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Banjo-Tooie

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Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie U.S. N64 boxart
Developer(s)Rareware
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Gregg Mayles
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
ReleaseNovember 20, 2000
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Single player

Banjo-Tooie is the sequel to the 1998 Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie. It was released on November 1, 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It was published by Rareware and features the popular video game characters Banjo and Kazooie.

Aim

As before, the aim of the game is to collect all the Jiggies (golden jigsaw pieces) that can be found. There are ten in each level, and an additional one is awarded for finding each of the nine families of Jinjos hidden throughout the game. This, in addition to the Jiggy awarded at the very beginning by the benevolent Jingaling, king of the Jinjos, brings the total to 90.

As a platformer, the game is groundbreaking in that the levels are not stand-alone areas linked only by the overworld; on many occasions in the game the player is required to cross between the levels, or return to a level after learning a new skill in order to use it. The train stations in most levels are an integral part of this system; once the station has been opened, it is possible to move between levels on the train. This is vital to completing the game.

Stop 'n' Swop controversy

The original Banjo-Kazooie contained several areas which could be seen but not reached, containing secret and mysterious items. During Kazooie's ending, the game explained that these areas were only to be reached by completing certain tasks in the forthcoming sequel Banjo-Tooie and linking that game up with the original in some unspecified way to unlock them. After Banjo-Tooie was released however, Rare made no further mention of this link-up capability and no way to link the games was ever found; the general consensus among fans is that the feature was quietly dropped because of impracticality and was thus not implemented in the sequel. Supporting that conclusion is the fact that some of the most famous unreachable items in Kazooie reappear in Tooie in places where they can be reached through normal gameplay, appearing in special "Banjo-Kazooie Cartridges." By including these in-game "cartridges" it can technically still be argued that these secret items are in fact "coming from" the original Banjo-Kazooie game, although in quite an anti-climactic nature. The unreachable areas from Banjo-Kazooie do not appear in any form at all.

There are still a few situations in Banjo-Tooie which seem to curiously lack a purpose (such as the drunken Captain Blackeye who mopes the same few lines of dialogue over and over). Also, dedicated fans have been able to hack Banjo-Tooie with a GameShark to trigger the message "Stop 'n' Swop" (sic) to appear. It is possible that the intended link feature may have originally involved removing the Banjo-Tooie cartridge and plugging in the Banjo-Kazooie cartridge while the Nintendo 64 unit was still turned on. A website devoted to the discussion also speculated that the intended link may have actually been intended to involve Donkey Kong 64.

The areas that were unable to reach finally were revealed to be reached by using codes at the Treasure Trove Cove level to get the "easter eggs"

It is possible that a functioning link feature may still actually exist in the games, but has simply never been discovered. The amount of inconclusive fan hacking makes this seem quite unlikely, however. In a Rare Xbox game, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, the massive speculation on "Stop and Swop" was poked fun at in the form of a blackboard in one level that purports to offer a convoluted "explanation" of how the process works.

Plot

File:Banjo-Tooie N64 Screenshot2.jpg
A promotional screenshot of Banjo-Tooie.

Template:Spoiler

The game takes place two years after Gruntilda the Witch was defeated by Banjo and Kazooie. Over this time, she has been buried under a rock with her assistant, Klungo, trying to save her. On a stormy night Gruntilda's sisters appear and remove the rock. Gruntilda is now a skeleton and wants a new body. She then kills Bottles the Mole and heads off with her sisters to get her a new body using B.O.B. (Big-O-Blaster), a machine that sucks the life force out of living things.

As the game's one-player mode opens, Banjo, Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and Bottles are enjoying a game of poker in Banjo's house. But outside, the mischievous goon Klungo is helping Mingella and Blobella resurrect their witch sister, Grunty. They do succeed in reviving Grunty, although she is no more than a skeleton with witch's robes. Mumbo witnesses this ceremony, and speeds back to Banjo's house to warn his friends. The witches give chase, and Grunty hurls a deadly spell at the house. Forewarned, Banjo, Kazooie, and Mumbo get away in time, but Bottles, suspecting the claim that Grunty is back to be trick by Mumbo to win at poker, stays put and is caught in the blast. The witches speed away in their Hag 1 machine, and Banjo and Kazooie watch as Bottles wobbles out of their destroyed house and dies at their feet. Shaken, they agree that they must chase down Grunty and foil her plans once more. Mumbo informs them that he will return to his hut and prepare some magic to aid them.

