Customer Reviews

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Well first off, I'd like to say that there has been a concern with the text in this game. I think the points made by others are valid and the issue of small, fast-scrolling text IS being addressed by RARE and will soon be fixed with a patch. The text issue ONLY affects those with an SDTV, HOWEVER if you have an HDTV the text is legible. It only scrolls fast for cutscenes, but in-game, when talking to characters, you have the option to choose when the next screen comes up. The only reason I dedicated this large section just to the text, was because the other people base their reviews on it when the rest of the game is practically flawless. The game doesn't deserve 1 star because of this and it should be higher cause I don't want a review the negate the average score when other parts are superior. Now onto the actual review!

The game plays by you building your own vehicles with the different parts you collect. At first the vehicle-building system seems complex and difficult to master, but after learning the basics, any kid could create anything! With all of the parts, you could make vehicles ideal for riding on land, flying through the air, gliding through snow and water, and even swimming underwater! Although the majority of the games were based around on-foot platforming, there are still parts you can run through and explore. Due to the use of vehicles now being available, the worlds are MASSIVE and detailed. It would take minutes to cross on foot, which is why riding a vehicle is a must. In total there are 6 worlds to explore, each comprised of several acts. Each act of the level is huge with characters and lots of enemies and physics objects to carry and push around. The gameplay is centered around using your vehicles to complete challenges, races, and games. Completing them can earn you notes or a jiggy which can be collected from a bank rather then "stored" in Kazooie like previous ventures. If they're completed fast enough, you can earn a T.T. trophy which are used to get even more jiggies. The whole point of the game is collecting enough to fight the final boss.

The characters are funny and well designed with well written dialogue. Some charcters talk with weird grammar on purpose to sound like they have accents or can't speak english very well.
The graphics are beautiful, all of the levels are HUGE with extreme detail, color, and characters. The game runs super smooth with no slowdown or lag whatsoever with everything appearing clearly from far away. The soundtrack is also incredible. The majority of it is borrowed, remixed, and remade orchestrally from older Banjo-Kazooie games. The sound effects are all brand new and sound great. With surround sound you feel like your in the world. The game is very long and has tons of replay value due to so many secrets and challenges to complete.

On top of this there is online multiplayer. You can play using default vehicles or custom made vehicles. There are lots of modes to choose from. You can simply race in land, sea, or air or complete in fast paced matches trying to destroy each other with your crazy vehicles. If parents are worried about other peoples online behaviors you can choose to mute or ban any disruptive or trash-talking players You can also set limits for how long they can play online.

Overall, the game is great for BOTH children and adults, will be enjoyed for months, and it's a great value for what you're getting. I highly recommend getting this game for the holiday season for any kids. It's a bargain and an unforgettable experience.

The game is somewhat fun, but.... it's not what you might expect from a BK game. The game is basically one challenge after another to win Jiggys and trophies. Unfortunately, but you might like this, most of the challenges are timed races. I was looking forward to kicking back, exploring worlds and finding Jiggys, Notes and Jingos, not having to beat certain times to win Jiggys. The leisure is gone...

Even this might not be so bad, except building and choosing the correct vehicles is confusing and the interface is very confusing with different ways to select and build vehicles. The collection of Acts is disjointed and the constant back and forth is frustrating. Expect to see the puzzle loading screen A LOT as you move back and forth between interfaces.

And one last thing, which others have mentioned, is the text. This game has TONS of reading and the script is very small and sometimes, scrolls automatically and quickly before you can read what was displayed. I have a huge tv and it's very very difficult to read and quite maddening. This piece of the game is very poor.

I hate not giving this game 5 stars because I love the BK series and want to see more, but they missed the mark on this one. They should have stuck to the previous platform and just enhanced it with the vehicle aspect to make exploring the worlds more fun than just endless challenges and clunky confusing interfaces.

Banjo Kazooie is an interesting game, I love the mix of platforming and vehicle creation that this game allows; when put against a task there are multiple methods of completing this task by creating a default vehicle using the included blueprints of designing your own vehicle.

If you enjoy platformers, this is the game for you!

I've never played a Banjo & Kazooie game in my entire life. I know nothing of the series. But I saw a demo on an Xbox at a popular Video Game store, and decided to check it out. I downloaded a demo from Xbox Live, and bought the game less than 24 hours later!

Let me tell you something - ANY game that encourages this level of creativity and thought process, and rewards the player for doing so as this game does, is one FANTASTIC video game.

In a world of Grand Theft Auto's and Saints Row's, a game like Banjo & Kazooie Nuts & Bolts is such a welcome breath of fresh air.

