Banjo-Tooie

Banjo-Tooie is the second game in the Banjo-Kazooie series and is the sequel to Banjo-Kazooie. Development for the game started even before the original Banjo-Kazooie was released. The game was developed by Rareware and released for the Nintendo 64 on November 19, 2000, and celebrated its 10th Anniversary on November 19, 2010.

Banjo-Tooie takes place two years after Gruntilda was defeated by Banjo and Kazooie in the first game. In this game, Banjo and Kazooie have to stop Gruntilda's sisters, Mingella and Blobbelda, from restoring Gruntilda's body to its original form. This game introduced some darker elements to the series, such as the death of Bottles.

Plot
On a dark and stormy night, two years after Gruntilda's defeat, Banjo, Kazooie, Bottles, and Mumbo Jumbo are playing poker together at Banjo's house. Meanwhile, Klungo continues his ongoing two-year effort to free Gruntilda's now-rotten corpse from beneath the boulder that crushed her following the final battle with Banjo & Kazooie in the previous game. Suddenly, Spiral Mountain experiences tremors like that of an earthquake, which disrupt Banjo and friends' poker game. Mumbo goes to investigate, finding that the tremors were caused by Grunty's sisters, Mingella and Blobbelda, arriving at Spiral mountain in their invention, a massive digging machine called the Hag 1. They use a spell to destroy the boulder trapping Grunty, but as she climbs out, they realize she has withered away to nothing but an animate skeleton with robes. Mingella and Blobbelda reassures their sister that they have a plan to restore her body, and she must come with them back to their castle. Having witnessed Grunty's escape from the boulder, Mumbo bolts back to the house, but is seen by the witches. The skeletal Grunty runs after him, firing spells rapidly. Upon reaching the house, Grunty stops, charging a powerful spell. Mumbo rushes inside to warn Banjo, Kazooie and Bottles. Banjo & Kazooie see Gruntilda, and leave at once, but Bottles stays put, believing that Mumbo is trying to trick him in order to cheat in the poker.

The witch throws a deadly spell at the humble home, utterly destroying it and killing Bottles. The witch sisters leave Spiral Mountain in the Hag 1, heading for their castle. The next morning, Banjo, Kazooie and Mumbo observe the damaged state of Spiral Mountain and their house. They witness Bottles crawling out of the ruins, dying and becoming a ghost. Mumbo then decrees that Gruntilda must pay for what she has done, and encourages Banjo and Kazooie to get after her.

The duo follow the Hag 1's tracks into a cave, encountering Klungo. After defeating the dim servant, who leaves to be violently punished by Grunty, they continute following the Hag 1's trails, leading them through various areas of the Isle O' Hags, the island on which Spiral Mountain & Grunty's lair is located, and the game's hub world. They arrive in Jinjo Village, where the Hag 1 has also caused trouble, flattening the house of the grey Jinjo family (one of the ten families residing in the village), and killing them. Banjo and Kazooie continue on, to the Royal Jinjo Palace, where King Jingaling, resides. The ravaging of Hag 1 scared the jinjos off, and King Jingaling requests the duo's help in gathering them back in the village. He informs them of Master Jiggywiggy and the ancient order of the Crystal Jiggy, which is crucial to their quest. He then gives them a Jiggy to help them get started, and opens a secret passage to the Isle O' Hags. While Banjo & Kazooie stop to discuss the encounter, Gruntilda and her sisters have arrived at Cauldron Keep, their lair. Mingella and Blobbelda introduces the B.O.B., Big O' Blaster, which can suck the life force out of any living thing. They intend to store large amounts of life force in a tank, and have Grunty shower in it, restoring her old body. Grunty decides to steal King Jingaling's life-force, as he just helped Banjo and Kazooie, and decides to deal with the rest of the Isle later. A beam is fired, making Jingaling's golden palace dead as a rock, and turning Jingaling into a zombie. Grunty reassures her sisters that with Bottles dead and Jingaling zombified, Banjo has no hope of reaching Cauldron Keep in time. Banjo and Kazooie, still outside the palace, narrowly miss the beam, and realize that the situation is much more desperate then previously anticipated.

