Banjo-Kazooie is a platform game series created by the British company Rare. The games feature two main characters: Banjo, a brown bear, and Kazooie, a large female breegull who often rides on Banjo’s back. Players control both characters as they work together to defeat the evil witch Gruntilda Winkybunion. The first game in the series, named Banjo-Kazooie, was released in 1998 and received high praise from critics. Later games in the series include Banjo-Tooie (2000), Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008), Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge (2003), and Banjo-Pilot (2005), which is a kart racing game based on the franchise.
The series first appeared on the Nintendo 64 console. Later games were also released for the Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. The three main games were later included in a collection called Rare Replay, which was available on the Xbox One. The franchise has not had new games since the release of Nuts & Bolts. However, the characters have occasionally appeared in other games, such as Sega’s All-Stars Racing series and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series.
Console
Banjo-Kazooie was released on June 29, 1998, for the Nintendo 64. It was later released again in 2008 for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade and is now available on the Nintendo Switch through Nintendo Classics. In the world of Spiral Mountain, Banjo’s sister, Tooty, is kidnapped by Gruntilda the witch, who wants to take Tooty’s beauty for herself. Banjo and Kazooie must rescue Tooty by traveling through Gruntilda’s lair and other worlds. Along the way, they collect items like golden puzzle pieces and music notes to help them complete their mission. In the final battle, Gruntilda is pushed off her castle-like lair and trapped under a boulder. The game focuses on 3D platforming challenges, action-adventure elements, and many puzzles.
Banjo-Tooie was released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It was later released again in 2009 for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade and is now available on the Nintendo Switch through Nintendo Classics. Two years after Banjo and Kazooie defeat Gruntilda in the first game, Gruntilda’s sisters free her from under the boulder. Now a skeleton, Gruntilda plans to take life energy from the Isle O’ Hags, a central area in the game, to restore herself. Banjo and Kazooie must stop her. In the final battle, they destroy most of Gruntilda’s body, leaving only her skull. Banjo-Tooie is controversial because it is considered harder than the first game. It includes tougher challenges, more puzzles, and requires players to revisit earlier areas. It also features better graphics, improved controls, and a four-player multiplayer mode not present in the first game.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released in 2008 for the Xbox 360. The ending of Banjo-Tooie hinted that a third game might be called Banjo-Threeie, and early reports briefly referred to it as Banjo-Kazooie 3. Eight years after the events of Banjo-Tooie, Banjo and Kazooie, with the help of the Lord of Games (L.O.G.), the grand creator of all video games, compete against Gruntilda in a series of challenges to control Spiral Mountain. Nuts & Bolts is the first Banjo-Kazooie game released on a non-Nintendo system. It changes gameplay from the first two games by requiring players to build vehicles to complete challenges instead of relying on platforming and puzzles. These changes, along with a new visual style, have been controversial among fans and critics.
Handhelds
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge was released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. The game takes place two months after Banjo-Kazooie. In this story, Klungo, Gruntilda's most loyal henchman, builds a robot to house Gruntilda's spirit. The robot, called "Mecha-Grunty," travels back in time to stop Banjo and Kazooie from meeting for the first time. With help from their shaman friend, Mumbo Jumbo, Banjo and Kazooie stop Mecha-Grunty's plans and send her back to beneath a boulder in Spiral Mountain. Gruntilda then tells Klungo to contact her sisters, which starts the events of Banjo-Tooie. The game has mechanics similar to Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, but it uses an isometric perspective and simpler controls. A version for mobile phones was released in 2004, and a mobile compilation of the game's minigames, titled Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Missions, was released in 2005.
Banjo-Pilot was released in 2005 for the Game Boy Advance. This game is not part of the main story of the series. It is a racing game where characters fly planes, similar to Mario Kart. The game was originally planned as a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, called Diddy Kong Pilot. However, after Rare was purchased by Microsoft, the game was changed to feature characters from Banjo-Kazooie.
