Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge

"The Secretly Released Banjo-Kazooie"

Rare's third installment to the popular N64 series will not disappoint. Well, it might, but overall, it won't.

Story: 5/10
The story is really not that bad. Just a tad corny. In the months between Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, Klungo builds a Mecha-Grunty and grunty's soul enters it. Grunty then proceeds to kidnap Kazooie. Mumbo pathetically attempts to warn Banjo but Banjo and Mumbo just stand there as Kazooie is kidnapped. Mumbo then sends Banjo back in time to save Kazooie. With the help of Bozzeye the mole, Banjo sets out to save Kazooie, and defeat Grunty.

Graphics: 10/10
Hands down the best graphics for any Game Boy Advance game I have ever seen! Everything is very clear and smooth with the exception of a few of the mini-games. Overall, the game is nearly N64 quality! I have to hand it to Rareware, they have a knack for putting out the best graphics out there.

Music: 8/10
The Spiral Mountain music is great and everything sounds very clear on the game boy. It only loses points for the fact that most of the other levels music isn't that great. Hey, it's hard to compete with the brilliant music on the original.

Sound: 10/10
The sound in this game is really, really good! Every character has their same wonderfully goofy noises they make during their dialogue and new characters have their own too. Even in one of the levels you can hear lightning cracking in the distance which sounds very clear. Excellent job here.

Atmosphere: 8/10
Rare did a great job of creating a fun, Banjo atmosphere. The levels are very enjoyable, colorful, and large (For a game boy) My only complaints is the fact that the mini-games are overused extremely.

Characters: 7/10
Had this game including the extensive array of characters the N64 version included, I would have scored this higher, unfortunately, a certain rat character reappears in every level it seems and there aren't too many others. It is also rather disappointing favorites such as Gobi, Loggo, Boggy, or others didn't appear. But you gotta love Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo, and the rest of the gang.

Gameplay: 10/10
This game plays very smooth! The massive amount of moves were pulled off flawlessly and there is never a moment of poor controls. It is a very enjoyable game due to this smoothness. On top of this, most games for game boy that feature semi-3D environments, such as Zelda for example, have the screen drag over after you reach a certain area on the screen, this game does none the such. You will love it.

Unique Features: 9/10
This game has many unique features. Such as the amount of moves, the collecting, and the transformations. None of which are boring at all. The moves, as mentioned above, are pulled off very well. Another nice added feature is the fact that the transformations, once obtained can be redone in any following levels. Each new level will provide challenges that must be completed using the moves you've learned and the transformations you gain. The collecting is very fun as usual. My only complaint is the mini-game repetitiveness.

Fun Factor: 10/10
This game is extremely fun, but fairly short. But while it lasts I guarantee you'll have a blast, as with any Banjo game, besides the Canary Mary race Cloud Cukoo Land. (cringes at the thought)

Length: 4/10
This doesn't count towards the final score, just for your information. This game will probably take you around 6-7 hours to beat. It isn't evry long in comparison to some other GBA games such as Mario & Luigi, but it's not as in depth either, it's more of a quick, fun, not too difficult experience,

Difficulty: 5/10
This doesn't count towards the final score, it's just for your information on how hard this game is. Some of the puzzle switches can be hard to reach, but overall, it isn't terribly hard.

Overall: 8/10

Buy or Rent: Buy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/03, Updated 07/29/04