When Nintendo dropped GoldenEye on their Nintendo Switch Online service, it was a dream come true for many. Not only is the game a beloved classic, but it also meant that Microsoft were finally allowing Nintendo to put Rare’s old games on the Nintendo Switch.
Unfortunately that spark of hope turned out to be something of a mixed blessing, as Nintendo’s inability to do literally anything with these old roms made the game almost unplayable without going into the console’s system settings first to remap your entire controller. Perfect Dark had similar issues – perhaps to an even worse degree – and that is why we never reviewed it on the site despite it being a personal favourite of mine.
However, not every N64 game on NSO suffered that terrible fate, and one that I ended up enjoying quite a fair bit was the classic 3D platformer Banjo-Kazooie. Going through that game again on my Switch reminded me of just how fun it is, and why I still to this day consider it superior to Super Mario 64.
But, as good as that game is, I don’t consider it to be Rare’s platforming magnum opus: for me, that award goes to the game’s sequel Banjo-Tooie. That’s not why we’re reviewing the game today though: we’re doing it because there are people out there that don’t think that Banjo-Tooie is even a good game, and we wish to set that record straight and tell you why the game is absolutely worth your time.
TOOIE FAST, TOOIE FURIOUS
Banjo-Kazooie ended (spoiler alert!) with the wicked witch Gruntilda falling from the top of her castle onto the hard ground below. Sealed away beneath a huge rock, Banjo and his friends were finally free to live out their lives in peace. At least until Grunty’s evil sisters came along to excavate her surprisingly still-lively skeletal remains and continue their wicked ways.
Things go from bad to worse as our duo narrowly escape death from the witches’ deadly laser, only for their friend Bottles to be hit instead. With their friend dead and their world in peril, it’s down to the bear and bird to head off and stop her plans for a second time.
As if you couldn’t tell from the story synopsis, Banjo-Tooie is far bleaker in tone than the previous game; although, in that typical Rareware fashion, they also use that darkness for comedy too. Heck, just minutes into the game there are jokes about your friend’s death in front of his unfortunate family. It sounds horrible, but it’s done to such an exaggerated effect that you can’t help but laugh.
It’s not just the tone that sets Tooie apart from its predecessor, as it’s clear as soon as you enter the first level that this game is a very different beast. Whilst Kazooie took the Super Mario 64 approach of having small isolated stages where you could (mostly) just beat them and move on, this game instead opts for interconnected levels that forgo linearity in favour of providing a more cohesive and believable world for you to explore.
Some people decry that this level design is the game’s major flaw due to the need to backtrack on occasion, but really this structure is built into the very foundations of Banjo-Tooie. In fact, one could argue that there’s an almost Metroidvania style feel to the game at times as you’ll end up completing quests or obtaining new moves in later stages that will open the way forward in previous areas. Thankfully, going back to places you’ve been before is pretty simple to do as you can often travel to other levels without going through the hub world first – or you can just utilise the game’s warp pad or train stations to get around instead.
This open format also means that the game focuses less on small platforming challenges to award Jiggies (the franchise’s iconic collectible!), and instead focuses on more quest-based tasks. Sure, there are some simple ones that can be obtained by overcoming short missions, but there are also plenty more that require you to put in some effort before you can reap the rewards. They may feel dragged out compared to the quickly obtained Jiggies in the previous game, but there’s also something more satisfying about them too. For those who remember Click Clock Wood and its four seasons in the original title, it’s a little like that but on a far grander scale. Heck, there’s one stage that requires you to get the game’s train system up and running first before you can get inside, only to then have to restore all the power before you can really get going. It’s a lengthy quest that makes the game feel more like an RPG than a platformer, but it’s moments like these that make the game feel so much more rewarding as a result.
The game doesn’t stop there either when it comes to making itself stand apart, as in Tooie you won’t need to relearn any of the older moves that you acquired in the first game. Sure, you can be taught what to do if this is your first time playing the series (or you simply just don’t remember), but otherwise you’re free to set off with everything still intact – sure, there are small tweaks here and there to some of the moves, but these changes are made to make them feel easier to control.
But that’s not to say that the game lacks any new moves for you to learn. With Bottles dead, it’s up to his brother Jamjars to teach you new moves.. These range from different types of egg ammunition, to moves that can be done when splitting up the bear and bird duo (something done quite frequently in this game), and even a first person mode reminiscent of GoldenEye. There’s quite a lot of different move types available, and they certainly allow for a wide range of quest types in your hunt for more Jiggies.
After collecting a certain number of these Jiggy pieces, the duo will then be able to open up a new level by completing one of Jiggywiggy’s puzzle trials. These are reminiscent of Bottle’s old jigsaw puzzles in the original game, but far less finnicky to control. It’s a nice way to incorporate the Jiggy hunting with the opening of new levels, although it does lead to some unanswered questions about the religion surrounding the Jiggies and why the priests’ heads are shaped like that. Are Jiggy’s sentient? Did they cast some dark spell to change their form into a Jiggy? It’s one of the mysteries that we will never know.
Regardless, Banjo-Tooie has a great assortment of levels on offer with some rather unique themes. Among these we have Mayahem Temple, which is an Aztec inspired world that’s mostly linear in structure as its spiral structure leads towards a temple at the top; a dangerous theme park known as Witchyworld that cares little for health and safety as you play its perilous side-games; and Cloud Cuckooland which feels like a collection of random ideas thrown together in one bizarre stage. Much like the previous game, Tooie has a strong collection of worlds and even the weakest among them are still really good.
In fact, that’s pretty much the game as a whole. Like with Banjo-Kazooie, the game is just so much fun that even its weakest moments are still hard to fault. Sure, Canary Mary should be left in the mines rotting in her cell for all of eternity (if you don’t know what I mean, then I guarantee you will), but otherwise this game just expands on everything else and truly turns it into a vast adventure game. Add to that better transformations, more bosses, and even a multiplayer mode, and you can probably see why I consider Banjo-Tooie as the best of the franchise.
VERDICT
It may have been a long time coming, but Banjo-Tooie has definitely been worth the wait. With widescreen support and online multiplayer, this is certainly a great way to experience one of my favourite games. Sure, the pro controller still isn’t ideal, but it’s at least good enough to justify playing through the best platformer on the N64.
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