If you're reading this now, you're probably not a huge BK fan because if you WERE, you'd have already tried and possibly purchased the game. So I'm writing this to people who are just now getting around to researching this game, since it has been out now for over 6 months.

B&K-N&B is all about building vehicles to accomplish all sorts of missions. All of the missions are timed, which I'll agree can be a little stressful. But failing to accomplish a set time in a mission only encourages one to build a better vehicle, or to find a new method to accomplish the task - to effectively "think outside the box." Vehicle designs - quite simply - are limitless. Cars/Trucks? Piece of cake. Boats? Can do. Planes? Yeup. Helicopters, too! Submarines are possible but a little difficult as your vehicles can either sink or float, but cannot maintain a particular "depth" underwater. Build a sub with a few concealed wheels underneath though and you'll be fine. The most fun (in my opinion) is building multi-purpose vehicles - like amphibious space-jumping race trucks... And of course what vehicle wouldn't be complete without some egg launchers, maybe rockets, or a boot that'll pop out of box and kick unsuspecting foes!

All in all the game aims to be cute - and believe me it delivers. At 30 years of age, even I have to laugh when the instruction says "Engine: makes vehicles move. Even stupid Bear can figure it out..." I'd normally aim this game at kids or maybe women who don't care for the usual gamut of racing/first-person-shooting/roleplaying games. My wife would probably love B&K-N&B.

I LOVE games that let me build stuff. I love games that makes people go, "Hey can I do this?... Wow yes I can!!" Not even 20 hours into the game I was trying to build Mater from the movie Cars. I built a massive cargo plane and watched it fly (complete with retracting landing gear!) and built a submersible helicopter. I don't care who you are - that's AWESOME right there...

I also see a TON of content in this game. After 20 hours I've only unlocked a small fraction of available vehicle parts and levels. Of course, most of that is due to the fact that I'm too busy doing looptie-loops in my jumbo jet or exploring the ocean sea-bed in my truck... But B&K-N&B ALLOWS you to do that stuff, so have at it!!!

Phenomenal game. Phenomenal idea, and just a constant source of entertainment. The text issues have been fixed for the most part. The graphics are beautiful, the stories are funny and entertaining, and even though I know very little of the B&K history, it's obviously not necessary to enjoy this awesome chapter of the story.

I will try to mention briefly everything that needs to be mentioned.

First, the issue of staying true to its originals. From what I see, this is the biggest obstacle to overcome. If you never played Banjo-Kazooie or Banjo-Tooie on Nintendo 64, then there is a very great chance that you will enjoy this game. I personally had little experience with the originals and had only played the first one a week or two before playing N&B. N&B shares the characters and wittiness of the first game, and there is no way you can dislike this. Rare took a new direction with this Banjo Kazooie game, and if you give it a chance (take off your nostalgia glasses beforehand), you may very well enjoy it.

This game is really all about fun. I've put many long hours into this game (definitely a couple days worth), and enjoyed every bit of it. Most of the game involves building vehicles and using them to complete challenges. Nevertheless, there is still some platforming at its heart, where you will end up spending a lot of time on foot and in your vehicle collecting notes (to buy new parts) and seeking Mumbo crates (which get you new parts to build new vehicles).

Let's talk challenges. I'll admit that there is nothing groundbreaking in this delivery, as you simply walk up to the character making the challenge and complete it if you so please. The real beauty lies in the specific challenges themselves. Being a vehicle-based game, you can expect a lot of races (sea, air, and/or land), but there are some exceptionally unique and fun challenges. All the challenges are relatively easy to complete (to achieve the minimum award), but if you want to challenge yourself, try beating some high scores or going for the highest award. Also to be noted is the fact that there are a handful of very tough challenges (if you wish to achieve the highest award).

Let's talk customization. Here is where the ingenuity of this game is. Possibilities of custom vehicles are endless. There are a ton of parts (some simple, some unique) to use, and you will really strive to unlock more parts. If you are creative and dream of building cars, planes, helicopters, submarines, boats, hovercrafts, any type of vehicle, this is where you will spend A LOT of time. Save as many vehicle creations as you like. Even if you don't use a vehicle for a challenge, you can still just free roam in the 6 different worlds which you unlock.

The worlds (i.e. "maps") are all unique and have lots of goodies hidden throughout them. They are all rather large size and compliment vehicles of all types.

There is multiplayer also, but I have not honestly used it enough to have a good opinion on it. The single player experience is completely worthwhile and you will get your money's worth out of it. The biggest downfall, I would say, with the multiplayer is the very limited fanbase. This game went completely under the radar, and I have little reason to doubt that there are only a handful of players on at any given time, if at all.

