Banjo-Pilot

Banjo-Pilot is a 2005 racing game for the Game Boy Advance. It was developed by Rare and published by THQ; it is the only spinoff title of the Banjo-Kazooie series and has no storyline nor relation to the main series. As the name suggests, Banjo-Pilot primarily features characters racing in planes. The race courses are rendered using Mode7 technology.

Banjo-Pilot was originally under development as Diddy Kong Pilot in 2001. Its earlier iteration was cancelled because of the Microsoft acquisition in 2002, and that Nintendo was concerned over its quality. An earlier build of Banjo-Pilot utilized the voxel engine, which was later removed.

Playable Characters

 * Banjo
 * Top Speed: 3/5
 * Acceleration: 3/5
 * Handling: 2/5


 * Kazooie
 * Top Speed: 2/5
 * Acceleration: 3/5
 * Handling: 4/5


 * Mumbo Jumbo
 * Top Speed: 3/5
 * Acceleration: 2/5
 * Handling: 3/5


 * Purple Jinjo
 * Top Speed: 1/5
 * Acceleration: 4/5
 * Handling: 5/5


 * Humba Wumba (unlockable)
 * Top Speed: 1/5
 * Acceleration: 5/5
 * Handling: 5/5
 * How to unlock: Beat Jiggy Cup in Bottles Grand Prix.


 * Bottles (unlockable)
 * Top Speed: 5/5
 * Acceleration: 4/5
 * Handling: 4/5


 * Gruntilda (unlockable)
 * Top Speed: 5/5
 * Acceleration: 1/5
 * Handling: 1/5
 * How to unlock: Beat Grunty's Grand Prix.


 * Klungo (unlockable)
 * Top Speed: 4/5
 * Acceleration: 2/5
 * Handling: 2/5
 * Beat Skull Cup in Grunty's Grand Prix.


 * Jolly Roger (unlockable)
 * Top Speed: 2/5
 * Acceleration: 4/5
 * Handling: 4/5
 * How to unlock: Beat Pumpkin Cup in Grunty's Grand Prix.

Cups
Honeycomb/Pumpkin Cup Jiggy/Cauldron Cup Beehive/Skull Cup Feather/Broomstick Cup
 * Spiral Mountain
 * Jinxy's Dunes
 * Freezeezy Peak
 * Hailfire Peaks
 * Boss: Kazooie/Jolly
 * Treasure Trove Cove
 * Clanker's River
 * Grunty Industries
 * Gobi's Valley
 * Boss: Humba/Mumbo
 * Freezing Furnace
 * Mayahem Temple
 * Steamy Vents
 * Jolly Roger's Lagoon
 * Boss: Banjo/Klungo
 * Witchyworld
 * Breegull Beach
 * Terrydactyland
 * Cauldron Keep
 * Boss: Bottles/Grunty

Story
According to Rare, there is no story to the game, although it can be assumed that Cheato lost all of his pages and Banjo and his friends must retrieve them by completing race courses. As Grunty is still in her original form, it can also be assumed this is the first game in the series, apart from possibly Diddy Kong Racing.

Game Modes

 * Grand Prix: In this mode, the first player races against other characters in a series of tracks to earn points. There are four cups that each contain four tracks with an aerial boss fight at the end. The player is given a trophy determined on his/her rank. Different Grand Prixes include the Bottles GP, the Grunty GP, the Endurance GP, and the Jinjo GP.
 * Quickrace: In this mode, the player can do a quick single race with any character he/she has already unlocked. The player can choose tracks from the Bottles and Gruntilda GP.
 * Time Trial: In this mode, the player races against the ghost of either Bottles or Gruntilda to try and beat their best time.
 * Trophies: Here, the player can view the trophies that he/she won throughout the game. There is also a photo album when the player completes all of the game's challenges.
 * Jiggy Challenge: In this mode, the player collects six Jiggies on tracks from the Bottles and Grunty Grand Prixes while trying to finish in first place. If they succeed, they can unlock Bottles, the most efficient racer in the game.
 * Cheato: Here, Cheato pages are used to purchase unlockables within the game.

Multiplayer

 * Head-To-Head: It's a multiplayer quickrace, with four players together in the same track.
 * Dogfight: Similar to a cup boss battle. Player can beat the opponent using weapons.

Items
When the player hits a Honeycomb, they receive an item. Items include:


 * Golden Feathers: Grants the player temporary invincibility and boosted speed.
 * Mumbo's Head: Despite his name, it its a Mingy Jongo-like head that temporarily disables all other racers.
 * Turbo Trainers: Gives the player a short speed boost.
 * Saucer of Peril: Targets in on the race leader and causes them to crash.
 * Fire Egg: Homes in on the nearest racer in front of the player and causes them to crash.
 * Ice Egg: Dropped behind your plane and causes any plane that hits it to crash.

Music
The music of Banjo-Pilot was composed by Robin Beanland and Jamie Hughes. Banjo-Pilot is the second Banjo-Kazooie game to not have Grant Kirkhope as a music composer.

Cameos
Many characters from Rare's previous games make minor cameos in Banjo-Pilot. Characters like Tiptup, Gobi, and Master Jiggywiggy can be seen in various tracks. Sabreman, from Sabre Wulf, and Expresso, from Donkey Kong Country, appear in Jolly Roger's Lagoon and Jinxy's Dunes, respectively. Other non-playable characters include Cheato, King Jingaling, and Roysten.