Banjo-Kazooie review by Tyson
Overall
Buy
Banjo-Kazooie is a fantastic 3D platforming game. It rivals the quality of Super Mario 64 and in some areas even beats it. This is a game that you need to get for your Nintendo 64.
Gameplay
Banjo-Kazooie starts out with Gruntilda wanting to be the most beautiful lady in the land but Banjo’s sister Tooty is the most beautiful. Gruntilda then kidnaps Tooty and plans to use some machine to steal her beauty for herself. It’s up to Banjo and his feathered friend Kazooie to save Tooty.
In order to save your sister Tooty you will travel though 9 levels collecting jigsaw pieces, musical notes, blue eggs, red and gold feathers. Each item you collect also has an impact on the game. Jigsaw pieces and musical notes are used to make your way though Gruntilda Lair which acts as the games hub world between levels. Items like the blue eggs, red and gold feathers are used for various special moves.
What I found most enjoyable about Banjo-Kazooie was the level design. Each level had its own look and theme to it. For example the Freezeezy Peak was a Christmas themed snow level while Mad Monster Mansion was a haunted house style level. I enjoyed how each level would use different gameplay methods to collect the various jigsaw pieces. You might have to help an npc character, or battle a boss, or solve some kind of puzzle to earn one of the ten jigsaw pieces in each level.
The only downside I found to Banjo-Kazooie is that you couldn’t recollect the jigsaw pieces like you could the power stars in Super Mario 64. So if you ever wanted to replay a level you would need to start the game over again. Still I found the game a blast to play on multiple playthroughs.
Control
If you have played Super Mario 64 then you will know what Banjo-Kazooie controls like. You use the analog stick to move Banjo or Kazooie, the C buttons are used to control the camera, and the A and B buttons are used to jump and attack. You can use the Z button with another button to perform various other moves. I never had any problems with the control and they felt comfortable to me.
Graphics
Banjo-Kazooie is one of those games that you use to show off the power of the Nintendo 64. The texture work used in the level and character designs are just fantastic. The game holds a decent framer ate as well.
Sound
The audio in the game is just as good as the graphics. Banjo and Kazooie has tons of sound effects and every character has their own wacky voice in the game. The best part about the audio is the games soundtracks. It uses some kind of dynamic system where the audio will constantly change depending on where you at in the level.