be a flaw. There's a lot of boring stuff to do there, but in the end, the game remains really sympathetic.

80%Xbox 360

Classic from my childhood. Still holds up decently well imo

60%Xbox One

Mediocre collectathon

80%Nintendo 64

Solid platformer with fantastic characters and level design. Played through and 100% the game multiple times.

80%Xbox One

An N64 classic platforming collectathon - Banjo Kazooie is great fun. It has charm and humour from the start. As you progress to later stages the gameplay of platforming, puzzle solving and collecting everything wears out it's welcome. There's only so many times you would want to revisit a world just to collect all the notes and jiggies. It's no super mario 64, but close.

90%Nintendo Switch

One of the greatest platformers out there. But maybe a little too long for being one. I know it is a collectathon, but yeah... Yeah.

90%Xbox 360

I can see why this is considered a classic my many. One of the best platformers from the N64 era. The only other title I would put ahead of it would be Mario 64.

80%Nintendo 64

It was really fun and I understand why it was held in such a high regard. The only thing I hated was the final Gruntilda fight. I could not have depth perception to save my life. The other level I hated was Rusty Bucket Bay

95%Xbox 360

Concurrent à super mario 64, le scénario vraiment loufoque et le gameplay vraiment développé permet de faire de ce jeu presque un chef d'oeuvre, sa suite saura gommer les points négatifs et ajouter les améliorations nécessaires.
Un très bon jeu d'action platform avec une variété de mouvements et quelques transformations décalés de mumbo jumbo.

100%Xbox One

During my childhood, I only played Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on Xbox 360. Now, as an adult, I've decided to play the original game through Rare Replay, and holy fuck, it's good. I heard some bad stuff about the N64 version, but the 360 port is insane.

70%Xbox One

Pretty charming game. Good dialogue, great colorful unique levels, good soundtrack, nice fun platforming. All these neat stuff.

Although my biggest problems would come from the hub world. It's way too much like a labyrinth and really feels easy to get lost in. I prefer how Mario 64 and Hat In Time did it where the hub world had lots of little secrets and discoveries but levels never felt too far away from each other.

There's also the fact that towards the end of the game the amount of roadblocks start feeling ridiculous. You need 94/100 Jiggies to beat the game which is too much. I feel like it should be lowered a small bit since one good part of a collectahon is skipping tasks you dislike. Also the fact that there is no hints as to where Jiggies can be unlike Mario 64 leading to a lot of meandering between levels which means even more time spent in the hub world just going from one level to another. I think this is why I dropped this game for a very long time before suddenly deciding to go back and finish it.

So yeah good game with a lot of fluff which get's very annoying towards the end.

50%Nintendo 64

I wanted to love this so badly. There were too many janky platforming sections, and so many of the mechanics did NOT work the way you wanted them to. The movement was clunky enough that navigating around wasn't always fun either. Even with my abusing save states later in the game, I found it frustratingly difficult, and not in a fair way. (And I got almost every moon in Mario Odyssey, and completed most of the C-sides in Celeste!) It also didn't help that I didn't find the characters endearing.

I was more positive in the first two-thirds of the playthrough, maybe sitting closer to a 7/10, because I was considering the time it was made. The later levels reminded me that annoying platforming is still annoying platforming.

The worlds were still fun to explore though.

60%Nintendo 64

Full of sloppy controls, derivative design, and annoying sounds, this subpar platformer's lasting legacy is head-scratching to say the least. Time to play some Mario as a palette-cleanser!

35%Nintendo 64

Walk through fields to get to bum minigames and maybe do some piss easy platforming every once in a blue moon, collect garish trinkets scattered across the fields to open up the next level where you do the exact same thing, rinse and repeat. Featuring one of the most obnoxious soundtracks of any mainstream videogame

80%Emulated

Direct, simple, and plain fun, amazing characters, full with personality, 10/10 music, and incredible gameplay, you are in for a good time with this one. I do not rank it higher because in retrospect I feel it was a bit too easy.

60%Nintendo Switch

Good but dated collectathon but bad camera and terrible final boss.

90%Xbox 360

One of my favorite games. Banjo-kazooie is an amazing game for its release date, and offers many different perspective on platformers. It allows for a good time while "most" of the time still being relaxed. I had played back in the N64 days and no shame in saying that the xbox360 controllers offers better overall control.
Sometimes the game will feel hard, but during the gameplay of any game, there should be a complex passage.
Sequel is also good, while BK: N&B apparently is good, as far as I've heard.

