Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo -Kazooie is a successful video game for the Nintendo 64 ( N64 ) from the genre of three-dimensional Jump ' n' runs. The game was invented by British development studio Rare, then a second manufacturer for Nintendo, developed and released in the spring of 1998 by Nintendo. The player controls the anthropomorphic bears Banjo, who must rescue his little sister Tooty from the custody of a witch. He is accompanied by Kazooie, a red bird lady who always lingers backpack in banjos. The game sold over two million copies.

It is next to GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark and Conker 's Bad Fur Day as the best developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 game to him are many similarities to previously incurred genre related titles awarded Super Mario 64.

Banjo -Kazooie Banjo - Tooie has a direct successor to the Nintendo 64 and Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty 's Revenge and Banjo - Pilot two racing game franchise offshoot for the Game Boy Advance. On 14 November 2008 appeared for the Xbox 360 console, the third part of the main sequence. The protagonist is in, also developed by Rare game Diddy Kong Racing as one of the drivers to choose from.

Action

The witch Gruntilda kidnaps Banjo 's little sister Tooty, to transfer their beauty to itself. Banjo Kazooie and learn from the mole Bottles of the kidnapping and make their way through Gruntildas Empire, a huge cave to rescue Tooty.

You need to find by initially locked gates in different worlds puzzle pieces that allow them to penetrate further through the cave to the witch. They meet on the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, who transforms Banjo into other animals, and the good-natured sister Gruntildas Brentilda that tells the Protagonistenduo Trivia about Gruntilda. Finally they reach the witch who represents the duo in a game show before various tasks for which mastery select it as the price kidnapped Tooty.

Satisfied return home banjo and his sister. Tooty makes him and Kazooie while following celebrations attention to the fact that they have let them get away, after which open the two to confront Gruntilda the witch on her tower unscathed. In the course of this struggle Gruntilda falls from the tower and is buried at the bottom of a heavy boulder, she can not lift it. The credits of the game shows the protagonist and her friends on vacation on a South Sea Island and advertises for the successor of the game.

Banjo is characterized as a good-natured bear, while Kazooie in talks often challenged with sarcastic comments. The witch Gruntilda speaks in rhymes and comments from their hiding place the advance of the main characters through their domain to discourage them in their endeavor.

Game mechanics

Control

The game is controlled with the standard game controller of the N64. With the analog stick the bear Banjo is controlled under free camera control in the third-person perspective in three-dimensional space. The stronger the stick is tilted, the faster the game character; in this way you can, for example, control the navigation accordingly on narrow surfaces. Four buttons are used for the camera, so determine angle and distance of the image to the character. Three buttons are the basic actions attacking, ducking and jumping reserved.

Certain key sequences or combinations are more movement and attack options are available; so immersed about Kazooie from the backpack on your back on Banjos to increase with a few wing beats his jump distance. In the context of other maneuvers Kazooie emerged with his back to Banjo out of a backpack on, stretched her legs out of the bottom of the backpack and carries banjo on her back. Some of these actions can be performed only on designated and appropriately marked floor areas; an example of this are platforms for free flight. Some moves (from the English; move: movement ) consume ammunition in the form of different, aufsammelbarer objects (items), such as a projectile attack. Apart from the basic actions all the moves must be unlocked at predetermined points in the game world to use, while a brief introduction is obtained from the mole Bottles in use.

The game world

The game begins in a green valley at Banjos hut. Before Banjo Gruntildas kingdom can enter, the player at distributed locations in the valley has to activate the first basic moves, responds by Banjo Bottles the mole at all surrounding molehills. Thereafter, the access to Gruntildas kingdom is free.

Gruntildas Empire is a large, branched cave complex of interconnected closed rooms. Throughout this cave are nine entrances to thematically different worlds, even level called: A grassy hills, a sandy island in the sea, a mostly submerged level, a swamp, a snowy snowy landscape, a desert with mummies, sphinxes and pyramids, a haunted house with adjoining graveyard, a polluted harbor and a huge, erklimmbarer the tree that the player character enters in all four seasons. Initially, all doors are locked to these levels, and the player must complete an associated elsewhere puzzle picture with golden puzzle pieces to open the appropriate level.

At the beginning the player is only one level and the associated puzzle image and the one missing piece of the puzzle can ( later puzzle images are missing more and more pieces of the puzzle ) reach; for the further advance in Gruntildas Empire Needs the protagonist additional action maneuvers that he can learn in the various levels; Furthermore, certain doors remain closed as long as the player has not collected the indicated number on the door of golden music notes, from which one can find each hundred in each level. In the further course, the player can unlock alternate paths through the cave, which are shortcuts through the complex. Another way of saving time represent cauldron, two of which are the same color, respectively. Find Banjo two matching boiler, it can be transported by jumping into the cauldron on the position of the other.