The graphics are not perfect, but it is a cartoon and you will not notice any problems with them during your gameplay. The cartoon style actually looks quite nice and is very appealing.

The soundtrack is subjective. I personally love it. You can sample the soundtrack on Amazon, but as a short description, it is very upbeat and pleasing music. It blends in perfectly with the visual style, and tops off an overall great game.

If you're a purist BK fan, maybe you will feel "offended" seeing your two characters in these roles (*gasp* vehicles). If you are, then I have to say, get over yourself. That shouldn't stop you from enjoying a game, which is one of the most enjoyable games on Xbox 360.

Surprisingly, this game does what few can do properly. It can be played easily by young kids AND enjoyed thoroughly by parents and more mature audiences. Give a young kid the controller, and they will have a blast driving the premade vehicles and running around with the bird and the bear. Give a young adult the controller, and Mumbo's Motors (the place to make your vehicles) will suddenly become the game's headquarters, and the clever witticisms will become apparent.

To conclude, I say: give this game a chance. If you have Xbox Live, you can try the demo. Otherwise, it is just $20; what is there to lose? I preordered this game for $40 and it is probably the best $40 I have ever spent on video games.

*Introduction*
"Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts" was highly anticipated by Banjo fans after a long hiatus for the series. The two N64 games rank among the best titles on the system, containing hours of exploration and platforming fun alongside mystifying secrets and Rare's legendary sense of twisted humor. When a new Banjo game for the 360 was announced, fans were overjoyed by the idea that they would be in control of the Bear and Bird yet again. However, many turned skeptical when it was revealed that the platforming and exploration was to be replaced with vehicle building. Now that Nuts and Bolts is finally here, does it live up to the high standard set by Kazooie and Tooie despite the changes?

*Story*
"Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts" takes place eight years after Banjo-Tooie. The bear and bird duo have completely let themselves go, spending their retirement lazing around their home in Spiral Mountain playing video games and stuffing their now chubby faces. Gruntilda the witch has also seen better days. Left as a disembodied skull after the final battle of Tooie, she somehow manages to bounce her way into Spiral Mountain for a final attempt at revenge. She challenges the washed up heroes to a rather pathetic battle, but before anything can happen, a computer with a cape called L.O.G., the self-proclaimed Lord of Games, appears to pause the action. He restores the bear and bird to their former fit glory and gives Grunty a mechanical body, offering each side a vehicle and a chance to settle the score once and for all in Show Down town.

The main storyline is fine for what it is, but the execution of the premise is disappointing. The worlds of past Banjo games were filled to the brim with charming offbeat characters, yet "Nuts & Bolts" includes only a handful of these while also offering little in the way of new characters. The characters that do appear are not utilized well at all. They each appear in the different acts as "actors" playing different roles that are largely uninteresting, stripping the characters of their personality. There are also a few other small cameos through the game that amount to little more than lifeless props, most notably in Banjoland. For a series that has always relied so much on the charm of its characters and setting, this is a major disappointment.

*Gameplay*
The gameplay is the most controversial aspect of this game. Rather than platforming your way through the worlds with the duo's classic arsenal of moves like the previous titles, you are given vehicle parts to assemble in order to accomplish various goals. While there is a sparse amount of stripped down platforming in Showdown Town, it makes up a very small part of the game and fails to reach the quality of adventuring from the previous titles. Showdown Town is a typical sandbox game city filled with generic, copy-pasted characters walking around to make it appear lively. This area acts as a hub to several worlds that are split up into acts containing Grand Theft Auto style missions for which you will build the vehicles. Each successfully completed mission will earn you a jiggy, which is then placed in a bank in Showdown Town for the purpose of opening more worlds. There are also notes scattered throughout the levels that act as currency to purchase vehicle parts and blueprints. One fairly large problem with the note system is that there is a limited number of them, yet Rare has made it possible to spend an infinite amount of them on bribing the police pig. After a few bribes you will quickly see that this isn't worth doing, but it only takes a measly 10 notes spent here to be screwed out of being able to afford all of the vehicle parts and blueprints.

The vehicle building is easy to pick up and is actually somewhat fun. It works similar to Legos in that you take small pieces, rotate them around, and stick them together in the desired shape, adding wheels, fuel, weapons, wings, or a number of other items. As long as you pay attention to weight distribution and use common sense for part placement, there is no trouble at all creating vehicles that work just the way you desire. If the idea of building vehicles doesn't appeal to you, Humba Wumba offers a number of pre-made blueprints that you can purchase with the notes you collect.

