Banjo-Kazooie

""Best N64 game ever. Even better than Super Mario 64.""

That's right. I said it. Banjo-Kazooie is better than Super Mario 64. It's close between the two of them. They both have good graphics, music, game-play, and they are both challenging. Banjo-Kazooie has slightly better story and has a slightly better replay value. The only time that Super Mario 64 is better then Banjo-Kazooie is the controls. Banjo-Kazooie also has more confusing controls than Super Mario 64. But besides that, they are both wonderful games and are both in my top five favorite games. But I'd have to say that Banjo-Kazooie is better. And who would have thought that a bear and bird would save the day. Only the creators at Rare would think of that. I thought Rare was crazy when Diddy Kong Racing came out but this tops that. Anyway this is a wonderfully designed and well thought out game. I wonder if the original game Dream would have compared to this. If Blackeye had been the main character I don't think it would do to well. I would also like to say that Banjo-Kazooie did not have as many glitches as Super Mario 64. I'm not even sure if it had one glitch. The glitches in Super Mario 64 are fun for awhile but they get old. I like games without glitches. They mess up the game too much. Banjo-Kazooie is also the best game that Rare has ever made, in my opinion. A lot of people think that Banjo-Tooie was better, but I think that it was too long. Banjo-Kazooie was much more thought out. With that said, this is my review for Banjo-Kazooie.

Controls 7/10: The controls that Bottles the Mole teaches you are quite easy to learn. They take some time to remember though. They focus more on the C buttons than most of the other buttons. I do like how most moves are a combination of Z and a C button. There is more to remember but there are more moves to learn. In Super Mario 64, you never learn a new move, but in Banjo-Kazooie, you learn a new move almost every level. Sometimes you learn more than one move in a level. If you can remember all the moves, you'll be in good shape. This game also has very good camera controls. You have more freedom of what you are able to see. It is easier in some parts of the game if your able to control the camera so you don't do something like fall off a ledge. Super Mario 64 does have camera controls but they don't work as well and you can't turn some ways to see certain things.

Graphics 9/10: This game a great graphics for its time. They're better than Super Mario 64 by a little because Mario is kind of blocky. The characters in Banjo-Kazooie were almost never blocky. The levels have great graphics too. They look very real when you look at them. Another reason I like the graphics in Banjo-Kazooie is that the scenery doesn't disappear as you get farther away from it. You are able to see it from the other side of the level. Only tiny things disappear which doesn't affect the game too much. You'll always be able to tell where you are going and if you are going the right way. When the backgrounds do disappear, it is easy to find yourself going the wrong way.

Story 7/10: Like I said before, Banjo-Kazooie has a slightly better story then Super Mario 64. This is only because Mario has had the same story since 1981. I will agree with most people when they say this game's story is the same as Super Mario 64 but with a twist. Mario was replaced with a bear and bird, Princess Peach was replaced by Tooty, and Gruntilda has replaced the evil Koopa, Bowser. Even the Stars were replaced by Jigsaw Pieces and you could think of the Musical Notes as Coins. Besides these similarities, Banjo-Kazooie has many extras that Super Mario 64 didn't have like cheat codes, extra hidden puzzle games and a quiz. Those are some of the reasons the Banjo-Kazooie has a slightly better story than Super Mario 64.

Music 8/10: In most games, the music gets annoying very quickly, but in this game, the music in this game is quite good. It almost never gets annoying, unless you walk around Grunty's lair for an extended period of time. That music can and will get annoying. There are over 20 different tracks of music in this game and each level has its own type of music to fit the setting. The music also changes depending on where you are in the level. The music could be being played by a tuba if you were deep under ground or a piccolo if you you were high up. All of the music is great.

Game-play 9/10: 9 levels, 900 notes, 100 jiggies, and many other things all packed into one gigantic over-world that makes it a great game. There are more things to collect then meets the eye. You can collect feathers and eggs to Mumbo Tokens and Jinjos. Not to mention all the tasks that require you to get all these jiggies. And collecting notes is no easy task. With 100 on each level, you may have to explore the whole level before you find them all. You also need at least 75 out of the 120 Mumbo Tokens to complete the game. Finding all the Mumbo Tokens in the game is a task that no one has ever completed (at least to my knowledge). You also must find five Jinjos on each level just to obtain one Jiggy. There are 45 Jinjos in the game which my take you some time to find. That is why this game will give you many hours of fun and adventure.

Replay 5/10: There's not much to do after you complete the game. You can go back though the levels and collect notes again, but that's pretty much all. You can't collect anymore jiggies unless you didn't get them the first time through. You could hunt for Mumbo Tokens to try and find them all, but that might take awhile. Or, you could get the jiggies again, but to get the jiggies again, you have to start a new game. You could also try to finish all of Bottles' Secret puzzle games. These may take you a while to figure out, but they are still fun, even if you don't get anything for it. This is the only bad part about the game.

Challenge 8/10: This game is quite challenging the first time through. Finding all 900 notes, 100 jiggies and 24 honeycomb pieces is a very large task to complete. That's probably the most challenging thing you could do in this game, which is hard. The other challenging part is the battle with Grunty. The four tough phases she puts you through are hard to complete you first time. However, that battle makes the long game worthwhile. This game is defiantly more challenging then Super Mario 64 in some cases. The boss battles are especially harder in Banjo-Kazooie.

Bonus Points
- 3 points for original level designs
- 2 points for good music
- 3 points for jiggy challenges
- 1 point for not making it completely like Super Mario 64
A total of 9 bonus points. 9+53=62 62/7=8.9

My score: 8.9/10. My score to fit the Gamefaqs grade scale: 9/10.

Places to find this game: I got my copy of Banjo-Kazooie at a Gamestop. You could also find it at a used game store or on eBay.

I conclusion, Banjo-Kazooie is a great game. Super Mario 64 is right behind it. Zelda and the Ocarina of Time is up there too, for all you Zelda fans. This is a great game. I would say buy this game if you saw it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/07, Updated 09/09/07

Game Release: Banjo-Kazooie (US, 05/31/98)