Banjo Kazooie: Complete History | MojoPlays
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VOICE OVER: Dave Thibault
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
Once upon a time, there lived a heroic bear called Banjo, a rather loud bird called Kazooie, and an unpleasant witch called Gruntilda. The dynamic duo and villain were once stars of a franchise boasting expansive worlds to explore, fun power-ups, and colorful characters both friendly and hostile. Despite being named one of the best video game franchises of all time, the series has remained dormant for well over a decade. So, what became of the bear, the bird, and the witch? They got in “Smash Bros”!
Once upon a time, there lived a heroic bear called Banjo, a rather loud bird called Kazooie, and an unpleasant witch called Gruntilda. The dynamic duo and villain were once stars of a franchise boasting expansive worlds to explore, fun power-ups, and colorful characters both friendly and hostile. Despite being named one of the best video game franchises of all time, the series has remained dormant for well over a decade. So, what became of the bear, the bird, and the witch? They got in “Smash Bros”!
Welcome to MojoPlays, and this is the History of “Banjo-Kazooie”!
As surprising as it is, “Banjo-Kazooie” didn’t start out as a 3D platformer starring a bear and bird. In fact, the whole project was vastly different, almost unrecognizable when reflecting on the series we’ve come to know and love. As UK-based developer Rare was winding down on the “Donkey Kong Country” series, the studio was fixing to start work on their next big project.
“Project Dream” was to be an epic RPG that utilized realistic, digitized character models in the same vein as the “Donkey Kong Country” games. However, it wasn’t long before the game had to go through a drastic overhaul. Not only was the SNES incapable of processing “Project Dream”, but the industry was ready to move into the 3D world. And so, Rare shifted development of the game over to the Nintendo 64 and began redesigning what they had. At some point during this transition, Rare decided to change “Dream’s” story, too, changing its fairy tale themes into a full-blown pirate adventure where protagonist Edison would clash blades with the evil Captain Blackeye! Alas, time would come to prove that “Dream” was not meant to last. Rare co-founder Tim Stamper felt the “boy hero” was becoming a tired cliche. On top of that, Rare was still having problems getting “Dream” to run properly on the N64. However, the final nail in the coffin was the potential of “Conker’s Twelve Tales” (according to Rare alumni & composer Grant Kirkhope); the team behind the project managed to get the game running smoothly on Nintendo’s new platform while achieving the cartoon animations Rare had been aiming for. And thus, the dream was over.
To say all was lost is an over-exaggerating remark. A cancelled game does not mean its ideas are forever dead, and Stamper knew that. With “Dream” scrapped, Stamper went back through the designs of “Dream’s” animal characters to find a protagonist for their new project. While an anthropomorphic rabbit and Edison’s dog, Dinger, were considered, Banjo ultimately made the cut, and another Dream character named Grunty the Giant would become Gruntilda the Witch. Piccolo, Banjo’s girlfriend during Dream, was redesigned into Tooty and became his little sister. Just when Rare thought they would be making another platformer like “Donkey Kong Country”, they found themselves reworking the game yet AGAIN after being exposed to an early build of “Super Mario 64”. The team was so impressed that they decided to turn their new game into a 3D platformer-adventure, and they spent the next sixteen months toiling away.
“Banjo-Kazooie” released in North America on June 29, 1998 and saw universal praise from both players and critics. Reviewers praised the imaginative worlds, technical prowess, and sound design. While Kirkhope composed more than a hundred songs for “Project Dream”, some of his pieces would be reused for “Banjo-Kazooie” as well as several other Rare games. One of the most notable traits people loved about “Banjo-Kazooie” was the character speech. At one point, the team wanted to have complete voice-acting, but quickly realized the game would be in development longer. Rare had considered using thought bubbles as well, but ultimately came to the conclusion of using chopped up sound bites for the characters’ speech. Despite being his first video game, this was not Banjo’s debut into gaming as the bear had been a playable racer in Diddy Kong Racing a year before alongside Tiptup the Turtle, who would appear in both Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel, and Conker the Squirrel, who would become the infamously foul-mouthed rodent to trick parents into thinking he was kid-friendly. However, the story of Diddy Kong Racing is for another time.
