Console Monster writes: "I am seriously terrible at creating stuff. I have the creativity of a zombie. Give me a pad of paper and some crayons, I'd probably just scribble on it rather than doing any meaningful art (Ed - I thought that was meaningful art?). Games such as Spore make me seem a tiny bit creative because even if I just stretch the creatures limbs out, add eyes everywhere and maybe a mouth it still looks like a creature you may find on another planet. That's why, when I picked up Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, I fell into a babbling mess of failed creativity. However, after playing around with it for a couple of hours I got to grips with how easy it was to make things and improve upon them.
Banjo-Kazooie is a long running series created by Rare, which features a loveable bear named Banjo and a cynical bird by the name of Kazooie who lives in Banjo's backpack. The series originated on the N64 and grew to be one of my favourite series' of all time just because of how quirky the characters were and how original each iteration seemed. Featuring crazy levels that spanned from the inside of a fish to a pirate coast it was so much more than any other platformer around at the time. Using Rare's famous British wit, it became a truly memorable game. And Nuts & Bolts is no different..."
Jared writes: "With the Battletoads having made a triumphant return, let's look at the rest of Rare's back catalog for which series deserves a return to form next."
Donkey Kong Country is probably my favorite game of all time but I've not connected with much else Rareware has made since other than maybe Killer Instinct. Sea of Thieves has got to be close to my worst $60 purchase I've ever made.
Wonder why some series just seem to feel lackluster as time goes on? Well, it's because some later installments really mess up the formula. Check out ten times sequels really screwed everything up.
Ugh Musashi: Samurai Legend is so meh. Don't understand how you can go from Brave Fencer Musashi to that. I really want a Brave Fencer Musashi HD Remake or a true sequel. It's one of the best games I've ever played.
Grant Kirkhope, the composer of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, explains what he thinks the issue was with the often-criticized Xbox 360 title.
I actually liked it for what it was. But then again I'm not a Banjo fan. I actually hated a lot of the N64 style games that all followed the same Mario 64 style. Except for Conker.
I really enjoyed this game, the building was fun, I thought it was a well made platformer.
I kind of agree. The game had many new ideas that would have worked better in a new IP as people wouldn't be so upset that Nuts & Bolts played so differently from the older titles.
I seriously hate how angular the redesigns are for so many of the characters in the game
The X06 trailer built people’s hopes only for the final release to ruin those dreams
Damn right it should have
Can we just get Banjo Threeie and write this game off as Kazooies bad dream or something. An in game joke.
Wow 3D platformer GOTY confirmed.