"Just you wait 'til Banjo Threeie!"

Banjo Kazooie fans after putting their heart and soul in to acquiring every single golden jigsaw piece in 'Banjo Kazooie' were rewarded with a special ending sequence after the completion of the game, and were informed that a sequel, jokingly called 'Banjo Tooie' would released. The wait for this sequel lasted from 1998 until 2001, and many fans of the original were very eager to grab this game for two reasons. One, it was a sequel to 'Banjo Kazooie', one of the greatest, quirkiest 3D adventure games released on the Nintendo 64. Secondly, because at the end of the original secrets were promised for the second game.

I must admit that the idea of being able to acquire information and head back to the original to collect locked away secrets and then swap them to the sequel to utilise seemed like a great idea. So, that was one of my main intentions for wanting this. However, it was revealed that this feature had been dropped, and so this disappointed many fans. Even so, this does not in my opinion detract from this sequel game which is larger and packed with much more action than the original!

The stars of the game are Banjo the yellow shorts and blue rucksack wearing honey bear. His insulting friend, a rare type of breegull named ‘Kazooie' resides in Banjo's rucksack, spitting out her sarcastic comments to other less fortunate characters which are littered throughout of the game.

Following on from the original game, in which at the finale the evil green skinned warty witch, Gruntilda, was defeated by Banjo, she fell from atop of her lair along with several boulders. At the point of impact the boulders landed on top of her, imprisoning her underground. Her trusty green monster friend, Klungo has tired to remove this rock for a stunning 4 years but to no avail...

So, the story goes (which is featured at the beginning of the game in 'movie' form) that 4 years later from the original, a large drilling machine turns up, which is driven by non other than Grutilda's equally as ugly sisters; Blobbelda and Mingella. After casting a spell on the rock to disintegrate it Gruntilda emerges from her tomb of 4 years. This time has took it's toll on Grunty, as she now discovers she now a mere skeleton, and her green skin is now no more! It sounds rather bizarre, and grim, but that is what in fact happens. Grunty decides to strike with revenge and musters all of her strength to blast a giant fireball in to Banjo's house - exploding it. Luckily most escape, bar one. 'Bottles' the mole is left dead. Grunty, along with her sisters returns to the drilling machine and then heads back off to a new castle, where they create a machine to eventually suck all of the life from the surrounding area and inhabitants in order to channel this energy back to Grunty to bring her "looks" back.

GAME CHARACTERS & THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE GAME

As briefly mentioned earlier, there are a wide variety of characters, both regular and 'one-offs'. It tends to be that the one-off characters desire your help in some form and the usual result is them handing over some item which will be invaluable to your long quest. One such character is 'King Jingaling', who gives you a golden jigsaw piece to begin your quest. However, Grunty dislikes this, and soon blasts his palace, sucking his life force and leaving him as a mere mindless zombie.

Bottles the mole is killed at the start of this game, in a somewhat comical way, and he lays around for the games duration with an angel version of himself floating above him. As fans know, Bottles taught Banjo and Kazooie (B&K) their new moves in the original, but he is dead now! So, this is where "jam Jars", Bottle's relative takes over.

Mumbo Jumbo the shaman returns, but with a slightly different role. No longer does he perform spells to transform you, but instead you can finally take control of him. You as Mumbo locate magic pads and by simply pressing the 'A' button can perform magic that results in different things depending on the circumstances. For example whilst in the depths of a Mayan jungle, he can cast a spell to take control of a giant golden statue which can then be controlled and used in order to kick down large stone doorways otherwise inaccessible.

Humba Wumba is another new character. Apparently Mumbo and she do not see eye to eye due to their magical differences. Wumba resumes the role as 'transformer', and by handing over to her a "glowbo", of which 2 are located in every level, she will transform you in to some creature/object suitable for the tasks at hand in that world. Transformations range from a delivery van, submarine, snowball and a giant 'daddy' T-rex (which is personally my favourite!).

Of course it is B&K who are the main stars of the game. These two set off to put an end to the evil witches' scheme before it is too late.

CONTROLS:

The controls are relatively simple to master, and considering that they are practically the same as the original game, fans of the Banjo series will find themselves settling in with the controls easily.

The instruction manual provided notes all of the actions available and also provides the button combinations to pull them off, which are not really complex at all. You begin in a "training" area so you can become used to all the controls, and younger children to teenagers to adults could master them after a little bit of practice.

A simple tap from the B button allows Kazooie to peck at an enemy from over Banjo's shoulder. B allows a jump. Holding B whilst jumping results in a flap from Kazooie's wings which extends the jump and it benefits navigating largerthan average holes that need to be jumped over.