Banjo and Kazooie follow the trail of the Hag 1 to Jinjo Village, which they discover to be devoid of Jinjos, with the Gray Jinjo House destroyed by the Hag 1. Confused, they approach the Jinjo King, who informs them that a kickball tournament is to start within the week, but without his Jinjo subjects, he has no team. Banjo and Kazooie agree to help find his subjects, and he consequently gives them puzzle pieces called Jiggies to help them on their journey. Shortly after their departure, we learn that Grunty's sister have created B.O.B., a tremendous machine that can suck the life force out of people and places. They decide to test it on the Jinjo king, who is instantly turned into a zombie, with his palace now an ugly grey color. Grunty eagerly states that she wishes to next zap Banjo and Kazooie and the whole island with them, but her sisters inform her that B.O.B. must first charge up.

Meanwhile, Banjo and Kazooie take a shortcut through Bottles' house to reach the Isle O' Hags, where they meet Master Jiggywiggy, a mysterious sorcerer who agrees to help them open up the worlds on the island if they present a proper amount of Jiggies and solve his puzzles. Their adventure thus begins.

On their journey they collect a total of ninety 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 open up new passageways for them. They also encounter Sergeant Jamjars, Bottles' soldier brother, who agrees to teach the duo new attacks (if, of course, they can present a proper number of Musical Notes). They also meet Humba Wumba, a female indian who requests magical Glowbos in exchange for transforming Banjo and Kazooie into something else.

Finally, the pair reaches Cauldron Keep, Grunty's castle. After facing her henchman Klungo and taking her "Tower of Terror" quiz, they hurry upstairs to reverse the effects of B.O.B., thus reviving Bottles and the Jinjo king. They then hurry up to the top of the tower and face off with Grunty in her Hag 1 machine. Once she is defeated, they return to the Isle O' Hags to celebrate with their friends, as well as kicking around Grunty's head, much to her disgust.

Strangely, Banjo's sister Tooty is neither seen nor mentioned in this game. The only time Tooty can be seen (although not in person) is when one visits the trashcan in Cloud Cuckooland. A "Have you seen me?" picture of Tooty is on the side of a milk carton. Gruntilda's "good" sister, Brentilda, is also absent from the sequel.

Main characters

  • Banjo - A loving, yet somewhat confused bear. The hero of this tale.
  • Kazooie - A loud-mouth bird. Banjo's sidekick.
  • Mumbo Jumbo - A shaman that helps the duo by performing various tasks with his magic.
  • Bottles - Banjo-Kazooie's old helper who is dead.
  • Gruntilda - A witch that vows revenge on Banjo and Kazooie.
  • Srgt. JamJars - Bottles' brother. Teaches Banjo and Kazooie new moves.
  • Humba Wumba - A Native American woman and Mumbo Jumbo's rival. Transforms Banjo and Kazooie into other forms.
  • Klungo - Gruntilda's servant.
  • Mingella - Grunty's sister.
  • Blobbelda - Grunty's sister.

Levels

Isle O' Hags is a continent that is the home of many places, including all the entrances to the levels of the game. Isle O' Hags gets its name from the evil witches that roam the area. These witches include Gruntilda Winkybunion and her two sisters Mingella and Blobbelda.

  • Mayahem Temple. An area which was probably sacred to some extinct primitive race (the level's name being a cross between "Maya" and "mayhem"). Contains Easter Island-style stone heads which shoot darts (as precursors to the boss of the level), little stone people who speak gibberish when Banjo speaks to them in his normal state, but give useful hints when he transforms into a Stony himself. The boss of the level, hidden away in a first-person shooter area, is Targitzan, the god of target-shooting, who is made up of several layers and spins around while shooting darts. A special Code Chamber is hidden away, but only the Golden Goliath (a gold statue which can be brought to life by Mumbo) can provide access (Or, if the player obtains grenade eggs later on and decides to backtrack, he/she can destroy it that way). That chamber is where players can enter cheats like Infinite Health and Air, activate the jukebox at Jolly's, and so on.
  • Glitter Gulch Mine. A stereotypical American gold mine containing a prospector fox, a mad old flying woman dressed as a canary and a trapped flying saucer. It is also, notably, the site of the first train station, where the boss, Old King Coal (a large humanoid lump of coal), must be defeated to allow the train to move between levels. Banjo can transform into a TNT detonator here, which is vital for blowing up piles of rocks, clearing entrances to new areas.
  • Witchyworld. A macabre, highly unsafe fairground endorsed by Gruntilda (this mirrors the unsafe Kremling amusement park in Rare's Donkey Kong Country 2). It is made up of three zones, the Space Zone, the Spooky Zone, and the Wild West Zone, and the main attraction, the big top, which is actually inhabited by the theme park's boss, the surreal inflatable dinosaur Mr. Patch, who must be fought in the air. Banjo can transform into a van here; the van carries money, which can be used to pay for access to rides. It is also indestructible and wins battles against enemies just by driving into them.
  • Jolly Roger's Lagoon. Composed of two very different areas, the small nautical village inhabited by the eponymous Jolly Roger (a highly camp frog who owns a pub, Jolly's) and the lagoon itself, which, thanks to Mumbo Jumbo's magic, can be explored without a danger of running out of oxygen, unlike all other underwater areas in the game. The boss is Lord Woo Fak Fak, an anglerfish who inhabits Davey Jones's Locker (in the literal sense; Davey Jones's locker is one of many lockers at the bottom of the lagoon). Banjo can transform into a submarine here, and Lord Woo Fak Fak is unique in that Banjo can fight him in his transformed state. This area, along with Mayahem Temple and Cloud Cuckooland, is unique in that it does not have a Train Station.

