Banjo-Tooie

Overview

Banjo-Tooie is a 3D platforming adventure game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64, and later ported to Xbox Live Arcade. It is the sequel to 1998's Banjo-Kazooie. The game stars the famous bear and bird duo, Banjo and Kazooie, and is set two years after the events of Banjo-Kazooie. The game started development before the release of Banjo-Kazooie, and was released on November 19, 2000.

Story

Two years after the events of Banjo-Kazooie, Grunty was still stuck under the rock with Klungo still pushing it. One stormy night, while Banjo, Kazooie, Bottles, and Mumbo are playing cards in Banjo's House, a giant drill machine known as the Hag 1 drills out of a wall into Spiral Mountain. The rumbling of the machines caused Banjo and company to become worried. Unbeknownst to them, two witch sisters arrive and easily move the boulder that Gruntilda was trapped under in the last game. They send Mumbo out into the stormy night. He walks over to a nearby bush and sees Gruntilda She is no longer just an ugly witch, but a bony and uglier witch. After casting a bony eye on Spiral Mountain, she spies Mumbo and runs after him, magic blazing. He warns the others, who escape, but Bottles decides it's a trick, and gets caught in a blast. Banjo's house is destroyed, Bottles is dead, and the world is at risk. Grunty and her sisters then retreat to the Cauldron Keep in the Hag 1 drilling machine, scattering all of the jinjo families in the process.

Banjo and Kazooie survey the wreckage, then decide it's time for another adventure. Along the way, they encounter many challenges, fearsome enemies, and a witch that is out for revenge. Nothing that a bear and a bird can't handle.

Gameplay

Banjo-Tooie's gameplay is similar in concept to its predecessor, Banjo-Kazooie. The player must explore the hub world (Isle O' Hags) and enter nine large non-linear levels, each containing Jiggies which allow further access to the Isle. The core goal of the game is the same as the first, to collect as many jiggies as possible. There are a wide variety of puzzles, games, platforming and adventures that will net jiggies. Collecting them will afford access to new levels. All in all there are 90, with the player often needing to revisit levels with new moves in order to collect them. There are also other collectibles, such as musical notes and jinjos. The levels available run the gamut, from an ancient civilization to an underwear factory.

Once again unlocking levels requires completing puzzles; however, this time the pictures are all based in one fixed point, Jiggywiggy's Temple. Also returning from the previous game is the ability to transform, allowing access to different areas, as well as the ability to learn new moves. Banjo and Kazooie start out with all the abilities they learned in the previous game. This is in contrast to the common "lose moves" scenario that some sequels take. They are able to jump, flip, swim, attack, and even fly (with the help of flying pads). They can also learn new moves from Bottles' brother Jamjars. However, this process has been altered from the previous installment. Whereas in Banjo-Kazooie, new moves had been free to learn whenever the player had located Bottles' Molehill, the new instructor Jamjars requires Musical Notes to learn new abilities. One of these new moves is the Split Up, which allows Banjo and Kazooie to, as the name suggests, go their separate ways and explore on their own. When doing so, the characters have different characteristics and new abilities. Kazooie is fast, can fly and hatch eggs but has one honeycomb health less than Banjo, whereas Banjo is slower, but has more health and can perform different abilities with his backpack. Another new staple is the addition of Mumbo Jumbo as a playable character. Mumbo can perform spells which can lead to a Jiggy or aid gameplay.

The game is also groundbreaking in several areas, the biggest of these being level design and connection. Platformers before it typically had their levels linked only by a single hub world or overworld. In Banjo-Tooie however, most of the levels are interconnected in various ways. While there is still a hub world, players are able to cross between worlds themsevs, such as between Glitter Gulch Mine and Jolly Roger's Lagoon via water pipes, or between Terrydactyland and Witchyworld to grab some hamburgers. For certain jiggies cross travel is required. The biggest implementation of this is the train stations. There are train stations in most of the levels, which allow the player to hop on the train in one level, and choose which level to get off at (providing the player has found the station in that level first).

