It's hard to say anything about Banjo-Kazooie that hasn't already been said by thousands of other people. So I won't even try in this review. As a 3D platformer, Banjo-Kazooie is iconic and rightly takes its place as one of the best games of the N64. As such, a comparison with Super Mario 64 is obviously inevitable. Banjo-Kazooie takes the best elements of that pioneering work and builds on them to such an enormous degree that it far overshadows SM64 in many areas. This is not to be seen as derogatory towards SM64. Banjo-Kazooie is better in many ways, but it probably would not have been possible without SM64's groundbreaking design.
The first differences can already be seen in the art direction. Gone are the days of rather abstract worlds. Banjo-Kazooie aims for a much more organic look, which is carried by a cartoony touch. This is reflected above all in the model design of the individual characters, which looks much more expressive and lively than SM64 ever could. And characters are a good keyword. Because Banjo-Kazooie is filled to the brim with them. One of the things SM64 is known for these days is that you feel very lonely, especially inside the castle. One could think that Rare wanted to avoid this feeling by all means. Even if no character other than Banjo and Kazooie is on screen, Gruntilda's insulting comments will ensure that you don't easily forget her constant presence. After all, it is the dialogue that gives the charming characters of Banjo-Kazooie the final touch. And a character doesn't even have to say much, but the player always learns a tiny piece of their personality. Something SM64 could only dream of with its handful of toads.
In terms of gameplay, however, Banjo-Kazooie is primarily carried by its individual worlds. There are fewer than in SM64, but the game does not run into the problem of repeating individual themes. Instead, the individual worlds are also much larger than a typical SM64 course, but manageable enough that you don't lose track of them while collecting the puzzle pieces, music notes, empty honeycombs and jinjos. That's because Banjo-Kazooie takes the collectathon element of SM64 and adds several items that actually have a progressive impact on the bird and bear's journey. While the individual worlds are structurally very different, there are always the same amount of items to collect at any given time. 10 puzzle pieces, of which one is obtained from five collected jinjos, 100 musical notes and 2 empty honeycombs. Puzzle pieces serve as keys to the individual worlds. Music notes behave similarly to stars in SM64 in that they enable further progression into Gruntilda's realm (the hub world). And empty honeycombs serve as an extension to Banjo and Kazooie's life bar. Banjo-Kazooie is also one of the few games where I would say that it is mandatory to reach 100%, because only then Banjo-Kazooie can unfold its full potential. Banjo-Kazooie also dares to be more difficult than its spiritual predecessor. People who are only used to the gentle introduction to a 3D world of SM64 might start sweating, especially in the later worlds. Which doesn't stop almost every world from frothing over with creativity and great level design. However, I have to stick with an "almost" as there is one of the nine worlds that I actually dislike less than any of the latter levels in SM64. Rusty Bucket Bay has a thoroughly interesting premise and the external layout is no less fun than the other worlds, but one room kills the experience in a whole. The ship's engine room, which is the main attraction of the level, is arguably the hardest and the only unfair area in the entire game. Not only do you have to jump around on spinning gears, axles and between spinning rotors. You have to do all this over an instant-death chasm, which is the only one outside the final boss fight. New players may not understand how this is of any greater importance. As mentioned earlier, you have to collect 100 musical notes in each world. However, you should avoid dying, at least in the N64 version.
If this happens, you lose all music notes and have to collect them again. In previous worlds, this wasn't a problem, as player mistakes were never penalized too severely. Except stop at Rusty Bucket Bay. Where a single false jump in engineering will result in instant death. If you play this world and have the opportunity, you should definitely use savestates in order not to completely lose your nerve on this level. That Rusty Bucket Bay is the only blunder in Rare's design is only reinforced by the fact that the subsequent level, Click Clock Wood, is considered by many to be the best world in the entire game.
