Game Debate #56: Banjo Kazooie

[Foochie776 | 1,052]

8/10. Great challenge throughout. Navigating the overworld was kind of a chore and that final boss was dang hard. Great game though! 

[rdrunner | 422]

9/10 (belated) - Inspired by this thread, I recently finished Banjo-Kazooie for the first time.  Since I already voted "never played but interested", consider this an unofficial vote.  Proof that there are people out there that haven't played this game that may still like it!

I obviously don't mind what people have been calling the "collectathon" genre.  Heck, most 3D Mario games work the same way.  Coins, notes, bananas, stars, jiggies, or whatever, it's just fun to go exploring and be rewarded.

The different worlds had some fun themes, with my favorite being Click Clock Wood.  It was fun seeing how the puzzles changed with the seasons (even if I did fall off that tree a few too many times).  Least favorite was Rusty Bucket Bay, where I missed a jiggy by not knowing all the secret ways to enter various parts of the ship (only time I consulted the internet).

Only real complaint I have is the Easter egg system, where the game teases a bunch of unreachable things in a few levels, which I found out later can be reached by activating secret codes after beating the game.  I wasted a LOT of time on those parts, thinking I was doing something wrong (which I was).  Would have been nice if these things were just invisible or something.

Gruntilda makes for one of the better villains I've seen lately.  Part Mother Goose, part game show host, all stereotypical wicked witch, she really steals the show at times.  No game has made me laugh quite like her random quips about how I'm doing (best part has to be the toilet from Mad Monster Mansion...was NOT expecting that one).  She holds her own as a final boss as well, putting up quite a long fight without much room for error.  Not too hard if you know what you're doing, but I had some trial and error moments during the flying part (dive-bombed myself off the tower a few times).

Overall this is a wonderful game, easily one of the best on the N64.  It deserves all the praise it has received!