Multiplayer and Extras

There are a variety of things outside the single player adventure that are unlocked as it progresses.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer consists of all the various mini-games that are played throughout the game, such as the Mayahem Kickball Tournament. Games such as the Ordnance Shootout and Chomper's Belly put the player in First-Person, with Kazooie acting as a gun (and firing eggs) to either kill players or hit targets. Other games play as they would normally, with human players in for computers.

Replays

The game records all of the mini-games, boss battles, and cutscenes that the player has gone through. They can then replay any of these standalone items at any time.

Characters
Banjo the Bear Back for another adventure, Banjo is one of the main characters of the game. He is a brown bear with a penchant for helping people out. He wears his trademark yellow shorts, shark tooth necklace, and blue backpack. He was a bit oafish and slow to pick up on things in the first game, but nowadays he's shown flashes of a newfound wit...
Kazooie the Breegull The other central character of the series, Kazooie is a foul-mouthed breegull. Quick to judge, she is seen at the beginning robbing the poker players blind. She resides in Banjo's backpack, often coming out just to peck, drill, or demean. In this game though, she may have found a bit of compassion, as well as a way out of the backpack...
Gruntilda Winkybunion The series' main antagonist is at it again. After being freed from her rock, Grunty is now a very bony witch. She is heavyset, and has a hatred for the bear and bird. The quest will be to stop her destruction of the world.
Mumbo Jumbo Returning from the last adventure, Mumbo has been stripped of his transformation powers by an unknown force. Now though, he gets the chance to come out of the skull. He is a shaman, complete with a bony head, and skull staff (and house). Players can control him by bringing him a glowbo. He has a staff attack, as well as the ability to perform magic at Mumbo Pads, pads with his face on it.
Humba Wumba Making her debut in the series is Humba Wumba, a Native American shaman and rival to Mumbo Jumbo. She takes on his old role, transforming Banjo and Kazooie into various objects and animals. She needs to be given a Glowbo for her magic to work, but it is only needed once. Her transformations are valuable to solving the worlds many puzzles.
Bottles the Mole The teacher of moves from the first game, Bottles is back, albeit in another form. Killed in the beginning by Gruntilda's magic, he is only seen as a ghost in Spiral Mountain. He may have hope yet.....
Drill Sergent Jamjars A military mole who teaches Banjo the most important moves of the game, Jamjars is the brother of Bottles the mole. He is strict, making Banjo bring him musical notes in exchange for moves. He shows little emotion, even when hitting his head on his silo. Still, his moves are the best.
Klungo Grunty's faithful sidekick, Klungo has been trying to move that rock for years. He will fight for her numerous times, though he may not like it...
Mingella Winkybunion One of Gruntilda's sisters, she and Blobbelda build the Big-O-Baster (B.O.B.). She also used her spellbook to removed the rock that was on-top of Gruntilda.
Blobbelda Whinkybunion Gruntilda's sister, she and Mingella build B.O.B.
Master Jiggywiggy A man with a puzzle piece for a head, he helps Banjo open doors to new worlds. It is not known how he eats, or breathes.
King Jingaling The first real help in the game comes from the great King. Unfortunately, he is a target soon after.

