Banjo-Tooie

"Grin and bear it."

Intro:
Banjo-Kazooie was one of the best games for the N64. It was one of the few platform games that even came close to matching Mario 64's greatness. Meanwhile, Rare was teasing us about this sequel entitled ''Banjo-Tooie'' the whole time. Especially towards the end of Banjo-Kazooie, numerous Easter Eggs and teasers were given about this game, as if they had already started working on it before the first one was even released. When Gruntilda weakly shouted ''I'll be back in Banjo-Tooie!'', we knew are gaming with Banjo wasn't over. I swear, that was the cheapest set-up scene ever. This was a highly-anticipated title, especially after people drooled over Banjo-Kazooie's glory. Anyways, eventually, the sequel came, and lived up to most expectations.

Story:
Coming out of Gruntilda's Lair, Grunty's two fat and ugly sisters (luckily, they aren't twins) gather around Gruntilda's burial ground with their spell books. They say some jibber-jabber for a bit until the boulder suddenly begins to glow and rises! Gruntilda suddenly emerges! However, this Grunty doesn't look like the one from before. Now she's all bony and skinny, like most people would be after laying dead underground for two years! Angered at her new looks, Gruntilda only has one thing on her mind- Revenge on Banjo. The evil witch angrily storms in front of Banjo's house. Meanwhile, inside the house, Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo, and Bottles are all playing poker. Suddenly, Banjo hears an explosion. He peeks outside, and a giant light begins to form. Banjo immediately tells everybody to evacuate the house immediately. And so everyone does, except Bottles, who remains skeptical. But it's too late. Just as Banjo, Kazooie, and Mumbo exit the house, it goes up in flames! Gruntilda storms off laughing, but has other things on her mind for the mean time. Banjo stares at his burnt house in disbelief, only to discover Bottles dead! Why - How could they? HOW COULD RARE KNOCK OFF THE COOLEST BANJO CHARACTER OF THEM ALL!?! Arrgh... Anyways, Banjo grabs Kazooie and goes off to find Gruntilda once again. Meanwhile, Gruntilda's sisters show her their newest creation that could restore her looks. However, the machine operates on the life force of others. Seeing how Gruntilda has unsuccessfully defeated Banjo, he seems to be a prime target here.

Gameplay:
The levels in Banjo Tooie are absolutely huge, and all without the help of the expansion pack. It's a standard Rare adventure game, so if you played the first game or Donkey Kong 64, you will be right at home. The main hub consists of the remainder of Spiral Mountain and the zone of wreckage on Grunty's joyride. The worlds are all very expansive and easy to gets lost in. For example, the first stage, Mayahem Temple has 3 parts to it - Outside the temple, inside the temple, and the Stony arena. Likewise, there's lots of room for exploration. Other stages in the game include Witchyworld, Jolly Roger's Lagoon, Terrydactyland, Grunty Industries, and Cloud Cuckooland. You can also use the train to access certain parts of some stages and transport between world.

Controls in this game are pretty simple. You'll learn about half of the main moves when you first start, and the other half later. Bottles will teach you how to adjust the camera, use basic jump techniques, standard roll attacks, etc. A very necessary move in the game is the Beak Buster, which is sort of like a ground-pound. A more-powerful version of this is the Bill Drill. This technique will help you press switches and unlock gates. The Rat-a-Tat Rap will let Kazooie hover for a short period of time, allowing you to bypass certain gaps. Another important move is shooting eggs. Eggs are your main source of weaponry in this game. They can be used to target enemies and far-away switches. You can also fly when you jump on feather pads. The amount of flying power you have depends on the number of feathers in your inventory.

The way you collect things if different. Instead of gathering single eggs, or single feathers, you get a nest full. So you get 20 red feathers per pickup, and 20 blue eggs per pickup, 5 notes per pickup, and so on. This makes some parts of the game easier than the first. There are a ton of new moves, and all the old ones are back, plus you get four new eggs. This time, Bottles' cousin, Jamjar teaches you new moves. Also, just getting one jiggy is a lot harder. They also change up the gameplay in many areas. You can go into a first person shoot them up style, using Kazooie as a gun. So with all these changes you would think the game would be more fun, well it isn't. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I feel this game doesn't capture all the good points of the original.

Your old friends from Banjo-Kazooie, the Jinjos, make a return in this game! This time, you don't have to collect 5 in a stage for a Jiggy. Instead, there are a certain amount of Jinjos lost in each of the stages, and you'll receive a Jiggy once you collect all the Jinjos of a certain color, where they'll report back to their home in Jinjo Village. Different-colored Jinjos have different amounts of family members, and the White Jinjo family only consists of one!

You'll meet many interesting characters along the way. Most importantly is Mumbo Jumbo, the freaky shaman whose magic will greatly aid you on your journey. Once you take control of him, you can direct him toward switches where he'll perform certain spells, like making statues come alive and oxygenating water. His services come at a price, though. You'll need to find a "Glowbo" somewhere in the stage. Other wacky characters include Boggy the polar bear (making a return from Banjo-Kazooie), Tiptup the turtle (from Diddy Kong Racing), and Terry the pterodactyl. Many of these characters tend to be very humorous, which is one of the highlights of this game. Of course, nothing can compare to Kazooie's loud mouth. Every time you meet someone new, this foul-mouthed bird will always find something rude and amusing (and sometimes disturbing) to say.

Graphics:
Beautiful graphics, some of the best ever in a Nintendo 64 game. Pop up and slowdown are a small problem, but with huge worlds and no expansion pack, you would expect it. The characters, and enemies look great, and so do the worlds. Once again, framerate slowdown is the only major concern here.

Sound:
The music in this game is slightly more annoying than in Banjo-Kazooie, but bearable (pun not intended) nonetheless. There are certain jingles that play when you pick up certain items. For example, you'll hear a ''bounce'' noise when you pick up a basket of eggs. And you'll hear a whistle when you pick up some feathers. The voices are annoying, though. All the characters omit some muffled sound that goes along with the captions. Banjo's is by far the worst, mumbling ''Guh, guh, glub, glub'' every time he talks.

Lasting Appeal:
With only 90 Jiggies, it may seem that Banjo-Tooie may not last as long as its predecessor, but it does. Why? The jiggies are all much more challenging to collect! Even Banjo-Kazooie veterans will have trouble fairly early in the game! The game has a very decent challenge level for the most part..

Verdict:
If you enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie, you'll enjoy this one. If not (doubt there are that many of you), then this probably won't change your mind. Too bad the next one's probably going only to Xbox. If you find a copy of this game at a place that sells used games (regular stores won't sell it anymore), than fork down a few bucks for it. Don't think the newer games are the only cool ones, because most of the time, they're not. Like its prequel, Banjo-Tooie is one of the best games available on the system.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/06