Banjo Kazooie Ranting

Let me just say that although Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie are great games, there were (..are) some parts that just make me want to pull my hair out. Here is some of my banter (is that a word? ...it is now) about Banjo Kazooie. Banjo Tooie will have to wait until tomorrow.

In talking with the whole 72 Crew, EVERYONE seemed to have taken a long time on Treasure Trove Cove.

Usually with games, the further you get, the levels take longer to complete, either due to difficulty or a more expansive/involved area. However, Treasure Trove Cove is the second level in the game, yet it took longer than most levels in the game. At first I thought maybe it was just one person having trouble finding everything in the game (since the world is rather large, and you can get turned around a few times), but 2 of our other players reported spending more time than they expected on this world. This level is awesome, but left us scratching our heads at why this seemed to be much longer than half the other worlds.

Clanker's Cavern should be named Cranker's Cavern, mainly for my sake. I didn't like that level at all. That level made me so cranky. I guess I'm not a fan of the dim, rather dark layout. I'm more of the "ooh look at all these bright colors!" type of player. Eh, guess it's the girl in me. It's a good level, I just didn't like it.

Bubblegloop Swamp. I personally liked this one, but one of our players, Aaron, just was not having it on this level. Combined with an off-brand N64 controller that only worked part of the time as well as the somewhat confusing layout (admit it, you got lost the first few times you played that level), he rage-quit several times, and almost didn't want to start up again. ....but the croc transformation is SO CUTE!! :D

Another Banjo-no..ie..is stupid Rusty ****-it Bay. NOBODY in the 72 Crew likes this level. I have yet to find someone that was like "yeah, I actually really enjoyed almost dying getting a jiggy that is hidden behind a ship's fast-moving propellers." WHO PUTS A JIGGY THERE?!?! And that stupid dolphin jiggy...just...don't get me started on this level. I'm sure you all will enjoy the rage that the players will surely show during this particular level.

SO EVIL.

The levels we all enjoyed? Mumbo's mountain because you can get through it in like 15 MINUTES. So easy.

My personal favorite: Click Clock Wood, although Jenny is not so fond of it taking so long and being so involved...when she have to finish it in a reasonably fast pace while everyone is watching her, I can't blame her! I like taking my time on that level, and having to do a speed run of it would probably make me uncomfortable. I'd probably fall off that stupid tree a million times.

Mad Monster Mansion. That world is just freaking awesome! the pumpkin involvement as well as the house, maze, and chapel? Amazing!

Gobi's Valley I feel had a great amount of everything..puzzles, platforming, flying, swimming, timed games, everything. If this game were being demo-ed? I would use this world to show all the different abilities like flight, swimming, running, etc.

Other rantings:

Now..I don't want to say that I WANTED to have Mumbo in every single world, but he specifically doesn't show up in several worlds: Treasure Trove Cove, Clanker's Cavern, Gobi's Valley, and Rusty Bucket Bay. It would have been cool to see what we would have transformed into for those worlds. My thoughts? WELL, here is what I think would have been cool to transform into in each of the worlds:

Treasure Trove Cove? Although it's piratey/beachy, I wouldn't want anything swimming-related. Rather, a crab would have been cool so you could snap enemies and crawl on the bottom of the ocean, or even a seagull so you could reach those higher areas.

Clanker's Cavern? How awesome would it be to be a small robotic shark, similar to Clanker? Although they would have needed to incorporate more involved jiggies with swimming rather than on the platforms and inside Clanker. ...or you know what? A spider would have been cool. You could walk around, (although I know many spiders don't actually do this) walk on water like Water Striders, but also shoot webs at enemies, and even shoot webs to "grapple" onto platforms and walls! SO COOL. If only. 

Gobi's Valley? A Camel would be cool, but I have no idea what it would do besides walk around and..be cool. Drink water? eh. Maybe not a good idea. A mummy would be freaking adorable (I know, I'm weird), but also seemingly useless. A genie would be genius (alliteration!). You could fly around and "summon" small things to help get items or turn on switches. Although that might be too powerful, so maybe a snake would do. A snake could bite enemies, slither around and spring into the air like Donkey Kong Country. Okay, my vote is for snake. That's more adorable than a mummy.

Rusty Bucket Bay? ..eh..I hate this level so much I don't even want to think about adding transformations..I guess something inanimate such as a submarine (I know that's a transformation in Tooie already). You know what's fun? Rubber band balls. Just change Banjo into a Rubber Band ball. He can bounce around, go underwater (because rubber bands don't BREATHE. GENIUS.) and he can lose rubberbands (or gain some) like the snowball effect in Tooie's Hailfire Peaks in order to be heavy enough for some buttons or small enough to fit in smaller areas. HAH. Didn't think I could sell that one.