Unfortunately, the missions that make up the actual meat of the game leaves a lot to be desired. In order to accommodate the vehicles, the worlds are fairly large and empty aside from a few harmless enemies, and the level design is not interesting at all. The exploration from previous games is completely gone, leaving you to follow your mini map in the direction of icons that mark missions. One of the things Rare touted as the main draw this game was the ability to use creativity to approach these missions in different ways. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near as great as it sounds. The missions are straightforward and simplistic, and you'll be seeing the same types of missions over and over again, consisting mostly of uninspired tasks like races, fetching things from one place to another, and knocking over random items. Overall, the missions are not very interesting or fun, because by trying leave a small amount of possibility for open ended gameplay through creative vehicle design, Rare was extremely limited in how complex the missions could actually be. They amount to choices of whether you want to carry the items in tray or with the sticky ball and whether you want to push the random stuff over or blow the random stuff over. The game does not allow a whole lot of room for imagination unless you just want to mess around and build vehicles for no purpose.

*Replay Value*
After you complete the game there isn't much left to do other than try to get high scores in the missions for a spot on the leaderboards. You can replay the missions as many times as you want, but replaying the same dull, repetitive tasks will get old unless you are really into beating high scores. The real replay value comes from just messing around with the vehicle creator to create wacky vehicles for no real purpose.

One issue I found irritating was that you are only allowed to have one save file, so you can't start a new game without overwriting your old one the way you could in the old games. While you are allowed to replay missions whenever you want, it is simply unacceptable to be limited in this way in the age of hard drives

*Visuals*
The graphics are very polished and well made on a technical level. However, the actual visual style of the game is rather bland aside from a few interesting touches like stitches to make certain areas seem like they were made from patchwork. The environments lack personality compared to the worlds in the old games and are not very memorable. There are some good ideas behind some of the levels, but the design just doesn't follow through. The redesigns of the characters look alright for the most part, but Banjo's new square look is odd, and the new art style lacks the charm the series once had.

*Sound*
The music is pretty good for the most part, but it mostly consists of remixes of tunes from the old games. There are hardly any new songs, although the few that exist are nice. The sound effects are well done, with all of the proper grunts and gurgles coming out of the characters just as you would expect.

*Summation*
Overall, the game does not really live up to the quality of the previous games. If you are a huge fan of the other Banjo-Kazooie games starving for a new 3d platformer you will be severely disappointed. Even taken on its own terms, the game is dull, uninspired, and repetitive. Creating vehicles is fun in itself for a little while, but unless the idea of virtual Legos really excites you, it's not going to hold your attention. Not all change is good, and novelty just for the sake of it can backfire.

First: I have no problem with this game being different from past Banjo-Kazooie games. If it's fun to play, it doesn't matter who the characters are. It is nice to see familiar faces, though. This game breaks the fourth wall down all the time, and it's always funny. It ridicules gamer stereotypes and even past games that the developer, Rare, has made.

Building vehicles is so fun and it's easy to make complicated creations and test them out on-the-fly with almost no loading time. When I put together something that looks like a pile of engines and wings, and it actually flies, it's really funny to watch it move and yet awesome how powerful the thing is.

Aside from the central hub town, which is classic B-K platforming, the entire game is in a vehicle. Missions are varied - I was expecting more racing but races aren't all that common. Even though you're always in a vehicle, the gameplay is so varied and you'll smile when you try a new approach and it works. Overall it's not too difficult, but to get a high score (and earn extra jiggies) you have to often think outside the box.

I have not been able to connect to a multiplayer match, which is a bummer.

This game is the kind of good old 'fun' game that doesn't get caught up with graphics or special physics -- both are great here but it'd be a joy to play anyway. It has something special that other games lack today, and it feels just like a B-K game should.

There are a lot of people out there who are overly harsh on this title because it is NOT a typical Banjo Kazooie game. Yet, the reality of it is that the gameplay of Banjo Kazooie simply doesn't age that well. Similar to Mario 64 and Gex from a couple of generations ago, it was designed around small levels with multiple tasks to perform to unlock "jiggies", the equivalent of Mario's stars. Yet, what was fun ten years ago isn't nearly as fresh or fun as it used to be.

Rare recognized this fact, and set out to create a new style of game that incorporates an old character into a totally new way of playing, and even spends a great deal of time mocking those old games in the process. Sure, there are platforming elements here; the entire central hub/town is designed around jumping, balancing on wires, finding hidden objects, etc... But the real meat and potatoes of this game is the Lego-like design aspect that allows you to (very easily) make working vehicles that perform different tasks.

