25 Days of Christmas - #9: Banjo-Kazooie

During the heyday of the N64, there were two companies constantly releasing games that revolutionized the industry and put other developers to shame. The first, understandably, was parent company Nintendo. The second, however, was Rare, developer of titles such as Diddy Kong Racing, Perfect Dark, and - one of the more controversial games of the time – Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Rare is a company that has managed to release a successful game in almost every genre. Perhaps their most critically acclaimed title, however, was adventure/platformer Banjo-Kazooie.

Banjo-Kazooie put players in control of two unlikely heroes who must stop the evil witch Gruntilda, who has kidnapped Banjo’s sister Tooty. The story sets up to be rather basic, but the characters take this in a comedic light and poke fun at the game and themselves constantly. Nearly every remark Kazooie makes is sarcastic, and she is constantly countered by her more serious partner Banjo. The personalities of these two characters play off each other brilliantly. Gruntilda constantly speaks in rhyme, each statement more cheesy than the next. But the best aspect of the game is that the story is satirical, and the characters aren’t meant to be taken completely serious.

The gameplay is fluid and rather creative. Moving around the world as the pair is as simple as pushing the control stick in any direction. The camera angle changes appropriately for specific situations, but is never an annoyance. Each level has multiple tasks to complete, including collecting music notes, jiggy pieces, and boss fights.

Occasionally Banjo and Kazooie will find themselves at an impasse due to terrain or enemies and require assistance from the shaman Mumbo Jumbo. He will ask the two to complete a task for him within the confines of that particular level. Upon completion of said task, Mumbo will use his magic to aid Banjo and Kazooie in their quest, often temporarily transforming them into another animal such as a termite or a walrus.

In a similar role as Mumbo is Bottles the mole. Bottles is encountered several times during the game and will teach Banjo and Kazooie a new move each time. Despite the help from Bottles, Kazooie seems only interested in making fun of him, calling him names like “goggle boy”, “squinty”, and “root muncher”.

The game is a decent length for the time of its release. There are a few areas that can be frustrating and seem more complex than necessary, but these are few and far between. Each level is designed differently and things don’t feel repetitive. Each level also increases in difficulty at a fairly consistent rate, so players can get their feet wet before plunging into the really challenging parts. The art style is cartoony, but fits the game’s mood perfectly. The game flows incredibly smoothly and load times are nonexistent. Although sequel Banjo-Tooie was more commercially successful than the first game, Banjo-Kazooie is the foundation upon which many platform games from various developers would build in later years. Banjo-Kazooie is easily my favorite game from Rare, as well as one of my favorite N64 titles.

25 Days of Christmas - #25: Diddy Kong Racing

For the Christmas season, I felt I would offer my own 25 days of Christmas. Each day from now until December 25, I will post my 25 favorite games of all time. These are not necessarily the most successful games in either sales or critical reception; they are simply my favorite games from over the years. Without further ado, the first game on my list:

Largely overshadowed by Mario Kart 64, Rare’s cartoon racer surpassed Nintendo’s in many regards. The number of racetracks available was greater and the weapons less centered around a single character’s franchise. With characters drawn from other Rare games including Conker (before his Mature-rated days) and Banjo (sans Kazooie), Diddy Kong Racing was host to a particularly colorful cast. As was the case with most racing games of the day, each character had his or her own unique attributes that changed the way they handled on the race track. Heavier characters like Krunch could handle sharp turns better, while those more lightweight like Tiptup had much better acceleration.

Diddy Kong Racing allowed players to drive the traditional go-kart, but also provided the option of a prop plane and a hover boat. Each vehicle, though they altered the gameplay significantly, flowed smoothly and felt balanced. The item balloons even altered slightly to fit the vehicles appropriately, such as the oil spill becoming a gas cloud when using the plane.

The sheer number of tracks available in the game was certainly impressive. Each world was home to four main racetracks and one boss race. Initially, there were four major worlds to be found, and requiring a set number of golden balloons to access. But after defeating the main boss Wizpig, the game offered a fifth world to those who had earned gold rankings on all of the trophy races. Another four levels and one final showdown with Wizpig made the finale of the game triumphant.



Diddy Kong Racing offered multiple modes of gameplay to up the replay value. Not to say that the main game was short, but the added modes certainly didn’t hurt the finished product. Within the main single-player story there was both the traditional race which challenged the racer to aim for one of the top three spots as well as another mode that added on a search for silver coins while still aiming for the top three. A time attack mode was offered in both the main story and free play modes, and players could store their times on an N64 memory card to later challenge their times in a ‘ghost race’. Trophy races put racers in the four races of each world and kept an overall placement that would go up or down as the each course was completed. There was even a multiplayer battle mode that was different for each world, varying from a hoard-the-eggs minigame and a more traditional battle mode.

Considering this was the first video game I ever owned, I can’t even begin to imagine the hours I must have poured into this game. I still maintain to this day that beating Wizpig the first time was the single most challenging moment for me in gaming.