

|
| Banjo-Tooie | |
|---|---|
![]() |
|
| Developer(s) | Rare |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Gregg Mayles |
| Engine | |
| Latest version | {{{version}}} |
| Release date(s) | November 20, 2000 |
| Genre | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Media | 128 megabit cartridge |
| System requirements | |
| Input | |
Banjo-Tooie is the sequel to the 1998 Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie. It was released on November 1, 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It was published by Rareware and features the popular video game characters Banjo and Kazooie.
Contents |
As before, the aim of the game is to collect all the Jiggies (golden jigsaw pieces) that can be found. There are ten in each level, and an additional one is awarded for finding each of the nine families of Jinjos hidden throughout the game. This, in addition to the Jiggy awarded at the very beginning by the benvolent Jingaling, king of the Jinjos, brings the total to 90.
As a platformer, the game is groundbreaking in that the levels are not stand-alone areas linked only by the overworld; on many occasions in the game the player is required to cross between the levels, or return to a level after learning a new skill in order to use it. The train stations in most levels are an integral part of this system; once the station has been opened, it is possible to move between levels on the train. This is vital to completing the game.
The original Banjo-Kazooie contained several areas which could be seen but not reached, containing secret and myserious items. During Kazooie's ending, the game explained that these areas were only to be reached by completing certain tasks in the forthcoming sequel Banjo-Tooie and linking that game up with the original in some unspecified way to unlock them. After Banjo-Tooie was released however, Rare made no further mention of this link-up capability and no way to link the games was ever found; the general consensus among fans is that the feature was quietly dropped because of impraticality and was thus not implemented in the sequel. Supporting that conclusion is the fact that some of the most famous unreachable items in Kazooie reappear in Tooie in places where they can be reached through normal gameplay, appearing in special "Banjo-Kazooie Cartridges." By including these in-game "cartridges" it can technically still be argued that these secret items are in fact "coming from" the original Banjo-Kazooie game, although in quite an anti-climactic nature. The unreachable areas from Banjo-Kazooie do not appear in any form at all.
There are still a few situations in Banjo-Tooie which seem to curiously lack a purpose (such as the drunken Captain Blackeye who mopes the same few lines of dialogue over and over). Also, dedicated fans have been able to hack Banjo-Tooie with a GameShark to trigger the message "Stop 'n' Swop" (sic) to appear. It is possible that the intended link feature may have originally involved removing the Banjo-Tooie cartridge and plugging in the Banjo-Kazooie cartridge while the Nintendo 64 unit was still turned on. A website devoted to the discussion also speculated that the intended link may have actually been intended to involve Donkey Kong 64.
It is possible that a functioning link feature may still actually exist in the games, but has simply never been discovered. The amount of inconclusive fan hacking makes this seem quite unlikely, however. In a Rare Xbox game, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, the massive speculation on "Stop and Swop" was poked fun at in the form of a blackboard in one level that purports to offer a convoluted "explanation" of how the process works.
The game takes place two years after Gruntilda the Witch was defeated by Banjo and Kazooie. Over this time, she has been buried under a rock with her assistant, Klungo, trying to save her. On a stormy night Gruntilda's sisters appear and remove the rock. Gruntilda is now a skeleton and wants a new body. She then kills Bottles the Mole and heads off with her sisters to get her a new body using B.O.B. (Big-O-Blaster), a machine that sucks the life force out of living things.
As the game's one-player mode opens, Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and Bottles are enjoying a game of poker in Banjo's house. But outside, the mischievous goon Klungo is helping Mingella and Blobella resurrect their witch sister, Grunty. They do succeed in reviving Grunty, although she is no more than a skeleton with witch's robes. Mumbo witnesses this ceremony, and speeds back to Banjo's house to warn his friends. The witches give chase, and Grunty hurls a deadly spell at the house. Forewarned, Banjo, Kazooie, and Mumbo get away in time, but Bottles, suspecting the claim that Grunty is back to be trick by Mumbo to win at poker, stays put and is caught in the blast. The witches speed away in their Hag 1 machine, and Banjo and Kazooie watch as Bottles wobbles out of their ruined house and dies at their feet. Shaken, they agree that they must chase down Grunty and foil her plans once more. Mumbo informs them that he will return to his hut and prepare some magic to aid them.
