Banjo-Pilot

"Take the the air with Banjo and friends, but be ready to crash and burn!"

You probably first knew this game as Diddy Kong Pilot and was expecting it to be released with the tilt cartridge. While the game shows no signs of Diddy Kong, it borrows heavily from the little chimps N64 outing. Having read some reviews about the game, needless to say I was eagerly anticipating its release.

Storyline: 7/10

I suppose it has as much storyline as you can give a racing game. But the basic premise is that the characters from the Banjo-Kazooie series have come together to race and to find some of Cheatos pages. Remember that guy from the N64 games?

Gameplay: 3/10

This is my main problem with this game, you can't invert the steering axis!Personally I play a lot of first person shooter games, where up is up and down is down. In this game, up is down and down is up. After playing for a few hours I got used to it and the game flows quite smoothly and the buttons are very responsive. Still, after not playing for a few days I struggled to get back into it because of the inverted axis. Another main problem is when you go just a few centimetres off course you start to slow down like you were driving on gravel, which baffles me because you are in a plane! The game takes on the usual race 4 races and face the end boss, there's nothing original to be found here with the usual GP, time trial and Quickrace options. Jiggy challenge sees you collecting jiggies while flying against bottles.

Graphics: 7/10

Overall the graphics are very easy on the eyes and probably some of the best 3-D graphics on the Gameboy Advance. You still get that pixelated feeling though which reminds me of Starwing on the SNES, like it's just not finished. The maps are very well laid and the character models are nicely drawn out, you will instantly feel like you are in the Banjo-Kazooie universe.

Sound: 8/10

The characters voices are pretty much what you would expect from the Gameboy Advance and are exactly as they were on the N64. The in-game music is also very good, there are a few returning tunes from previous games and a good variety of original music scores. Most of them you will be humming for a good few hours after playing.

Play Time/Replayability: 6.5/10

I'd say it takes about 5-6 to completely finish the game, well it did for me anyway! There's not much to do after the credits roll and the only incentive to play again would be to collect all the cheato pages, or play against your friends in multiplayer.

Overall: 4/10

I hate to give this game its only negative review but it really didn't cut it for me. I loved Diddy Kong racing and maybe I expected a little too much from Banjo Pilot. I am extremely disappointed with the game after the hype that surrounded it and Rares excellent reputation. By all means borrow it from a friend but I would say it isn't worth a purchase. Banjo-Pilot had the potential to be great but sadly for me the inability to set my steering axis straight ruined it for me.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/05