Each world offers up several different challenges, and though those worlds will be revisted over and over again there will be plenty to see and do. Tasks vary from standard races, to playing soccer, to designing vehicles that can carry coconuts from one point to another within a given time limit. Some of these tasks might feel repetitive after a while, but the game recognizes this and gives you so many OTHER things to do that you can simply leave for five hours and come back to it later if you want.

The vehicle design system is VERY simple to use, and my two children have no problem building working vehicles. But don't be fooled, there's a physics engine in there that will make winning the game particularly difficult as you progress. While anybody will enjoy the game, and my younger children have a blast playing (especially with the particularly robust, and VERY fun multiplayer aspect), this is a game that requires some skill and brain power to beat.

And beating this game will take you a very long time. Even after you've beaten all the missions, there are still trophies to be won, minigames to play, new things to unlock including new pieces of vehicles, and a bunch of genuinely entertaining diversions.

This game might not be for everyone, and the repetition might annoy some players, but this game truly deserves to be on every person's wish list this holiday season. The price point is absolutely amazing for a game of this quality (less than $40? how can you pass that up?!?!), so there's little reason NOT to pick it up. With its genuine sense of charm and humor, its incredibly innovative gameplay, and a multiplayer mode that puts even the blockbuster AAA titles to shame, this a game that deserves a lot of attention this year. I love playing Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3, but this game finds its way into my drive just as often, and I think that says a lot about the game.

Don't give it a second thought. If you go into this title knowing that it is NOT an old school Banjo Kazooie game, you're going to have an absolute blast. I can't recommend it enough.

It is hard to believe that nearly a decade has passed since RARE released a proper sequel to the Banjo Kazooie series. And if one thing has become apparent, it's that we've come quite far since the days of traditional Mario-influenced platforming. Originally conceptualized as an updated remake of the first game in the series (with a few modest tweaks), Banjo "3" quickly evolved into what would become an innovative shift in the way the team looked at the platform genre. And the changes, I'll have you know, are not only avant-garde, but also completely successful and utterly brilliant in execution.


The premise and cast of characters are more likely to grab a laugh than to sell you on any sense of epic scale or heroic bellicosity. And appropriately so considering the source material. After defeating their arch nemesis Gruntilda at the end of Banjo-Tooie, Banjo the bear and his bird sidekick Kazooie retired to a cottage on Spiral Mountain, becoming copiously fat and lazy on pizza and Xbox 360. Then one day Gruntilda`s severed head emerges nastily from a pile of rocks, confronting Banjo and his feathery pal with a seemingly unsolvable quandary (considering quite literally the sheer girth of our furry hero). Conveniently Banjo and his nemesis are approached by L.O.G (Lord Of Games), who is basically a floating green television screen with some kind of cape/drapery arrangement. He allegedly created all games - yes, even Grabbed by the Ghoulies. Anyway, L.O.G proposes a set of time-contingent events to take place in 6 worlds of his own authoring. Upon agreeing to L.O.G's proposal, Banjo is returned to his former fitness, and stripped of the classic move sets found in the previous two games. Apparently those are out-dated, so Kazooie is given a wrench with special telekinetic abilities, and we're off! Yeah, it's silly, but it's just RARE's humorous excuse to change up the formula and lead you to the core of this experience - the innovative gameplay design.


American McGee's Scrapland explored in a limited fashion vehicle customization in a vein similar to Nuts & Bolts. Players could purchase blueprints for ships and upgrade/trick out various aspects of their craft. But where that game barely scratched the surface of vehicle customization in an open world, Nuts & Bolts gives players an unparalleled degree of control over how their vehicle looks, moves, and handles by providing hundreds of unique unlockable parts, all utilized at the behest of the creator. Mumbo's Garage is the place you will visit when you want to build, paint, save and load vehicles, trade with fellow players over Xbox Live, or test out your creation. The Test-O-Track lets players try out their latest modifications to see if physics are on the side of their design theory - often with rather hilarious results. In the workshop you will find your basic frame parts that provide shape and support for vital components. Vitals include the basics like wheels, engines, fuel tubes, propellers, wings, floatation devices, and more. As with any design modification, going into your garage and changing something means that you must weigh and balance the effects that extra (or lesser) heft will have on your vehicle.

As you progress through the game, you will unlock a menagerie of gadgets, weapons, and components that can be attached to your vehicles. Some things, like the egg or laser guns, are of a more obvious use than something like a self-destruct ball. But, if you're an inventive type, maybe you'll take that self-destructing bomb thingy and strategically utilize it to get that extra edge in some of the more absurd challenges.