Banjo and Kazooie follow the trail of the Hag 1 to Jinjo Village, which they discover to be devoid of Jinjos, with the Grey Jinjo House destroyed by the Hag 1. Confused, they approach the Jinjo King, who informs them that a kickball tournament is to start within the week, but without his Jinjo subjects, he has no team. Banjo and Kazooie agree to help find his subjects, and he consequently gives them puzzle pieces called Jiggies to help them on their journey. Shortly after their departure, we learn that Grunty's sister have created B.O.B., a tremendous machine that can suck the life force out of people and places. They decide to test it on the Jinjo king, who is instantly turned into a zombie, with his palace now an ugly grey color. Grunty eagerly states that she wishes to next zap Banjo and Kazooie, but her sisters inform her that B.O.B. must first charge up.
Meanwhile, Banjo and Kazooie take a shortcut through Bottles' house to reach the Isle O' Hags, where they meet Master Jiggywiggy, a mysterious sorcerer who agrees to help them open up the worlds on the island if they present a proper amount of Jiggies and solve his puzzles. Their adventure thus begins.
On their journey they collect a total of ninety Jiggies, and receive help from old and new friends. They often stumble upon Mumbo's hut, where he agrees to go out and use his magic to open up new passageways for them. They also encounter Sergeant Jamjars, Bottles' soldier brother, who agrees to teach the duo new attacks (if, of course, they can present a proper number of Musical Notes). They also meet Humba Wumba, a female indian who requests magical Glowbos in exchange for transforming Banjo and Kazooie into something else.
Finally, the pair reach Cauldron Keep, Grunty's castle. After facing her henchman Klungo and taking her "Tower of Terror" quiz, they hurry upstairs to reverse the effects of B.O.B., thus reviving Bottles and the Jinjo king. They then hurry up to the top of the tower and face off with Grunty in her Hag 1 machine. Once she is defeated, they return to the Isle O' Hags to celebrate with their friends, as well as kicking around Grunty's head, much to her disgust.
Isle O' Hags is a fictional continent in the game Banjo-Tooie. It is the home of many places, including all the entrances to the levels of the game. Isle O' Hags gets its name from the evil witches that roam the area. These witches include Gruntilda Winkybunion and her two sisters Mingella and Blobbelda. There is also some conflict on whether Spiral Mountain lies in this area or if it lies in the Northern Kremisphere.
At Jolly's, there is a jukebox that can play music that has been heard in the entire game, but it's broken unless the player can go to the Code Chamber at Mayahem Temple and enter a cheat in to turn it on. The dark blue tracks in the jukebox have not been heard in the game file yet. Somehow, songs like Zombified Throne Room and Party At Bottles' are activated, even when the player has not yet heard them even after Jingaling is restored and the Banjo-Tooie ending is shown.
Interesting Fact: A reference to the fire side of Hailfire Peaks was made by Gobi in Banjo-Kazooie (when you meet him at Click Clock Woods).
As of now, Gruntilda is reduced to nothing but a mere skull with a missing eyeball. She says that she'll return in Banjo-Threeie, but not for the Nintendo 64.
As mentioned above, Grunty's head makes a comment about getting revenge in Banjo-Threeie. So far no news about this game has been announced and after Rare was sold to Microsoft, some people wonder if such a game will ever exist. Nintendo Power Volume 151 stated that no such game exists and any rumors or theories about it were false.
Rareware, which was purchased from Nintendo by Microsoft in 2002 to make games for Microsoft Game Studios, has since admitted it is developing another follow-up in the Banjo-Kazooie series for the Xbox 360.
Some may note that the URL www.banjo-threeie.com links to Rareware's home page.