However, what has always struck me about the structure of Banjo-Kazooie compared to SM64 is that it's a much more linear experience. No matter which Banjo-Kazooie playthrough you watch, the player will always complete the worlds in the same order. Also how to interact with the levels is much stricter than in SM64. Rarely have I seen ways to solve an imposed puzzle or platforming challenge other than what the developer imagined. The only freedom open to the player is which of the items to collect first. While Banjo-Kazooie may be generally harder than SM64, it doesn't have that "easy-to-learn but hard to master" mentality that Nintendo is known for. I don't really think it's a bad thing though. However, I see myself playing through SM64 more often than Banjo-Kazooie, since I now know the former like my backhand and can already see the end credits after a few hours.
What I'm really not a fan of, however, is the fact how anticlimatic each individual world has to be left. Banjo-Kazooie improves the gaming experience by not being thrown out of the world after each piece of the puzzle. However, no world gets a grand finale after every item has been collected. SM64 didn't really need that, since each star was the conclusion of a chapter of each world and worked towards one of the three fights against Bowser. Banjo-Kazooie does have mid-bosses here and there, but they're never much more complex than regular enemies. The only one I remember would be Conga. But probably only because he is the first of these intermediate bosses and reminds me of Donkey Kong, who was able to supplement this missing climax in the worlds with real boss fights in his 3D platformer.
The only real boss in Banjo-Kazooie is the witch Gruntilda herself, who, in all fairness, puts up a really impressive fight, challenging every single ability of the odd duo.
Finally, I would like to commend the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack that Grand Kirkhope has thrown into the game. There isn't a bad song in Banjo Kazooie. As you jump through the individual worlds for hours and hours, you won't be able to avoid humming along at some point. The soundtrack is also one of the big things that fans of the game remember most when they think of Banjo-Kazooie. Through Banjo-Kazooie, among others, Grant Kirkhope became one of the most popular and respected composers in the video game industry.
Banjo-Kazooie is a great game, which for me is the face of the N64 era and, despite minor weaknesses, is one of the best games on the console and even the medium itself. Nowadays it's almost a miracle to find a good 3D platformer other than Super Mario Odyssey, which is why Banjo-Kazooie is still a talking point for a lot of people even after all this time. Above all, the desire for a sequel to the sequel Banjo Tooie is still alive after more than 20 years.
The first differences can already be seen in the art direction. Gone are the days of rather abstract worlds. Banjo-Kazooie aims for a much more organic look, which is carried by a cartoony touch. This is reflected above all in the model design of the individual characters, which looks much more expressive and lively than SM64 ever could. And characters are a good keyword. Because Banjo-Kazooie is filled to the brim with them. One of the things SM64 is known for these days is that you feel very lonely, especially inside the castle. One could think that Rare wanted to avoid this feeling by all means. Even if no character other than Banjo and Kazooie is on screen, Gruntilda's insulting comments will ensure that you don't easily forget her constant presence. After all, it is the dialogue that gives the charming characters of Banjo-Kazooie the final touch. And a character doesn't even have to say much, but the player always learns a tiny piece of their personality. Something SM64 could only dream of with its handful of toads.