The game is completely physics based, so it emphasizes the dynamics of good design, meaning you can't be sloppy or your chance at obtaining a jiggy will be seriously endangered. Countless times I've gone back to the drawing board on all of my designs, honing different aspects of the handling and performance for the perfect balance that will ensure my victory. As you can probably imagine, the gameplay has its moments of severe frustration as you - the architect - must constantly study and try to decipher exactly why your designs just aren't banking the jiggies. I've never sworn so much at an E rated game! That is not to say that personal skill isn't involved here. On the contrary, sloppy play style will serve just as much to your detriment as any lemon blueprint. But all the same, much of the game will be spent in Mumbo's Garage, tweaking, testing, and contemplating. The upside is that, not only is it fun to tinker around, but when you finally realize that self-indulgent wonder craft of your dreams, you always get this wonderful sense of accomplishment, as the hard work you put into the game ultimately determines the fun you will get out of it. While true of most any title, in this case, the majority of enjoyment is dependent on the person behind the controller, not too dissimilar from a game like Little Big Planet.

The downside is...well, there isn't much of one, since you either like to tweak and customize, or you don't. And for those that don't, Banjo Team has thrown in a ton of purchasable blueprints for use in the game's various time based challenges. The design concept of Nuts & Bolts is based off of the theory that there are three different types of gamers who will play this game. The first is children, who will simply use the pre-built variety until they learn the necessary skills to craft their own. The second group are the "casual" players who will build vehicles, complete as much of the game as possible, and collect some of the parts. The third group are the "hardcore", who will unlock everything, seek trophies, and look for top rankings on the leader boards. For the most part I think the game's design is conducive to this theory. However, Nuts & Bolts is probably less than the sum of its parts, if only because of the perfected fusion, the wonderful synergy of gameplay elements. Not taking advantage of the experience as a whole seems a shame to me, but coming from someone who would fall into the "hardcore" player group, that's probably my limited perspective talking. Indeed, the game may be totally satisfactory to the younger crowd just based off of what's offered on the surface. But for those able and willing to dig deeper, you will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Besides, after giving a thorough tour of the game's feature set to my mother; it seems the broad appeal design might just click with the wider gaming population.

As you go about collecting and banking jiggies, numbered doors open up, allowing you to complete challenges in segmented "Acts." Once you collect enough jiggies, Mumbo rewards you with parts, and L.O.G gives you a special globe to be placed on its corresponding plinth - therefore opening another of the 6 worlds. The challenges contained within each Act can vary from fetch quests, to races, to sumo matches, to speed challenges, and more. Many of the events are variants of each other, but you will sometimes come across some more unique and, well...odd challenges. In one Nutty Acres challenge, I was tasked with transporting Klungo's giant egg to a volcano, dropping it in - cooking it - and then rushing it back to him as fast as possible for top scores.

For all the talk of leaving its N64 roots, Banjo Nuts & Bolts sure has a lot of platform/adventure activities. Each world is filled to the brim with little nooks and crannies. Whether walking or swimming, Banjo will find many secrets hidden, waiting for discovery. The swimming mechanic is a bit to get used to at first (you have to hold A down and direct with the left thumbstick) but when you do, you will find all sorts of neat little easter eggs. In a totally X-Files moment I even found a group of aliens, adults and children, lying quiet and still in pods. One nice feature in the adventure portions of the gameplay is that you are given a camera with which to take and store photos (optionally uploading them to Banjo-Kazooie.com for sharing and even competition). It sort of reminded me of the element used in Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil. It's a lesser, more simple implementation, but works wonderfully for storing the more notable memories of your adventures.

The game is essentially hub based, with doors opening up as you bank more and more jiggies. However, if you're anything like me, you will spend hours in Showdown Town just collecting musical notes and walking tight ropes. The game actually gives you an incentive to explore since you can even find hidden "free" jiggies and spend your hard searched for notes on vehicle parts and blueprints, which are available from Humba. Once you obtain a jiggy or amass a group of jiggies, you will be required to visit the Jig-O-Vend units that are planted throughout Showdown Town. Each world has its own vendor so you'll need to do a bit of collection traveling in the event that you've completed challenges in multiple worlds without visiting the corresponding jiggy dispensers before entering separate worlds. It's also worth noting that you can upgrade Banjo's attributes if you're willing to fork over the notes. I found the speed and strength upgrades worth the cost in currency considering the amount of on-foot travel I did. Useful depending upon your play style, but by no means a bear necessity. Still, I must say that it would have been nice to see a more extensive upgrade system for our furry buddy. Maybe the team is saving up for a sequel?