Worlds
Mayhem Temple A temple that is the lair of an evil god sitting at the top of a big mountain surrounded by lush caves, and other smaller temples, which house angry native beasts and booby traps. Banjo will even find a stadium where rock beings play a strange version of soccer.
Glitter Gulch Mine An old diamond mine where big piles of precious stone can be found close to a river that crosses the entire world. This world also features a railroad, a prospector who lost his beloved puppy, caves ridden with poisonous gas and the train which Banjo will use to travel more quickly to other the worlds of the game.
Witchyworld Gruntilda’s amusement park has lots of rather strange and dangerous rides. This world has lots of different mini-games and some nice classic platforming challenges. In the middle of this freaky park lies a big circus tent home to a giant talking dinosaur balloon. Banjo can also find stands to buy hamburgers and French fries that will eventually be used to solve hunger problems from other worlds.
Jolly Roger's Lagoon Most of this level takes place underwater but the characters don’t need to worry about drowning since Mumbo will allow them to breathe underwater. Banjo will find a mysterious sunken city, a scary violent fish and beautiful underwater scenarios. Close to the lagoon there are many shops and a bar owned by a quirky frog that is worried about his odd girlfriend where an old drunk pirate hides one of the game’s most famous secrets.
Terrydactyland A world with lots of dinosaurs, many of which want to eat Banjo and Kazooie while some need their aid to solve their problems. There is also an ancient tribe with a major nourishment problem. On the center of the world there is a enormous mountain where the duo will come across a female pterodactyl that has problems hatching their eggs.
Grunty Industries A big industry with six different floors that looks like an impressive fortress. The place has lots of machines and piles of boxes, it is the biggest level of the entire game. Finding a way in may be as confusing as navigating through all those floors using service elevators. Here Banjo and Kazooie will need to help the employees wash their clothes and they will even visit a famous talking toilet that appeared on the previous game.
Hailfire Peaks A big mountain divided between an ice land and a hot inferno. The place is ruled by two twin dragons that will attack Banjo and Kazooie with fire or ice balls as they enter their domains. On the fire side of the mountain the duo will need to defend the soccer title that they got when visiting Mayahem Temple, while on the ice mountain Banjo will visit a beautiful ice cave and deal with lots of yetis.
Cloud Cuckooland A sky world with a very big group of floating isles to be explored. At the center of the world there is a large honey hive, filled with bizarre-looking monsters. Below it there is a big cave which is the main hub connecting all floating pieces of land surrounding the big mountain.
Cauldron Keep The last world of the game and the place where the final showdown takes place. This is the witches’ hideout, the place where the life-sucking machine is placed and where the duo will have to compete on a quiz show against the three witches in order to proceed with their adventure.

Other Locations
Spiral Mountain The same exact place where the first game starts. This time around it has been destroyed by Gruntilda’s evil sisters as they came to rescue the witch.
Isle o' Hags The game’s vast overworld; has many different scenarios to be explored.
Gruntilda's Lair (Entrance) Takes place only in the entrance of Gruntilda's Lair, the only thing Banjo will see is Cheato and a ripped portrait of Gruntida.

Techniques

The following is a complete list of the moves that the duo will learn with Jamjars (Bottles' brother) throughout the course of the game, aas well as their locations:

Isle o’ Hags

• Fire Eggs – Twice as powerful as the regular blue eggs.
• Grenade Eggs – The most powerful type of egg. It explodes when it hits its target.
• Ice Eggs – Freezes the enemy.
• Clockwork Kazooie Eggs – When thrown this egg will release a small clockwork version of Kazooie. The player can control it and explode it whenever they feel like.
• Breegull Bash - Banjo will pull Kazooie out of his backpack and will use her as a weapon to hit nearby enemies.

Mayahem Temple

• Egg Aiming – It gives more accuracy when using eggs.
• Breegull Blaster – Allows the player to enter a first-person perspective using Kazooie as a gun when entering certain areas.
• Grip Grab – Allows Banjo to hang onto edges.

Glitter Gulch Mine

• Bill Drill – Banjo jumps and uses Kazooie as a powerful drill to break rocks and other useful things.
• Beak Bayonet - When in first=person perspective, Banjo uses Kazooie to attack enemies with her beak.

Witchyworld

• Split Up – With this move Banjo and Kazooie can be controlled individually.
• Pack Whack – When Banjo is by himself he will use his backpack to attack enemies.
• Airborne Aiming – Allows the player to aim when flying.

Jolly Roger’s Lagoon

• Wing Whack – Kazooie uses her wings to attack when she is by herself.
• Sub-Aqua Egg Aiming – Allows the player to aim while swimming.
• Talon Torpedo – Kazooie leaves Banjo’s backpack when underwater and acts as a torpedo.

Terrydactyland

• Springy Step – Use springy boots to perform high jumps.
• Taxi Pack – Banjo can carry other characters on his back pack.
• Hatch – Kazooie gains the ability to hatch eggs.

