Banjo-Kazooie
1998 · Platform · Nintendo 64
Overview
Banjo-Kazooie was Rare's response to Super Mario 64 — a 3D collectible platformer with a bear and bird duo, each with distinct abilities. Nine worlds with 10 musical notes, 10 jiggies, and multiple collectibles each created a dense exploration game with more content per world than most competitors. Grant Kirkhope's jazz-influenced soundtrack was one of the N64's finest.
Deep Dive
Banjo-Kazooie was directed by Gregg Mayles at Rare and represented the studio's most ambitious 3D platformer design. The game's character duo — Banjo the bear carrying Kazooie the bird in his backpack — allowed separate abilities for each character. The game's hub world, Gruntilda's Lair, served as both a navigation structure and a narrative space.
Developer Story
Banjo-Kazooie was developed by Rare under director Gregg Mayles in approximately two years. The game was produced with Nintendo's partnership and launched in June 1998 in Japan. It became one of the N64's best-selling platformers and established Rare as Nintendo's most important second-party developer.
Did You Know?
- Banjo-Kazooie was developed alongside GoldenEye 007 at Rare — the two teams worked in the same building and shared some technology.
- The game's final boss fight — Grunty atop her lair — is a game show parody in which the villain asks trivia questions about the game the player has just completed.
- Grant Kirkhope's soundtrack uses a technique called Dynamic Music — the music changes instrumentation and arrangement based on what Banjo is doing and where he is.
- A planned third game in the series was cancelled when Microsoft purchased Rare in 2002 — the series moved to Xbox with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts in 2008.
