Banjo Tooie Review

9.0

Format Nintendo 64

Developer Rare

Publisher Nintendo

Genre Adventure

From the moment Mario 64 was unveiled to the world, dropping jaws and lighting eyes, one of N64's strong points has proved to be creating 3D worlds for your platforming pleasure. And if Banjo Tooie proves the last great platformer on the console, it's as good a send off as you could wish for.Grunty is back. It turns out her sisters released the old hag from under the boulder you dropped on her head in the first game. The first to feel the fatal brunt of her payback is that warbling mole Bottles, bless his sightless soul. So Banjo and Kazooie set off to bring Bottles back to life and put a stop to the rancid old witch once and for all.This is a game aimed at younger players, no doubt about it. It's all bright colours, cartoon characters and silly voices. But give it a go and you'll hardly notice the cute factor, instead finding yourself becoming a dribbling moron, cooing at the TV as the characters warble gibberish at each other in the cutscenes, and chewing your lips into a bloody pulp as you battle against the fiendish puzzles and tricky platforming sections. In terms of difficulty and playability, this is far from child's play.Now, the N64 pad may hold a place in the Guinness Book of Records for 'the controller with the most buttons', but it's still incredible that Rare has managed to cram more than 40 different moves for you to master on to that sleek piece of plastic. Before your heart starts palpitating at the thought of it, though, you'll be relieved to hear that you start only being able to pull out the same leaps and pecking attacks you could in the original game. The new moves get added as you go, taught to you by Bottles' brother Jamjar, ensuring you've always got new stuff to master and making each section of the game is different to the last.But the real fun lies in controlling other characters. Not only can your feathered friend, neatly stuffed away in the bear's backpack, fly off on his own form time to time, but a whole rogue's gallery of other controllable characters pop up along the way.Who remembers that skinless shamen Mumbo Jumbo? Well, he's been replaced by Wumba Jumba, a new character, who has taken on the mantle of turning you into things Mumbo would give his left eye socket for. Banj and Kaz get morphed into a stomping Tyrannosaur, a hunter-killer submarine and a whole host of other vehicles, creatures and utterly bizarre items in order to make progress in their quest.But Mumbo lovers don't fret - the skeletal witch doctor makes his debut as one of the playable characters, and his voodoo magic proves invaluable in your quest.Make no mistake, this is a huge game. In fact the game's nine levels are so huge and varied, it's a good job a network of warp pads has been included that let you jump from area to area once you've unlocked them. Not only is this world big, it's beautiful too. The rolling landscapes stretch off into the distance. Shadows cast from the characters stretch and warp depending on nearby light. Bizarre creatures wander about with a staggering level of animation. The N64 has been well and truly milked dry of very last ounce of processing power. And all without an Expansion Pak. The only downside of note is the occasionally annoying camera as it becomes hitched on walls, requiring you to nudge it round to an angle that suits.Multiplayer, while not a major pulling factor, is a barrel of laughs too, as you compete head-to-head in the various mini-ames you uncover during your single player adventures.

Stephen Fulljames