While most games around this time would see sequels less than a year later, fans would have to wait a tad longer for the next “Banjo-Kazooie” game. “Banjo-Tooie” would launch for the Nintendo 64 on November 20, 2000. For what critics had already described as a near-flawless game, “Banjo-Tooie” somehow took its predecessor’s formula and made it better. New characters were introduced, worlds were bigger, puzzles were trickier, and the HUB world was replaced with one of the earliest examples of fast-travel in games. In addition to new power-ups and including Mumbo Jumbo as a third playable character, “Banjo-Tooie” incorporated a multiplayer mode formed around the various mini-games played in the main game. Although, there were plans for another multiplayer feature where a second player could control a dead Bottles the Mole and possess enemies to troll the player. Unfortunately, Rare had enough on their plate during development, and the mechanic would extend development. “Banjo-Tooie” would go on to sell over three million copies, nearly twice as much as its predecessor.
With regards to “Banjo-Tooie”, the series would go through a rough patch during the turn of the century. After working with Nintendo for more than a decade, Rare anticipated the Japanese publisher to buy the studio. Alas, this wouldn’t be the case. In 2002, Rare announced it had been acquired by Microsoft, and all projects shifted development over to Xbox. This lead to the cancellation of games that were planned for the Nintendo GameCube such as “Donkey Kong Racing” while the next “Perfect Dark” game and “Kameo: Elements of Power” were brought over to Xbox. Despite the acquisition, Rare managed to make two more “Banjo-Kazooie” games for the Game Boy Advance with THQ as their publisher. Sadly, 2003’s “Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge” and 2005’s “Banjo-Pilot” failed to find the same success as their console predecessors. While Rare did get to develop the “Diddy Kong Racing” remake for the Nintendo DS, Banjo and Conker were left behind since the characters were owned by Microsoft. (And yet, somehow, Tiptup made it in...?)
Regardless of Rare’s departure from Nintendo platforms, the future of “Banjo-Kazooie” was not dead...at least, not yet. So, where was the supposed “Banjo-Threeie” that was teased at the end of “Banjo-Tooie”? Truth be told, there kind of wasn’t one. Instead, Rare began development in 2004 on what was known as Banjo X, a remake of the first game that would be approached the same way as Conker: Live & Reloaded, where minor adjustments would be made to throw off returning players. One of these adjustments was to have Gruntilda interfere with the player’s actions and make things harder. The idea would be scrapped (...for now) as the AI was too complex. Although, Rare failed to see any reason to continue the rest of the project as the Xbox 360 would be launching the following year.
When Rare migrated over to the new Xbox console, they began exploring more with a prototype that was being worked on during Banjo X’s cycle, one that focused more on building karts. Banjo-Kazoomie began development after Grabbed by the Ghoulies launched in 2003, but never made it past prototyping due to the team having to help finish Kameo. The idea for a Banjo kart racer resurfaced sometime after the prototype was abandoned. Banjo-Karting was Rare’s second attempt and would approach the Mario Kart formula in very unique ways. On top of vehicle customization, the game would feature characters from other Rare properties like Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark and Rash from Battletoads. Players could use a Magic Wrench to destroy or create structures as well as dismantle pieces of enemy karts. Rare had managed to get a working build to show to Microsoft, but decided to can the project after learning about the development of “Joy Ride”, believing Microsoft wouldn’t want to greenlit the project when it already had a racing game in its portfolio.
Still, Rare wasn’t ready to give up on “Banjo-Kazooie”, and they certainly weren’t ready to give up their kart racer ideas. Many of the ideas from Banjo X, Kazoomie, & Karting ended up being recycled for a brand new Banjo game, but this would be one heck of a stumble after its teaser announcement at E3 2006, as this made it seem like a new Banjo game was in the works. The idea of Gruntilda being an obstacle was revisited. This time, Rare wanted to design missions where both Banjo and Kazooie were completing the same tasks while the witch interfered. Some aspects of this feature would make it into the final game, but it wouldn’t be as deep or complex as initially conceived.
“Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” was an absolutely polarizing return for the bear and bird. While critics gave the game positive reviews, the fans were split. Some embraced the ideas of the game and enjoyed building vehicles whereas others rejected it, angry that this was nothing like the “Banjo” game that was teased at E3 2006. In 2019, nearly eleven years after “Nuts & Bolts” launched, Kirkhope reflected on the game and defended its overall concept while stating that it should have been a brand new IP, not a “Banjo-Kazooie” game.
Was “Nuts & Bolts” responsible for putting the franchise on ice? One would not be blamed for suggesting that as “Banjo-Kazooie” would go through more than a decade of silence. While the original N64 titles would be ported over to Xbox Arcade and join “Nuts & Bolts” for the “Rare Replay” collection, it felt as though the industry was ready to leave the series behind. Most of the original “Banjo-Kazooie” team left Rare to form Playtonic Games and released their first game, “Yooka-Laylee” in 2017. The rest of Rare would develop games for the Xbox Kinect, most notably “Kinect Sports”, and release the lackluster “Sea of Thieves” in March 2018.
Just when fans were ready to give up hope, Nintendo would break the internet in June 2019 by announcing Banjo & Kazooie were coming to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” as a DLC fighter. History had been made! Ever since the first “Smash Bros”, fans had been clamoring for the bear and bird to make the roster. It could have happened for “Super Smash Bros. Melee”, but communications between the UK and Japan at the time was difficult. Banjo & Kazooie were added to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” on September 4, 2019, setting a few records for the fighting game franchise. Not only were Banjo & Kazooie the first fighters from a Western franchise, but they were also the first fighter to be from a company competing with Nintendo. The duo’s inclusion in the game would also be the first time director Masahiro Sakurai worked with a composer outside of Japan.
Thanks to Banjo’s inclusion in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”, discussion surrounding the franchise’s return has sparked. Before demonstrating Banjo’s moveset, Sakurai encouraged players to go try the original game on Xbox One. Character artist Steve Mayles has stated that the perfect way to reintroduce the franchise would be a remake of the first two games, citing the successful returns of “Crash Bandicoot” and “Spyro the Dragon”. “Banjo-Kazooie” may not have had as many games as other legendary franchises, but the series has resonated with so many people that its hard to ignore the love. The fans and developers would walk from Mumbo Mountain to Cloud Cuckooland and back to see a new game. If there’s anything to take away from their “Smash” debut, it's that the future has never looked brighter for the bear, the bird, and the witch.
Welcome to MojoPlays, and this is the History of “Banjo-Kazooie”!
As surprising as it is, “Banjo-Kazooie” didn’t start out as a 3D platformer starring a bear and bird. In fact, the whole project was vastly different, almost unrecognizable when reflecting on the series we’ve come to know and love. As UK-based developer Rare was winding down on the “Donkey Kong Country” series, the studio was fixing to start work on their next big project.
“Project Dream” was to be an epic RPG that utilized realistic, digitized character models in the same vein as the “Donkey Kong Country” games. However, it wasn’t long before the game had to go through a drastic overhaul. Not only was the SNES incapable of processing “Project Dream”, but the industry was ready to move into the 3D world. And so, Rare shifted development of the game over to the Nintendo 64 and began redesigning what they had. At some point during this transition, Rare decided to change “Dream’s” story, too, changing its fairy tale themes into a full-blown pirate adventure where protagonist Edison would clash blades with the evil Captain Blackeye! Alas, time would come to prove that “Dream” was not meant to last. Rare co-founder Tim Stamper felt the “boy hero” was becoming a tired cliche. On top of that, Rare was still having problems getting “Dream” to run properly on the N64. However, the final nail in the coffin was the potential of “Conker’s Twelve Tales” (according to Rare alumni & composer Grant Kirkhope); the team behind the project managed to get the game running smoothly on Nintendo’s new platform while achieving the cartoon animations Rare had been aiming for. And thus, the dream was over.