Grunty Industries

• Claw Clamber – Kazooie can climb walls vertically with these boots that stick to surfaces.
• Leg Spring – Kazooie uses her legs to perform very high jumps without Banjo.
• Snooze Pack – Banjo hibernates inside his backpack to recover health.

Hailfire Peaks

• Shack Pack – Banjo enters his backpack allowing him to pass through tiny holes and small cracks.
• Glide – Kazooie can glide when she is without Banjo.

Cloud Cuckooland

• Sack Pack – Banjo uses his backpack as a sack and hops around. This move protects him from harmful surfaces.

Items

• Jiggy – The main collectible item of the game. The player can use them to unlock new worlds.
• Note Nest – Can contain up to twenty musical notes.
• Egg Nest – Contains a certain amount of eggs.
• Honeycomb – Recovers health.
• Oxygen Bubble – Recovers the oxygen meter when the duo is underwater.
• Empty Honeycomb – By collecting and giving them to a honey bee located on Isle o` Hags the health meter will increase.
• Red Feather - Allows Banjo and Kazooie to stay on the air when flying.

• Gold Feather – Makes the duo invincible.
• Wading Boots – Protects Kazooie`s feet when walking on dangerous surfaces.
• Turbo Trainers – Increases their speed for a while.
• Springy Step Shoes – Allows them to jump higher.
• Claw Clamber Boots – The characters will be able to climb walls vertically.
• Cheato Page – By gathering those and handing them to the book that’s on Grunty’s Lair the player will get access to cheats that can be used in the game.
• Doubloons – The currency used to purchase items on the village surrounding Jolly Roger’s Lagoon.
• Glowbo - A magical creature that must be collected in order for Mumbo and Humba to offer their services.
• Mumbo Pad - Pad with Mumbo's head on it. When controlling Mumbo, these pads allow the duo to perform his main spells such as 'Levitate', and 'Power'.

Transformations

Returning from the original game, Banjo and Kazooie can transform into different creatures or objects by visiting Humba Wumba. While in Banjo-Kazooie only a few stages featured transformations on Banjo-Tooie all of the worlds have their own specific transformations. They are listed below, including the location where it happens and a brief description.

Transformation	Location	Description and Abilities	Additional Notes
	Isle O' Hags	Turns Kazooie in a fire-breathing dragon. Retains most learned moves, but pecking replaced with fire breathing.	Requires Mega Glowbo from Ice Key vault.
	Mayahem Temple	Turns Banjo into a Stoney; a sentient race of stone statues. Uses a barge attack. Ability to communicate with other Stonies. Allows Banjo to compete in Kickball minigames.	This form can also travel to the Lava side of Hailfire Peaks.
Detonator	Glitter Gulch Mine	Turns Banjo into a dynamite plunger. Can perform an explosion attack, which takes off one health for each use. Can clear paths to new areas of the map.
Van	Witchyworld	Turns Banjo into an armored van. Allows access to new rides and areas. Can run over enemies. Imperious to all damage.
Submarine	Jolly Roger's Lagoon	Turns Banjo into a submarine. Fires torpedos and sonar.	Due to the environment, movement requires a special control scheme. To move, the player must hold down A and tilt the control stick.
T-Rex	Terrytactyland	Turns Banjo into a baby, and adult, T-Rex Can talk to some enemies (Baby only) Gutteral roar attack. (Adult only) Tramples enemies. (Adult only) Impervious to enemy damage. (Adult only) Allows access to new areas. Impervious to slime damage.	Banjo can only change into an adult T-Rex after Mumbo uses an enlarging spell on Wumba's Wigwam.
Washing Machine	Grunty Industries	Turns Banjo into a washing machine. Fires projectile underwear. Cleans employee's clothes. Allows use of service elevator, but prevents the use of the warp pad. Impervious to slime and toxic gas.	Form originally from Banjo-Kazooie as an ineffectual easter egg.
Snowball	Hailfire Peaks	Turns Banjo into a snowball. Health, and size, gained from rolling in snow. Charge attack allows for faster travel and damage. Can press larger and stronger switches	Can travel to the lava side of Hailfire Peaks, but will steadily lose health.
Bee	Cloud Cuckooland	Turns Banjo into a bumblebee. Allows Banjo to fly without Kazooie or Red Feathers. Fires a stinger projectile.	Returning form from Banjo-Kazooie

