The next episode of the Player One Podcast will contain a Game Club segment where we discuss Rare’s Nintendo 64 platforming epic (and Mario 64 wannabe) Banjo-Kazooie. Participating is easy. You can discuss the game on our forum, reply to this blog post, leave us a voicemail (713-893-8069), or email us an audio comment.
To get you warmed up, here are some of my thoughts.
Some of the bad:
Swimming. My god, what the fuck. Swimming in this game is just a cluster. It’s nearly impossible to aim yourself with any amount of precision or make any kind of quick movements. Clanker’s Cavern was pissing me off while playing tonight, especially the bit where you’re underwater 100 feet underneath him trying to turn this goddamn key and it’s just impossible to aim it right. I’d try, miss, then attempt to turn around. Oh no wait now I’m running out of air. Where’s the little fish that lets out air bubbles? Oh shit, he’s behind me I’m never going to be able to turn around in time. Now I’m on the last bit of my air. Oh shit, I’m dead…REPEAT. Thank effing god that swimming in video games has gotten better over the years (Ratchet & Clank FTW!). Flying is equally annoying but at least you can turn around pretty quick in the air. 
Level design. Again, what in the goddamn hell is Rare thinking? Their level design is based around making it as tedious as possible for the player. I’ll just give you Bubble Gloop Swamp as an example. So in this level, you can’t run in the swamp water without the boots power-up (which wears off after 20 or so seconds). Yet they have put power-ups, notes, jinjos, etc. in places all over the level where you’d either have to use the boots multiple times to get at them ( likely dying many times over in the process) OR wait until you go to Mumbo’s Hut and turn into a little alligator so you can wander the swamp areas unharmed.
They’ve also got this nasty habit of giving you enemy encounters in very close quarters. Yet Banjo doesn’t have any really good close-quarter attacks. The only one is the punching which you have to be absolutely still to even pull off with your hands off the directional. I usually fall back to the rolling attack, which can be suicide if you roll, end up behind an enemy as they turn and proceed to gank you (or they barely touch your back, yet hit you). Or you roll and fall off a cliff.
Health items that often fall to areas you can’t get to safely. So I’m gonna talk about Bubble Gloop Swamp again. They’ve got honey combs set up near the swamp so when you hit them, they inevitably drop one of their precious life-giving combs into the bog. The bog you loose life in once you step in it. And it’s because the honeycombs kind of burst out of their little hive and bounce 2-3 times before coming to a stopping place.
The hub world. Where is the design in this? You unlock a new world by filling in the pieces of the puzzle or whatever with your jiggies, and then the level isn’t even in the same friggin’ room where you just did that. Instead it shows you some OTHER area where it just opened up the level and you’re supposed to somehow find that area in a series of tunnels and disjointed paths with no hub world map. Eff you, Rare. You have the painting conceit of Mario 64 right there with the puzzle pieces and you can’t just transport yourself into the world from there? What the hell, man.
And the good…
The music. I gotta say the music in B-K is pretty dang awesome. I like the consistent theme that changes as you go in/out of areas or under the water. It gets in your head and that main theme is very memorable. Me likey.
The Mumbo transformations. They’re fun! It mixes things up a bit.
I’m sure there’s something else in there that’s good that I’m not thinking of now. More on this weekend’s episode (#120).
Chris Johnston Game Club banjo kazooie, game club, nintendo 64
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