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Banjo-Tooie (JP) is a platforming game for the Nintendo 64. It is the sequel to Banjo-Kazooie, released two years prior, on the same system.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay screenshot.
Similar to its predecessor Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie is a single-player platform game in which the protagonists are controlled from a third-person perspective. Carrying over most of the mechanics and concepts established in its predecessor, the game features three-dimensional worlds consisting of various platforming challenges and puzzles, with a notable increased focus on puzzle-solving over the worlds of Banjo-Kazooie. These challenges, along with exploration, usually reward the player with collectible items that permit progression to later challenges and worlds. Among the items are golden jigsaw pieces, called Jiggies, that are used to permit entry to new worlds; instead of exploring the game's overworld in search of incomplete puzzle boards as in Banjo-Kazooie, a singular board is used within a temple where a character named Master Jiggywiggy resides, that can only be accessed if the player has obtained the number of Jiggies required to open a new world. A timed puzzle-completion challenge can then be played, after which Jiggywiggy grants access to the world. Each puzzle challenge requires more Jiggies than the last.
Musical notes return in Banjo-Tooie, but are now used to learn new moves from Bottles' brother, a drill sergeant named Jamjars, who assumes Bottles' role from the first game. All of Banjo and Kazooie's moves from the first game are immediately accessible in Tooie, and the player can acquire several new moves such as first-person aiming, new egg types, and the ability to play as Banjo and Kazooie separately, with each gaining moves they can only use while on their own. Empty honeycomb pieces and Jinjos return as well, effectively retaining the functions they had in Banjo-Kazooie. Mumbo Jumbo reappears in this game as a playable character who can venture out into each world and use specific magic spells to help Banjo and Kazooie. Taking over Mumbo's previous role of transforming the duo into different forms is Humba Wumba, a Native American shaman who acts as Mumbo's rival. Small magical creatures called "Glowbos" are required payment for the shamans' services.
Mumbo Jumbo navigating Mayahem Temple.
A mechanic introduced in Banjo-Tooie is the direct connections between its worlds. In Banjo-Kazooie, the titular duo were magically transported to each world via special doors in Gruntilda's Lair, with said worlds effectively existing in vacuums, but in this game, almost every world is physically connected to others at multiple points, and is effectively an extension of the overworld. In addition, a train named Chuffy can be used to migrate Banjo, Kazooie, and some minor characters between worlds which contain stations. In conjunction with these additions, required backtracking and puzzle-solving across several worlds constitute many of Tooie's challenges. The game includes a multiplayer mode where up to four players can play a repurposed competition mode for each of the game's single-player challenges. These include first-person shooting, racing, and several minigames.
Story[]
The game takes place two years after Banjo and Kazooie killed Gruntilda in the last game. It then shows that she was buried under a large rock, and her assistant, Klungo, is trying to lift the rock off of her.
The game then shows Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and Bottles playing poker on a windy and stormy night. Meanwhile, the Hag 1 is tunneling out of a wall outside of Banjo's house, and the house shakes. Mumbo goes outside to see what is happening. Meanwhile, Klungo, Blobella, and Mingella are resurrecting their dead sister. After destroying the rock, they resurrect Grunty, and see that she is only a walking and talking skeleton with witch clothes on. They begin to go back to the castle, when Mumbo is seen running back to the house- he witnessed it all. Grunty starts running after him, shooting spells, but missing every time. She then charges up a very deadly spell.
As Mumbo gets inside, he warns them that Grunty is going to destroy the house, and that they must get out. All of them get out- except for Bottles, who thinks this is just a trick, as Kazooie did earlier. Grunty's spell is then done, it blasts the house, with Bottles still inside. Grunty and the others speed away (Although leaving Klungo) in the Hag 1.
As the sun comes up, Banjo, Kazooie, and Mumbo watch as a burnt to the crisp Bottles comes stumbling out, and dies at their feet. They agree to get Grunty for this. Mumbo then returns to his hut.