Bosses

Boss	Location(s)	Description	Tactics
	Spiral Mountain, Isle o' Hags, Cauldron Keep	Gruntilda`s most loyal servant attacks Banjo with a bunch of potions that have varied effects.	Klungo has three different kinds of potions that he acquires in a random order throughout the game. When he drinks them, they provide the opportunity to attack him. The three potions are: Invisibility- Klungo becomes temporarily invisible, but the potions does not work as effectively as it should, and the player can easily spot him when the potion fades. Growth- Klungo grows to about 2x his size, all the duo has to do is avoid his attacks and strike when his guard is down Clones- Spawns an increasing amount of clones, attack all of them while trying to find the real one. After hitting Klungo, a force field envelops him and he begins throwing exploding potions at Banjo, just dodge the potions until the force field disperses and he'll drink another one of his potions and the player can return to attacking him. Upon three strikes, he is defeated. He is fought multiple times throughout the game as a mini boss.
	Mayahem Temple	A rock, and wooden, totem pole. He is fought entirely in first-person mode.	The player will be in first-person mode in this battle. All they need to do is aim for the holes each layer of this totem pole and that layer will collapse. They need to be careful however, of the dart projectiles that come out of some holes and dodge them while aiming. Once he's down to just his head, he will self-destruct and Banjo will get the Jiggy.
	Glitter Gulch Mine	A gigantic coal golem who lives in the boiler of his steam train; Chuffy.	The easiest way to do this is to get on a floating platform then aim at King Coal with Kazooie. Eventually a chunk of his body will fall off and he will get faster, just keep firing at him and he will lose more chunks and give up. Upon defeat, Banjo is not only awarded with a Jiggy but also with Chuffy; which can be used to travel between worlds with train stations.
	Witchyworld	A giant inflatable dinosaur covered in a variety of patches.	First, equip the Grenade Eggs, then aim at one of Patch's patches (big stunner here). He will realize what Banjo did and summon a boxing glove that will pop out of the ground and attack him. So to counter this, the duo must use the flight pads that he also summons to attack him in the air with their new "Aim in the Air" technique. Just aim for all 12 patches while dodging his beach ball attack, and he will go down for the count (no boxing pun intended). NOTE: It is safe to touch Mr. Patch, so use this advantage.
	Jolly Roger's Lagoon	A gigantic anglerfish who resides inside the small, but surprisingly spacious, Davy Jone's Locker	A lot like Mr. Patch's fight, only underwater. Woo Fak Fak will swim back and forth across the arena, stop, and send a charge of energy toward Banjo, just swim up or down to dodge it. To attack him aim for whichever boil on the Lord's body is glowing, it will pop and he will get angry. After getting rid of 6 boils, he will open his eyes. Now that his eyes are open, he will fire the energy charges more frequently and more accurately, dodge them while aiming for his eyes and he will be defeated.
	Terrydactyland	An imposing male pterodactyl, as well as an overly-protective parent.	Terry will fly around the nest and stop at each end and shoot mucus at Banjo. Shoot Terry while he is flying around the nest to hurt him. After awhile, he will send out some nostril minions to attack Banjo, defeat them, and return to shooting the pterodactyl and he will eventually cave, giving him a Jiggy. When defeated, Terry asks the duo to find his missing babies; which was the reason for his anger.