The controls will take a bit of practice if you want precision, but everything feels extremely responsive and well mapped out. Instead of a traditional double tap, pressing and holding A makes Banjo jump higher. Banjo also interacts well with his environment, intuitively grabbing onto ledges to avoid a bad fall. Actually though, from my experience it appears impossible to actually die in the game. Your health is represented by a honeycomb on the HUD. Your honeycomb is always replenishing over time, eliminating the need for collecting little honeycombs. And because of Banjo's constantly replenishing honeycomb, suffering even a big fall won`t do much unless you`re in the middle of a challenge, in which case you forfeit. And if you do manage to, like, drown him or something really nasty, Kazooie will pop out of her blue pack and literally slap Banjo back to full honeycomb safety. I showed it to my mom and she burst out laughing. It's a child friendly design call, but the charm never gets old. Some criticism has been levied against the game for doing away with the classic move sets found in previous Banjo installments, but there are actually a few moves that Kazooie can perform with her wrench. It does indeed retain the feel of a platformer despite being limited in comparison to games of the conventional mold.

I have praised Nuts & Bolts for its vehicle creator, and it deserves the credit for being easy-to-use and deep. However, my main complaint is that frame parts, the stuff that is responsible for the core shape of your vehicles, are not varied enough. There are a lot of blocks and corners and wedges, but I would have liked to have seen more variety in the appearances and combination possibilities. While you can create any Star Wars vehicle imaginable, you are limited to a degree on the aesthetic side of things. Yes, you can add a coat of paint, mixing and matching if you wish, but I think there is a lot more to explore as far as variety and possibilities go. To Banjo Team's credit, it is a fine line to tread, considering that what players design has to stay within the confines of the established art style. And if anything, I can just imagine the inevitably massive host of tweaks and additions that will be made if this game gets a much deserved follow up.

While there is probably a lot more to say about the gameplay in respect to depth and details, the last dynamic that I would like to mention is the competitive side of the game. Every challenge in the game is time based, and if you're good at building vehicles and have the skill to drive them to victory, you might just end up on the leader boards. I've managed to place in the Top 40 in a few separate events, but even that takes a fair amount of time and commitment as you learn the challenge and exploit every second-shaving opportunity. If you check out the Top 20 you can even view how the best in the world did it. Watching the best excel just spurs you on to make better vehicles and become a better player. I've not played a game this addictive in the competitive sense since Halo 2. You can also play on Xbox Live, both in pre-built competitions where it's all skill based, or the deeper custom vehicle events. But finding myself on Banjo-Kazooie.com tracking the leader boards is something I never thought I'd be doing. If you want it to, the game really involves you in the communal experience whether you're going head-to-head directly or just looking for top honours on the boards.

Overall, the gameplay in Banjo Nuts & Bolts is a refreshing mixture of elements that not only satisfies those who fancy themselves the completist architect extraordinaire, but also forges new territory in what I hope will be a brave new world of evolved platform gaming.


Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is one of, if not the best looking game on the Xbox 360 currently. So often videogames are polarized to one side or the other. Either they're praised for their technical brilliance, or lauded for their art design. Thankfully that trend does not apply to Nuts & Bolts, as Banjo Team has crafted a ginormous world full of vibrant charm, while at the same time taking full advantage of the latest graphical bells & whistles like specular highlights, parallax maps, next-gen polygon counts, and yes, RARE's famous fur (vertex) shading. The result is a game world that you could eat like candy!

As I noted in the gameplay section of my review, the game is split up into 6 worlds (excluding Showdown Town) each with their own unique magic and splendor. As an example, Banjo Land features all sorts of clever little (and BIG) set pieces. You'll see a giant ocean liner, statues, igloos, underwater alcoves, and various other goodies. Since a significant portion of the game involves aquatic travel, it is appropriate that the water looks, moves, and reacts as you'd expect it to. There's nothing like cutting through the waves in your own personal-built jet boat; taking in the pure and serene qualities of the expanse.

Though there is one area of concern that I must address concerning the graphics. The slowdown can be a minor annoyance in one instance, and an all-out gameplay interruption in another. It's the most frustrating thing in the world when you're just getting into your groove on a challenge you've worked really really hard on, only to have the game drop to 10 frames, throwing you off your game for the few precious seconds that would make the difference on the leader board. That said, supreme beauty of this rare kind does sometimes force a developer to forgo the ideal of a locked framerate, and in this case, I do make limited concession, but it must be noted nevertheless. While painstakingly modeling every nook and cranny in total high-res glory can take a century, RARE didn't neglect to add the cute little details that only they have executed so well over the years. Details like water splashing on the camera after a big dive or sharp turn, or the day/night cycle (which adds a starry storybook charm) give the world a resonant vitality that brings all of the magic and wonderment to the fore with a distinct elegance.

