Banjo-Kazooie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banjo-Kazooie |
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| Platforms | Nintendo 64 Nintendo Switch Game Boy Advance Java ME Xbox 360 Xbox One |
| First release | Banjo-Kazooie 29 June 1998 |
| Latest release | Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts 11 November 2008 |
The Banjo-Kazooie series is a set of fun platform and action-adventure video games. They were made by a British company called Rare. In these games, you control a friendly bear named Banjo and his feisty bird friend, Kazooie.
Banjo first appeared in the game Diddy Kong Racing in 1997. In their own games, Banjo and Kazooie always work together to stop the evil witch Gruntilda. The first game, Banjo-Kazooie, came out in 1998 and was very popular. After that, there were three more main games and a racing spin-off.
The games first launched on the Nintendo 64. Later, they also appeared on the Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. The first three main games are also available on Xbox One as part of a collection called Rare Replay. The series has been mostly quiet since Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released in 2008. However, Banjo and Kazooie have shown up in other games, like Sega's All-Stars Racing and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series.
Contents
Main Banjo-Kazooie Games
Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
Banjo-Kazooie first came out on June 29, 1998, for the Nintendo 64. It was later re-released for the Xbox 360 in 2008 and is now on Nintendo Switch through Nintendo Classics.
In this game, Banjo's sister, Tooty, is kidnapped by Gruntilda the witch. Gruntilda wants to steal Tooty's beauty for herself! Banjo and Kazooie must go through Gruntilda's spooky lair and many different worlds to save her. You collect golden jigsaw pieces and music notes to help you move forward. In the end, they defeat Gruntilda, and she gets trapped under a big boulder. The game is all about jumping challenges, solving puzzles, and exploring big 3D worlds.
Banjo-Tooie (2000)
Banjo-Tooie was released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It was also re-released for the Xbox 360 in 2009 and is now on Nintendo Switch. This game takes place two years after the first one. Gruntilda's two sisters arrive and free her from under the boulder. Now, Gruntilda is just a skeleton! She plans to steal all the life energy from the Isle O' Hags to become normal again.
Banjo and Kazooie must stop her evil plan. They save the day again, and Gruntilda's skeletal body is mostly destroyed, leaving only her skull. Some players found Tooie more challenging than the first game. It has tougher obstacles, more puzzles, and often asks you to go back to previous worlds to finish tasks. This game also had better graphics, improved controls, and a multiplayer mode for up to four players.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008)
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released in 2008 for the Xbox 360. This game came out eight years after Tooie. In this adventure, Banjo and Kazooie meet the Lord of Games (L.O.G.), who created all video games. L.O.G. makes Banjo, Kazooie, and Gruntilda compete in challenges to decide who gets control of Spiral Mountain.
This was the first Banjo-Kazooie game not released on a Nintendo system. Nuts & Bolts is different from the first two games because you build vehicles to complete challenges. Instead of just running and jumping, you'll be driving, flying, and sailing! These changes, along with a new look for the characters and worlds, were a big surprise for many fans.
Handheld Adventures
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge (2003)
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge came out in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. This story happens two months after the first Banjo-Kazooie game. Klungo, Gruntilda's loyal helper, builds a robot for Gruntilda's spirit to live in. This "Mecha-Grunty" travels back in time to stop Banjo and Kazooie from ever meeting!
Banjo and Kazooie, with help from their shaman friend Mumbo Jumbo, stop her plan. They send Gruntilda back under the boulder in Spiral Mountain. This game plays a lot like the first two, but it's seen from a top-down angle and has simpler controls. A version for mobile phones was released in 2004.
Banjo-Pilot (2005)
Banjo-Pilot was released in 2005 for the Game Boy Advance. This game is not part of the main story. It's a racing game, much like Mario Kart, where the characters race planes! This game was originally going to be a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, but it was changed to feature Banjo-Kazooie characters after Rare was bought by Microsoft.
Where to Play Them Now
The original Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie games were re-released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 in 2008 and 2009. These versions had updated graphics and controls. Both re-releases were also included in a collection of 30 games called Rare Replay, which came out for Xbox One in 2015.
Banjo-Kazooie was added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on January 20, 2022. This was the first time the series was re-released on a Nintendo console in over 20 years! Banjo-Tooie also joined the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on October 25, 2024.
Other Appearances
Before his own game, Banjo first appeared as a racer in Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. You can also spot Banjo's head in Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded. Kazooie's head is even on an umbrella in those games! In Grabbed by the Ghoulies, you can see pictures of the characters and levels.
Banjo and Kazooie also appear as a playable racer in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. The game developers worked with Rare to include them. You can also find character skins based on the series as extra content in different versions of Minecraft.
Banjo and Kazooie are also a single playable fighter in the 2018 fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Phil Spencer, who leads the Xbox brand, said it was easy to include them because of their good relationship with Nintendo. The characters were released on September 4, 2019. They came with a stage based on Spiral Mountain and new music from the Banjo-Kazooie games.
Stop 'N' Swop Feature
Stop 'N' Swop was a special feature planned for Banjo-Kazooie. It was supposed to let you unlock secret things in the next game, Banjo-Tooie. The first game even showed a hint of it at the end.
However, this feature was never fully put into the games as planned. This was because of changes made to the Nintendo 64 console in 1999. These changes made it hard for the console to transfer data between game cartridges quickly enough.
Fans found ways to get these special items, like colored eggs and an ice key, using secret codes or special game cartridges. Once collected, these items would stay in a menu called "Stop 'N' Swop."
What Happened with Stop 'N' Swop
In the years between the two Banjo-Kazooie games, fans kept asking about Stop 'N' Swop. Nintendo later said that the feature was not fully put into the game. They also said that even if you found the secret menu, it wouldn't do anything.
When Banjo-Tooie came out in 2000, it offered a different way to get some of these items. You could find them by destroying old Banjo-Kazooie game cartridges within Tooie itself! These eggs could then be hatched by a hen named Heggy. The ice key was meant to open a special ice vault containing a "Mega Glowbo," which could turn Kazooie into a dragon.
In 2008, when the original Banjo-Kazooie was re-released on Xbox Live Arcade, it was announced that Stop 'N' Swop would finally work! The eggs and key from the Xbox Live Arcade version of Banjo-Kazooie would unlock bonus vehicle parts in Nuts & Bolts. For example, collecting an item in Banjo-Kazooie would make a special crate appear in Nuts & Bolts. You could take these crates to Mumbo to get unique vehicle parts.
Later, in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Banjo-Tooie, the eggs and key unlocked even more bonuses, including new vehicle blueprints for Nuts & Bolts.
New Games from Old Friends
In 2015, some of the people who worked on the original Banjo-Kazooie games started a new company called Playtonic Games. They announced a new game that felt very similar to Banjo-Kazooie, called Yooka-Laylee.
They asked fans for money to help make the game through a website called Kickstarter. They reached their goal in just 38 minutes! They ended up raising over £2 million. The game was released in 2017 for computers and game consoles like PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Images for kids
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The official logo for the Banjo-Kazooie series.
See also
In Spanish: Banjo-Kazooie (serie) para niños
