Banjo-Tooie for the win!
Banjo and Kazooie are back in "Banjo-Tooie" the slightly darker sequel to the ever-popular Banjo-Kazooie for the N64!
The word "sequel" typically has a bittersweet ring to it: it can either mean "more of a good thing" or "too bad it wasn't as good as the fist," and unfortunately the latter is far more common.
Banjo-Tooie, however, doesn't fall short of the first, but rather, exceeds it many areas. To make it easier to understand just how good this game is, I'll just break it down into categories.
Gameplay (5/5): This game is huge. In the original there were 10 levels, and in this game there are 9, but don't let that trick you into thinking this is any less of a game, or shorter for that matter. Each level is massive, and each jiggy is a challenge to get. Not only are there big (and I mean big), new levels to explore, but you start out on the original Spiral Mountain, and can even re-visit Grunty's Castle's lobby area (you can't go elswhere in the castle, but it's understandable, for memory reasons, and story-based reasons); revisiting old areas rarely occurs in other games, and was definately welcome in this one. Also, you start out with all of your original moves, including flying, using running shoes, wading boots, and invincibility. Many new moves have been added as well.
Sound/Music (5/5): Just as it was in Banjo-Kazooie, the music is very catchy; the original title screen and pause menu music were kept, but there is a new overworld theme and world music.
Replay value (5/5): A multiplayer has been added to this already awesome game, creating even more replay value than it already had. At certain points in the game, Banjo and Kazooie can also be played independantly of each other, and Mumbo Jumbo is also playable.
All in all this is a great game, a game that's tough to fit into a review. If you've played Banjo-Kazooie (and preferably beaten in, since this picks up where the first one left off; 2 years after, actually, but I don't want to give away any plot points), this is definately a necessary addition to your N64 library.Read full review