A new move has been introduced to Banjo Tooie, which is very similar to the "beak bust"; a move that sees Banjo jump in to the air and slam down to the ground. The "Bill drill" is an upgrade and features Banjo jumping up and slamming down, however Kazooie's pokes from the rucksack and her beak "screws" violently at the ground. This new move is useful for smashing open valuable rocks which can lead to the revelation of useful items.

A great addition to the sequel, which is one feature that makes this game out-do the prequel is the ability to have Banjo and Kazooie split up from one another via "Split up pads". Once you stand on one of them, Kazooie gets out of Banjo's rucksack. You can alternate between which character you decide to use. Each one once split up possess new qualities that they do not have when united, so splitting up is compulsory to the completion of some puzzles/areas in the game. Kazooie can run really fast up slopes, spin around violently with her wings and knock enemies flying. Banjo can use his rucksack as a sleeping bag and restore his health, which comes in great use during the "stomping plains" of "Terrydactyl Land", a dinosaur thriving area in which a large dinosaur foot frequently slams down it's foot, doing major harm to Banjo. New moves can be learned for the heroes as a unit and separately, which vastly increases the amount of actions available in the game.

Special shoes can be acquired for Kazooie also, which range from wadding boots to pass infested swamps and even shoes with suction pads on which allow Kazooie to run up walls vertically!

Another exciting feature is the first person perspective sections. If you have played 'Perfect Dark' or 'Goldeneye' you will know what to expect, as the examples given and this game here were all produce by the English gaming company 'Rare'. Banjo can hold Kazooie as if she is a gun (!!!) and shoot eggs from her mouth. As strange as it sounds it is a great aspect to the game and yet again adds variety to the game. Especially the section in which you are swallowed by a huge dinosaur and in order to be released you must destory all the "nasty" ulcers from his stomach!

ITEMS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

A variety of items can be acquired in this game which helps B&K perform attacks, such as gold and red feathers. The red feathers are used in order to allow Banjo & Kazooie stay air-born (although not required if using Kazooie alone to fly, she is capable of flying without the feathers) and the gold feathers allow brief invincibility. However, I find that the gold feathers and invincibility have been deemed rather redundant in this game, due to the fact that the game houses no areas that call for it.

Kazooie's egg spitting attack returns, but this time with a new twist. Instead of being lumbered with just simple eggs to shoot, you can acquire different types of eggs such as grenade eggs, ice eggs and fire eggs. You can switch between each variety and all help in various points of the game. Switches may only be activated once shot with a fire egg and certain walls may need to be exploded with a grenade egg. Enemies also react depending on which element egg they are shot with; IE: Enemies shot with an ice egg are momentarily frozen in a block of ice. Clockwork Kazooie eggs are by far the strangest of eggs. Once shot out, you can control of a clockwork miniature kazooie, which you use to walk about and ultimately detonate. This is used to access small crevices and collect items that you normally would not be able to access. They are all great additions to the game, and I am not sure why they didn't think of doing this in the original. One small grip though; the eggs and feathers are no longer scatted about all over but instead located in small nests which hold a good amount of each item. This makes acquiring them a bit too easy, but it isn't anything to ruin the game's overall score!

Other key items include: Golden jigsaw pieces entitled "Jiggywiggies". These are the games most valuable items and required to access the worlds in Banjo Tooie. 10 are littered in each world. They then need to be taken to a temple to complete a jigsaw puzzle which will open the new worlds. There are also 100 music note littered in each world in bunches of 5 (as opposed to singularly, like in the prequel) and these are needed as "payment" for learning new moves from "Jam Jars" the mole.

Jinjos (strange friendly creatures) are also scatted all over the world and they vary in colour. Once you have collected an entire families worth, you receive a golden jigsaw piece.

THE WORLDS

The worlds in Banjo Tooie are much larger than that of the prequel. Surprisingly an expansion pack is not required for this game despite the fact the levels are much more detailed and for a quick example of this, is the fact that walls have much more varied designs, such as rock like textures and murals and such. These were present in 'Banjo Kazooie', but not quite as varied, and they tended to repeat themselves throughout the game.

Your first stop is at Mayan Temple buried deep in a jungle soon followed by 'Glitter Gultch Mine'. Both of these worlds will alert fans of the previous game just how much larger and complex the worlds appear to be. One really cool feature is that each world links somehow to one or two of the other worlds, which act as short cuts in general. It's a great touch, and in some respects makes the already monumental worlds seem like one large world. However, that isn't indicating that all the worlds appear similar as they certainly do not.

By far the largest two worlds have to be "Hailfire Peaks and "Grunty Industries", with the former being 2 large islands side by side; one themed on fire and the other on snow and ice. The latter world is a large factory which produces strange products. Hailfire peaks has to be one of my favourite worlds, the place is fantastic as it houses great puzzles (such as jumping from one collapsing column to another in a lava pit!) And probably the best two bosses of the game.

