The next game series that I wanted to look at was Banjo Kazooie as this is a brilliant game series that follows very closely to Mario. The game series began just after the major success of Mario 64 and you can definitely tell that there are influences from it in many ways, although the characters and mechanics are different.
Banjo-Kazooie
This was the first game in the series and was the game that started the entire series off on the N64. This game was fantastic and had so many unique mechanics that made this game of a superbly high quality overall. The game introduces Banjo the bear and Kazooie the bird on their adventures together as they try and track down the evil Gruntilda and save Banjo's sister Tooty. The levels work pretty much in the same way as Super Mario 64's did in which you would need a certain amount of collectibles, in Mario's case Star's, in this case Jigsaw pieces, to be able to advance through the different levels, and they worked in the same way, in different stages.
The mechanics in general are very easy to use and maneuver easily around the environment. The overall quality is great and they are very reactive to use, apart from the camera control, but then again games where like this for a while in the late 90s. The game featrue basic platforming around the environment and Banjo could jump from platforms and use Kazooie as a double jump kind of feature to get higher in the levels. Kazooie could then also be himself and they could turn over and you could take control of him instead. He is used when finer platforming is in need, and also when on slopes as he didn't slip down them, but Banjo did. It was an interesting feature and kind of makes you feel that you are controlling two different characters, but combined together, making it an unusual but unique experience that totally worked.
The collectibles that featured throughout the game were the highlight of it for many people. As the story was a little bit Mario, with the character going off to save the damsel in distress from the evil character and therefore was a little weak, but this didn't matter as it almost made collecting fun for a lot of people. You were placed into this big and beautiful world and asked to collect notes, jiggies and other collectibles around you in the world and it was brilliantly simple but so much fun. The idea of collecting doesn't seem that exciting but there was something about this game but made it fun and enjoyable and it was definitely due to the design of everything. It was all very lighthearted and didn't take itself too seriously and the dialog and interactions definitely helped bring everything together.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
This was the last game in the series, Nuts and Bolts, which was made many years later on after the first game and the sequel, and was absolutely brilliant in the way it was designed. I have skipped over the second game as it was just too similar to the first and didn't change any game mechanics, to this one and there is so much to say about this game in terms of the game play. First of all the traditional mechanics are still there in the heart of it all, and this does make it feel like a Banjo-Kazooie game, but then its almost twisted on it's head and vehicles are brought into the mix.
The addition of vehicles almost seems weird as the game mechanics where working so well before, but since the game has changed the collecting mechanics anyway it seems right to change other aspects and they do work. The cars that you can make are fully adaptable and they can be made into any type of vehicle, meaning that you can fly around levels if you so wish. This feature is great and making the cars fully changeable gives players the options to sit down and be creative with what they make.
For me this worked, but did seem to move away from the fact that this is a Banjo-Kazooie game and there isn't that same level of detailed platforming or flying using Kazooie, and dialog with other witty characters, it's just all very on the surface humour and doesn't run deeper than that creating jokes with replay value.
Having said that they do still have some form of collectible system which does work and you can collect the same jigsaw pieces to unlock new locations, but this is put alongside collecting parts instead of notes, and being able to customise your vehicles in different ways and create lots of unique designs, something that works well. Overall the whole mechanics of the game work, and they work well. Being able to create something exciting that you can then use to drive around a level is fun and interesting, but I do not think that this should have been labelled as a Banjo-Kazooie game, because it really isn't.
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