They continue to Bottle's house, where his family are waiting for him. Kazooie has no problem telling the family about Bottle's death, but Banjo convinces her not to. Using the passageway King Jingaling opened, they make their way to the Isle O' Hags.

The two soon find the (closed) entrance to the first level, Mayahem Temple, and King Jingaling's sacred temple. They learn that Jiggywiggy is a powerful sorcerer (with a Jiggy-shaped head), who will help them on their adventure (by opening worlds), but they need to gather jiggies to prove themselves worthy. With the first Jiggy at hand, they can start, and Mayahem Temple is opened.

On their journey they collect a total of 90 Jiggies, and receive help from old and new friends. They often stumble upon Mumbo's hut, where he agrees to go out and use his magic to solve puzzles and open passages for them. They also encounter Drill Sergeant Jamjars, Bottles' military brother, who agrees to teach the duo new attacks (if, of course, they can present the proper number of musical notes). They also meet Humba Wumba, a female shaman and Mumbo's arch-rival, who requests magical Glowbos in exchange for transforming Banjo and Kazooie into something else (thus taking on the role Mumbo had in Banjo-Kazooie).

Finally, the pair reaches Cauldron Keep. After facing her henchman Klungo and taking her "Tower of Tragedy" quiz (where Grunty mercilessly kills off her sisters), they hurry upstairs to reverse the effects of B.O.B., thus reviving Bottles and Jingaling. They then rush to the top of the tower and face off with Grunty in her Hag 1 machine. The duo eventually destroy the Hag 1 with the witch trapped inside as it explodes. The explosion destroys most of her weak, skeletal body, leaving her nothing more than a talking head. Banjo and Kazooie return to the Isle o' Hags to celebrate with their friends, as well as kicking around Grunty's head, much to her own disgust. She vows to have her revenge in the game's sequel, "Banjo-Threeie" (Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts).

