| Banjo-Tooie | |
|---|---|
| Completionist Info | |
 | |
| Episode Number | 56 |
| Date Released | February 22nd, 2013 |
| Completionist Rating | Finipete It! (Or Finibears It) |
| Link | Banjo-Tooie: WHY IS IT SO DARK? - The Completionist Episode 56 |
Banjo-Tooie is a platform video game developed by Rare and originally released for the Nintendo 64. It was first released on 20 November 2000 in North America and on 12 April 2001 in Europe, and later re-released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360 on 29 April 2009. It is the second installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series and serves as a sequel to the original Banjo-Kazooie. The story of the game follows series protagonists Banjo and Kazooie as they attempt to stop the plans of antagonist Gruntilda and her two sisters from vaporising the inhabitants of the game's world.
Development of the game started in June 1998, directly after the release of its predecessor. Several new features were cut from the game due to time constraints and limitations of the Nintendo 64 hardware. Banjo-Tooie features levels that are significantly larger than those of its predecessor and requires the player to complete various challenges such as solving puzzles, collecting items, and defeating bosses. It also includes amultiplayer mode where up to four players can compete in several minigames. Upon release, the game sold more than three million copies and received critical acclaim from video game critics.
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The Completionist[]
Jirard reviewed the Xbox 360 remake of Banjo-Tooie for the fifty-sixth episode of The Completionist. It was done as the fourth and final game in the Month of Sequels 2013, and is the long-awaited sequel to the Banjo Kazooie review, which spawn the infamous "BEARS" joke. Jirard plays the game blind.
In the opening skit, Greg pretends to bother Jirard with the word "bears." Jirard immediately gives Greg a lengthy lecture/rant about how he doesn't want Greg to say "bears" anywhere in the review, with the threat of destroying his sculptures if he does. However, Greg fakes Jirard out by pretending he was going to say beach before blurting out "BEARS" excitedly.
Jirard is surprised to find that the game's opening is quite dark, beginning with the death of Bottles and zombie magic. However, he is quickly reassured by the presentation. He makes a bold claim in saying Banjo-Tooie may have been one of the best looking games for its time. Unfortunately, he doesn't find the levels to be as memorable as in the first game, and he finds the overworld a bit too big. He does give compliments to the character models, but still finds the game's voice acting strange. And he's disappointed that Gruntilda no longer rhymes in her dialogue. Though he very much appreciates the soundtrack.
Jirard compliments the familiarity in controls from the first game, and notes how the gameplay has even been expanded upon with new abilities obtained through Jamjars. However, he's not too fond of the shooter sections. The missions for other characters are hit-and-miss, but he appreciates the variety with playing as Mumbo in some sections. Some praise is also given to new methods that allow the player to teleport to other parts of the world, as well as the bosses. Some criticism is given to some levels that seem too difficult and long.
Jirard finds it frustrating that the Stop-And-Swap content doesn't work on the Xbox 360 version unless you own Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, a game Jirard did not have and does not like. However, he does like the content it unlocks. As a whole, Jirard prefers the original, but finds Banjo-Tooie to be a lot of fun regardless.
The end of the episode foreshadows the next review: Metroid Prime with MatPat.