Back in Time: Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie made its debut in 1998 on the Nintendo 64. Photo: gamerscoreblog (via Flickr)
A honey bear and a large red bird don’t sound like the most exciting premise for a video game; however Banjo-Kazooie proved otherwise.
The plot behind the games saw Banjo (the bear) and Kazooie (the bird) attempt to thwart Gruntilda’s (the witch) various evil schemes, with the protagonists collecting musical notes and jigsaw pieces in order to progress through Gruntilda’s lair.
Created by Rare, Banjo-Kazooie made its debut on the Nintendo 64 in 1998, with the sequel Banjo-Tooie releasing on the console two years later. Both titles were also ported to the Xbox Live Arcade to coincide with the release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Xbox 360 in 2008 – ten years after their original appearance. Banjo-Kazooie also made an appearance in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, which released in 2010.
Each of the games received favourable reviews from critics. Nevertheless, the future doesn’t look too bright as there are currently no plans to bring the pair back, despite rumours that Rare were in talks with Nintendo to bring the duo to the 3DS.