LogFAQs > #957835849

18. Banjo-Kazooie (N64, 1998)


For about a decade, Rare was one of the premier developers in the industry and had one of the better transitions into the 3D era. Rares fourth and final game on my ranking is Banjo-Kazooie.

Following in Super Mario 64s path of providing a platformer with a sprawling hub world full of secrets and distinct, open-ended sub-worlds that test you in a myriad of ways to acquire pieces toward your end goal. While not as polished as its inspiration, Banjo-Kazooie went above and beyond and in crafting its own identity in the process, they created one special experience.

I didnt really know what to expect after leaving the intro world, Spiral Mountain, as I entered a mountain head shaped like the fantastic antagonist Gruntilda, but Gruntildas Lair might be the best platforming hub world? I feel like there arent that many platformers that even have one, especially now, but Rare totally knocked it out of the park. It wasnt merely a connector to all worlds, but it was treated as its own world, offering its own Jiggies, platforming challenges, and puzzles. Most, if not all, the sub-worlds even have an effect on Gruntildas Lair. I will never forget being blown away as an 8 or 9-year-old as one of the sub-worlds contained a button that raised Gruntildas eyes in her floor mural back in the lair, and by forcing them back down resulted, I got a Jiggy. BK had a ton of little touches like that I look back at quite fondly.

The sub-worlds are lively and the environments were crafted with a lot of care to fit the theme. Perhaps its collect-a-thon nature enhances this, but theres something about exploring the boundaries of places like Treasure Trove Cove and Bubblegloop Swamp just to see whats out there since they meticulously crafted them from end to end. There may be nothing, a few small trinkets, a Jiggy (comparable to SM64s stars for those unaware) or even danger. No matter the outcome, I didnt come away disappointed as I found an answer to my curiosity.

Who can talk about Banjo-Kazooie without mentioning the kooky characters that reside in this charmingly bizarre universe? In most games, having a bunch of dimwitted, callous, and/or disgusting characters might be a major turnoff, but not here, and their humorous gibberish speak (I sort of regret revealing what was behind the curtain when they gave interviews in Rare Replay) goes a long way to make them likable and memorable as each character has a unique voice.

While the rest of the series ended up being good games, and I commend Rare for not playing it safe and just going for it, none of them held a candle to the original. Because Jiggies are one-shot, meaning you cant go through obtaining them again, you have to replay the game in order to re-experience the parts that you loved the most. For Banjo-Kazooie, I would, and have, gladly do it all again.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
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