I am not a fan of the N64. I played Mario’s first 3-D adventure and was not really that impressed. The same criticism I tend to give first-person shooters is the same I gave to that game: It made me and still makes me feel dizzy. It is often what I say about the system in general. Furthermore, I often felt that the majority of the games on the system were either just “horrible” or a rental. I would sell my system if it wasn’t for the fact that I love one particular game on it and would be sad not to have the option to play it anymore. (The game was a birthday gift.) To be fair, this was back in the day when 3-D gaming was beginning to find its proverbial sea legs. So I claim temporary insanity for my purchase of Banjo-Tooie, an old N64 game re-released on Xbox Live.
Banjo-Tooie is the sequel to the game Banjo-Kazooie. It takes place a few months or so after events of the first game with the characters hanging out, playing cards, at Banjo the bear’s house. That’s when the evil witch comes through and destroys everything in sight. Unfortunately, Bubbles the mole didn’t have enough foresight to get out of the way. Plus, the witch is out to drain every single life force so she can be alive again. So now the duo is adventuring around the world to avenge their friend’s death and keep witchiepoo from becoming a “vampire.”
That’s all there is to the plot. It is shallow plot as there is no real character development. At the same time, it tries to have as much fun with itself as possible. It knows it is a game. Sure, some of the plot moments and the “voice acting” can be grating (I think the Native Americans will call and want their stereotype buried) and understandably so due to the mediocre writing. However, I just cannot help giving it some props because it’s a bit ahead of its time. Although it isn’t the game that made action-platformers run for cover, Banjo-Tooie is the game that began the “duo that is out to save the world” shtick and tries to make it cool.
Gameplay is just like any other action-platformer: You have Banjo run all over the map picking up ammo eggs (yes, you can shoot eggs out of Kazooie. And isn’t Kazooie a guy?), feathers for flight and invincibility, music notes that are used for learning new moves, visiting Humba Wumba (I kid you not) for transformations to access new areas, Mumbo Jumbo (again, not joking) for activating certain hotspots, and ultimately looking for puzzle pieces (or “jigglys” as the game likes to call it) to unlock the next area.
If this sounds a bit too familiar — like collecting stars — then, yes, it is. Banjo and Kazooie really want to give the plumber twins a run for their money. Although they ultimately fail, they also come pretty darn close. The control scheme is definitely stronger than the original game, and it likes to shake things up by adding different styles of gameplay. Sometimes you’ll be mashing your controller into oblivion in a race, then you’ll be sneaking around a sleeping character to gather an item and even engage in Doom-inspired level style with Kazooie as your gun. However, aiming Kazooie in any mode is a pain in the butt as it is downright slow, unintuitive and inaccurate most of the time. Plus, the camera (in general) is a bit too persnickety and ultimately triggers my motion sensitivity. You’ve got to give the developers credit for trying so hard.
Graphically, the game looks better than it did on the N64. The textures are much smoother, and it is easier to tell where you can and cannot traverse. The game exudes this Saturday morning cartoon charm that really makes exploring the world enjoyable. There’s a mine filled with TNT boxes and hidden gems, a Mayan-inspired pyramid and statues, an amusement park inspired by witches, and a town full of birds. There is always some sort of caricature to encounter or an interesting locale to explore. Again, the developers use this method in an attempt to be humorous, and it easily falls into the “hit or miss” category. As such, if you did not enjoy the N64’s graphical style, then you will probably not get a big kick out of these graphics. I do not care for them that much.
Sound design is also a mixed bag. There is the pleasant exploration music with the lighthearted strings. The banjo music is fast and, oddly, enjoyable (though the Western feel is still one of my least favorite genres). There are the dank sounds of the gold mines. Humba Wumba’s hut “steals” its sound from the Native American culture. Sound effects are decent as they are exactly what they should be: springy jumps, beak pecks, flowing rush of water, a rattlesnake’s rattle and the crumbling sound of rocks. There is “voice acting,” and it would be considered basic. This is back in the day when voice acting on a cartridge was uncommon. Heck, it is still uncommon as few DS games have voice acting. Each character has his or her own vocal tone in the form of jibber-jabber. In other words, it is supposed to mimic normal speech while being creative. Unfortunately, it hurts my ears to hear the characters speak. The master of the jigglies sounds like he’s burping (the fifth grade principle called, and you’re stuck in detention), the general sounds like a military man complete with clichéd march and Kazooie sounds like a chicken on crack. I desperately searched for a way to disable voices and could find none.
Despite all my criticism leveraged at Banjo-Tooie, I do admit I like it. A lot of the criticism is justified as the system it was originally built for has not aged well. The game isn’t very humorous, it doesn’t look very good and the audio is decent. On the flip side of the coin are these thoughts: The controls are solid, it attempts to give gamers a variety of game styles and it is rewarding to play as everything you learn or earn can be applied elsewhere. Thus,Banjo-Tooie is a competent platformer no matter how one paints the picture. Could things have been better and more refined? The answer is going to be the same as it is for the room for human growth: yes.
I picked up Banjo-Tooie when it was on sale for about $7.50, which is about 700 Microsoft Points. I do not believe that one should pay 1200 MP for a game of this caliber; it is not refined enough to justify such a purchase. Fans of platforming in general should get a kick out of the experience. If you’re like me and hate those 3-D platformers, then welcome to one of the so-called “better” levels of purgatory. Banjo-Tooie will probably not change your opinion of the N64 or of the series, but it does show the beginnings of dynamic duos in gaming. How do you like those two banjos?
