Banjo-Kazooie is back

[Nitro Vordex]

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/splash/b/bknutsandbolts/

Since I know nothing about this game or it's series, go nuts everyone.

[Zarode]

Oh, um.

Hm.

Never played ANY banjo kazooie game? Well, they were fun platforming games for the N64


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFlcqWQVVuU

:v

Right, where was I? Just good enjoyable platforming games that had you control a bear and bird combo team to beat up a witch named Gruntilda or w/e her name was (Bitch-Witch :wacko: ). They were up there with Super Mario 64, when it came to gameplay.

Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie (play on words for the sequel, aka two :P)


Along with releasing Nuts and Bolts (platformer/vehicle game with RPG elements?), they are rereleasing Banjo Kazooie on the Marketplace. If you preorder the game, you get the game free, and a week early. :v

[Kent]

It's worth stating that Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is completely different from the previous games in the series, and will no doubt appeal to a completely different audience - leaving many to wonder "Why didn't Rare just slap this on a new IP?"

I, however, have enjoyed the demo thuroughly. It's keeping me busy until games I have pre-ordered start releasing in the next week or so.

[Outrider]

While I loved the first Banjo-Kazooie, I never really got a chance to play through Banjo-Tooie. What I did play, I wasn't crazy about, but I feel like that was due to general Rare Collect-o-thon fatigue at that point.

The Nuts and Bolts demo seemed fun, especially since I got such a kick out of the ship-building in Kingdom Hearts. It's tempting to pre-order it to get the XBLA release of B-K as well, but I'm still torn. I found the gampeplay a little frustrating (possibly because I expected the gameplay portions to perform more like the old Banjo-Kazooie and the ship-building to control more like Kingdom Hearts). Ah well, I'm sure the game will be fun.

But why did they have to ruin Banjo's design by making him all boxy?

[Zekester]

I still haven't finished Banjo-Tooie. That prehistoric level owned me. But then again, I haven't played that game in about 5+ years...

[Kesubei]

It's worth stating that Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is completely different from the previous games in the series, and will no doubt appeal to a completely different audience - leaving many to wonder "Why didn't Rare just slap this on a new IP?"

Considering how poorly Viva Pinata supposedly sold, it's no wonder why Rare would want to revive one of their most successful IPs, even if the gameplay has nothing to do with what the series is known for.

I actually never played any of the Banjo-Kazooie games. However, I heard they were less like Jet Force Gemini (which is a classic) and more like Donkey Kong 64 (meh).

[Outrider]

Considering how poorly Viva Pinata supposedly sold, it's no wonder why Rare would want to revive one of their most successful IPs, even if the gameplay has nothing to do with what the series is known for.

I actually never played any of the Banjo-Kazooie games. However, I heard they were less like Jet Force Gemini (which is a classic) and more like Donkey Kong 64 (meh).

To be fair, Banjo-Kazooie was much more like Mario 64 than Donkey Kong 64. It's certainly situated at the point between the two of them, but to me, DK64 always seemed like they got together and decided that literally, more is equal to better, even if they had to sacrifice some good gameplay to get there. Lots of devs fell prey to that during the PSX/N64 years what with always trying to cram in more things to collect, more characters to play as, etc.

[Kylie]

360 exclusive, eh? Shame because I always thought that series was a blast. I had the first one on N64, and then I played the second one with my cousin a few times. I'm a little surprised M$ got it, but I guess that's the current trend. It makes me feel a little bad for Sony. :lol: If I get a 360, this will be on my list of games to get.

[Outrider]

360 exclusive, eh? Shame because I always thought that series was a blast. I had the first one on N64, and then I played the second one with my cousin a few times. I'm a little surprised M$ got it, but I guess that's the current trend. It makes me feel a little bad for Sony. :lol: If I get a 360, this will be on my list of games to get.

First off - Stop using a dollar sign instead of an S when referring to Microsoft. It's never been funny and it makes people think you a fool. I'm offering you this advice because people will look down on you for it.

Second - You do know that Microsoft bought Rare years ago, right? There shouldn't be any sort of shock here - Microsoft has owned Rare since before the 360 came out.

I just figured on a gaming forum people would be more up to date on gaming news, but I suppose not. Not looking for conflict, just genuinely surprised.

[SpikeOtacon]

Never played past the first one. It was an interesting game but I'm not going nuts (and bolts) over the series coming back.

[Kylie]

First off - Stop using a dollar sign instead of an S when referring to Microsoft. It's never been funny and it makes people think you a fool. I'm offering you this advice because people will look down on you for it.

Second - You do know that Microsoft bought Rare years ago, right? There shouldn't be any sort of shock here - Microsoft has owned Rare since before the 360 came out.

