Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
Banjo-Kazooie is a 1998 platform video game made by Rare and Nintendo.
Banjo-Kazooie opens on Spiral Mountain, where the witch Gruntilda kidnaps Banjo's little sister Tooty to steal her good looks. Banjo, a laid-back bear, and Kazooie, a motormouth bird who lives in his backpack, set off into a sequence of sprawling worlds to collect Jiggies and musical notes. The pair share 24 moves, and the game constantly teaches new ones. Nine fully realised worlds, each with its own visual identity and set of eccentric residents, made this the definitive 3D platformer of the Nintendo 64 era.
Quick answers
What is Banjo-Kazooie about?
Banjo-Kazooie opens on Spiral Mountain, where the witch Gruntilda kidnaps Banjo's little sister Tooty to steal her good looks. Banjo, a laid-back bear, and Kazooie, a motormouth bird who lives in his backpack, set off into a sequence of sprawling worlds to collect Jiggies and musical notes. The pair share 24 moves, and the game constantly teaches new ones. Nine fully realised worlds, each with its own visual identity and set of eccentric residents, made this the definitive 3D platformer of the Nintendo 64 era.
When was Banjo-Kazooie released?
Banjo-Kazooie was released on 29 June 1998.
Who made Banjo-Kazooie?
Banjo-Kazooie was made by Rare, Nintendo and Gradiente.
Similar games
Explore Banjo-Kazooie guides
Banjo-Kazooie in our writing
- Companion guide: Rare: GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie and the N64 Golden Age
A few thoughts on Banjo-Kazooie
The same playful collect-everything energy ran through Nintendo platforms of the era: the Super Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach film shows the broader Nintendo universe in a different light, while Super Mario World captures the Saturday-morning cartoon version of that platformer spirit.
Rescue quests where a hero chases down the witch who took someone they love
Banjo sets off across Spiral Mountain because the witch Gruntilda has taken his little sister Tooty, and that same rescue drives every pick here. The Girl Who Drank the Moon and Redwall send young protagonists after a stolen loved one and a threatened home, the Mario movie sends two plumbers into a kidnapping plot of its own, and Hunter x Hunter follows a boy chasing down the family he lost.
Mismatched hero-and-sidekick pairs who actually banter
Banjo and Kazooie work as a duo because a slow-talking bear and a motormouth bird constantly needle each other while sharing one set of moves. Ladybug and Cat Noir bicker their way through team-ups, the Mandalorian and Grogu build the same gruff-guardian-and-troublemaker bond, Sabrina leans on her sarcastic cat Salem, and InuYasha's bickering, treasure-hunting pair keep that same odd-couple energy running through every chapter.
Music with a sense of humor about itself
Banjo-Kazooie's world is stuffed with mumbled voices, sight gags and a score that never plays anything completely straight, and this stays true to that spirit. Frank Zappa's Apostrophe and Sheik Yerbouti turn musicianship into a running joke, Tenacious D builds entire songs around bragging and self-parody, and Ween's 12 Golden Country Greats plays it dead straight while being completely absurd underneath.