Banjo Kazooie is what I originally gained interest in because of the YouTuber game and movie reviewer JonTron. Since the sequel glitched out on my N64 to the point of impossible completion due to it being too graphically demanding (no other N64 game of mine has done that) we are left with the other game that I actually managed to 100% in all aspects; a feat I rarely am willing to do. So, what are we looking at when it comes to Banjo Kazooie?
Banjo Kazooie is a third-person platforming collectathon built around puzzles and tests of platforming skills. I hope I am not making anyone feel bad when I say, I found this game fairly easy without a guide (though I used it a couple times initially when I couldn't figure out basic game mechanics). The gameplay was par for the course and you will notice a LOT of similarities in the game mechanics, art style, and especially the audio with Rareware's other N64 masterpiece Donkey Kong 64; but that game came out after Banjo Kazooie so if we are talking heavily borrowed elements, Dankey Kang is in the fault.
The basic combat is satisfactory and I hated the swimming mechanics though they were not used too much to be a dreadful nuisance. But oh my god that final level Click Clock Wood which is basically four different mini-levels inside of the same level, was easily the best level in the whole game. I won't spoil it too much but the basis is they took the same level map and changed it four times based on four different seasons of the year and put that all in the same level. It is an inspiration to game design.
Every level has 10 golden puzzle pieces called jiggies you need in order to get to more worlds to explore and 1 of them is always unlocked only by collecting 5 jinzos which are small colored creatures hidden throughout every level (except in the hub world). Additionally a large portion of levels have jiggies you can only access by spending silver skulls in Mumbo's hut and those skulls are hidden throughout every world as well. At the end of the game I had 6-or-so silver skulls left over though so you shouldn't have too much trouble if you explore thoroughly. On top of all that there is 100 notes to collect in each level which are also required to unlock more worlds and additionally there are tons of feathers and eggs used for flying and shooting.
And yes, I collected the 6 giant eggs and the ice key because I wanted to REALLY get 100% even though you get nothing out of them beyond the bragging rights and the satisfying neurological explosion of pleasure you get similar to when you collect the giant spinning DK tokens in Donkey Kong Country 3 (only real 90s kids will understand).
Finally, it would do a huge disservice if I did not mention how character-driven the game is. The game is full of side-characters that are barely explored but are charmingly unique every time. The main cast is much better explored and include a mole that teaches moves, a bird that lives in your character Banjo's backpack, Tootie who gets kidnapped as motive to play the game, a troll-like shaman named Mumbo who can morph you, and of course Gruntilda. Gruntilda is strongly built up as a villain with character background through disgusting facts from her sister, mockery from her in the hub world, orchestrating the kidnapping so she can steal Tootie's beauty, her face being plastered on a lot of structures, and the board game the player must beat before the final boss battle in which you must answer trivia on her correctly in order to not get hurt or die.
This is not a particularly long game but it set the bar for exploratory collectathon platformers and made the experience feel exciting and like you as a player are always making real progress every time you find one more jiggy or secret location. My main criticism besides poor swimming mechanics, is the tediousness of collecting 100 notes and being forced to redo collecting them if you die even once in a level; issues which are fixed in the sequel. I would rate this classic 9 banjos out of 10 kazooies.
Banjo Kazooie is a third-person platforming collectathon built around puzzles and tests of platforming skills. I hope I am not making anyone feel bad when I say, I found this game fairly easy without a guide (though I used it a couple times initially when I couldn't figure out basic game mechanics). The gameplay was par for the course and you will notice a LOT of similarities in the game mechanics, art style, and especially the audio with Rareware's other N64 masterpiece Donkey Kong 64; but that game came out after Banjo Kazooie so if we are talking heavily borrowed elements, Dankey Kang is in the fault.
The basic combat is satisfactory and I hated the swimming mechanics though they were not used too much to be a dreadful nuisance. But oh my god that final level Click Clock Wood which is basically four different mini-levels inside of the same level, was easily the best level in the whole game. I won't spoil it too much but the basis is they took the same level map and changed it four times based on four different seasons of the year and put that all in the same level. It is an inspiration to game design.
Every level has 10 golden puzzle pieces called jiggies you need in order to get to more worlds to explore and 1 of them is always unlocked only by collecting 5 jinzos which are small colored creatures hidden throughout every level (except in the hub world). Additionally a large portion of levels have jiggies you can only access by spending silver skulls in Mumbo's hut and those skulls are hidden throughout every world as well. At the end of the game I had 6-or-so silver skulls left over though so you shouldn't have too much trouble if you explore thoroughly. On top of all that there is 100 notes to collect in each level which are also required to unlock more worlds and additionally there are tons of feathers and eggs used for flying and shooting.
And yes, I collected the 6 giant eggs and the ice key because I wanted to REALLY get 100% even though you get nothing out of them beyond the bragging rights and the satisfying neurological explosion of pleasure you get similar to when you collect the giant spinning DK tokens in Donkey Kong Country 3 (only real 90s kids will understand).
Finally, it would do a huge disservice if I did not mention how character-driven the game is. The game is full of side-characters that are barely explored but are charmingly unique every time. The main cast is much better explored and include a mole that teaches moves, a bird that lives in your character Banjo's backpack, Tootie who gets kidnapped as motive to play the game, a troll-like shaman named Mumbo who can morph you, and of course Gruntilda. Gruntilda is strongly built up as a villain with character background through disgusting facts from her sister, mockery from her in the hub world, orchestrating the kidnapping so she can steal Tootie's beauty, her face being plastered on a lot of structures, and the board game the player must beat before the final boss battle in which you must answer trivia on her correctly in order to not get hurt or die.
This is not a particularly long game but it set the bar for exploratory collectathon platformers and made the experience feel exciting and like you as a player are always making real progress every time you find one more jiggy or secret location. My main criticism besides poor swimming mechanics, is the tediousness of collecting 100 notes and being forced to redo collecting them if you die even once in a level; issues which are fixed in the sequel. I would rate this classic 9 banjos out of 10 kazooies.