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Banjo Kazooie

Rare has a knack for making great games, like the Donkey Kong series, GoldenEye 007, and if the preview pictures mean anything, Perfect Dark. So would the lineage hold up? Or would Banjo Kazooie be a major disappointment?

Story: While Banjo and Kazooie are sleeping, Tooty, Banjo’s kid sister is stolen. The witch Gruntilda wants to make herself good looking by putting Tooty in plastic surgery machine (or something like that.) Banjo, being the big bro that he is, goes off to save her in Gruntilda’s Lair.

The graphics of this game are smooth and are rendered very well—what we all have come to expect of Rare. The worlds are lush, and I will go far enough to say that they rival Mario in design. The sound is actually one song, that is played over again and again, but in different variations, depending on the world, i.e. sleigh bells are added in the snow world, and a snake charmer’s pipe under the desert’s hot sun.

The controls are rather simple, just combos of the C, B and A buttons. Once you learn all the moves, it may be hard at first to remember which buttons do what, but you master the controls easily. The moves liken some of the ones in Mario (there is a stomp move) but most of them are original, because the bird, Kazooie, is brought into the mix.

The story is kind of lame, a Snow White story, but the replayability value is high. Can you get all 100 notes? All 90 jiggy pieces? How fast can you do it? The challenge is endless. You advance in the game by opening doors if you have enough notes, and filling puzzles to open new worlds. The challenge is not very hard, but totally easy. I’ve played for about 16 hours, and I have almost 600 notes, and 63 jiggies, so I’m about 2/3 of the way there. That would equal about 24 hours at this pace. Every minute has been fun.

So is this game Rare caliber? Definitely. It is a blast, and worth the fifty bucks.

Bottles' Bonus

After Beating Treasure Trove Cove, go back to Banjo's House, outside Gruntilda's Lair. Once inside, look at the Bottles the mole picture and you will go into a secret game of put the moving puzzle pieces together. Once all the pieces are fitted, congratulations! You've just accessed the first code.

To redeem it, go to Treasure Trove Cove, drain the water around the castle, and enter. Every time you complete one of his puzzles he will give you a new code, they are as follows:

First puzzle: BOTTLESBONUSONE this gives Banjo a big head.

Second puzzle: BOTTLESBONUSTWO this gives Banjo big feet and hands.

Third puzzle: BOTTLESBONUSTHREE this gives Kazooie a big head.

Fourth puzzle: BOTTLESBONUSFOUR this gives Banjo a tall skinny body and a little head

Fifth puzzle: BOTTLESBONUSFIVE this gives Banjo a tall skinny body little head, big hands, and big feet.

Sixth puzzle: BIGBOTTLESBONUS this gives Banjo a tall skinny body, big head, big hands, big feet. (this code may also give Kazooie a big head too, I can't remember, you'll see when you try it)

Seventh puzzle: WISHYWASHYBANJO this turns Banjo into a washing machine. He still has all his abilities, he just looks different.

To cancel these codes, enter the word NOBONUS.

Bubblegloop Surprises

In Bubblegloop swamp, there is a shock jump pad that'll take you to the top of a hut. Butt-stomp this hut to reveal another jump pad. Somewhere there is a "Gruntilda Switch" that gives you a puzzle piece and blows the cone off of the little statue of Gruntilda by the note door that requires 260 notes. There is also a Jinjo in a hut and a well-hidden Mumbo Token in mid-air.

Cheato's First Spell Book

To enter Cheato's first lair, go into Bubblegloop Swamp and find Mumbo's Hut. (To find Mumbo's hut, go above the gator's head into the maze and you'll have to find his hut.) He will transform you into a gator. Now exit Bubble Gloop Swamp and go into Gruntilda's lair. Try to go BEHIND the entrance to Bubble Gloop Swamp. If you successfully go behind puzzle to Bubble Gloop Swamp, you'll find Cheato the Spell Book.

Cheato's Second Spell Book

Go to the level MAD MONSTER MANSION. Change to the pumpkin and go to the platform that BRENTILDA is on, go through the little hole and get the red spell book. Then go to the BANJOKAZOOIE puzzle in TREASURE TROVE COVE then enter REDFEATHERS to get 100 feathers and a maximum of 100.

Cheato's Third Spell Book

To find Cheato's 3rd spellbook, you have to have the water risen to the 2nd level before you can race to the lair.

Find the switch to raise the water to the third level (behind a grated pathway behind the 460 note door when the water has risen the first time.) Go through the door then immediately dive down in the water and go to the Rusty Bucket Bay area and swim to the top after coming out and look for a staircase and that will lead you to the lair.

Note: After hitting the switch to raise the water to the third level, you'll only have 30 seconds to get your furry hide to the lair.

Double Health

If you have enough notes, open the 882-Note Door, then stand on the puzzle piece platform. By completing the picture with four of your Jiggys, your Honeycomb Energy Meter will turn red. From then on, your Honeycomb Energy will be twice as strong. In essence, one red Honeycomb Energy Piece will represent two pieces on your meter, so one hit will turn a red piece yellow, and a subsequent hit will completely deplete the piece of energy.

Extra Life on Banjo's House

Get to the top of Banjo's house by doing a sommersault and then jump on top of the chimney. Jump as high as you can and touch the the golden statue of Banjo, resulting in an extra life. There's another extra life behind the waterfall.

Extra Starting Animations

When picking a game to load, press START+R+A simultaneously. If your timing was right you'll be rewarded with a humourous animation.

Funnier Game Select Animations

Want to have some fun with Banjo when you load the game? Well, here's how. Go to the Game Select area and choose your game. Now, do one of the following:

On Game 1: Watch the fish swimming around in the fish-bowl. After a while he will butt his head into the side of the bowl, causing a TOCK sound. Immediately after you hear the third TOCK sound, press A and Banjo will be thrown out the window.

On Game 2: Again, watch the fish swimming around in the fish-bowl. After a while he will butt his head into the side of the bowl, causing a TOCK sound. Immediately after you hear the third TOCK sound, press A and the wall will spin around causing Kazooie to be chucked outside.

On Game 3: You must listen for the BOING sound coming from the Gameboy. The third time you hear it, press A and a giant spring will come out from the the bottom of the chair, launching Banjo out of the house.

Getting the Ice Key We recently found a way to get the Ice Key in Wozza's Cave. If you use the following GameShark code it will definitely work.

L button for moon jump DO281251 0020 8137C4BC 43EO

Enter wozza's cave and stand below the jinjo. Press and hold the L button and move foward while floating. When you think you are over the room let go of the L button. If done correctly you will Land in the room and be able the get the key. When you get it push START and go to VIEW STARTS and push RIGHT until you get to a screen that says "Stop 'n Swop" and there you can see the key!

While you can get the Ice Key, it would actually be more trouble than it is worth. I go the Ice Key, but later in the game, when I would pick my saved game, Banjo would start off at his house, having forgotten how to climb trees, and Kazooie having forgotten her rat-a-tat rap. Although you can relearn the moves, Banjo and Kazooie will promptly forget them as soon as you go into a stage.

Infinite Air After entering CHEAT on the sandcastle floor in Treasure Trove cove, spell GIVETHEBEARLOTSOFAIR.