Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

European cover art
Developer(s) Rare
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s) Gregg Mayles
Composer(s) Grant Kirkhope
Robin Beanland
David Clynick
Series Banjo-Kazooie
Platform(s) Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release date(s)

Xbox 360

Genre(s) Action-adventure, vehicle construction
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is an action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was first released for the Xbox 360 on 11 November 2008 in North America, 14 November 2008 in Europe, 20 November in Australia and 11 December 2008 in Japan. It is the third instalment of the Banjo-Kazooie series and also the first game in the series released for a console unaffiliated with Nintendo. The game takes place eight years after the events of Banjo-Tooie, and revolves around series protagonists Banjo and Kazooie competing in a set of vehicle-based challenges.

It was first announced at the X06 Media Briefing in Barcelona.[3] Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the United States. The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits" status, which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release. The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[4] The game is also included in the Rare Replay retrospective compilation, released for the Xbox One in 2015.

Gameplay

The game primarily uses vehicles to transport Banjo and Kazooie around the six different worlds. According to game director Gregg Mayles, about 20 percent of the game retains traditional platforming elements, which include ledge grabbing and tightrope walking, while the remaining 80 percent of Nuts & Bolts involves the use of vehicles.[5] There are no conventional "moves" for Banjo and Kazooie to use, apart from attacks Kazooie performs with her spanner.

Vehicles

A still image of gameplay. The radar in the bottom-right corner displays the player's current position in the world.

Vehicles play a prominent role in the game, replacing the moves and transformations from the other games. The vehicles can be built freely by the player from over 1,600 different components available, such as body panels, engines, wheels, wings, propellers, fuel and weapons. The physics engine allows the vehicles to behave in relation to how they are built, although the sense of weight is somewhat exaggerated. Mumbo's Motors is where vehicles can be constructed, painted, edited, saved, loaded or tested at the "Test-o-Track" area. Humba Wumba also sells vehicle parts and blueprints of preset vehicles that become available for sale whenever a certain Jiggy total is reached. Players can also send and receive blueprints over Xbox LIVE.

Items

The original teaser trailer showed several gameplay elements from the previous games that are included in the game, including music notes, honeycombs, and jigsaw puzzle pieces ("Jiggies"). The Jiggies are among several golden objects that are collected to progress in the Banjo-Kazooie games and are once again used in Nuts & Bolts. In an edition of Scribes, Rare said that "the player will determine the difficulty level by how they approach the Jiggy tasks", hinting at what the game would offer.[6] It was eventually revealed that the challenge level of the tasks depends on which vehicle is chosen. The Jiggies are obtained by completing these challenges rather than collected as in previous games. Musical notes can be collected in Banjo-Kazooie in large amounts to unlock note doors, and were used in "Banjo-Kazooie" and "Banjo-Tooie: Grunty's Revenge" to unlock new moves for Banjo and Kazooie. For Nuts & Bolts the notes are used as currency to buy parts and blueprints for vehicles. These notes can be won as the basic prize for completing each game world challenge. They are also scattered throughout the worlds and are offered as a prize in challenges at Showdown Town. A new item, tentatively called "Mumbo's magic wrench" was also revealed. It plays a significant role, as it is used to build and move objects via a yellow beam fired from the device. It is also used by Kazooie as a primary weapon for on-foot gameplay, to recall your vehicle if it gets lost, and to lift items through use of telekinesis. Honeycombs, however, cannot be collected to increase health and only appear as inert objects in a final challenge at Spiral Mountain. Health is represented by a singular honeycomb that gradually drains to reflect the character's condition and regenerates over time. If the honeycomb is completely emptied during a challenge game, the challenge is forfeited.

Abilities

Banjo and Kazooie walking on a tightrope.

Various abilities from Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge are unavailable in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. This approach was first mentioned in the 20 December edition of Rare's Scribes column, which stated, "Banjo and Kazooie haven't got many of the abilities that they used in previous games".[6] The ability introduced in Banjo-Tooie to split up Banjo and Kazooie as separate playable characters is unavailable in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. A previous Scribes mentioned that they "thought about using two different controllers" to account for the new abilities and all the old moves as well, but that a simpler system had been used for the game. It was eventually revealed that the approach involves using vehicles instead of the previous attack moves.

