The legendary Nintendo 64 3D platformer from Rare, Banjo Kazooie, which was released to acclaim in 1998 is currently available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members. Now the Microsoft owned studio, which is part of Xbox Game Studios, have published a new article on their official blog by Rare designer Leigh Loveday who has written a few words about bringing the game to Switch which he said the team were “immensely pleased” about doing.
“The question of classic Rare games resurfacing for a Switch audience is one that people have been asking for a long time, so we’re immensely pleased that we could work with Nintendo to bring the bear and bird to this platform.
In the spirit of preserving the game exactly as it was alongside the other titles available, this version of Banjo-Kazooie is the Nintendo 64 original as you remember it. And if you grew up in a later console generation, well, we’re looking forward to a whole new wave of gamers getting turned into a washing machine by Mumbo Jumbo, scrambling away from Snacker the shark and facing Grunty’s Furnace Fun for the very first time.
This much-loved 3D platformer introduced players to the unlikely partnership of an amiable bear and the sarcastic bird who lives in his backpack, as they went head-to-head with Gruntilda the incompetent, rhyme-obsessed witch in an attempt to free Banjo’s sister before she got… actually, just watch the Banjo-Kazooie in 60 Seconds video we made for Rare Replay and maybe it’ll all start to make sense.
Adding to that, here’s a quick series primer: Banjo-Kazooie was released back in 1998 (following Banjo’s solo role in Diddy Kong Racing the year before), quickly riding the wave of platformer popularity into the hearts of diehard fans. Its colourful blend of characters, environments, puzzles and collectables was seasoned with offbeat Rare humour that helped it stand out in a crowded market.
The first game’s popularity led to the release of even bigger N64 sequel Banjo-Tooie in 2000, a couple of original outings on Game Boy Advance and the duo’s only starring role to date in Rare’s Xbox era, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on Xbox 360 in 2008.”
It feels great to be back, pinch me I’m dreaming give me a slap!
Here he is the fun begins through all my Trips and traps let’s see who wins.
Hear this sound and make your choice, which character has this really cool voice?
How could Rare not mention me? With all my jokes and rhymes how could this be?
What’s the matter Banjo is it too tough? Let me know when you had enough.
Now that Nintendo and Rare has cleared the air, make Threeie with Bear and Bird let’s be fair.
If one more page I see you turn, then Grunty shall Cheato Burn!
Nice. They should celebrate by making a new game or even a remake.
I’m down for a remake, invite Banjo-Kazooie and I to Peach’s let’s bake that cake.
To see that Kazooie and Tooie are 2 years apart, shows that developers today are a big fart.
Never understood how in the day they worked on sequels right a way.
Hat’s off to you old hag! I am glad your back too!
It was WILDLY cheaper to make games. Teams were 10-30 people, not 300-500 people. With AAA games requiring that many hands, the choice is either hire 5000 people, or only make one or two games at a time.
Every time graphics get more detailed, it requires more people to design the art represented in said graphics.
And yet they made BOTW 2 right away. And yet they made a sequel to Mario Rabbids Sparks of hope which was obviously right away since it takes 5 to 7 years to make a game.
Square Enix is working on Bravely Default III which was announced late summer early autumn and Bravely Default II isnt even a year old yet.
Making Bayonetta 3 right away.
Pokemon Sword and Shield came out in 2018? Arceus is coming in 2022. That’s less than 3 years apart.
Call of Duty games come out right away. PS4 got LAst of Us 1 and fork over $60 to play its sequel.
Shall we go on?
3D Mario games come out faster than less graphical 2D Donkey Kong games. Last 2D Donkey Kong was in 2014 on Wii U while Mario from Wii U got 3D World then on Switch got Odessey. Where as DK was just ported from Wii U to Switch.
I hope Sony is working on new Rachet and Clank they are going to need it to debut on PS5 not PS6.
“And yet they made BOTW 2 right away. ”
Lol, in what universe? A game designed for the Wii U, converted to a Switch game out of laziness, and we’re now basically entirely through the Switch lifespan and they STILL haven’t released a derivative sequel that reuses assets? This makes the opposite of your point.
“hey made a sequel to Mario Rabbids Sparks of hope which was obviously right away since it takes 5 to 7 years to make a game.”
Hot nonsense. The overwhelming majority of games do not take 5-7 years, and that Rabbids sequel has been several years coming already. Another terrible example. What was nearly a launch title has taken almost a full generation to release the sequel.
“Square Enix is working on Bravely Default III which was announced late summer early autumn and Bravely Default II isnt even a year old yet.”
Tell you literally nothing about when it will be out. Bravely Second came out years and years and years before Bravely Default 2.
“Making Bayonetta 3 right away.”
Heh? Bayonetta 2 was ages ago, sold poorly, and 3 has taken years and years and years. You keep giving examples that prove the opposite of your point. Look at Mega Man on NES for a counter point. Teams of 10 or so, like I said, and they pulled out a new game every year.
“Pokemon Sword and Shield came out in 2018? Arceus is coming in 2022. That’s less than 3 years apart.”
And not a direct sequel. Its a side a game, whose quality we’ve yet to see. In fact, if you’ve been following, people have been making fun of it for embarrassingly low quality, comparing its graphics to Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion from 2006.
“Call of Duty games come out right away.”
And they sell WILDLY SPECTACULARLY better than 99.9999% of the games you complain about not getting sequels quickly. If Bravely Default sold like CoD, yeah, you probably would get one every year.
“PS4 got LAst of Us 1 and fork over $60 to play its sequel.”
Heh? 1 and 2 were 7 years apart……… Are you even paying attention to your own examples?
“Shall we go on?”
Yes, please do, since every single example you give more thoroughly proves the opposite of your intention.
“3D Mario games come out faster than less graphical 2D Donkey Kong games. ”
And it sold 3 times as many copies. So they can double the budget and come out ahead. Nevermind that was a low for mario sales, but a pretty typical Donkey Kong Release.
“I hope Sony is working on new Rachet and Clank they are going to need it to debut on PS5 not PS6.”
Uhhhh they already made it….. and released it. Go look it up.
BotW was being made right away because the developers had so many leftover ideas for the original game, couldn’t fit all of them, and didn’t want to waste them so they began work on the sequel probably almost immediately. And even THEN it’s still taking this long. Do you want to know why?
It’s because making a game is more than just stringing together three lines of code and hoping everything sticks. You need people programmers so functions in the game work as intended, be it how objects interact with each other, what happens when the player does certain inputs, whatever. You need people to make the art for the game- this includes character models, world assets, textures, etc. You need composers to make the soundtrack. You need testers who try everything they can come up with to break the game, then pinpoint any issues so the programmers can fix them so the game works upon release. Sometimes you need writers if you’re trying to make a story-driven experience or offer a deeper narrative. You need designers who do everything from structure the layout of levels/areas to adjusting difficulty.
You want to see sequels churned out immediately after the previous entry? YOU start a development studio and do it. I’m sure your stance will change once you see just how much work goes into making one game. Or release a broken, barely-functional product with Microsoft Paint visuals and flat levels with two enemies each every 8 months.