Earlier this month, Microsoft Game Studios re-released the Rareware classic "Banjo-Kazooie" for the Xbox Live Arcade. "Banjo-Kazooie," starring a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie, was one of Nintendo's biggest hits of the past decade; it recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its original release, an occasion the XBLA re-issue may have been intended to commemorate. (It will also drum up some interest for the new series title "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts," but surely that's just coincidence.)
The plot of "Banjo-Kazooie," as with a lot of similar games, isn't overly complicated; it's basically just an excuse to collect stuff. The evil witch Gruntilda has kidnapped Banjo’s sister, Tooty, in hopes of stealing her good looks. Now it’s up to Banjo and his feathered friend Kazooie to get her back.
With gameplay obviously borrowed from "Super Mario 64," a title that preceded it by a couple of years, "Banjo-Kazooie" is ultimately about collecting, collecting and more collecting. As you guide the bird-and-bear duo across each world, you're constantly picking up odds and ends: musical notes, eggs, honeycombs, voodoo skulls, feathers and other miscellany. The more accessories you stockpile, the more access you have to the game's many worlds.
Finding all the necessary paraphernalia will require you to complete a wide variety of tasks, but most of the time you'll be grabbing floating shiny objects by the truckload as you wander through each stage. Indeed, while the idea of exploring a lush 3D world may have been innovative for players in 1998, it's somewhat tired by today’s standards. That's not to say the levels aren’t still fun to run around in, but younger players who are coming to "Banjo-Kazooie" for the first time probably won’t appreciate the gameplay as much as old-school fans revisiting the game.
The XBLA edition adds a few welcome improvements over the original N64 game. The graphics are significantly better, and appear in high-def widescreen; you get a more generous draw distance, and a few kinks in the play mechanics have been ironed out. In the original, if you died, you lost all of the musical notes you collected. Now, an autosave system has been implemented, which cuts down on the amount of re-collecting you need to do in each world. It’s a major plus. Even the camera behaves slightly better now that it’s controlled with the right analog stick.
With all these improvements, one can't help but wonder why nothing has been done about the abysmal swimming controls. Every time you have to do anything involving water, it becomes an exercise in frustration. The less said about the water levels, where a great deal of swimming is required, the better.
Ultimately, this re-release feels like more than just an anniversary cash-in; the busy, colorful world of "Banjo-Kazooie" is still relevant a decade on. The gameplay may be somewhat past its prime, and the visual aesthetic may recall Nick Jr. too strongly for the tastes of some. If you're looking for a game with the gritty, urban-decay feel that's been in vogue the last couple of years, you won't find it amongst the cartoon witches and vegetables of "Banjo-Kazooie." Still, the game is more than enjoyable on its own terms. If you’ve been longing to revisit the adventures of the banjo-strumming bear and the kazoo-blowing bird, then 2008 may prove to be your year.