Differences in gameplay from Banjo-Kazooie

 * 1) Enemies respawn over time.
 * 2) Banjo and Kazooie have infinite lives and no longer have to find Banjo statues.
 * 3) There are no note doors. Musical notes are used instead to learn new moves from Jamjars.
 * 4) The values of the notes are different and all notes are found in nests. The standard nest of notes has a worth of five notes and the treble clef is worth twenty. All of the notes that are collected from a level are saved, so if all one hundred are not collected upon playing a level for the first time, Banjo and Kazooie can go back and collect the ones they didn't get before without having to re-collect the ones they already collected. The same rule goes for the Jinjos.
 * 5) As the game takes place two years after Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo's voice is a little deeper, as he is older.
 * 6) Kazooie aids Banjo in his rolling attack, and thus the move cannot be performed when the two are separated.
 * 7) The Jiggies, honeycombs, and other objects do not have eyes or speak as they did in Banjo-Kazooie.
 * 8) All of the eggs and feathers are found in nests (excluding clockwork Kazooie eggs) in multiple amounts. Eggs will change to different ones so Banjo and Kazooie can collect certain ones they need. Banjo can hold Kazooie like a gun and shoot eggs in first person. They can also fly and swim in first person as well.
 * 9) Unlike Banjo-Kazooie, where you added jigsaw pieces into a puzzle by a button to open new worlds, you now have to complete a jigsaw mini-game similar to Bottles' minigame in the original game.
 * 10) Banjo and Kazooie have the entire Banjo-Kazooie moveset. Jamjars also teaches them new moves in the game.
 * 11) There is at least one move to learn in each world.
 * 12) Instead of using color-coded cauldrons to travel around the main world, the game now uses silos which all interconnect, allowing you to travel between all the silos that you have activated.
 * 13) There are Warp Pads which transport Banjo and Kazooie to key points within worlds quickly if the relevant one was activated.
 * 14) Once you beat the boss Old King Coal in Glitter Gulch Mine, you can use Chuffy the train to travel between worlds and areas on the island.
 * 15) Instead of Mumbo Tokens, Banjo and Kazooie have to collect Glowbos for transformations and for Mumbo's magic.
 * 16) Mumbo Jumbo no longer transforms Banjo and Kazooie into different forms; instead, he casts magic spells which help to solve puzzles and open new areas by using Mumbo pads. Once you have given him a Glowbo,you can take temporary control of him in order to use these pads. Instead of Mumbo transforming Banjo and Kazooie, an Native American girl named Wumba transforms them.
 * 17) All of Banjo's transformations (minus the baby T. rex) are able to defend themselves, as opposed to the ones in Kazooie.
 * 18) In each level of this game, the boss battles are more pronounced then those in the original game, Unlike in the original, all of Banjo-Tooie's boss battles have a music intro and an on-screen title. You are then locked into the area where the boss is during the fight. The battles now require more thought and take longer.
 * 19) The levels are more connected than before and the puzzles are now more interwoven, often leaving you to complete an objective in a level to get a Jiggy from another level, making it harder to clear the levels without tracking through others.
 * 20) The games graphics has greatly improved since the first game.
 * 21) *The game features greatly improved and more dynamic animations:
 * 22) * Banjo's backpack jumps up and down on his back and opens whenever Kazooie pops out.
 * 23) * Kazooie's head becomes momentarily bigger when performing attacks that involves her beak.
 * 24) * Water surfaces are animated, as opposed to the still water bodies of Banjo-Kazooie.
 * 25) * More objects in the world, such as honeycombs, have unique animations, rather than simply spinning.
 * 26) *Banjo's arm hair is no longer brighter then the rest of his hair and matches his body.
 * 27) * The game features significantly more advanced lighting and shadows than Banjo-Kazooie, including dynamic lighting which can be induced by player actions. E.g. if Kazooie shoots a fire egg in a dark space, a small area around the egg will light up, following its trail. This makes it possible to navigate pitch-black spaces without activating a light source.
 * 28) All worlds are at least twice the size the ones from Banjo-Kazooie.
 * 29) In Banjo-Tooie, the player keeps their Jiggies rather than giving them up to open new worlds.
 * 30) There are more NPCs in Banjo-Tooie, many of whom talk more than those in Banjo-Kazooie.
 * 31) When you enter an area/world, it will display name of the current location.
 * 32) All enemies have some sort of battle cry or noise upon discovering Banjo & Kazooie, altering the player that he/she is being targeted.
 * 33) Banjo and Kazooie no longer stop and show an animation when collecting a Jiggy; instead, it rotates around Banjo when grabbed, allowing the player to still move freely.
 * 34) Five Jinjos appear in each level, including the hub world. There are now nine colors, each representing a family that consists of one to nine members. Once a family is completed, the player is automatically awarded a Jiggy from the Isle O' Hags. The Jinjos replace the Witch Switch method from the first game which made Jiggies obtainable in its hub world.
 * 35) Not all enemies give you a honeycomb when you kill them. Also, the honeycombs disappear if you wait too long to collect them.
 * 36) Gruntilda no longer rhymes (except at the very beginning of the game) due to her sisters threatening to not help her get her body back unless she stops, as it annoys them. She begins rhyming again in Nuts & Bolts.
 * 37) Coincedentally, Jamjars rhymes in all of his lessons.
 * 38) Grunty's intentions seem much darker and more cruel than in the original, as she plans to suck the life out of the entire island.
 * 39) There are ten fewer Jiggies in this game, as there are only eight worlds to explore, due to the worlds being significantly larger than Banjo-Kazooie 's.
 * 40) The Jinjos now have evil counterparts known as Minjos, which look identical to regular Jinjos from a distance, but will attack when approached.
 * 41) Banjo and Kazooie can now split up by using pads. Several puzzles can only be solved with one of the two main characters. At one point, splitting Banjo and Kazooie apart is required to proceed in the game's hub world.
 * 42) Through secret means, Kazooie can be turned into a dragon.
 * 43) There are more than twice as many moves to learn as in Banjo-Kazooie, some of whom are exclusive to Banjo or Kazooie respectively, as parts of the game require them to separate.
 * 44) In order to increase their life meter, Banjo and Kazooie must turn in their empty honeycombs to the honey bee house next to the entrance of Glitter Gultch Mine instead of the life meter automatically increasing on its own as it did in the first game.
 * 45) Banjo no longer does the "claw swipe" move while the B button is being pressed. Instead, Kazooie comes out and pecks at the enemy. As a dragon, Kazooie breathes fire in place of this move.
 * 46) The image of Banjo and Kazooie in the HUD (which in Banjo-Kazooie animated as honeycombs decreased, faces going from happy to sad) is changed to a static, non-changing image.
 * 47) Dingpot no longer transports you to the final battle, instead a elevator transports you to the final battle. He does, however, appear just before the final battle, like in Banjo-Kazooie.

