Game of the Month #54 (July 2019) - Banjo Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie is a platformer developed by Rare who was heavily influenced by Super Mario 64. In the game, players play as a bear named Banjo who wears a backpack containing his bird-friend - Kazooie. The game features large worlds full of collectibles, secrets, and enemies.

Enjoy!

Played the tutorial and first level last night. It's nice so far and as good as my 17 year old self remembers from when I first got the game. Still own my original CIB copy as well! :)

I had forgotten how much stuff there is to find in each level. ThatMs one thing I'm not particularly a fan of, but it's not "that" bad.

I have the original N64 version of the game. I could never pass it. I always got stuck on a certain part of the game and never ever finished it but I recently found all my old PS2 games and my N64 games as well so I might as well tackle this when I have time. Hopefully I don’t get stuck again.

As a kid this was always the go to N64 game I’d play at my grandparents and I have a lot of fond memories of it. Most of the time I played it though it was on my grandmother’s mostly completed file so I didn’t really make any of the progress through the game myself, and mostly just explored and messed around in the different areas. I’ve been wanting to try this out again for quite some time now, as I haven’t played it in years, but usually I’ve been too lazy to hook up the N64 so I guess this is a great time to stop procrastinating on that.

Played another hour today. The level design is amazing for its time of release. The levels are big and there is a LOT to find. I'd say that the only slightly annoying thing for me are the controls. Just like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, they are a bit clunky compared to today's standards. But overall, I feel like the game still holds up well. I've collected something like 20 puzzle pieces so far.

I wasted too much time looking for my N64 today, only to realize that I had it displayed on a shelf with most of my other retired consoles. I also found the Banjo-Kazooie box... Alas, there wasn't anything inside of said box. I also got out my gigantic bag of random cables; I assume something in there will connect the N64 to a TV. Now I just need to find a controller. And the game, and I'll be good to go.

I don't know if this question is stupid, but: Does the Crash Bandicoot from the 'n' Sane Trilogy count to play this game? It's 40% in the Steam Sale right now :D

I don't know if this question is stupid, but: Does the Crash Bandicoot from the 'n' Sane Trilogy count to play this game? It's 40% in the Steam Sale right now :D

(Just poking a little fun. If your question was serious then you're free to play whatever you want whenever you want, but these threads are ideally supposed to be for discussion about the game that was voted for the club. You could start a new thread for the N Sane Trilogy if you want or nominate it for next month's GOTM.)

(Just poking a little fun. If your question was serious then you're free to play whatever you want whenever you want, but these threads are ideally supposed to be for discussion about the game that was voted for the club. You could start a new thread for the N Sane Trilogy if you want or nominate it for next month's GOTM.)

No, I mean, since the 'n' Sane Trilogy have the remake of the three first games, can I play the first game from there or has it changed too much?
I guess from your answer that it has changed too much so I will stuck to the emulated version, going up one place on your pic :P

Edit: I don't really know a lot about the Banjo Kazooie history, this will be the first time I played one of this games, and the amount of remakes, re releases, etc. just confuse me, that why I'm asking.

No, I mean, since the 'n' Sane Trilogy have the remake of the three first games, can I play the first game from there or has it changed too much?
I guess from your answer that it has changed too much so I will stuck to the emulated version, going up one place on your pic :P

Edit: I don't really know a lot about the Banjo Kazooie history, this will be the first time I played one of this games, and the amount of remakes, re releases, etc. just confuse me, that why I'm asking.

Actually, Crash and Banjo are two different series, from two different devs, and the IPs are owned by two different companies. So they are totally unrelated. :)

LOL, that was stupid of me, sorry :P

LOL, that was stupid of me, sorry :P

Heheh... no worries, I've seen worst.

No, I mean, since the 'n' Sane Trilogy have the remake of the three first games, can I play the first game from there or has it changed too much?
I guess from your answer that it has changed too much so I will stuck to the emulated version, going up one place on your pic :P

Edit: I don't really know a lot about the Banjo Kazooie history, this will be the first time I played one of this games, and the amount of remakes, re releases, etc. just confuse me, that why I'm asking.

To answer your question tho, the one where you said you don't know much about Banjo-Kazooie. The game came out in 1998 on the N64. Rareware pretty much took Super Mario 64 and pushed the boundaries a lot further. Visually, it's stunning for its time. The dynamic music that changes within the level was well done. The texture work was also well done for its time.

You get a hub level from which you access the other levels. You need to find enough stuff in each level to unlock doors in the hub level to access more levels and progress through the game. It's also considered the grandfather of the "collectathons" since each level has so many things to find.

It was released again on the Xbox360 with slightly enhanced visuals and updated user interface for modern systems. I think the Xbox One version is actually the 360 version in backward compatibility mode. But it's essentially the same game.

Played an hour of Banjo Kazooi and I only finished the first level Mumbo Mountain for now but going back to the game now gives me nostalgia. I would always get stuck on the sewer levels when I was little could never pass those levels they were always so confusing to me. Hopefully as an adult now I can finally pass this game.

Man, I'm so angry ! I was in the Clanker's Cavern level and I died short ONE note. Also, I was like ONE second away from getting the 5th Jingo to get the last Jiggy from that level. Now I'm going to have to start all over again to get the five Jinjos and all 100 notes again. Well, I was missing only one. I wonder where it was?!