Banjo and Kazooie then follow the tracks left by the Hag 1, leading them to Jinjo Village, the place where Jinjos live, or they used to. The Jinjos ran away, as the Hag 1 sped through (even killing the gray Jinjo family.)
The two then go to see King Jingaling, who tells them that he needs the Jinjos for a Kickball tournament. The two then agree to find his subjects. The Jinjo King then gives the two a Jiggy. As the two leave, the screen then switches to Gruntilda's castle, and it is revealed that Gruntys sisters have created a B.O.B. (Short for Big Ol' Blaster), a giant laser that can suck the life force out of things, and transmit the energy to another person (Grunty). They let Grunty use it, but only if she stops speaking in rhymes. Grunty agrees, and uses it to blast King Jingalings palace. The energy is sucked out of the palace, and Jingaling, turning his palace a gray colour, and turning him into a zombie. Grunty then wishes to blast the whole island; however, she can not, as with each blast, it takes hours for the machine to start back up again. Blobella then says that Banjo and Kazooie will seek revenge. Grunty then reassures them, without Jingaling and bottles, no one will be able to help them now.
Banjo and Kazooie then go to world from world, collecting Jiggies as they progress. They finally collect 90 Jiggies, and make their way up to Cauldron Keep. After defeating Klungo for the last time, and defeating the Tower of Tragedy Quiz, they make their way to the control panel of the B.O.B., They then use it to revive King Jingaling and Bottles. They go home to party, and, much to their surprise, Klungo joins them, saying he is tired of serving Grunty. Banjo and Kazooie make their way up to the top of the castle. They then fight Grunty, who is hiding in the Hag 1. After being defeated, everybody is happy and parties, and kicks around Grunty's head. She then swears revenge, saying she'll get them in Banjo-Threeie.
Development[]
Banjo-Tooie was developed by Rare and designed by Gregg Mayles, who previously worked on Banjo-Kazooie. Development of the game started in June 1998. Some features that were originally cut during the development of Banjo-Kazooie, such as some of its worlds and a multiplayer game mode, were instead integrated into Banjo-Tooie. An additional world set in a castle was planned, but due to time constraints, it was scrapped during development and assets from it were used in constructing Cauldron Keep. The game features roughly 150 total characters, including enemies and non-playable characters.
Originally, Rare planned to include an additional mode called "Bottles' Revenge" in which a second player could play as an undead version of Bottles and take control of enemy characters, including bosses, to hinder the duo in their quest, with the players swapping roles if the enemy character managed to defeat Banjo and Kazooie. The idea was ultimately scrapped because the developers ran out of time to debug controlling bosses, despite admitting that "it did work rather well;" the only boss that was controllable when the mode was scrapped was the second world boss, "Old King Coal." However, it later served as the inspiration behind the "Counter-Operative" multiplayer mode in Perfect Dark. The developers also planned to implement a feature, called "Stop 'N' Swop", that would have allowed data to be transferred from Banjo-Kazooie to Banjo-Tooie so that players could unlock additional bonuses in Banjo-Tooie. However, due to hardware limitations of the Nintendo 64 system, the feature was ultimately dropped. Despite this, Rare resolved to include some of the planned bonuses within the game. The Stop 'N' Swop feature was later implemented in the Xbox Live Arcade re-release.
The music was composed by Grant Kirkhope, who previously worked as the main composer for Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, and Banjo-Kazooie. As Banjo-Tooie was a larger game than its predecessor, Kirkhope had twice the memory space in the game's cartridge for sound effects and music. Kirkhope initially had to pause his work on Banjo-Tooie to work on other projects first, but ultimately the music score for the game was completed on time. Like the game's predecessor, the themes heard in the game were designed to be interactive, which dynamically change to reflect the player's location. Due to the game having larger memory space, Kirkhope was able to combine two MIDI files to channel different fades of music when the player moves to different locations. The developers initially aimed for a fourth quarter 1999 release, but the game was ultimately delayed. Banjo-Tooie was presented at the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo and first released on 20 November 2000 in North America. Japanese and European releases followed on 27 November 2000 and 12 April 2001, respectively. The game supports the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak.