In terms of gameplay, however, Banjo-Kazooie is primarily carried by its individual worlds. There are fewer than in SM64, but the game does not run into the problem of repeating individual themes. Instead, the individual worlds are also much larger than a typical SM64 course, but manageable enough that you don't lose track of them while collecting the puzzle pieces, music notes, empty honeycombs and jinjos. That's because Banjo-Kazooie takes the collectathon element of SM64 and adds several items that actually have a progressive impact on the bird and bear's journey. While the individual worlds are structurally very different, there are always the same amount of items to collect at any given time. 10 puzzle pieces, of which one is obtained from five collected jinjos, 100 musical notes and 2 empty honeycombs. Puzzle pieces serve as keys to the individual worlds. Music notes behave similarly to stars in SM64 in that they enable further progression into Gruntilda's realm (the hub world). And empty honeycombs serve as an extension to Banjo and Kazooie's life bar. Banjo-Kazooie is also one of the few games where I would say that it is mandatory to reach 100%, because only then Banjo-Kazooie can unfold its full potential. Banjo-Kazooie also dares to be more difficult than its spiritual predecessor. People who are only used to the gentle introduction to a 3D world of SM64 might start sweating, especially in the later worlds. Which doesn't stop almost every world from frothing over with creativity and great level design. However, I have to stick with an "almost" as there is one of the nine worlds that I actually dislike less than any of the latter levels in SM64. Rusty Bucket Bay has a thoroughly interesting premise and the external layout is no less fun than the other worlds, but one room kills the experience in a whole. The ship's engine room, which is the main attraction of the level, is arguably the hardest and the only unfair area in the entire game. Not only do you have to jump around on spinning gears, axles and between spinning rotors. You have to do all this over an instant-death chasm, which is the only one outside the final boss fight. New players may not understand how this is of any greater importance. As mentioned earlier, you have to collect 100 musical notes in each world. However, you should avoid dying, at least in the N64 version.
If this happens, you lose all music notes and have to collect them again. In previous worlds, this wasn't a problem, as player mistakes were never penalized too severely. Except stop at Rusty Bucket Bay. Where a single false jump in engineering will result in instant death. If you play this world and have the opportunity, you should definitely use savestates in order not to completely lose your nerve on this level. That Rusty Bucket Bay is the only blunder in Rare's design is only reinforced by the fact that the subsequent level, Click Clock Wood, is considered by many to be the best world in the entire game.
However, what has always struck me about the structure of Banjo-Kazooie compared to SM64 is that it's a much more linear experience. No matter which Banjo-Kazooie playthrough you watch, the player will always complete the worlds in the same order. Also how to interact with the levels is much stricter than in SM64. Rarely have I seen ways to solve an imposed puzzle or platforming challenge other than what the developer imagined. The only freedom open to the player is which of the items to collect first. While Banjo-Kazooie may be generally harder than SM64, it doesn't have that "easy-to-learn but hard to master" mentality that Nintendo is known for. I don't really think it's a bad thing though. However, I see myself playing through SM64 more often than Banjo-Kazooie, since I now know the former like my backhand and can already see the end credits after a few hours.
What I'm really not a fan of, however, is the fact how anticlimatic each individual world has to be left. Banjo-Kazooie improves the gaming experience by not being thrown out of the world after each piece of the puzzle. However, no world gets a grand finale after every item has been collected. SM64 didn't really need that, since each star was the conclusion of a chapter of each world and worked towards one of the three fights against Bowser. Banjo-Kazooie does have mid-bosses here and there, but they're never much more complex than regular enemies. The only one I remember would be Conga. But probably only because he is the first of these intermediate bosses and reminds me of Donkey Kong, who was able to supplement this missing climax in the worlds with real boss fights in his 3D platformer.
The only real boss in Banjo-Kazooie is the witch Gruntilda herself, who, in all fairness, puts up a really impressive fight, challenging every single ability of the odd duo.
Finally, I would like to commend the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack that Grand Kirkhope has thrown into the game. There isn't a bad song in Banjo Kazooie. As you jump through the individual worlds for hours and hours, you won't be able to avoid humming along at some point. The soundtrack is also one of the big things that fans of the game remember most when they think of Banjo-Kazooie. Through Banjo-Kazooie, among others, Grant Kirkhope became one of the most popular and respected composers in the video game industry.
Banjo-Kazooie is a great game, which for me is the face of the N64 era and, despite minor weaknesses, is one of the best games on the console and even the medium itself. Nowadays it's almost a miracle to find a good 3D platformer other than Super Mario Odyssey, which is why Banjo-Kazooie is still a talking point for a lot of people even after all this time. Above all, the desire for a sequel to the sequel Banjo Tooie is still alive after more than 20 years.