If all goes well, I'll have the first three levels at 100% without any guide so far. I'm overally pleased with the game so far. The level design is amazing and everything is well hidden, but not to the point where it gets frustrating. Just be going everywhere you should be able to find most of the stuff. I obviously don't remember ANYTHING from when I played the game when it came out. Now that I think of it, I don't think I had liked the game that much back then. I don't remember. I wonder if the battery in my cartridge is still good and if my save is still there. I could hook up my N64 just to see how far I got 20 years ago.

For those of you wondering, I died in the pit where Clanker is chained. Because of wierd controls while swimming and bad camera angles, I was not fast enough to grab more air down there and died while trying to get to the green Jinjo.

Edit: If you're curious to see what the game looks like emulated with a HD texture pack and a 16:9 hack, you're more than welcolmed to watch this Facebook Live broadcast of my 2nd playthrough of the Clanker's Cavern level. Beware of spoilers though! ;) (Facebook Live does not justice to what I'm actually seeing while playing since it's only 720p/30fps and I'm actually playing in 1080p/60fps, but it's still pretty) https://www.facebook.com/michel.morand1/videos/2391830910865174/

So, I've been trying this game on a bunch of emulators, and found out that retroachievement.org have achievements for N64 games! The emulator is a modded Project64, and works really great to me.

Given my love for achievement hunting I decided to play it over there.
The game it's good so far, I only played the first hour, and I am finishing the first non tutorial level. It's funny and charming, although I don't like very much the controls. I am playing with an XBOX 360 controller, so maybe I don't have it very well configured, but on keyboar and mouse it feels worse even.
I am also trying to get all collectables on every level, and will see how far my patience will reach with that.

Also, the intro music is great! Love the video tiamat posted here! So funny :D.

I realised I had a few BK related stuff while doing some cleaning in my house... Official Guide, CIB game (I'm the original day-one buyer!!) and US Soundtrack. And also, two nice officially licensed plush beanies from 1998 to play along with! All in mint condition, of course! :P

I realised I had a few BK related stuff while doing some cleaning in my house... Official Guide, CIB game (I'm the original day-one buyer!!) and US Soundtrack. And also, two nice officially licensed plush beanies from 1998 to play along with! All in mint condition, of course! :P

As a collector, I am very jealous.

As a collector, I am very jealous.

What if I told you I actually have a hand written letter from Miyamoto ?

What if I told you I actually have a hand written letter from Miyamoto ?

I wouldn't do that, I may snap.

I wouldn't do that, I may snap.

Well, I will then! HAHA! It's amazing how I can still surprise people after all these years here. This was a time before the internet. I still have the enveloppe it came in. And the letter, obviously. It's adressed to my dad. I was only 9 years old then. Also, Miyamoto sent this giant SMB3 playing card with his autograph. See for yourself! The story behind this is that my dad got us this Famicom and we got SMB3 in Canada like one full year before it got released here. Everything was in Japanese and we could not figure out what was the anchor item for. So my dad simply wrote to Nintendo Japan to inquire about it. It's amazing that Miyamoto is the one who actually wrote back! You wouldn't see that these days. This guy is amazing, he has true passion for games and stuff.

I'll stop now before you, well, actually snap! :) And also, I don't want to deviate too much from the topic here...

Well, I will then! HAHA! It's amazing how I can still surprise people after all these years here. This was a time before the internet. I still have the enveloppe it came in. And the letter, obviously. It's adressed to my dad. I was only 9 years old then. Also, Miyamoto sent this giant SMB3 playing card with his autograph. See for yourself! The story behind this is that my dad got us this Famicom and we got SMB3 in Canada like one full year before it got released here. Everything was in Japanese and we could not figure out what was the anchor item for. So my dad simply wrote to Nintendo Japan to inquire about it. It's amazing that Miyamoto is the one who actually wrote back! You wouldn't see that these days. This guy is amazing, he has true passion for games and stuff.

I'll stop now before you, well, actually snap! :) And also, I don't want to deviate too much from the topic here...

That.

Is.

Fucking.

Amazing.

Wow! That is something to treasure for all eternity.

I wrote a letter to Nintendo back when I was a kid, but I didn't get nearly as delightful response. I sent them some ideas for a future Mario game. They eventually sent everything back along with a letter explaining how they didn't accept ideas from external sources (or snot-nosed brats in America)... ...but if I worked hard, I could be making the games one day! I think I crammed the letter in my underwear drawer and wound up throwing it away a few months after that.

In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't work hard towards that goal, because given all the (mostly bad) stories I've heard about making games, I don't want anything to do with it!

Well, I will then! HAHA! It's amazing how I can still surprise people after all these years here. This was a time before the internet. I still have the enveloppe it came in. And the letter, obviously. It's adressed to my dad. I was only 9 years old then. Also, Miyamoto sent this giant SMB3 playing card with his autograph. See for yourself! The story behind this is that my dad got us this Famicom and we got SMB3 in Canada like one full year before it got released here. Everything was in Japanese and we could not figure out what was the anchor item for. So my dad simply wrote to Nintendo Japan to inquire about it. It's amazing that Miyamoto is the one who actually wrote back! You wouldn't see that these days. This guy is amazing, he has true passion for games and stuff.

I'll stop now before you, well, actually snap! :) And also, I don't want to deviate too much from the topic here...

that is so cool!