Banjo-Tooie review

Banjo-Tooie review

If my Uncharted review taught me anything, it's that bashing a game that is considered a classic or perfect in every way shape or form by the masses will always earn you an uncharacteristically large amount of hate. At least that's how I felt while I was in the middle of playing of Banjo-Tooie. I never had a chance to play either one of them growing up because it was at a time when we were relying on chump change to feed a family of four, but I did finally come around to playing them in more recent years. Banjo-kazooie still holds up incredibly well today, even despite the graphics which haven't really aged all that well. The controls are tight and intuitive, the puzzles are fiendishly clever, and the writing is actually pretty funny giving us actual wit and depth as opposed to tired internet memes and pop culture references.

Plus one of the best damn villains evah!!!

So naturally this was a hit, coming out in a day and age where companies could afford to produce games relying on simple creativity and humor as opposed to some bombastic set pieces that didn't really amaze you much. Thus, a sequel followed, with the only question being, was it any good. Short answer: yes. Long anwser: it's still beaten by the original in every aspect.

Now, before you get your knickers in a bunch about how some fat guy on the internet is telling you that your childhood was a lie, let me remind you that the gameplay, writing, and creativity are all still here, if not better executed. However, there is one major problem with this game and that's a little something called “scale”. Or simply put, bigger is NOT always better!

Here's your proof, now shut up.

Now to be fair, the first notable difference should be that everything is bigger. However, the whole game world has had to accomodate to the new design style and as a result, it's much less focused. The first game had you in an enclosed area with a deranged lunatic constantly threatening both you and your advancement as you progress. Banjo-Tooie, on the other hand, has none of that. It still has the foreboding music that you hear as you progress from area to area in the hub world, but some of the fun of hearing Gruntilda's taunts are sorely missed.

This is offset by the new gameplay features giving you different ways to go about the levels themselves which drastically went from a more structured design to one that can best be described as “Metroidvania without a map”. The levels are interconnected, placing more emphasis on your learnt abilities as opposed to the constant collectibles from the first game, though it unfortunately doesn't alleviate the same fucking late game fetch quest problem the first game had. As a result though, it can get quite frustrating when your not sure if you should focus on trying to get a new ability or trying to get that jiggie that you can't pick up until after you've beaten the penultimate level. This never ended up being a buzzkill for me and I would often just want to keep going as a result and find myself having spent several hours just playing the game to see what new piece of batshit would come in. Speaking of which, the transformation mechanic returns from the first game though one in particular made me wonder if the ideas bucket was running so low that the developers started looking outside for inspiration.

Finally, there are the mini-games and the bosses. With the exception of the last one, most of the bosses in the game are pushovers and don't really take much effort to defeat. Not only that, but most of them are pretty forgettable.

Could put up a better fight.

Then there are the mini-games. Oh my fucking god, the mini-games. This is probably the weirdest part of the new additions, since the previous Banjo-Kazooie relied more on smart environmental puzzles and brilliant platforming. Here, the mini-games seem kinda random with little to do with the actual overall skills of the player.

Not to mention it gave us this bitch.

Furthermore, the inclusion of first-person shooter sections styled after Goldeneye seem really out of place. Granted they conrol well, but one has to ask why they felt the need to include them at all. They feel out of place, like if Red Dead Redemption added in platforming sections with a colorful cartoon backdrop.

Despite the past couple of paragraphs, I enjoyed Banjo-Tooie. The exploration, platforming, and charm all offer something you just don't get in games these days. My only question is why they felt the need to add in so many unnecessary additions to the point where it doesn't even feel like a Banjo-kazooie game.

On the left: Banjo-Tooie. On the right: Banjo-kazooie