70%Nintendo Switch

The end of the game was a drag, and the boss fight was bullshit. Other than that; Good game.

70%Nintendo 64

Banjo Kazooie hasn't aged as poorly as most N64 games, but it still very much shows its age. The camera can be very annoying, render distance is way to short and visibility in general is an issue. The controls are also not as response as I'd like them to be. Banjo really is slow and clunky at times.
Despite this, there is still a lot to love here. The charm on display here is timeless. Visually, it's one of the best on the N64. The soundtrack also remains a classic. And of course, most importantly, the levels and gameplay are still a lot of fun.

90%Xbox 360

A very fun and charming platformer. The characters, levels, and music are all great. Some of the late game Jiggys can get a bit annoying but other than that I enjoyed this game.

100%Xbox Series X/S

Amazing soundtrack, clever level design, memorable characters. Very fun game.

100%Nintendo 64

A great game from my early gaming days.

80%Nintendo 64

Excellent Music and Character Design. Boss was a bitch at the end, apart from that it was an memorable platforming experience

100%Nintendo 64

I did not play this as a kid and, having played it now, realize why it garnered such love. An incredible collect-a-thon and 3d platformer, two genres that have not seen the love they deserve. It stands as one of the best ever.

80%Emulated

additional notes: Checked the wiki on a few occasions to track down some loose collectibles after extensive exploration which wasn't much fun due to the poor camera and low draw distance. No emulator functions were used, such as save states or rewind etc.

-review-

Rather surprised that I never played this back in the day, I had numerous chances to, even to rent it but for some reason I never bothered. A shame really because I imagine I would have enjoyed it quite a bit, and despite it showing its age it manages to stand the test of time quite well.

It is of course a 3D platforming game, much like Super Mario 64, you're presented with a weird and wonderful world which you are tasked with exploring. You'll come across various jigsaw puzzles with missing pieces and upon placing the required pieces you'll unlock one of the games many worlds. These worlds take the guise of mini-sandboxes, different locations all built around a theme, each containing a myriad of collectibles, but always hosting 10 puzzle pieces and 100 musical notes which are used as the games progression limiters.

It's a basic, tried and true formula that works and delivers quite a bit of satisfaction. Something elevated greatly by a very cohesive visual style and even better music. The whole game just oozes charm, maybe better so that it's contemporaries.

Far from flawless though it does have numerous issues. The camera and draw distance are the most notable problems with this game and you will likely struggle with these more often than not. It's an extremely detrimental issue to have in a game based around exploration and collecting items to have that process unduly complicated by such aspects. It becomes even worse as the difficulty ramps up by the mid game, as various challenges demand precision controls or involve extremely strict time limits, it's far from uncommon to have these become extremely frustrating as a result.

The other main issue I have with this game is just in basic structuring. Mario 64 tended to offer clues and riddles hinting towards the location of each of its Stars, whereas Banjo-Kazooie just drops you in a stage and expects you to find everything. There's nothing inherently wrong with that approach, and for most of the game it won't be an issue, but as the stages progressively become more complex it will often be a case where you will have no idea where the final collectibles may be. Typically they'll just be hidden in some unknown location but with the player having no way to know what they are missing. It's the worst aspect of a badly designed adventure game, trying to find puzzles themselves rather than trying to solve solutions. It's a very noticeable issue that crops up particularly in "Rusty Bucket Bay" where various interactible objects are marked merely by indistinguishable textures. It's a symptom of a greater problem in that the game lacks a real defined visual language for a lot of its core mechanics and as such its very, very easy to completely overlook important level design elements or to interact with them, not get a response and to assume there's no function in them. It is infrequent but very problematic when it occurs since it can completely kill the otherwise great pace of the game. The latter quarter of the game especially starts to drag quite a bit as a result of all this.

All in all though, it's a fantastic game. Collecting items is satisfying, exploring the worlds, interacting with the inhabitants despite the issues is all quite engaging. An easy recommend for anyone looking for what might be considered a "blast from the past".

100%Nintendo 64

A must-play.

90%Xbox One

Banjo Kazooie isn’t a very replayable game, but it’s certainly a fun journey through many different worlds. Everything works in unison to give a fun sense of cartoonish wonder, and it still remains one of the best games in the collectathon genre to this day.