I just figured on a gaming forum people would be more up to date on gaming news, but I suppose not. Not looking for conflict, just genuinely surprised.
I'll say M$ if I want to. I don't care if people don't like it because I say it in a sarcastic way. Also, I obviously didn't know that they bought Rare, and I don't really have in interest in gaming enough to keep up with who bought what. Just posting on a message board for the Phantasy Star series doesn't require knowing stuff about Rare. Hell, I didn't even know that's who made Banjo And Kazooie, so it's fair for me to be surprised that it's a 360 exclusive now. :lol:

[amtalx]

I never played any of the previous games. And to be honest, the only game of Rare's that I've ever really liked was Goldeneye for N64. PDZ is still the crowning failure of my 360 game collection.

[Sord]

I played B-K a ton as a kid, far more than Mario 64 actually. I didn't play much of the sequel, and was only mildly impressed with it. I loved the really quirky oddball worlds they had in the first one. it was all so very new to me and rather original. We still have the original and play it every now and then on the N64, though currently Kirby and the Crystal Shards is played more by my brothers because the difficulty level is closer to what they can handle (they're mentally handicapped.) I should go through B-K again some time.

[seph_monkey]

I'm a little surprised M$ got it



First off - Stop using a dollar sign instead of an S when referring to Microsoft.

i think its cool *shrug* then again im not a fan of 360


i love banjo kazooie when i first played the first one it took me forever to beat it cause i was playing it at a cousins house cause i didnt own a n64. i also played banjo tooie when i finally bought myself a n64, that game was great too. (the sad thing is i got the n64 when the GC came out hahaha and got the GC when the Wii came out hahahaha)

besides that i dont like the 360, i think the new banjo should have been on the nintendo just because its more traditional to me.

[Outrider]

I never played any of the previous games. And to be honest, the only game of Rare's that I've ever really liked was Goldeneye for N64. PDZ is still the crowning failure of my 360 game collection.

I can't believe that I actually have to finish that mess to get any achievement points. It was only 5 dollars, but the shame of having it on my games list has cost me far more. (Ok, not really, but it's not so hot.)

[Scrub]

Banjo Kazooie and its sequel were probably 2 of my most played games growing up.

Honestly I feel like this game is just taking a shit all over the whole point of the first two. I don't care if it's a good game, LOOK AT IT IT IS NOT A BANJO KAZOOIE GAME WHY ARE YOU USING MY FOND MEMORIES TO SELL EXTRA COPIES RARE RGH.

[Kent]

Rare has made some pretty impressive games for the 360. Despite the sales figures, Viva Pinata is actually really fun (imagine a mix of Pokemon and Harvest Moon), and contrary to what a lot of people think, Perfect Dark Zero is actually a really fun and well-made first-person shooter, with quite an interesting twist, in that it heavily emphasized tactics and precision over... Running and gunning and twitch tactics (you know, kinda like a secret agent or spy of some sort). A lot of people like to hate on it simply because they're crying that Rare decided to update the control scheme to comply with, you know, modern times.

That being said, Nuts and Bolts has has a pre-order of mine for a while now. Not only will I get the chance to play through and finish the original on the Xbox Live Arcade, but I'll also be able to get creative with the vehicles, and be forever taunted that there's a shop in the game selling Killer Instinct 3 info, and the truth behind Stop-N-Swop. :wacko:

To anyone who doesn't like the idea of a Banjo-Kazooie game being so dramatcially different: There'a a demo available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Go try it, for it is actually pretty fun. If you don't like it, fine, but at least you can say you tried it first.

[Outrider]

Rare has made some pretty impressive games for the 360. Despite the sales figures, Viva Pinata is actually really fun (imagine a mix of Pokemon and Harvest Moon), and contrary to what a lot of people think, Perfect Dark Zero is actually a really fun and well-made first-person shooter, with quite an interesting twist, in that it heavily emphasized tactics and precision over... Running and gunning and twitch tactics (you know, kinda like a secret agent or spy of some sort). A lot of people like to hate on it simply because they're crying that Rare decided to update the control scheme to comply with, you know, modern times.

Actually, my issues with Perfect Dark Zero is that it feels outdated to me. I only just got the game this past month, so obviously I'm not playing the game during its original release window, but I find many of the games features far too clunky for my tastes. Maybe it's not fair of me to compare it's cover tactics to Gears of War and its shooter gameplay to Halo 3, but I played those games before PDZ and it seems like a step backwards (because chronologically, it is.)

I certainly intend to finish the game at some point, but when I have a variety of shooters to play (What? An abundance of FPS games on the 360? OMGWTF), there seems to be less of a reason to.

As for Viva Pinata, I fooled around with the demo a bit, and while I found it neat, I think that the FPS controls were a poor choice. Really, other than the controls, I think the game looks really neat. However, it's not my type of game (collecting/raising creatures isn't my favorite, mostly because they can take up a lot of time) and my dislike of the controls is enough of a hurdle to prevent me from playing the game more. If things were more streamlined and it was quicker and easier to take actions, I might be more interested.

All this rambling comes full circle to what I think is wrong with Nuts & Bolts - it's too complicated. I was playing the demo and it just feels like they're trying to do too many things with the vehicles & gravity gun-esque wand when all I want to do is platform and stomp on things. Obviously, the game is different from the first Banjo-Kazooie, but just like with Viva Pinata, I think trying to merge these complex ideas with a simple, fun wrapper might not work out quite like they think it will.

