This week on Retro Game Friday we are reviewing one of the best N64 games I can remember playing back when I was a kid, Banjo-Kazooie.
Plot Synopsis: Set in Spiral Mountain, Banjo-Kazooie follows the story of Banjo, a male brown honey bear, and Kazooie, a red female bird who is always kept in Banjo’s backpack. The game begins when a foul-tempered witch named Gruntilda learns from her cauldron that Tooty, Banjo’s younger sister, is the most beautiful girl of all, making Gruntilda extremely jealous. In retaliation, Gruntilda creates a machine which can transfer a person’s level of beauty to another, which she intends to use with Tooty. She then abducts Tooty from Banjo’s house while he is sleeping. In response to the kidnapping, Kazooie wakes Banjo up and the two set out to rescue her.
Plot: Probably the weakest thing about this game was it’s plot, it sucked because it’s a pretty standard rescue damsel in distress stuff. That said I still had a blast playing this game.
Gameplay: It had interesting power ups and collectibles in more forms than just Stars or coins to collect like Mario did, so I enjoyed that a whole lot more. That said it was a pretty freaking hard game for me to play as an kid, and I never did beat the last boss if I remember correctly. It’s on a rare list of games that I’ve never completed the story mode, and it’s the only one where I did it not because of the game itself, but my own lack of abilities.
Graphics: Back in the day, it looked pretty freaking good, now a days it’s still decent in that 240p sort of way.
Music: Awesome, it had music that was great for it’s gameplay, and matched up perfectly for everything I was expecting back then. Now it’s nothing that great, but still worth praise for how it was back then.
Characters: Of all the characters I enjoy Kazooie the most. She may in fact be a reason for my snarky attitude, since she is the queen of snark in the game.
Overall: If you have the money to spare, you can buy an HD remake of this and Banjo-Tooie, the sequel, on Xbox Live’s Marketplace. It’s worth it if you have younger kids who shouldn’t be playing FPS games yet, but like to game. Otherwise only play it if you want to experience the glory days of Rare’s game making.
For those who like: A witty cast of characters much more interesting than any Mario game, Platforming, Collecting a lot of stuff to beat the final boss.
Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, but how can you hate a snarky red bird that lives in a backpack?
Windborne's Story Eatery 