The in-game explanation is that the older abilities were forgotten by the duo; the cinematic sequences in the game show that Banjo and Kazooie lost most of their abilities when they became fat and lazy during their eight years of inactivity. When the Lord of Games sets up the rules for the contest, he refuses to restore Banjo and Kazooie's moves on the grounds that they won't need them. They are given back in the ending sequence, but can't be used in the game.

The player can disembark from a vehicle and explore the environment in a manner similar to that of the previous games. On foot the duo can grab ledges, swim underwater and perform basic jumps. The wrench can also be used as a weapon outside of the vehicle. Banjo and Kazooie have limited attack power and speed on foot at first, but the duo can upgrade their speed, stamina and strength by visiting a local Gym that Boggy earned from Mr. Fit.

New hub world

On 31 December 2007, Gregg Mayles said, when asked whether there would be a new hub world, "YES - You've seen Grunty's Lair and Isle o' Hags, now get ready for "Conflagration Violent" (work this out and you'll have the answer to one of richjonny's questions)".[7][8] On 13 May 2008, it was announced by Rare that Showdown Town would be the new hub world for Nuts & Bolts. The "Conflagration Violent" comment made in Scribes is an anagram of "Confrontation Village", which is a synonym for Showdown Town. It is reportedly 16 times larger than any other single area that Rare has created. Showdown Town was designed by Steve Malpass.

The centre of the town houses the Lord of Game's factory, which dispenses "game globes" whenever a certain Jiggy total is reached. Placing the globes onto special stands activates the game's levels. Each level features a set of "acts", which are accessed by specific act doors in Showdown Town. The doors are initially closed and marked by the number of Jiggies required to open them. This method is similar to the note door and Jiggy system in the original Banjo-Kazooie, as well as the Jiggy system in Banjo-Tooie; each act door requires more Jiggies than the last. Each Jiggy extracted from the levels appears in "Jig-o-Vend" collection units scattered around Showdown Town. The player must vend the Jiggies and physically carry them over to the central "Jiggy Bank" device to affect the total of Jiggies. The town's police force attempts to stop the player from putting the Jiggies in the bank. If the police are successful, the player has to vend those Jiggies again.[9]

Multiplayer

The idea of multiplayer options was first discussed at the Rare Witch Project, where Mayles said that there would be multiplayer capability in the game unlike that found in Banjo-Tooie. It was later revealed that multiplayer would be purely vehicle-based and that players would be able to take their custom-built vehicles to Xbox Live to compete in online races and activities.[10] One of the game modes is a variant of King of the Hill called "Queen of The Knoll". Another is "Sumo", where two players have to knock each other out of the arena.[11]

Plot

The game takes place eight years following the conclusion of Banjo-Tooie, in which Gruntilda's body was destroyed and vapourised by Banjo and Kazooie. The two have become obese since their last adventure, and have since spent eight years overeating, playing video games and listening to the radio. They soon discover Gruntilda's detached head returning to their home, Spiral Mountain, who is planning revenge on Banjo and Kazooie. They are about to fight when they are stopped by the sudden appearance of the Lord of Games (L.O.G.), the creator of all video games. He decides to settle the conflict between the two by devising a series of worlds and challenges. He uses his powers to give Gruntilda an artificial body and to restore the duo's physical fitness, but not their moves from previous games, claiming that they will not need them.

L.O.G. transports the characters to Showdown Town, his headquarters, and starts the contest. The winner would be set to own Spiral Mountain; the loser must endure eternal hardship at L.O.G.'s video game factory. While Banjo and Kazooie seek to win by completing the challenges, Gruntilda uses her powers and abilities to try to stop the duo, with a cat named Piddles and an army of mechanical robots assisting the witch in her goal. The game ends with Gruntilda and Banjo participating in a final duel in Spiral Mountain. Banjo and Kazooie destroy all of Gruntilda's vehicles and prepare to fight back as she gets back up, but L.O.G. returns and declares Banjo the winner. After L.O.G. sends Gruntilda off to work at his video game factory, he rewards Banjo and Kazooie by giving them the deeds to Spiral Mountain and restoring their moves, while Banjo's friends reveal that they have restored his house after its destruction in Banjo-Tooie. Meanwhile, Gruntilda declares that bringing her to the factory was a mistake and vows that she will make her own video game.

