"Take flight with Banjo Pilot!"

Game Play: 7.5 out of 10
Due to the fact that you'll be racing airplanes in Banjo Pilot, there are many different possibilities for new ways to maneuver around the tracks. Not only can you maneuver left and right, but now, up and down as well. Every button has it's own unique purpose, yet they aren't all as responsive as one may hope. You can't make sharp turns. Every normal turn (meaning no boosts/power-ups) is slow and gradual. Also, when a projectile of some sort is being launched at you, the special L button dodge/boost technique doesn't work 9 out of 10 times. What's kinda' funny about the game is that when you fly over rough terrain, the plane bumps up and down, and slows down as if you were actually driving over it! Other than that, the game plays pretty much like most other racing games. Most comparably, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, in the fact that you choose your character, race around tracks, collect items, and go through boosts in attempts to win 1st place/the gold trophy in each cup. The game has more modes than just Grand Prix, such as multiplayer mode, QuickRace, Time Trial, Jiggy Challenge, a trophy room, and a Cheato mode that allows you to use the Cheato pages you collect to “buy” different unlockables.

Sound: 6 out of 10
Banjo Pilot's strongest point definitely isn't its sound quality. All of the 9 playable characters have about four different sounds each: happy, sad, mid-air flip, and boost/item noise. Chances are that you'll hear the same sounds again, and again, and again. Not much variety there. On the other hand, the game's menu screens and courses have decent music. (Although during the races, there will be so much going on that the last thing on your mind will be the music) Some of the music is familiar from previous games in the series, but some is new and unique.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Banjo Pilot's graphics are good, but seemed rushed at times. This may be hard to understand, but Rare almost seemed to try to push the graphics of the GameBoy Advance to such an extent, that they almost lost some quality in the process. The developers emphasized speed during game play in order for you to miss the lack of details in most of the courses. Sometimes, you can even manage to not realize what direction your supposed to be heading in! All of the menu screens have very nice details and are designed well, but during the races/dogfights, the game details are reused many times on different courses. For example, you'll see the same whale jumping out of the water in almost every beach or ice track in the background, although most levels have some sort of exclusive background sprite. With all of that aside, the graphics are still pretty decent, and from what I've seen, slightly above average in comparison to other GBA games.

Difficulty: 8.5 out of 10
At first, Banjo Pilot seems easy and the difficulty level seems to be fairly low, but eventually after you beat the first few groups of grand prix's, you'll probably come to realize that you won't be able to get much further without some very good strategies, good choice of your character, and a lot of luck, which is unfortunate, because over time, and many failures, you'll be likely to lose interest in the game which actually cuts back on the game's overall enjoyment.

Overall: 7.25 out of 10
Banjo Pilot isn't for everybody, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. If you enjoyed Mario Kart: Super Circuit, then chances are that you'd also like Banjo Pilot. Also, if you already own Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and/or Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge and enjoyed them all, then you'll love Banjo Pilot – it incorporates many elements from the three previous games in the series including playable characters, objects in courses, sounds, and much more.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/05