As good as Mario 64 (Banjo-Kazooie (N64))

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
Date:	19/07/00 (3 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute, pretty graphics and fun gameplay.

Disadvantages: Perhaps too similar to Mario 64?

Banjo and Kazooie is one of those games that really show off what the N64 is good at. It's got excellent graphics, brightly coloured and well rendered, and being a cute game the N64 softening antialiasing helps with the look. Gameplay will be familiar to those who've also played Mario 64, but that isn't to say that it's a copy, a lot of new features are added. This is a really good example of 3D platformers and one which is hard to beat.

Banjo is a bear and Kazooie is a bird who lives in his backpack. Together they enable a wide range of different controls taking advantage of both Banjo and Kazooie's abilities. If anything this game has more variety than Mario 64, both in the central characters abilities and the worlds you travel into. Each world has a number of different Golden jigsaw pieces to collect, to get each one a particular task in the world will need to be performed. There's a wide selection of baddies defending these pieces and it takes a fair amount of skill to get them. Later levels show an increasing level of difficulty, but you've got to get those jigsaw pieces to open up the new worlds.

Overall Banjo and Kazooie is an excellent game. If you've played and enjoyed Mario 64, you should consider this title as more of the same, but with enough twists to keep it interesting. The game is undeniably cute, but I enjoyed that aspect. The worlds are bright and colourful and their inhabitants are all fun little creatures. It isn't an easy game though which makes for plenty of hours of gameplay. Definately recommended, just writing this review makes me want to play it again.

Summary: