Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

"The bear and bird are back for another excellent adventure."

I have to admit, I was little disappointed at first upon learning the traditional platforming aspect was substituted for vehicles. Well, when I got the game for the first time I learned I had been terribly, terribly wrong. This game actually exceeded well past my expectations and is truly one of the hidden gems for the Xbox 360.

Now if you're looking to play just a Banjo-Kazooie game, this game might not be for you. However if you're open to new ideas and a great original gameplay system, this game is actually perfect to buy. You could say this is an entirely new game on it's own, there's no doubt about it. You could even say they slapped the Banjo characters on marketing value. It doesn't take away from the gameplay, however; trust me. The lovable characters that you grew up with will just put that extra smile on your face when you're playing this game.

Let's get down to business, shall we? I've divided the game into a few categories which judged the score, as most reviews do.

STORY: 6/10

Not very good to start off with, but it is one of the few flaws with the game. The story, in my mind, drifted very far from the traditional storylines of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. When I say this, I mean that Rare didn't do a good job making it seem like a "logic story" for the Banjo setting, if you will. It basically is just competing with Grunty to get back to Spiral Mountain. Not a huge deal and I've probably seen something very similar before (getting back home), but it's ignorable so don't let it affect you. Though if you really insist on taking story into account, keep in mind you're going to get a slightly above average plot.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

Here's the real kicker: What me and probably most of the Banjo community thought would be a disappointment, actually turned out to be a great game. The vehicle aspect is very original and is very smooth to utilize. You'll quickly forget about the complaints of removing the classic B-K feel as you'll be too busy having fun creating and using your custom vehicles. And if you still want the platforming, trust me, it's still there. Especially in the main hub of the game, "Showdown Town". Here you can pretty much use all your platforming skills to get to new places and collect more parts for your vehicles. It's very fun if I might add. You'll find yourself climbing towers and such to collect the traditional notes along with the already stated extra parts. Overall, the gameplay truly deserves a whopping ten.

MUSIC: 9/10

I really enjoyed the music in this game. Every piece fit in well with the setting, and hearing your favorite classic B-K tunes being remixed with some of the game's music was very pleasing to hear. The only problem...this was done TOO MUCH. Don't get me wrong, the music is great, but I really felt Rare should've been more original when it came to composing the music. The game does have it's fair share of great original music, but too much of the rest utilizes classic B-K themes. I appreciated it as a fan, but there's a limit of what you should do. So I'm going to have to deduct a small point for this, but it's no biggie.

OBJECTIVE: 6.5/10

While the gameplay itself is very fun to play and seldom boring, the objectives in the game can be a bit stale and unoriginal. The game has a decent amount of original and fun objectives (in order to get jiggies), however a lot of them involve simply getting from point A to point B with your vehicle without actually doing something such as solving a puzzle. A lot of times you'll also find yourself doing a bunch of races just to get a jiggy. This is the thing that really only ticked me off. But most of the time you'll be too busy having fun creating vehicles anyway, so don't pay much attention to the quality of the objectives.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

Tremendous is all I can say for this game. As a gamer I dreamed for the day Banjo-Kazooie would look just like the amazing graphics we have for other games today. When I first heard that Banjo-Kazooie would not make it for the Xbox, but rather the 360 due to obvious time constraints, I applauded in joy. Looking at the 360's graphical capabilities I couldn't wait for this game to come out to truly appreciate the wonders of what the console could do. But enough about the console itself, the game reached my anticipation and I am truly proud of what Rare had accomplished. The graphics aren't "realistic", however the detail provided on every part of the game is absolutely amazing. If you're a graphic freak, this stands out as the elite graphical platforming games on the 360. Give it a look, you won't be dissatisfied.

OVERALL: 8/10

This game is definitely worth the buy. The few minor flaws put together ended up with the rounded 8/10, but if I could I'd much rather give this game an 8.5. Don't believe other people when they say Rare dropped the ball on the series. They're wrong, this game is truly amazing and even if you are unhappy that they changed the gameplay you will soon forget it with this possible Adventure Game of the Year.

Is it worth a rent? Yeah, but a buy is so much more worth it. You won't be disappointed. This concludes this review and I hope you enjoy this game if you decide to play or own it in the future.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/08

Game Release: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (US, 11/12/08)