Main Characters

 * Banjo the Bear - The game's hero, a honey bear wearing yellow shorts and a blue backpack he is always ready for adventure and happy to help people out.
 * Kazooie the Breegull - A rude and sarcastic female red-crested breegull who resides in Banjo's backpack and helps out Banjo and others at times.
 * Gruntilda Winkybunion - The game's villain, an evil witch who wrecked Banjo and Kazooie's home and plans to suck the life out of many innocent characters.
 * Mumbo Jumbo - A shaman with magical powers, friend of Banjo and Kazooie, Mumbo helps out the duo with magic.
 * Humba Wumba - A new character introduced in the game and the rival of Mumbo, Humba helps the two by transforming them into many different forms.
 * Bottles the Mole - Friend of Banjo and Kazooie, he was killed in the start of the game by Grunty and it is the duo's job to revive him.
 * Drill Sergeant Jamjars - Military Drill Seargeant and Bottles' brother, Jamjars can teach Banjo and Kazooie new moves for the game if paid enough musical notes.
 * Klungo - Gruntilda's henchman, he assists Grunty in various things and fights the two heroes three times throughout the game.
 * Mingella Winkybunion - One of Gruntilda's sisters, she and Blobbelda built the Big-O-Blaster (B.O.B.). Joining magical forces with her sister, Blobbelda, she removed the rock under which Grunty was trapped, with the help of a spellbook.
 * Blobbelda Winkybunion - Grunty's short, "shapely" sister. Helped Mingella build the B.O.B.
 * Master Jiggywiggy - Head of an ancient order dedicated to the powers of The Crystal Jiggy. An ally of the duo, who opens new game worlds if given enough Jiggies.
 * King Jingaling - King of the Jinjos, is turned into a zombie by Gruntilda early in the game.

Worlds
There are nine worlds, one overworld/hub world, and one starter world. This comes to a total of eleven worlds in Banjo-Tooie 

Main Worlds

 * Mayahem Temple
 * Glitter Gulch Mine
 * Witchyworld
 * Jolly Roger's Lagoon
 * Terrydactyland
 * Grunty Industries
 * Hailfire Peaks
 * Cloud Cuckooland
 * Cauldron Keep

Hub World

 * Isle o' Hags

Starter World

 * Spiral Mountain

Reception
Banjo-Tooie was critically and commercially successful upon the time of its release. The scores were consistently very high, rivaling its predecessor Banjo-Kazooie. IGN praised the multiplayer system and its characters but criticized the graphics for framerate speed issues during certain points in the game.


 * GamePro - 4.5 of 5
 * GameSpot - 9.6 of 10
 * IGN - 9.4 of 10
 * Official Nintendo Magazine - 9.7 of 10
 * GameStats - 9.2 of 10
 * 1Up.com - 9.6 of 10

Banjo-Tooie was nominated for many 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 and Sciences awards.

Banjo-Tooie (Xbox Live Arcade)

 * See main article: Banjo-Tooie (Xbox Live Arcade)

On April 29, 2009, Rare released an Xbox Live Arcade version of Banjo-Tooie. Just like Banjo-Kazooie, the XBLA version of Banjo-Tooie features minor graphical refinements as well as increased screen resolution. The "original plan" of including Stop 'N' Swop was also implemented.

4J Studios, the developer that worked on the Xbox Live Arcade version of the original N64 Banjo-Kazooie game, was commissioned by Rare for the new version of Banjo-Tooie. A trailer for Banjo-Tooie was added to the Xbox Live Marketplace on April 10. The video, entitled "Happy Easter Banjo-Tooie" shows more of the game's Stop 'N' Swop features with Heggy and the eggs. It was released with gamer pictures featuring the six eggs and ice key, including three new eggs: silver, brown, and orange. On April 11, a premium theme was also released.

The game has also introduced Stop 'n' Swop II, using the N64 cartridges and other methods. It has been suggested that these are for use in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, but nothing is fully confirmed as yet.

Gallery
Banjo-Tooie