Development

Initially, Rare conceptualised developing a direct sequel to Banjo-Tooie.[12] According to designer Gregg Mayles, the first idea was to create a remake of the first Banjo-Kazooie for the Xbox 360, and the team's second choice was to involve "more traditional platforming", however they felt that the latter was a "stale" approach[13] and deemed the former too similar to previous titles to have an impact.[14] On 17 October 2007, designer Justin Cook revealed in an interview with PC Zone that the untitled project was in designing stages, with the entire team giving it full-time attention.[15]

While the game was in early development, Mayles hinted at the new direction:

“ [...]our aim is to take the 3D platform adventuring game into the next generation and do something more than just adding polygons. Some fans look back fondly and want more of the same, but the Banjo of yesteryear has no real place in tomorrow's market on the Xbox 360. What we want to do is retain all the elements that made the first two games so loved, but also try things that breathe new life into a genre that has sadly been neglected for many years.[16] ”

Music

The music was composed by Robin Beanland, Grant Kirkhope and Dave Clynick.[17] Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was the final game to be worked on by Kirkhope, a Rare employee since 1995.[17] The soundtrack is orchestrated and features both remastered arrangements of existing music from the series, and new pieces entirely.[17] The music was performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.[18] On 29 June 2009, Rare announced that the game's soundtrack would be released and available to purchase on Amazon and iTunes. The soundtrack was released by the label Sumthing Else, which also released the soundtracks for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero.[19][20]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings80.66%[21]
Metacritic79/100[22]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comA-[23]
Eurogamer7/10[24]
Game Informer8.5/10[25]
GameSpot8.5/10[26]
GameSpy4/5[27]
GamesRadar8/10[28]
GameTrailers6.7/10[29]
Giant Bomb5/5[30]
IGN(US) 8.3/10[31]
(UK) 6.5/10[32]
VideoGamer.com9/10[33]
Wired5/10[34]

The game received mostly positive reviews from critics upon release. It holds an average score of 81% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of 63 reviews,[21] and an average score of 79/100 at Metacritic, based on an aggregate of 71 reviews.[22]

The vehicular-based mechanics of the game were met with scepticism from many reviewers. Tom Bradwell of Eurogamer gave a mixed response to the game's racing mechanics and the overall design of vehicles; in particular criticising the lack of traditional platforming and "weak mission design".[24] Andrew Reiner of Game Informer heralded the vehicle construction as "fun", however he criticised Rare's "habit of forcing the player" to collect large quantities of items to build their vehicles and progress through the game.[25] In the same review for Game Informer, Ben Reeves stated that the mission structure was a "mixed bag", asserting that racing was largely repetitive and "derivative".[25] Tom McShea of GameSpot praised the variety of the mission structure and vehicle building, stating that each "problem" requires creative thinking and innovation. However, McShea criticised the controls and physics of the some vehicles, thus adding difficulty to the overall experience.[26] Sterling McGarvey of GameSpy called Rare's decision to "move the emphasis away from platforming" and toward creation as bold, however he criticised the game's mechanics and manoeuvrability of land-based vehicles, although he noted that aeroplanes and helicopters were easy to utilise. McGarvey furthermore criticised the manoeuvrability of vehicles, stating that it was overall frustrating on how much the game relied on the awkward mechanics.[27]

