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Key · 03-24-2015, 11:10 PM

Double Feature

Man, if I tried to keep count how often the Nintendo 64 managed to not only make a great game, but make a great sequel to an already fantastic franchise, i'd lose count. I mean, first we have Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask, now what comes to mind is Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I still remember right now my entire experience playing Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie for the first time. Both games are and will always be fantastic and really took a part in making my gaming childhood a fantastic one.

Something interesting to note as well, and this is something I just thought about. Banjo Kazooie was the more positive side as Banjo Tooie was more of a dark take on the story, as was the two Zelda games I mentioned before. Anyway, thought that was interesting.

So, these games. If you haven't played them yet, you simply must do so, whether it be on an N64 or on the Xbox Arcade. I can't even tell you how attached I got to these games when I was a kid. I just remember when I got Banjo Kazooie for the first time, I was blown away with what I was allowed to do. Being able to learn moves as a bird and a bear, killing enemies and fighting bosses that you'd never even think would be a traditional boss fight, and of course getting to the top of Grunty's castle and taking her on with everything you've got. Potential spoiler ahead. Talking about the fight with Gruntilda in Banjo Kazooie always brings up one of the best moments in the fight, the mega Jinjo finale. Seriously, one of the best way to kill off the enemy of the game is to not only hit her once, but multiple times with what seems to be a powerful blast:

the guitar music isn't part of the game, someone added that in I guess

Of course, now we move onto easily the darker of the two games...Banjo Tooie. Back when Banjo Kazooie was gaining popularity, the people who had beat the game were already talking about wanting a sequel to the game, and I was part of that group. I enjoyed the first one so much that I really felt like Rare could deliver a great sequel to an already great game, and that's exactly what they did. Banjo Tooie is the perfect sequel. It has everything you'd want in a sequel in a game franchise like this. More moves to learn, more characters to run into, more levels and challenges, cool bosses, great dialogue, and seeing Gruntilda with nothing but bones is a pretty hilarious sight to see as well:

I really don't want to spoil too much about this game in case most people have never played it, but I just want to say that I probably played through the sequel more times than I did the original. I think it had to do with more of it being so dark and mysterious and things had been happening to the people that you grew up knowing in the first game, and seeing those things happen were almost heartbreaking (potential spoiler). Not sure where i'd rate these two games in terms of my list of N64 games in general, but they're certainly two games that any gaming aficionado needs to either have in their collection, or play it 100% through.

03-24-2015, 11:10 PM	#41 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	Double Feature Man, if I tried to keep count how often the Nintendo 64 managed to not only make a great game, but make a great sequel to an already fantastic franchise, i'd lose count. I mean, first we have Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask, now what comes to mind is Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I still remember right now my entire experience playing Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie for the first time. Both games are and will always be fantastic and really took a part in making my gaming childhood a fantastic one. Something interesting to note as well, and this is something I just thought about. Banjo Kazooie was the more positive side as Banjo Tooie was more of a dark take on the story, as was the two Zelda games I mentioned before. Anyway, thought that was interesting. So, these games. If you haven't played them yet, you simply must do so, whether it be on an N64 or on the Xbox Arcade. I can't even tell you how attached I got to these games when I was a kid. I just remember when I got Banjo Kazooie for the first time, I was blown away with what I was allowed to do. Being able to learn moves as a bird and a bear, killing enemies and fighting bosses that you'd never even think would be a traditional boss fight, and of course getting to the top of Grunty's castle and taking her on with everything you've got. Potential spoiler ahead. Talking about the fight with Gruntilda in Banjo Kazooie always brings up one of the best moments in the fight, the mega Jinjo finale. Seriously, one of the best way to kill off the enemy of the game is to not only hit her once, but multiple times with what seems to be a powerful blast: the guitar music isn't part of the game, someone added that in I guess Of course, now we move onto easily the darker of the two games...Banjo Tooie. Back when Banjo Kazooie was gaining popularity, the people who had beat the game were already talking about wanting a sequel to the game, and I was part of that group. I enjoyed the first one so much that I really felt like Rare could deliver a great sequel to an already great game, and that's exactly what they did. Banjo Tooie is the perfect sequel. It has everything you'd want in a sequel in a game franchise like this. More moves to learn, more characters to run into, more levels and challenges, cool bosses, great dialogue, and seeing Gruntilda with nothing but bones is a pretty hilarious sight to see as well: I really don't want to spoil too much about this game in case most people have never played it, but I just want to say that I probably played through the sequel more times than I did the original. I think it had to do with more of it being so dark and mysterious and things had been happening to the people that you grew up knowing in the first game, and seeing those things happen were almost heartbreaking (potential spoiler). Not sure where i'd rate these two games in terms of my list of N64 games in general, but they're certainly two games that any gaming aficionado needs to either have in their collection, or play it 100% through.