	Grunty Industries	An enormous welding torch with a habit of giving away too much information.	This boss has 3 basic patterns: Blue flames, Minions, and Chasing. The first one has Banjo dodge some flames that Weldar spits from his mouth. After that is done, he will try to suck him up like vacuum. Simply shoot a flaming egg (fire, grenade, clock-work Kazooie) into his mouth and a red plate will fall off of his body. He will get mad and send minions after Banjo, defeat them and he will try to suck the duo up again, shoot an egg and another plate flies off. Now he jumps up into the air and then chases the duo around the battle field like it's a deadly version of "Tag". He will try to suck them up, so shoot another egg into his mouth. Soon after, he turns on an electrical switch that turns on cables in the ground. The player then has to repeat the whole process again, while avoiding touching a cable on the ground. Soon, all of his plates will pop off, and he will explode.
	Hailfire Peaks	Two dragon brothers who live on each summit of their respective climate-related mountain. Loves pizza.	There are four cannons located on each mountain top. Get behind one and shoot as many eggs (flame eggs for Chilly Willy, ice for Chilli Billy) as possible into the back of the cannon. The player should get a minimum of 2 hits per cannon before the dragons attack. Each cannon can only fire a certain amount of shots. Once it is finished, the player must dodge the dragon's attacks and travel to the nearest available one. Fire more shots into a cannon, and eventually, the dragon should go down. Go to the other mountain and repeat the process for the faster, stronger dragon. NOTE: It does not matter which dragon is chosen first, it will always be the weakest first.
	Cloud Cuckooland	A robotic impostor of Mumbo Jumbo. Lives in one of the two skulls on the map: randomly chosen for each new game.	Mingy will shoot energy balls at Banjo that homes in on him, dodge these and then his wand will have to recharge. move in to strike Mingy and a slice of skin will come off revealing robotic parts. He will get wise of this technique and begin teleporting across the arena. He will fire 3-5 shots at each loacation, so hurry to strike before he teleports again. 6 strikes and Mingy will malfunction an explode. NOTE: The boss itself is not hard, but since the duo are fighting in the upper floor of Mumbo's skull, it is easy to get hit.
	Cauldron Keep	The witches' massive drilling machine.	The boss battle is sectioned into 10 tactics followed by a quick quiz and an first-person segment to shoot Grunty. The results on the quiz determines the speed of Grunty's attacks Phases The Hag 1 will have 2 lasers out and will spin, jump over them then prepare to fire at Grunty for 10 hit points down. Now 4 lasers are out, same tactic just more jumping, another FPS segment will ensue and 10 more hits off of Grunty's health. A rocket will fly up, and hit the ground and 4 missiles will fly out in different directions, jump over the explosion and the duo should dodge all the missiles. Do this 3 times and an opportunity to hit Grunty will occur. 2 rockets, 8 missiles, same tactic, another 10 health points gone. Now Grunty fires up the engine, laser are back, but now Grunty adds a chase segment will the drill. Outrun her and the engine will eventually stall, allowing the duo to fire a clock-work Kazooie agg into the exaust in the back of the Hag 1. Jump above the wire, and dodge any enemies in the Hag 1 while going towards a battery, detonate, and another chance to attack Grunty will follow. Same thing as above, but with 4 lasers. Now it's straight up FPS time, hit Grunty for a total of 30 hit points this round. Grunty sends out some minions, dodge them while aiming for Grunty until only a mere 15 hitpoints are left. Grunty releases a toxic gas, shoot Grunty with eggs as fast as possible before the duo's bubbles are all gone (it is almost crucial to have saved the fish in Spiral Mountain if the player hasn't by now) At low health, Grunty charges up a super spell, it's faster and stronger, just keep moving while aiming at Grunty. NOTE: It would be optimal to have at LEAST 2 of the honeycomb upgrades from the Honey B before this fight, it is all about endurance in this fight.

