Extra Life

Extra Lives, also known as Golden Banjos,[1] are a recurring object in the Banjo-Kazooie series.

“Look out for me, I'm an extra life!”
Extra Life, Banjo-Kazooie

Location and usesEdit

Extra Lives are statuettes of Banjo and items that provide an extra life to Banjo and Kazooie, as directly stated by their name.

Banjo-KazooieEdit

In Banjo-Kazooie, Extra Lives appear in every level, including both the Spiral Mountain and Gruntilda's Lair hub worlds, and there are a total of 49 Extra Lives. Each level features either two or three Extra Lives, although in the final level, Click Clock Wood, the Extra Lives are relocated based on the current season. Extra Lives most often appear in well-hidden or hard-to-reach areas. When Banjo and Kazooie obtain an Extra Life, it is added to their health bar, where a number represents their current number of lives. If Banjo and Kazooie exit then later re-enter a level, the Extra Lives return to their original locations, if the duo have obtained any.

By default, Banjo and Kazooie start out with four extra lives. Their current number of extra lives is displayed from the health bar, next to an icon of their heads. The counter is only represented by one-digit numbers, therefore only counting up to ten. However, Banjo and Kazooie can exceed this number and obtain ten or more extra lives; if they lose a life, the game internally subtracts from their total number of lives, and the counter remains at ten. If Banjo and Kazooie lose their tenth extra life, the lives counter goes down to nine, and so forth. If the player resets the game, Banjo and Kazooie's lives are reset back to four.

In subsequent games of the Banjo-Kazooie series, starting with Banjo-Tooie, the lives system was removed. To reflect this change, the lives counter was removed from the health bar.

AreasEdit

Spiral Mountain
  • Above Banjo's house
  • Behind the waterfall
Mumbo's Mountain
  • Inside a hut
  • On top of Ticker's Tower
Treasure Trove Cove
  • Over a small pond, almost near the orange Jinjo
  • Underwater, almost near the spiral tower
  • Near Sharkfood Island
Clanker's Cavern
  • Near the orange Jinjo
  • Near Clanker's left fin
  • The last alcove on the left, to the right of Clanker
Bubblegloop Swamp
  • Above the egg
  • Near the huts
  • Crocodile Banjo can win three Extra Lives from winning against Mr. Vile in a minigame challenge, with one per win.
Freezeezy Peak
  • On Mumbo's Hut
  • Behind the Extra Honeycomb Piece, inside Wozza's Cave
  • Behind the finish line
Gobi's Valley
  • Behind Jinxy
  • On top of the water pyramid
  • Inside the labyrinth
Mad Monster Mansion
  • Behind the organ's pipes
  • Above Napper's table
  • In the room behind the stained glass
Rusty Bucket Bay
  • Boom boxes' container.
  • In the Storage hut, near Snacker's area
  • In the engine room
Click Clock Wood
Spring
  • Branches over Mumbo
  • On the stump island
  • In the top room
  • In the top room
Summer
  • A corner near the flower
  • In the shed
  • In the top room
Autumn
  • Gnawty's fireplace
  • Snarebear near the Shed
  • In the top room
Winter
  • Under Sir Slush, near Nabnut
  • Under the ice
Gruntilda's Lair
  • Near Click Clock Wood's picture
  • Bubblegloop Swamp's entrance, near Brentilda
  • On the hat, near Freezeezy Peak's entrance
  • Behind Mumbo's Hut, near Mad Monster Mansion's entrance.
  • Near Mad Monster Mansion's picture; in order to reach the Extra Life, the water level must be at "2"
  • Over Click Clock Wood's entrance
  • Three Extra Lives are won during Grunty's Furnace Fun
  • Near the second yellow cauldron

Nuts & BoltsEdit

 
Banjo posing next to the Extra Life statue in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, a massive Extra Life statue appears as a Jinjo Fetch item in Act 6 of LOGBOX 720, where it belongs to a Yellow Jinjo. The Extra Life statue retains its physique, although it was changed to be twice Banjo's height, and the bottom trophy base was removed.

The Extra Life statue is on a ledge in the console's upper portion, which Banjo can only reach by using a plane vehicle. After returning the Extra Life, Banjo and Kazooie are rewarded with a Jinjo Token.

Super Smash Bros. UltimateEdit

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, on the Spiral Mountain stage, an Extra Life can be found on top of Banjo's House and behind the waterfall, just like in the original Banjo-Kazooie.

ReferencesEdit

  1. Banjo-Kazooie: The Official Player's Guide, page 16