The animation is top quality in every sense of the word. Banjo himself looks great in action, with every little detail imaginable being incorporated into his moveset. He walks, jogs, runs, jumps, balances, flips, and swims, all in degrees of necessity or preference. He even has an animation set for the times he is in idle stance. Sometimes he'll flex his arms or shake after a swim. And (as previously mentioned) on the very rare occasion that Banjo drowns or is otherwise knocked unconscious, Kazooie hilariously pops out of the blue backpack and smacks him back to health! Alongside Banjo and his sidekick Kazooie, the entire game world is brimming with expressive and often gut-busting animation. In fact, Creative Director Gregg Mayles is always finding little touches that were incorporated totally unbeknownst to him by various members of the team. And that's just how they make their games.

Indeed, where some other next-gen offerings don't hold up under the scrutiny of more discerning eyes, this game is rife with small, less obvious (but wholly appreciated) details that serve to round out the visual experience - and then some! Once again RARE proves that it's all in the details. A total cotton candy spectacle. Shameless, RARE. Absolutely shameless.


RARE is well known for its quirky and vibrant soundtracks, and Nuts & Bolts is no exception to the oddball antics of the studio's wonderfully creative music team. No, it's not Katamari crazy, but it has a care-free whimsicality to it that provides a nice contrast to the glut of sci-fi/fps cliché scores currently hogging the shelves. That said, there are some darker, more menacing moments in the game that do provide opportunity for stirring, sometimes haunted musical flourishes. Each world has its very own unique loop, offering variety that some blockbusters curiously lack. There's no main theme that plays ad nauseam until you break down and import your own tracks. No. We can be thankful that RARE gives us all ample reason to crank up the volume and take in the layered and expertly crafted musicality of each and every unique world.

Sound effects are one of the high points in the sound department. This is one of those games where, for most every surface, there is a corresponding sound. So when Banjo jumps off a hill onto a plane of grass, it sounds as though he is hitting earth (or in some cases, wet earth!). This isn't a big deal, since any self-respecting team knows to include the obvious details. But I think we can all be thankful and appreciate the fact that Banjo has a different footstep sound for each foot, as opposed to the dreaded "one footstep sound" that sadly still curses some games. The sound design is so committed that, if you listen carefully, you'll hear Banjo's little grunts, moans, and strains as you go about your sometimes strenuous platforming business. He even gurgles while swimming and takes deep breaths as a result of exhaustion. Yeah, some gamers might not notice these little things, but this is the difference between "rushed" and `polished down to the last.' It is the amalgamate of little things that make the game shine so brilliantly. Vehicle noises are totally cartoony and fun, aswell. And sound differentiates contingent to a vehicle's individual design, easing fears that the great variety could have caused a dichotomy of sameness due to the game's vast array of creation variables.

The game features no voice acting in the traditional sense. Instead, Nuts & Bolts employs all manner of gibberish to tell the story and entertain players. While "proper" voice acting is so often missing in games, in Banjo it is hardly missed. In fact, I think it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of smart and funny producers at RARE that they can so effectively convey each dialogue scene by using simple intonation and inflection, without any need for traditional voice acting at all. This aspect of the sound design is fitting, and conducive to the style of humour Leigh Loveday and the team are going for with the series. In Banjo's case, little grunts, squeaks, and demented cackles say it all.


For RARE, it's been a long road to redemption in the eyes of seemingly many gamers. For me, it's a continuation of the consistency and endurance of this company in that they continue to make the products that they want to make. And because they are so talented, and so funny, and so passionate about what they do, it manifests into these magical experiences that can only be delivered by studios like RAREWARE. In a game like Banjo, you get the sense that there's a synergy of vital energetic forces at play. It's a whimsical, magical, and hopefully transcendentally universal experience that evokes nothing less than the epitome of pure wanderlust. When you get to the heart of what gaming is and what it began as, you realize that this is the culmination of every key milestone that bestowed upon us all the classic, historical experiences that would later fuel the nostalgic memories of our youth. This is one of those experiences. Bravo.

This review is actually being written by my 12-year old son. Here it is.

"When I got this game I thought it would be complicated building your own cars, boats, planes,and helicopters. It's actually pretty simple and there are video guides to show you how to build a great vehicle. GET IT NOW!!"