Release[]
The game was first released on the Nintendo 64 system in North America on November 21, 1997, and later on the 27th in Japan. It then released in Europe on April 12, 2001.
The game would eventually be re-released on the Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online subscription app on October 25, 2024, featuring widescreen support.
Reception[]
Upon release, Banjo-Tooie was critically acclaimed and sold more than three million copies worldwide. GameRevolution considered Banjo-Tooie less repetitive than Donkey Kong 64 and a worthy successor to Banjo-Kazooie. Nintendo Power referred to Banjo-Tooie as "the perfect cross between Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie", noting that it features less backtracking between levels than Donkey Kong 64 does. The publication also stated that the only disappointment was how Rare resolved the "Stop 'N' Swop" bonuses. N64 Magazine editor Mark Green felt that, although Banjo-Tooie delivers "a decent complement of clever puzzles and enjoyable run-and-jump moments", it did not feel "as fresh or as exciting" as previous Rare platformers.
The graphics were considered some of the best on the Nintendo 64 due to their rich textures, long drawing distance, and real-time shadow generation, but were criticised for their inconsistent frame rate during certain points in the game. Nevertheless, some critics agreed that the occasional frame rate drops do not hinder the gameplay nor detract players from the game significantly. GameRevolution said that the game was "beautiful", but it did not meet the same level of awe as its predecessor. The game was also praised for its humour, with Edge commenting that its characters are "impossible to dislike."
The gameplay was highlighted for the size of the game's worlds. GamesRadar described Banjo-Tooie as a game that requires a massive time-investment on the player's part, saying that "Keeping track of what you can do next, or where you can re-visit to get something new, requires either a photographic memory or copious note-taking". Similarly, GamePro remarked that the game is so large that players might lose their way and forget what they are supposed to do. GameSpot praised the game's level design and progression for constantly requiring players to collect Jiggies. Despite the praise, Edge concluded that Rare should have innovated more instead of simply copying the formula of Super Mario 64.
At the GameSpot Best and Worst of 2000 awards, Banjo-Tooie was awarded Best Platform Game, and was a runner-up in the Best Sound and Best Nintendo 64 Game categories. At the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Banjo-Tooie received nominations for Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, and Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year.
Trivia[]
- Much of Banjo's voice clips from this game would later be reused for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
External links[]
- Banjo-Tooie at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Banjo-Tooie at GameFAQs
| Banjo-Kazooie | |
|---|---|
| Games | Banjo-Kazooie • Banjo-Tooie • Grunty's Revenge • Banjo-Pilot |
| Main characters | Banjo • Kazooie • Gruntilda • Tooty • Bottles • Mumbo Jumbo • Brentilda • Klungo |
| Worlds | |
| Banjo-Kazooie | Mumbo's Mountain • Treasure Trove Cove • Clanker's Cavern • Bubblegloop Swamp • Freezeezy Peak • Gobi's Valley • Mad Monster Mansion • Rusty Bucket Bay • Click Clock Wood • Spiral Mountain • Gruntilda's Lair • Grunty's Furnace Fun • Top of the Tower |
| Banjo-Tooie | Mayahem Temple • Glitter Gulch Mine • Witchyworld • Jolly Roger's Lagoon • Terrydactyland • Grunty Industries • Hailfire Peaks • Cloud Cuckooland • Cauldron Keep • Spiral Mountain • Isle o' Hags • Gruntilda's Lair |
| Grunty's Revenge | Spiral Mountain • Cliff Farm • Breegull Beach • Bad Magic Bayou • Spiller's Harbor • Freezing Furnace • Grunty's Castle |