Re-releases
Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie were re-released on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade in 2008 and 2009, respectively. These versions included high-definition graphics for both 3D models and 2D images, as well as updated controls and the return of the Stop 'N' Swop feature. Both games were part of a collection called Rare Replay, which included 30 games, and was released for the Xbox One on August 4, 2015. Banjo-Kazooie was added to the Nintendo Switch’s Nintendo Classics library on January 20, 2022, marking the first time the series was available on a Nintendo console in over 20 years. Banjo-Tooie followed on October 25, 2024.
Other appearances
Before the game Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo first appeared as a playable character in Diddy Kong Racing, which was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. In Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded, Banjo’s head appears as a separate image above the fireplace on the main menu screen. Kazooie’s head is also visible at the end of an umbrella on the chapter select screen in both games. In Grabbed by the Ghoulies, images of characters and game levels are shown throughout the game. Monster versions of Banjo and Kazooie’s heads are displayed on walls in the game. Banjo and Kazooie also appear as playable racers in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. The developer, Sumo Digital, worked with Rare to include the characters. Rare provided Sumo with access to their collection of game materials and helped design and model Banjo and Kazooie’s in-game vehicle. Several character skins inspired by the Banjo-Kazooie series are available as downloadable content in different versions of Minecraft.
Banjo and Kazooie also appear as a single playable fighter through downloadable content in the 2018 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Phil Spencer, who leads the Xbox brand, said that negotiating the characters’ inclusion was an "easy deal" because of the strong partnership between Rare and Nintendo. The characters were released on September 4, 2019, along with a game stage based on Spiral Mountain and musical arrangements from Banjo-Kazooie, including one by the original composer, Grant Kirkhope.
Stop 'N' Swop
Stop 'N' Swop is a feature from Banjo-Kazooie that was meant to unlock special content in Banjo-Tooie. It was shown in an ending sequence in Banjo-Kazooie, but evidence suggests it was never fully used because changes to the Nintendo 64 in 1999 made the feature impractical. The feature was widely shared through a column in Nintendo Power. Rare said players could only access special areas and items by completing tasks in the sequel, Banjo-Tooie. Later, it was discovered that Banjo-Kazooie contains seven special items that can be accessed using long cheat codes or a cheat cartridge. Once collected, these items would appear in a menu titled "Stop 'N' Swop." Even if the game is reset, the items remain permanently.
An ending sequence in Banjo-Kazooie, which appears if the player collects all 100 Jiggies, showed two colored eggs that would be used in Banjo-Tooie. It also showed an inaccessible ice key, which led players to search for a way to obtain it. Hackers discovered in-game cheat codes to unlock six eggs and the ice key. Other methods to get these items involved using a cheat cartridge. Once acquired, these items would appear in all three game files and remain even after deleting the files.
Between the two Banjo-Kazooie games, Rare representatives were asked about "Stop 'N' Swop" and how it would work. Ken Lobb reportedly refused to explain how the connection between the games would be made. Banjo-Tooie was released in 2000 and allowed players to get the items without needing Banjo-Kazooie. Players could destroy in-game Banjo-Kazooie Game Paks to obtain the eggs, which could then be given to Heggy the hen to hatch. Three eggs (pink, yellow, and blue) were available, with one already with the hen. The ice key was used to unlock an item in an ice vault containing a Mega Glowbo, which could turn Kazooie into a dragon. No explanation for "Stop 'N' Swop" was given in the game. Nintendo stated the feature "was not implemented in the game" and said the code that opens the menu does not work.
In 2004, a patent by Rare showed that Stop 'N' Swop involved swapping cartridges without turning on the system to transfer data. This relied on Rambus memory in the Nintendo 64. Changes to the Nintendo 64 in 1999 made this method ineffective. In 2004, fansite Rare-Extreme toured Rare HQ. When asked about Stop 'N' Swop, Rare management said it was never officially part of the game and asked the tour to move on.
