Banjo-Kazooie/Banjo-Tooie/Yooka-Laylee

[Anaru]

I was thinking about Banjo-Kazooie earlier, and I remembered about Yooka-Laylee, there aren't any threads for these games so I put them all in one post since they're all similar. Banjo-Kazooie was the first game I ever played (or at least, first game I remember playing), and is still one of my favorites today, I started when I was about 5 and was obviously pretty bad at it, luckily, the game was previously owned by my cousins, who had gotten to the final gruntilda painting (still had about 12 jiggies left to get on it from what I remember) and so I could explore every level as much as I wanted, I occasionally managed to get a new jiggy, and got really excited, but I was never able to complete the game until a few years later. I had lots of fun playing this as a child and still enjoy it today. Somehow, I didn't even realize Banjo-Tooie existed until 2013, and I immediately ordered it. I don't enjoy this as much as the first one, but it was amazing exploring new worlds, meeting new and old people, and collecting more jiggies as these these characters, since I've memorized how to get every jiggy from playing Kazooie for so long, making the game easier. I don't 100% this game on new playthroughs like I do with BK, as it's not as fun, but the first time was a great experience. I actually (unnintentionally) beat Tooie for the first time on the 15th anniversary of Banjo-Kazooie, which I found out online later that day after beating it. And then Yooka-Laylee was announced a while ago, and I had never been so excited to see a new game announced. It's very exciting to see a new platformer of this style, they're not very common now, most of the great ones are for the N64. I've been following it was announced, and I can't wait for it to be released, I'm hoping it'll bring back great memories of BK and become one of my favorite games itself, what I've seen of it so far is amazing. If you haven't played the original, I highly recommend playing it sometime, I can pretty much guarantee you'll have a great time with it. And make sure to get Yooka-Laylee once it's released, the current release date is early 2017.

Use this thread to share memories of BK/BT and discuss the new one.

 

[Cuttleshock]

Yes! Wonderful games! Banjo-Kazooie was one of my earliest games... and I hardly played any of it, between finding it hard and being scared of most things in it. It didn't really resurface for me until a little over a year ago, when it coincided with my German learning: not long after I had sought out some Let's Players to work on my comprehension, one of them started a 100% playthrough of that game, which I eagerly watched. It was blind for the player, so both of us got to discover it pretty much for the first time, and I was really enamoured with what was achieved within the limitations of the N64.

The YouTuber, really having enjoyed it, put Tooie into the pipeline and is presently around three quarters through that second Let's Play (also for 100% completion, naturally). The increased ambition of that game really impressed me - in particular, as soul-sucking a world as it seems to be, I love the fearsome level design of Grunty Industries. Music's great, puzzles are fiendish, and the dialogue definitely isn't of the sort that one sees every day.

So I am ready to get Yooka-Laylee as soon as possible, for the Wii U (don't like playing on PC and don't have a controller for that anyway, and that's my only other option). I'll probably seek to get 100% (or 120% or whatever it's called there) on my first run. A particular point that YL has over BK is how much I love Yooka himself - the bear and bird have a great dynamic and are pretty likeable, but I adore the new character design, even though we know nothing of his personality (and he could even wind up a silent protagonist, from what I can tell).

 

[Maave]

Yooka-Laylee hyyyyyyyyyyype. I contributed to the kickstarter and got the preorder + toybox (demo). The toybox wasn't a traditional demo where you get a chunk of the game, it's more like a test level where you can try all the moves and controls. There are a lot of "Banjo-Kazooie-isms" in there like the pause menu, music, sound effects, some others

The toybox controls feel like Banjo Kazooie. Talon trot is is replaced with a roll move- it's fast and goes up hill but doesn't handle as precisely as talon trot (it feels fitting). Swim controls are much more intuitive that Banjo Kazooie. One button to ascend, one to descend, and then the joystick moves you around at that depth.

Since it's not fully developed there's some goofiness. Camera following is wonky. Movement animation is tied to velocity - you can run into a wall to watch the chars move in slowmo or jump off a ledge to see them spazz at high speed as they fall.

Banjo Kazooie is one of my favorite games of all time. I love 3d action/adventure/platformer games and BK is the best. And the music is great, I had that music on my iPod for ages. btw if you like Rare check out the Rare Revealed videos, there are some "Making of" vids for Banjo Kazooie and "Dream", the game that evolved into BK
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvMHCfwLXJRa-cWPBiwmzQh6oyUm-slUv

 

[Aori]

oh geez

Spoiler: Luna has opinions, read with caution.