To say all was lost is an over-exaggerating remark. A cancelled game does not mean its ideas are forever dead, and Stamper knew that. With “Dream” scrapped, Stamper went back through the designs of “Dream’s” animal characters to find a protagonist for their new project. While an anthropomorphic rabbit and Edison’s dog, Dinger, were considered, Banjo ultimately made the cut, and another Dream character named Grunty the Giant would become Gruntilda the Witch. Piccolo, Banjo’s girlfriend during Dream, was redesigned into Tooty and became his little sister. Just when Rare thought they would be making another platformer like “Donkey Kong Country”, they found themselves reworking the game yet AGAIN after being exposed to an early build of “Super Mario 64”. The team was so impressed that they decided to turn their new game into a 3D platformer-adventure, and they spent the next sixteen months toiling away.
“Banjo-Kazooie” released in North America on June 29, 1998 and saw universal praise from both players and critics. Reviewers praised the imaginative worlds, technical prowess, and sound design. While Kirkhope composed more than a hundred songs for “Project Dream”, some of his pieces would be reused for “Banjo-Kazooie” as well as several other Rare games. One of the most notable traits people loved about “Banjo-Kazooie” was the character speech. At one point, the team wanted to have complete voice-acting, but quickly realized the game would be in development longer. Rare had considered using thought bubbles as well, but ultimately came to the conclusion of using chopped up sound bites for the characters’ speech. Despite being his first video game, this was not Banjo’s debut into gaming as the bear had been a playable racer in Diddy Kong Racing a year before alongside Tiptup the Turtle, who would appear in both Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel, and Conker the Squirrel, who would become the infamously foul-mouthed rodent to trick parents into thinking he was kid-friendly. However, the story of Diddy Kong Racing is for another time.
While most games around this time would see sequels less than a year later, fans would have to wait a tad longer for the next “Banjo-Kazooie” game. “Banjo-Tooie” would launch for the Nintendo 64 on November 20, 2000. For what critics had already described as a near-flawless game, “Banjo-Tooie” somehow took its predecessor’s formula and made it better. New characters were introduced, worlds were bigger, puzzles were trickier, and the HUB world was replaced with one of the earliest examples of fast-travel in games. In addition to new power-ups and including Mumbo Jumbo as a third playable character, “Banjo-Tooie” incorporated a multiplayer mode formed around the various mini-games played in the main game. Although, there were plans for another multiplayer feature where a second player could control a dead Bottles the Mole and possess enemies to troll the player. Unfortunately, Rare had enough on their plate during development, and the mechanic would extend development. “Banjo-Tooie” would go on to sell over three million copies, nearly twice as much as its predecessor.
With regards to “Banjo-Tooie”, the series would go through a rough patch during the turn of the century. After working with Nintendo for more than a decade, Rare anticipated the Japanese publisher to buy the studio. Alas, this wouldn’t be the case. In 2002, Rare announced it had been acquired by Microsoft, and all projects shifted development over to Xbox. This lead to the cancellation of games that were planned for the Nintendo GameCube such as “Donkey Kong Racing” while the next “Perfect Dark” game and “Kameo: Elements of Power” were brought over to Xbox. Despite the acquisition, Rare managed to make two more “Banjo-Kazooie” games for the Game Boy Advance with THQ as their publisher. Sadly, 2003’s “Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge” and 2005’s “Banjo-Pilot” failed to find the same success as their console predecessors. While Rare did get to develop the “Diddy Kong Racing” remake for the Nintendo DS, Banjo and Conker were left behind since the characters were owned by Microsoft. (And yet, somehow, Tiptup made it in...?)
Regardless of Rare’s departure from Nintendo platforms, the future of “Banjo-Kazooie” was not dead...at least, not yet. So, where was the supposed “Banjo-Threeie” that was teased at the end of “Banjo-Tooie”? Truth be told, there kind of wasn’t one. Instead, Rare began development in 2004 on what was known as Banjo X, a remake of the first game that would be approached the same way as Conker: Live & Reloaded, where minor adjustments would be made to throw off returning players. One of these adjustments was to have Gruntilda interfere with the player’s actions and make things harder. The idea would be scrapped (...for now) as the AI was too complex. Although, Rare failed to see any reason to continue the rest of the project as the Xbox 360 would be launching the following year.
