Gameboy Advance - Banjo Kazooie

Format
Gameboy Advance
Publisher
THQ
Developer
Rare
Country of origin
UK
Genre
Platform

Banjo Kazooie

By David Rasmussen
6th Oct 04

Studio - THQ
Age - E for Everybody
Genre - Action
Sub Genre - Platform
Other Games - Banjo Kazooie for SNES, Banjo Tooie for SNES

Well, you can't keep a good bear and his obnoxious bird sidekick who lives in his backpack down...
Oh, wait, you can. There hasn't been a Banjo Kazooie game since this one so you can keep em' down.
But enough of that.

I first played these games on the old SNES, and of the two I'd have to say the sequel was the better of the two. This game is the third of the series, picking up where the last one left off.

Oh-kay. What happened before? You play as Banjo (a nice but kind of slow bear) and Kazooie (his loud mouthed "sidekick" bird who lives in his backpack and helps Banjo do a lot of moves and actions in the game (the two work as a team to both fight and solve puzzles).

In the first game the evil with Grundilta kidnapped Banjo's sister because she was jealous of her beauty and tried to give her the Beverly Hills treatment... but in reverse. Banjo and Kazooie saved her and the witch ended up taking a dirt nap...

Until the sequel, where her sisters and her dumb minion bring her back as a ghost. She is out for revenge and her wrath lands on the shoulders of Banjo/Kazooie as they are now left with the task of having to resurrect and old friend from the first game who was killed by the witch.

In this game once again Grundilta is brought back from the beyond, this time placed in a huge mecha witch body. She decides to separate Banjo and Kazooie and bring Kazooie back in time where she would destroy the pair in the past before they become a problem for her.

Banjo is sent back in the past to stop her, and once again it's another fight against the wicked witch.

The gameplay, for the most part, is basic Banjo Kazooie gameplay. If you've played the first two games you got all the moves and tricks down pat before you even get them.

Like the sequel there are a lot of mini games to play, and lots of puzzles to solve.
However the game is also very short. If you already mastered these games from the SNES then you should have no problem breezing through this one without much difficulty. But then again, even if this is your first exposure to the Banjo Kazooie franchise, you should still have an easy go of it.

There's lots going for it, mind you. Side quests, mini games, transformations (thanks to the witch doctor Mumbo Jumbo) and more. It'll keep you busy for awhile...

Problem is once your done with it there isn't much to do.
You can do one thing, though, and that is go back to Spiller's Lagoon and find the arcade machine on this level. Why? Once you beat the game and come back to this machine you can play the mini games you already beat over and over again (though most of them aren't worth playing over and over again).

If you are a fan of the series then you'll be playing this.
If not? Well... let's break it down, shall we?

Banjo Kazooie Breakdown
What's Hot?
I played both SNES games and had fun doing it, so I really wanted to give this a try since I played it before. However this game might not be for you, being how it's short and there isn't much in the way of replay value. Still if you are a fan of the original series games you might want to try this one.

What's Not?
Replay value is practically non-existent, and some of the mini games could have been better. Still, when all is said and done, it was a good game despite it being short and lacking in a few places.
So my "Nots" this time out are tempered by the fact it's a fairly decent game.

Moments to Remember?
Ah, the usual sharp wit of Kazooie's beak... once you find her, that is.

What to Ignore?
Some of the side quests I've seen before... abit of the side quests (like finding the kids at the amusement area for instance) I know I've seen before, in previous Banjo Kazooie games. Ignore it.

Overall?
If you are a fan of the original games then you'll be in on this. If not then it's a pure judgment call as to whether or not you'll be playing. Now if they'd only port the original SNES games to GBA for play.

-- David Rasmussen 6th Oct 04

Gameboy Advance Banjo Kazooie Images