In each level ten gold pieces and a switch are hidden, which can appear an eleventh piece of the puzzle in Gruntildas Empire. One of the puzzle pieces you always get when you find five different colored non-player characters, known as Jinjos. The other nine puzzle pieces can be found for example in hard to reach areas of the level, be as a reward for the successful ending of mini-games or assigned to complete tasks. Golden music notes must not be unlocked, but are scattered from the outset freely available in the level. When leaving a level are all collected sheet music is reset and the number of collected scores for the level in question is updated when the player could break his previous record. Level will rely on the platform on which the game character has started the level.

Throughout the game the player encounters hostile beings that reduce a certain part of the energy bar on contact of the player character. Loses the character their entire energy to the player one of its retries, even extra lives is called off and the level together with the occurring therein musical score is reset, apart from already collected objects whose number is over the long term relevance. Loses Banjo his last life, a short game-over sequence is to see how Tooty her beauty is robbed, and the game will exit to the title screen. Opponents leave after their defeat full honeycomb, banjos energy by one unit to restore the. Chance are also finding hives that leave several honeycomb, but may also host vengeful bees. The player finds six of the rare empty honeycomb, the energy bar will be increased by one unit. Other items that can pick up the game figure, eggs and feathers, which serve as ammunition for certain maneuvers and silver skulls.

Silver skulls are payments for transformations of the character in other beings. In some levels this is to be found a skull -shaped hut in which a masked shaman changes the character into a dependent of the level, thematically appropriate form. For this he requires a certain number of skulls. These transformations allow the player access to new individual areas: The termite can climb the termite hill, the alligator can creep through narrow tubes etc. Banjo can leave the level in his transformed state, but is reconverted from an individual border. Some areas in Gruntildas kingdom can only be achieved in the transformed state.

At the end of the game to reach the protagonists Gruntilda and have to cross a lava pools by running to the other side via branched webs. These ridges are composed of individual squares. A specific task to be fulfilled on every square, so that the character does not lose a unit of its energy bar. These may be questions about the game mechanics or questions about Gruntilda, the answers to the player of Gruntildas sister could bring in different places in the game to experience other fields require the identification of style radiographs from levels of the game or of sound effects or background music. Finally, other fields define the repetition of the game on elsewhere already occurring mini-game.

Technology

Banjo -Kazooie is represented in 3D computer graphics. The game characters and the game environment are composed of polygons, and covered with textures; a variety of level textures extend over several individual textures in the highest possible resolution ( 64x64 pixels), allowing for greater repetition of surface shapes avoids figures, however, are aware of scantily provided with textures to give a clean appearance according to developers. Many small objects (eg, musical notes ) are stored in the software, animated bitmaps. The game uses a specially developed by Rare system to avoid fragmentation, which continuously reorders data in memory of the Nintendo 64 and a relatively high number of polygons and thus allows a rounder shape in the game. In addition, objects and figures with increasing distance be gradual disappear into Transparent and must no longer be viewed from a certain distance. The graphic style has similarities to children's cartoons: Usually inanimate objects have toon -like eyes, move or talk to the protagonists; the color choice is primarily made ​​up of bright colors; defeated opponents fall into a somersault to or zerfliegen in their items before they disappear gradually.

The game accompanying instrumental music is interactive: to Banjo approaches, for example in Gruntildas kingdom a level input, the instruments used for the background music in a smooth transition replaced by instruments that primarily come in the appropriate level for use or suits its theme. Equivalent have also defined areas in the various levels varying instrumental orchestration. Often occurring instruments are the banjo and kazoo, which also confer the titular duo their names, as well as xylophone, violin, flute and brass instruments.

In the game no speech is used. Text Boxes Instead, at the top and bottom of the screen appear alternately with the head of the speaker. Here, the head encounters a function of its carrier a him own associated set of indefinable sounds or tones from. This " marbles " has established itself as a characteristic of the series.

Banjo Kazooie is housed on a 16- MB module. In this there is a storage device which will allow backing up of three independent game progress. The game progress is dialed after starting the software and select the output language ( German, English, or French). Banjo -Kazooie supports the optional accessories Rumble Pak for force feedback effects.

Development

Banjo -Kazooie started as Project Dream ( English for "Project Dream" ) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, after the developer in question is Team Donkey Kong Country had completed 2. The title was designed initially as an adventure game, in which a young adventurer accidentally comes under pirate. After the introduction of the Nintendo 64, the project was transferred to that system; later, the developer replaced the original character by a bear, the bear should be collected items in his backpack with him. The finding that recovery of the initial game concept would take several years within the chosen arrangements, prompted the development team to abandon the initial project and a concrete action teres game to create the bear around.