A reference to Stop 'N' Swop appeared in Banjo-Pilot in 2005. After completing most of the game, Cheato sells an item called "STOP 'N' SWOP" for 999 Cheato Pages. Buying it only causes Cheato to say, "So you want to know about Stop 'N' Swop, eh? I hope you're ready. Here goes…Why don't you stop annoying me and swop this game for a nice book or something?"
In 2008, MTV interviewed Salvatore Fileccia, a Rare software engineer. He said the feature was abandoned because of changes to the Nintendo 64’s circuitry. Older systems allowed 10 seconds to swap data between cartridges, but newer systems reduced this to one second. Paul Machacek, another engineer, said Nintendo shut down Stop 'N' Swop before Donkey Kong 64’s release, fearing hardware damage (a concern he called unfounded). Rare did not plan to use cheat codes to access items, worried players without Banjo-Tooie might share them.
In 2007, Rare employees told Retro Gamer that details about Stop 'N' Swop might be revealed in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. At Microsoft’s 2008 E3 press conference, it was announced that the original Banjo-Kazooie would be available on Xbox Live Arcade and include Stop 'N' Swop connectivity with Nuts & Bolts to unlock new features. Collecting Stop 'N' Swop items in Banjo-Kazooie causes special crates to appear in Nuts & Bolts, which can be redeemed for vehicle parts. The eggs and key in the Xbox Live Arcade version unlock bonus parts like fuzzy dice.
In 2009, Rare announced Banjo-Tooie would be released on Xbox Live Arcade and include the original Stop 'N' Swop plan. In the XBLA version of Banjo-Tooie, the six eggs and key from Banjo-Kazooie unlock bonuses from the original N64 version and new Xbox 360 content. Using Stop 'N' Swop items in Banjo-Tooie also unlocks seven additional vehicle blueprints in the "L.O.G.'s Lost Challenges" downloadable content for Nuts & Bolts. Gold, silver, and bronze eggs replace the three original eggs, unlocking achievements under a "Stop 'N' Swop II" menu. Additional achievements can be unlocked by completing specific tasks, though they currently have no in-game or cross-game function.
In 2018, Paul Machacek clarified that Stop 'N' Swop was intended for other Rare titles on the Nintendo 64, including Donkey Kong 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Blast Corps. In a 2020 interview, Machacek said the six eggs in Banjo-Kazooie were meant to correspond to different Rare titles. If players could transfer the Ice Key through all games and return it to Kazooie, a "super-code" would unlock a final bonus.
Reception
After the release of Banjo-Kazooie in 1998, the series became popular with both critics and players. Websites like Metacritic gave the first two games very high praise from reviewers. The original version of the game for Nintendo 64 sold 3.65 million copies worldwide as of 2021.
Because the game received strong reviews and some planned features and areas were not included in the game, Rare decided to create a sequel called Banjo-Tooie for the Nintendo 64. Banjo-Tooie was released on November 20, 2000, and received very positive reviews. It used similar gameplay rules to the first game. When it was released, Banjo-Tooie was highly praised by critics and sold more than three million copies worldwide.
Later games in the series did not receive as much praise as the Nintendo 64 versions. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge and Banjo-Pilot, a spinoff, both received mixed reviews. The series did not have a well-received game until Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released for the Xbox 360 in 2008, eight years after the last console game. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts received positive reviews from Metacritic, but many fans were disappointed because the game had a different style of play compared to earlier games. It sold 1.2 million copies as of the last count.
The re-releases of Banjo-Kazooie in 2008 and Banjo-Tooie in 2009 received more negative feedback than the original versions. According to Metacritic, Banjo-Kazooie received mostly positive reviews, while Banjo-Tooie received mixed reviews.
Spiritual successor
In early 2015, a group of former employees from the company Rare, who had worked on the game Banjo-Kazooie, created a new studio called Playtonic Games. They planned to make a new game called Yooka-Laylee, which would be similar to Banjo-Kazooie. To get money for the game, the developers used a website called Kickstarter. Their goal of raising £175,000 was met in thirty-eight minutes, and by the end of the campaign, they collected more than £2 million. The game was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It received mixed reviews, meaning some people liked it and others did not.