Banjo-Tooie

"Yes, bears still can fly"

Two years have passed since Gruntidla the Witch fell from the top of her tower after being defeated by Banjo and Kazooie. Two years have passed since she was buried deep beneath the earth by a piece of rubble. Two years have passed since Mumbo Jumbo first hinted to players about Banjo-Tooie...

Finally, the time has arrived. Gruntilda has been rescued from her grave, Bottles has been killed, and Banjo and Kazooie have a new adventure ahead of them, spanning bigger, bolder worlds with more devious puzzles and enemies. Right away, players will notice the high resolution graphics, realistic lighting effects (including a *real* shadow), and distant, fog-free horizons...all without the use of the expansion pak. Quite honestly, if nothing else, Banjo-Tooie ranks as one of the best graphically-looking games without the pak.

You start the game out in Spiral Mountain, now rather torn apart and decimated by Grunty's magic. For new gamers, here is where u can quickly learn the original moves from Banjo-Kazooie, but its really not enough for newbees. Thats okay though, because Rareware has assumed correctly that most who bought Tooie have already played the prequel, so the training area is thrown in as an obligatory token. After a quickie boss fight and a lengthy cinematic, you'll be treated to the first level, an ancient aztec-like area with a huge pyramid sitting at the top of a spiral mountain. Heres where the Banjo game engine really shines: the levels are enormous, far bigger than those of the original. However, they're not close to the size of Donkey Kong 64, which is a GOOD thing. All the puzzles have been grouped together to make the levels feel more busy and exotic. One of the grandest and biggest levels is the prehistoric land. This is the only level you'll truly feel lost on even when you've completed all the puzzles. The framerrate is always consistant, contrary to the major reviews. The only area where it suffered (and how!) was in Hailfire peaks, where the two bosses rain rocks on your head until u put them out of commission. But overall, the graphics are awesome, the textures are just as good as the first game, and the framerrate is above average.

The music in the game also ranks up with the top-notch graphics. Banjo-Kazooie's use of interactive music reappears once again, with multiple versions of the same theme appearing in each level. The gibberish the characters all speak is back as well, and thats a good thing to some and a bad thing to others. I myself find the noises amusing, and far better than just reading plain text.

So what else is noteworthy? Well theres a new spellcaster in town, and Humba Wumba's tranformations not only happen once a level, but this time you'll get turned into the weirdest objects...some like the infamous washing machine and t-rex...other new ones like a tnt detonator and a money car...? Speaking of our old shaman Mumbo Jumbo, he's recieved a polygon facelift, looks cuter, and is even a playable character! While the stuff u can do with him is minimal, its still fun to run around levels as him. The puzzles, as mentioned before are more challenging...now sometimes you'll have to complete tasks in other worlds first, or haul items from one world to another. This in effect links all the worlds and overworld together, and it takes puzzle solving a step further. Now if only the puzzles were more challenging...

Now for the cons, and the game has a few. First the framerate could be better, but thats a small complaint. The replay value is pretty low, too. Yes the game itself is huge, but you'll actually love it so much you'll play through it in a matter of days, not resting until you've collected every last jiggy. There is multiplayer, but it pales in contrast to real multiplayer fests, including Rare's own Perfect Dark. The final battle was a dissapointment...after two years, Rare has simply rehashed the quiz show style battle, followed by a boss battle. Which brings me to my biggest complaint...if theres more, please Rare release the codes! Let us access the secrets from Banjo-Kazooie as promised!!!

All in all, Banjo-Tooie is a great platform game, probably the best of the major four on the N64. It takes everything we liked about Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Mario 64, and throws out everything we hated. In fact, the game is so good I would have gladly payed the same high price for it that I payed for DK64 and PD. Don't pass this one up, or you'll be sorry you missed your chance to see bears fly.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/01, Updated 01/03/01