I'm not a huge fan of Yooka Laylee- It just looks like a literal copy of Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I know I'll get alot of bad for saying that, or at least I feel I will. I was recently informed it had a quiz show before the boss- exactly like banjo kazooie and tooie. It has a main character and a partner that helps them fly, just like banjo kazooie. I see people talking about how it'll be "so different" but until I hear actual ways it's "different" then I'm not going to believe it.

THAT aside, I will talk about how much I like the original games.
I adore Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie, though Tooie is definitely more fun for me as I am playing through it right now. I should also mention that I personally like Nuts & Bolts a lot as well, despite it being a spinoff sort of side story to the original games much like Grunty's Revenge, which people also hated on for... some reason. Though I haven't played Grunty's revenge, I definately would pick it up out of love for the series. It seems fun, and I am not one to loathe side stories.

I really don't want to get into a heated debate on why I don't enjoy how people glorify platonic and **** on rare now even though the platonic people were workers at rare once and everyone did give them **** when they were still working there (then SUDDENLY! THEY'RE THEIR OWN COMPANY! WOW APPRECIATE THEM!)- nor do I want to argue about why Nuts & Bolts is a good game as a side story / for what it is. I mean if you look at one of the pause screen messages it literally says "don't like the vehicle based gameplay? well maybe go buy the originals instead!". I don't know I really guess I've been conditioned into being fearful that i'll be harshly criticized for liking the game just as I will be harshly criticized for not liking Yooka Laylee because it just seems like a copy to me. I know people wanted banjo threeie, but I think two games was enough and sidestories are always fun.

(or do people just hate rare because it's microsoft now? Nintendo didn't want them anymore so they sold them off from what I heard. I dunno. I don't care, I'll always love rare)

 

[Maave]

oh geez

Spoiler: Luna has opinions, read with caution.

I'm not a huge fan of Yooka Laylee- It just looks like a literal copy of Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I know I'll get alot of bad for saying that, or at least I feel I will. I was recently informed it had a quiz show before the boss- exactly like banjo kazooie and tooie. It has a main character and a partner that helps them fly, just like banjo kazooie. I see people talking about how it'll be "so different" but until I hear actual ways it's "different" then I'm not going to believe it.

THAT aside, I will talk about how much I like the original games.
I adore Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie, though Tooie is definitely more fun for me as I am playing through it right now. I should also mention that I personally like Nuts & Bolts a lot as well, despite it being a spinoff sort of side story to the original games much like Grunty's Revenge, which people also hated on for... some reason. Though I haven't played Grunty's revenge, I definately would pick it up out of love for the series. It seems fun, and I am not one to loathe side stories.

I really don't want to get into a heated debate on why I don't enjoy how people glorify platonic and **** on rare now even though the platonic people were workers at rare once and everyone did give them **** when they were still working there (then SUDDENLY! THEY'RE THEIR OWN COMPANY! WOW APPRECIATE THEM!)- nor do I want to argue about why Nuts & Bolts is a good game as a side story / for what it is. I mean if you look at one of the pause screen messages it literally says "don't like the vehicle based gameplay? well maybe go buy the originals instead!". I don't know I really guess I've been conditioned into being fearful that i'll be harshly criticized for liking the game just as I will be harshly criticized for not liking Yooka Laylee because it just seems like a copy to me. I know people wanted banjo threeie, but I think two games was enough and sidestories are always fun.

(or do people just hate rare because it's microsoft now? Nintendo didn't want them anymore so they sold them off from what I heard. I dunno. I don't care, I'll always love rare)

Nintendo didn't totally own Rare but they owned a chunk did fund Rare's development. Nintendo wasn't meeting rising game costs so Rare sold. A ton of employees left after the sale so people don't see MS-owned Rare as the same Nintendo-backed Rare.

Nuts & Bolts is a fine game, just not what expect from the BK series. I get the same feel from Star Fox Adventures - it's a good game, just not "Star Fox", I have to get over the expectation of the old gameplay and then I can enjoy it.

In a few interviews the dev said that they were trying to make YK its own game and not a clone. It's looks very similar but we can't tell until the final game. I'm fine with a clone or a new spin, either one will give me a good platformer.

 

[Maave]

It's happening! Physical copies have been shipped so some people have it already. Digital copies can be downloaded but not played until the 10th which is the official launch date. unfortunately the Switch version is delayed because the team had to change from Wii U to Switch.

 

[Ryuji]

I personally cant wait until the Switch version comes out. While it does seem underwhelming in comparison with the Banjo games, I'm still excited for it.