Within the first two months of development, the graphics engine was changed from Project Dream, to better accommodate the new design. The rest of the development of the game took a further 15 months. The original ten-member development team grew to 15 people in the course of the project. After it was decided as a possible action of the player character, that a pair of wings or a pair of legs could emerge from the pack to allow the character a second jump in the air or a faster locomotion on foot, the idea came up that banjo's backpack a bird should accommodate. This bird was named after the assigned instrument, the kazoo, which should correspond to his provocative personality, and was named because of trademark issues, the ending- ie. The idea of being able to transform the character, from the need, Banjo to shrink and thus to emphasize the size differences in the environment, resulting in the termite form.

Due to time constraints could not be incorporated into the game all the planned content, others were afterwards removed. Most level concepts such concerned were integrated into the successor, Banjo Tooie, and in 3D Jump 'n' Run Donkey Kong 64. A games section at the end of the game could not be implemented, in which the player would have taken control of Banjo 's sister Tooty. A more well-known, did not realize functionality is "Stop 'n' Swop " ( German: "Stop and Swap "), which had a unspecified data transfer between the modules of game Banjo-Kazooie Banjo - Tooie and should allow. At the end of the game can be considered a self-running scene, can be seen in the regular level inaccessible areas that should be unlocked with the help of the second game. According to the site N- Sider Stop ' n' Swop would have to pull out the game module includes the ongoing operation of the console, which, however, expressly contrary to warnings in the operating instructions for the Nintendo 64 and had thus met with little support from Nintendo.

Banjo -Kazooie was first introduced in the summer of 1997 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo press.

Criticism

Banjo -Kazooie was generally very positive. The game has often been compared to Super Mario 64, with which it is relatively large level themes, possible actions of the player character and concepts, such as collecting various items for progression in the game, shares, and is regarded as a logical consequence of this title. Particularly well received was this the graphics of the game, knew to avoid the varied surface of low graphics without having to slow down the action on the screen. The large, wide -area level met with applause.

" Banjo -Kazooie follows in the footsteps of Mario 64 It does not stray too far from the formula, but it makes the logical progressions you would expect Nintendo to make. [ ... ] Graphically, Banjo -Kazooie takes it to another level. The game Maintains the look and feel of Mario 64, but instead of flat, shaded polygons, BK uses a lot of textures. [ ... ] BK 'may be a Mario clone, but did exactly Is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a pretty good thing. "

" Banjo -Kazooie follows in the footsteps of Super Mario 64, it does not deviate too much from the formula, but it makes the logical steps that one would expect from Nintendo. [ ... ] Graphically, Banjo -Kazooie moves to a new level. The game has the look and feel of Mario 64, but used instead of plain, shaded polygons a lot of textures. [ ... ] BK like a Mario clone to be, but this is not really an absurdity. Actually, it's something pretty good. "

" Banjo -Kazooie features the best graphics we've seen on the console, it one- ups Mario 64 in terms of gameplay, it sounds astounding and it june just be the most clever title we've ever played. "

" Banjo -Kazooie is the best graphics to show that we have ever seen on the console, it surpasses Mario 64 regarding game mechanics, it sounds amazingly good and could be the most refined title we 've ever played. "

The rating on the website IGN.com criticized a lack of multiplayer mode and acknowledged that the visual style of the game might scare; the final score resulted in 9.6 out of 10 (in words: " Incredible ", German: "unbelievable" ) and an Editor's Choice Award ( " Editor's Recommendation ").

GameSpot.com pointed out that the camera would have to be readjusted in places, and rated the game 9.5 out of 10.

"Due to BK's many tight, enclosed areas, the camera sometimes fails to show the action from a playable perspective. Expect to miss some things did would normally be incredibly Obvious, due to a bad angle. So, you'll have to control the camera a bit more than you shouldhave to, as it does not track perfectly. "

"Due to BK's many narrow, enclosed areas fails, the camera sometimes is to show the action of a playable angle. Also, you will need to adjust the camera a little more often than necessary, as they do not perfectly follow. "

The magazine Total assessed the game in analogy to the six- school grading system with a 1 ("very good") and gave an " Independent TOTAL! - Genial Seal of Approval ".

"Rare has so carefully worked that Banjo and Kazooie the lovable Mario a small tip of the nose are present in almost all areas ahead. [ ... ] Even if Banjo -Kazooie the many innovations are missing, 64 attended at Super Mario ensure that the world of video games was lifted off its hinges and received food for thought, it is a whole, to the even more sophisticated game. [...] A multiplayer mode would have been interesting. "

As part of the Interactive Achievement Awards 1999 Banjo -Kazooie received the award for outstanding graphics and was recognized as the best console action game.

In the summer of 2000, a year before the publication of the successor console of the Nintendo 64, IGN.com published a list of the 25 best games for the Nintendo 64, finished seventh in the Banjo -Kazooie. In addition, the title took the fifth place among the N64 games with the best musical entertainment.

Remake

On 3 December 2008 appeared on the Xbox Live Marketplace, a game resembling the original edition of the game for the Xbox 360 For some graphics were recreated in higher resolution. It also offers the possibility to collect the stop 'n SWOP items.