Brad Shoemaker of Giant Bomb praised the driving mechanics and vehicle construction, despite initially being frustrated"with the game's controls. Shoemaker praised the innovation the game offered; stating that the vehicle-building and enormous variety of mission types would attract all audiences.[30] A reviewer of GamesRadar heavily criticised the overall mechanics and vehicular gameplay, stating that it was both "ridiculously complicated" and unsuitable for a Banjo game.[28] The reviewer of GamesRadar also criticised Rare's "old habit" of "collect-a-thons", asserting that all the elements of the game were "clumsily put together" and the aspects of unlocking new levels were difficult to understand due to the many items that were pre-required.[28] A reviewer of GameTrailers similarly criticised the vehicular theme of the game, citing that the sensitive physics and controls adds up to an overall frustrating experience.[29] Erik Brudvig of IGN US praised the game's absence of platform elements, and asked fans of Banjo-Kazooie not to "write the game off" due to its change in genre. Brudvig also heralded the vehicle-creation as "powerful" and the depth of the game's mechanics.[31] However, Matt Wales of IGN UK criticised the new direction of the game's genre, summarising the lack of platforming action as "screwed up". Wales stated that the game's mechanics and vehicle construction "fails badly" due to the lack of "any fundamentally engaging" framework to support the game's creative elements.[32] Tom Orry of VideoGamer praised the complex construction of vehicles and stated that it was the most rewarding aspect of the game.[33] Chris Kohler of Wired heavily criticised the mechanics, challenges and new genre of the game, panning the overall experience as a "disappointing, simplistic sandbox". Kohler also added that the racing missions were "boring" and frustrating, similarly stating the same for vehicle customisation.[34]

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the United States.[35] The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits" status,[36] which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release.[37] The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom.[38]

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome to Rare - News". Rare. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts". IGN. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "X06: Banjo, Kazooie Return". IGN. Archived from the original on 6 October 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  4. ↑ Mott, Tony (2010). 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. London: Quintessence Editions Ltd. p. 769. ISBN 978-1-74173-076-0.
  5. ↑ "Live Chat with Gregg Mayles". therwp.com. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Scribes - December 20, 2007". Rare. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  7. ↑ "Fiery Overworld for Latest Banjo Title?". The Rare Witch Project. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  8. ↑ "The 12 Questions of Christmas - Page 2 - The Rare Witch Project Forums". therwp.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  9. ↑ "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Preview". Gamepro.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Introduction". Rareware.com. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "N64 team working on Banjo 360". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2006.
  13. ↑ "News: New Banjo Kazooie was originally a platformer - OXM US". Oxm.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "The Rare Witch Project - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts Info". therwp.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  15. ↑ "Banjo 3 still in designing stages". Rare-Elite.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
  16. ↑ "The Making of Banjo-Kazooie". Retro Gamer. 29 March 2007. pp. 19–25.
  17. 1 2 3 Kirkhope, Grant. "Banjo Kazooie:Nuts and Bolts Video Game Music Compositions". Grant Kirkhope Press. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "2008: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the apotheosis" (in French). JeuxVideo. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Sumthing Else Music Works Announces Release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Soundtrack". IGN. Ziff Davis. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Devore, Jordan. "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts OST headed for retail, iTunes". Destructoid. CraveOnline. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Gamerankings Review". GameRankings. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  22. 1 2 "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Metacritic critic reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  23. ↑ Gallegos, Anthony (5 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review: Make your own fun". 1UP.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  24. 1 2 Bramwell, Tom (5 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts review: Throttled". Eurogamer. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  25. 1 2 3 Reiner, Andrew (22 September 2009). "Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts review: The Closest Gamers Can Come to Playing With LEGOs". Game Informer. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  26. 1 2 McShea, Tom (21 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  27. 1 2 McGarvey, Sterling (6 November 2008). "Reviews: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts". GameSpy. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  28. 1 2 3 "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts". GamesRadar. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts review". GameTrailers. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  30. 1 2 "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review". GiantBomb. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  31. 1 2 Brudvig, Erik (5 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review: Consider my ride pimped". IGN. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  32. 1 2 Wales, Matt (5 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts UK Review: Screwed up?". IGN UK. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  33. 1 2 Orry, Tom (5 November 2008). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review for Xbox 360". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  34. 1 2 "Review: Creative Banjo-Kazooie Is Pretty, But Boring". Wired. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  35. ↑ "Gamespot: NPD: Fable II hits 1.2 in US, MGS4 goes platinum". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  36. ↑ Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on Xbox.com
  37. ↑ "IGN article mentioning Platinum Hits requirements". IGN. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  38. ↑ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.

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