Perhaps the most bizarre of the worlds is 'Cloud Cuckoo Land', which is based on a strange floating rocky mountain in the sky which is circled with other various obscure floating islands, consisting of a large chunk of cheese and a giant dustbin! As weird as it sounds, there are some cleverly hidden jigsaw pieces to collect here.

The world's difficulties definitely vary especially towards the end. However, each of the worlds possesses their own clenched fist inducing puzzles. Such as Jolly Roger's Lagoon, (which features great water shimmering effects) a world in which the simplest jiggy is acquired by having Kazooie sit on and hatch a turtle egg and the hardest being acquired after the battle with a large electric shooting angler fish.

In fact, the worlds are so large that a train has been introduced, which will take you from one world to another to save time. They are an improvement on the prequels worlds in terms of theme and size. However, the worlds required much more back tracking as opposed to 'Banjo Kazooie', this can in some respects seem like a chore, but it is necessary for 100 per cent completion. Luckily, the reward of this trekking is usually worth while, especially to perfectionists that like to collect everything possible.

ENEMIES B&K ENCOUNTER

Each world is home to a variety of enemies suited to the theme of them. Most of them are quite simple to defeat, as one or two pecks from Kazooie's beak or a forward roll in to them from Banjo will result in their death. Such as stated earlier, the boss of Hailfire Peaks is in actual fact two large dragons from the neck upwards, which emerge from the summit of the mountains. You must deposit eggs from Kazooie in to cannon like structures and shoot them at the dragons. A novel idea, but so is the giant welding machine which sharp teeth, oh and let's not forget the giant inflatable dragon, which requires you to destroy patches to reveal holes until it eventually deflates. It is fun and novel.

MUSIC AND SOUND

The music is fun and catchy. I don't personally find the music repetitive at all; it may be because there are so many amusing things in the game that I don't have time to really listen to it as it eventually repeats itself. You realise it at first, then it fades off as you listen to the various characters interact and speak (non-human, although a text box appears so you can interpret the speech). From xylophones, banjos, brass and other various light instruments the music is always fitting to the area you are in and I have a lot of favourite tunes in this song which range from very happy to quite eerie. The sounds are always very relevant and have a rather comical feeling to them.

SUMMARY OF GAME PLAY:

'Banjo Tooie' runs pretty much the same as the prequel, however, there as stated earlier a few upgrades in terms of moves that you can pull off, this allows for a much more diverse adventure, especially as Banjo now has the ability to hang on to ledges and shimmy across in to places normally off limits. Some of the jiggies are quite hard to get, luckily though you do not need all 90 jiggies for the games completion, so you do get some leeway (those younger children or incapable players in general!). This is also true when it comes to music note collecting; unlike the prequel where once you die you need to acquire all 100 notes again; once collected in this game the notes remain.

Another major feature is that there is a 2-4 player mode. Each player can take part in contests such as controlling a Kazooie each to see who can jump through the most hoops before time runs out, who can shoot down the most balloons before time runs out and so on. It's all fun, and even the first person "shoot em up" style segment of the game is present in 2-4 player modes. So if you decide to go head to head with friends, be careful not to end up with egg on your face! It all adds to replay ability. Some of these multiplayer games are would be ideal fun if you had a party and was spending some of that time messing around on computer games. They aren't especially hard, but fast and furious - and fun!

OVERALL:

It's larger than 'Banjo Kazooie', it's definitely harder due to the back tracking that is required and it has more features! However, prequels always have a certain something about them, and there is no taking away the magic from the original. However, in Banjo Kazooie' there are much more restrictions moves wise and puzzles wise as a result, but as the characters have been expanded (mainly the split up method) the puzzles here have expanded along with it. The lush graphics and sound are all relevant and it is actually quite humorous in places too. Check out the polar bear in one part of the game that is sat in front of a huge icy TV screen watching "prawn movies". There can be places where you think "Ok, I am getting a bit bored with this level", but that is alright, because you can usually wander off elsewhere in the game and return to carry on where you got bored once you feel like it. You are not confined to the sole completion of one world in one sitting, which is good. Also its length makes it a game that you will try and finish a few times every now and again, as opposed to the shorter prequel which you may want to finish again straight after you have done. Finally the graphics, this game is on an outdated console, and so these are no longer the best of graphics. Luckily as the game adopts a cartoon like style, the game probably escapes the outdated graphics problem. Truth be told though, they do not look bad anyway.

Recommendations:

Well, most fans of the original will love this. However, some may not, as I have seen on forums that some fans prefer the original, which is fair enough. I personally do not have a favourite, but in terms of features this wins. If you like Super Mario 64 you will probably like this too.

As this was one of the last batches of games released for the Nintendo 64 they are becoming quite rare. As a result, you can expect to locate them on EBay for around £30! Pricey, maybe for a game outdated graphics wise and console wise. But well worth it with how long the game will last.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/05