Stop 'n' Swop

Unlike, the previous game, the once fabled Stop and Swop items are now just plain old items that unlock secret moves and abilities. Originally, these items were going to be obtained by learning secret passwords in Banjo-Tooie which would reveal the items when entered in Banjo-Kazooie. The items would then be transfered back to Banjo-Tooie by way of "hot swapping" the cartridges. The N64 would hold on to a small amount of data if the player pulled the cartridge out while the system was on, and that was how Rare planned to transfer the items. However, in later models of the system, the data was cleared out of memory much quicker, making the window of time to swap the cartridges extremely brief. This eventually caused Rare to scrap the whole concept in favor of just adding them as collectibles in Banjo-Tooie. Hackers who explored Banjo-Kazooie's code found the passwords that Rare planned to reveal in Banjo-Tooie, which only served to confuse players who tried to find a way to use the mysterious items.

Two of the "secret" Stop N Swop eggs can be found in Spiral Mountain hidden inside Banjo Kazooie game packs. Striking them will spit out the egg. Taking these eggs to the Egg Shed in Wooded Hollow will unlock secrets in the game. The yellow egg is already in the shed, but must be hatched by Kazooie.

Pink Egg

Above the stump that contains the boots in Spiral Mountain is a metal grate. Fly up there and shoot a grenade egg to bust open the grate. Fly in there and smash the pack to get the egg. This egg unlocks the ability to swing Kazooie as a club.

Blue Egg

Fly to the top of the waterfall in Spiral Mountain and enter the top. Using the grenade eggs, smash the metal grate and do the same thing to get the Blue Egg. This will unlock the ability to have Kazooie's eggs home at enemies.

Yellow Egg

Once the duo have learned the Hatch ability from Terrydactyland, go to Heggy's Egg Shed in Wooded Hollow and drill the rubble covering the split up pads. Split up and take Kazooie up to the top floor, where the yellow egg is waiting in a nest. Hatch it, and the player will get the ability to select Jinjo in multiplayer games.

Ice Key

In the "sandy" part of Jinjo Village, there should be a part where Banjo can shimmy on the side of the ledge. Climb that to enter a cave which has another pack in it. Smash it to get the Ice Key. After gaining the Talon Torpedo ability, go to Glitter Gulch Mine, through the Water Storage area to the Waterfall Cavern, and use the Talon Torpedo to get to the ice side of Hailfire Peaks. Use the Ice Key to unlock the Ice Safe and to obtain the Mega-Glowbo. Give that to Humba Wumba in Pine Grove to transform into Dragon Kazooie.

Style and Cultural References

In contrast to Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie is much darker in tone and material. Whereas Kazooie featured light-hearted music, bright and colorful levels, and an overall sense of cheeriness, Tooie is much darker in all aspects. This is apparent right off the bat, when Bottles is killed off. The levels are on the whole darker and dingier than the ones in Kazooie. The music also follows suit, feeling dark and foreboding in most of the games levels. It slows down to a creeping dirge in the darkest recesses of the world. The humor of the game often takes a sarcastic tone, with Kazooie cracking jokes about other characters incessantly.

Banjo-Tooie features many return appearances from characters and things first found in Banjo-Kazooie. This includes major characters such as Mumbo Jumbo, and minor ones such as Conga and Gobi. Levels from the first game are also alluded to in various ways. Rare also references games from their stable. Instances of this include Jet Force Gemini posters in Bottles' kids rooms, and an appearance by Sabreman, from their earlier game, Sabre Wulf. There are even references to other works. In the Grunty Industries level, Kazooie refers to Nintendo's Mario (and his plumber roots) by suggesting to Loggo that "maybe Mario could unclog him", to which Loggo replies that he "doesn't think Mario does that kind of work anymore". There is also a reference to E.T., as Kazooie once asks the aliens in Hailfire Peaks if "they need to phone home". Lastly, both Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are referred to in later Rare games, most notably Viva Pinata.

Reception

Banjo-Tooie was widely praised by reviewers and is considered by many to be one of the best platforming games to be released. It is a gem of the Nintendo 64 era. The game has gorgeous visuals and it may be regarded as the best looking game on the system even though it didn’t make use of the expansion pack.

Banjo-Tooie was also nominated for many prestigious awards - including a nomination for the "Moving Images Award" at the 2000 BAFTA award ceremony, and was also nominated for "Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", and "Game of the Year" at the 2001 Academy Of Interactive Arts & Sciences awards.

Xbox Live Arcade Version

Banjo-Tooie was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 29th, 2009 for 1200($15) Microsoft Points. The port, developed by 4J studios, resurrects the Stop n Swop features for use between Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Additionally, the graphics are much more crisp than on the original.

Price Drop History

The XBOX Live Arcade version of Banjo-Tooie was dropped from 1200 Microsoft Points to 800 Microsoft Points from June 16th through to June 22nd as part of XBOX Live's "Inventory Blowout Sale".