Banjo-Tooie XBLA Review - Xbox 360

8

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Audio: 7
Innovation: 5

Introduction

Banjo-Kazooie, released back in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, was big. The game’s large, open worlds, host of amusing characters, and solid platforming gameplay were impressive for the time, and really sucked gamers in. It wasn’t long before a sequel was announced, and now, following on from the original’s porting to the Xbox Live Arcade, we have Banjo-Tooie, the sequel which has now made the jump as well. But can it improve on its predecessor? Read on to find out.

Gameplay

Much like Banjo-Kazooie, the game’s story is pretty simple. The evil witch Gruntilda, defeated by the bear and bird duo at the end of the first game, is trapped under a large boulder. Her assistant, Klungo, has spent months trying to free her from her prison, to no avail. Fortunately for Gruntilda, her two equally witchy sisters arrive on the scene, and using their powerful magic, destroy the boulder. Finally freed, Gruntilda (now reduced to a skeleton) sets out to exact her revenge on Banjo and Kazooie, whose house is located nearby. She fires a blast of magic at the house, where Banjo and Kazooie are currently holding a game of cards. They manage to escape just before the house is hit, but their good friend Bottles is killed. Ticked off, Banjo and Kazooie head out to avenge him, and teach Gruntilda a lesson once and for all.

Gameplay wise, the game is both similar to the original, while being different enough to keep things interesting. The core of the experience is still the same, press A to jump, X to attack, and the left and right triggers in combination with the face buttons for special moves. Just as before, the game is split into numerous worlds, which can all be accessed from the central hub of Jinjo Village. As always you’ll need a certain number of golden Jiggies to unlock each world. Jiggies are given as prizes for completing challenges in the various worlds, and are used to solve a corresponding jigsaw puzzle before each world will open up. The golden notes, while still present, play a much smaller role as they are easier to collect. They are still required though, as they are used as currency for learning new moves from Bottles’ brother Jamjars.

Now for the more interesting part, where the sequel moves away from its predecessor. Where the worlds in Banjo-Kazooie were completely separate entities, Banjo-Tooie brings them together. The game feels more like one big world this time around, with many of the areas being directly connected in some way. Whether it be a certain point of convergence, or simply jumping on a train and being transported from one to another, the worlds are now linked which is an interesting change. Something else that’s new is the Stop ‘N Swop feature, something that was intended to be included in the original version of the game, but was omitted due to technical issues. Stop ‘N Swop makes use of the special coloured eggs and key which could be found ...