Still, with all of this said, I'm still willing to play the game more than I have.

Oh, I will gladly devour any Killer Instinct 3 info. The game is so terribly filled with 90s cliches (it looks like a bad Image comic sometimes), but man, it has a special place in my heart.

[amtalx]

I finished PDZ...several times. The part that bothered me the most was that it has the single worst implementation of a cover system ever...EVER.

[Leviathan]

Rare seems to make great games, but it takes them awhile to release one.

[Randomness]

Banjo-Kazooie was excellent, Tooie was also fun, though I prefer the original.

The GBA release was crap.

I'm waiting for reviews on this one myself.

[Kent]

Rare seems to make great games, but it takes them awhile to release one.

It's part of their modus operandi that they share with Nintendo and Blizzard - the whole "we're not releasing it until it's done" thing.

It's a pretty admirable way to piss off a publisher, while at the same time, establishing a loyal fanbase.

[Split]

Kazooie and Tooie were both amazing, but I downloaded the demo for this one on 360. It SUCKS.

EDIT: Parting from Nintendo and joining M$ is the worst thing Rare could've done for the the quality of their games. Even I say that, and I'm a Xbox/Playstation fan this console generation

[Tetsaru]

I miss seeing platform/adventure games like Banjo-Kazooie... I loved those games growing up (lol at N64 Kid - I was pretty ecstatic when I got mine too! XD). Now all I see most of the time are all these shooter games... not that I don't like shooters, but when half the good games for a console are nothing BUT shooters, then you start appealing to a very specialized player base. I just hate seeing most platformer games being remade and thrown on the DS and what not... =/

The whole build-your-own-stuff sounds pretty cool, but I dunno... I think I'd rather just get Little Big Planet instead. I don't have a 360 anyway, lol...

And yeah, the character designs are REALLY wtf. It's like they tried too hard to recreate the old N64 polygon look... =x

[Majarra]

To hell with this. I want mah Conkers bad fur day with options to make it the original graphics or the ones for xbox. Complete with live multiplayer! [not the new crappy team based one, the one with different modes and a little twist in gameplay]

[Split]

To hell with this. I want mah Conkers bad fur day with options to make it the original graphics or the ones for xbox. Complete with live multiplayer! [not the new crappy team based one, the one with different modes and a little twist in gameplay]

BEST. GAME. EVER. Cavemen and dinosaurs live would be soooooooo ill

[Kent]

So, after spending some quality time with the full game...

The progression is very similar to how it was in the first game (still haven't played Tooie) - go into a world, and there are things you have to do to get jiggies, notes to collect, and Jinjo events in which to partake... And it's fun.

It's just not a platformer in the traditional sense - just an adventure game, I suppose would be the best way of describing it. I wouldn't really call it a sandbox game like some people do, because this game actually has direction to it - the only real sandbox element lies in the completely and totally awesometastic vehicle creation engine... Which is pretty cool, if I haven't mentioned that yet.

So far, the game is rife with comedy and references to other games, both Rare and otherwise, even stretching to things such as Grunty mentioning that fans of the series aren't going to like what they did to Banjo (hah), and some familiar Battletoads pause music on some of the loading screens. Anyone who's been a fan of Rare for a while will certainly enjoy all of the references that are made, 'cause they're everywhere.

The only real issue I have is some of the vehicle handling. It's not as bad as many reviews make it out to be, but I really would've liked to have an E-brake for handling some turns better... But as it turns out, the vehicle's handling depends quite heavily on how you build it (specifically, how the wheels are spaced and the weight balance), so with some experimentation, you'll be able to make something that handles pretty well.

Additionally, the game is budget-priced at $40 - which is a pretty good deal, since it's not constructed like a budget game at all - it retains that Rare/Blizzard/Nintendo level of quality to it.

[Wyndham]

I loved the first BK game, but I never got into BT. i MAY go back to it, if I buy it again. my brother wants the new one, but I'm not so sure.

[Nitro Vordex]

BEST. GAME. EVER. Cavemen and dinosaurs live would be soooooooo ill
That game was so bad. I didn't like it at all. It was Legend of Zelda with guns and swearing furries.

[Kent]

That game was so bad. I didn't like it at all. It was Legend of Zelda with guns and swearing furries.
...Except that it had basically nothing to do with Zelda, except a third dimension. It has a lot more in common with Mario or Banjo-Kazooie than it does Zelda.

Additionally, the game was great, and the multiplayer was fantastic - especially on the Xbox remake.

[Feelmirath]

This is the only game where you get achievement points for throwing a bull into a volcano.

I seriously approve of this game.

[Nitro Vordex]

...Except that it had basically nothing to do with Zelda, except a third dimension. It has a lot more in common with Mario or Banjo-Kazooie than it does Zelda.

Additionally, the game was great, and the multiplayer was fantastic - especially on the Xbox remake.
Aduuuuurr. :roll:

[ThePainMaker]

The only thing i can say about this game is Hell Yeah
all of the Banjo games have been hilarious so this one has to be great.