When Rare migrated over to the new Xbox console, they began exploring more with a prototype that was being worked on during Banjo X’s cycle, one that focused more on building karts. Banjo-Kazoomie began development after Grabbed by the Ghoulies launched in 2003, but never made it past prototyping due to the team having to help finish Kameo. The idea for a Banjo kart racer resurfaced sometime after the prototype was abandoned. Banjo-Karting was Rare’s second attempt and would approach the Mario Kart formula in very unique ways. On top of vehicle customization, the game would feature characters from other Rare properties like Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark and Rash from Battletoads. Players could use a Magic Wrench to destroy or create structures as well as dismantle pieces of enemy karts. Rare had managed to get a working build to show to Microsoft, but decided to can the project after learning about the development of “Joy Ride”, believing Microsoft wouldn’t want to greenlit the project when it already had a racing game in its portfolio.
Still, Rare wasn’t ready to give up on “Banjo-Kazooie”, and they certainly weren’t ready to give up their kart racer ideas. Many of the ideas from Banjo X, Kazoomie, & Karting ended up being recycled for a brand new Banjo game, but this would be one heck of a stumble after its teaser announcement at E3 2006, as this made it seem like a new Banjo game was in the works. The idea of Gruntilda being an obstacle was revisited. This time, Rare wanted to design missions where both Banjo and Kazooie were completing the same tasks while the witch interfered. Some aspects of this feature would make it into the final game, but it wouldn’t be as deep or complex as initially conceived.
“Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” was an absolutely polarizing return for the bear and bird. While critics gave the game positive reviews, the fans were split. Some embraced the ideas of the game and enjoyed building vehicles whereas others rejected it, angry that this was nothing like the “Banjo” game that was teased at E3 2006. In 2019, nearly eleven years after “Nuts & Bolts” launched, Kirkhope reflected on the game and defended its overall concept while stating that it should have been a brand new IP, not a “Banjo-Kazooie” game.
Was “Nuts & Bolts” responsible for putting the franchise on ice? One would not be blamed for suggesting that as “Banjo-Kazooie” would go through more than a decade of silence. While the original N64 titles would be ported over to Xbox Arcade and join “Nuts & Bolts” for the “Rare Replay” collection, it felt as though the industry was ready to leave the series behind. Most of the original “Banjo-Kazooie” team left Rare to form Playtonic Games and released their first game, “Yooka-Laylee” in 2017. The rest of Rare would develop games for the Xbox Kinect, most notably “Kinect Sports”, and release the lackluster “Sea of Thieves” in March 2018.
Just when fans were ready to give up hope, Nintendo would break the internet in June 2019 by announcing Banjo & Kazooie were coming to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” as a DLC fighter. History had been made! Ever since the first “Smash Bros”, fans had been clamoring for the bear and bird to make the roster. It could have happened for “Super Smash Bros. Melee”, but communications between the UK and Japan at the time was difficult. Banjo & Kazooie were added to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” on September 4, 2019, setting a few records for the fighting game franchise. Not only were Banjo & Kazooie the first fighters from a Western franchise, but they were also the first fighter to be from a company competing with Nintendo. The duo’s inclusion in the game would also be the first time director Masahiro Sakurai worked with a composer outside of Japan.
Thanks to Banjo’s inclusion in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”, discussion surrounding the franchise’s return has sparked. Before demonstrating Banjo’s moveset, Sakurai encouraged players to go try the original game on Xbox One. Character artist Steve Mayles has stated that the perfect way to reintroduce the franchise would be a remake of the first two games, citing the successful returns of “Crash Bandicoot” and “Spyro the Dragon”. “Banjo-Kazooie” may not have had as many games as other legendary franchises, but the series has resonated with so many people that its hard to ignore the love. The fans and developers would walk from Mumbo Mountain to Cloud Cuckooland and back to see a new game. If there’s anything to take away from their “Smash” debut, it's that the future has never looked brighter for the bear, the bird, and the witch.