At Jolly's, there is a jukebox that can play music that has been heard in the entire game, but it's broken unless the player can go to the Code Chamber at Mayahem Temple and enter a cheat in to turn it on. The dark blue tracks in the jukebox have not been heard in the game file yet. Somehow, songs like Zombified Throne Room and Party At Bottles' are activated, even when the player has not yet heard them even after Jingaling is restored and the Banjo-Tooie ending is shown. However, there is one song the player can miss and is unable to hear it on the jukebox. The player must enter a Jinjo house that he or she has not rescued all the Jinjos for, thus obtaining the song Sad Jinjo House. If the player rescues all the Jinjos and has never entered an unrescued house, the player would have to start the whole game over and enter an unrescued house just to be able to listen to the song on the jukebox.

  • Terrydactyland. An area dominated by a small mountain and inhabited by dinosaurs and three tribes of cavemen: the Unga Bungas, the Oogle Boogles, and the Rocknuts. It is apparently named after Terry, a pterodactyl whose eggs have been stolen. He immediately suspects Banjo of the theft and therefore attacks him. When he is defeated, he asks Banjo to find his eggs; once the eggs have all been found and hatched, he awards another Jiggy. Interestingly, there are two possible transformations in this level: large T-rex and small T-rex. Mumbo, in a rare show of collaboration with Humba, can change the size of her wigwam to enable this dual transformation.
  • Grunty Industries. A factory, also endorsed by Grunty (hence the name). An interesting feature of the level is that the factory itself is closed to start off with, meaning that only the limited area outside the building can be explored. The solution is to open the train station, which is inside the factory but can be opened by a switch outside, and then take the train into the factory. The boss of the level is Weldar, a giant vision-impaired blowtorch who does not take kindly to trespassers. Banjo transforms into a washing machine, the main point of which is to wash employees' clothes for a reward. It can also spit out underpants as its attack. The washing machine was a trick in Banjo-Kazooie, which is rarely shown after Mumbo transforms Banjo into the machine by accident before transforming him into the proper transformation. (But the washing machine can also be accessed in Banjo-Kazooie by the cheat, "WISHYWASHYBANJO".)
  • Hailfire Peaks. An inspired take on the conventional fire/ice levels of platformers, Hailfire Peaks is made up of a glacier and a volcano in one formation. Consistent with its twin nature, the level boasts two bosses, Chilly Willy and Chilli Billi, an ice dragon and a fire dragon, respectively. Only after beating both is a Jiggy attained. It also has two train stations, but only one transformation: a snowball, which grows as it gains health and shrinks as it is injured. This level also has a cameo by Sabreman, one of Rare's other characters. Gobi arrives inside of a volcano after Banjo and Kazooie release him from Witchyworld. When the train arrives at the lava side station, the boiler is too hot to proceed to the icy side, where a Jiggy is hidden. Like in the last game, Banjo stomps on Gobi to spew water out, and this time the water cools the boiler, so the train's safe to proceed to the icy side without any danger.

Interesting Fact: A reference to the fire side of Hailfire Peaks was made by Gobi in Banjo-Kazooie (when Banjo met him at Click Clock Woods). This level was originally called "Mount Fire Eyes".

  • Cloud Cuckooland. The last normal level, and the most surreal of all. It is made up of an enormous pink mountain surrounded by floating platforms. It boasts such oddities as an enormous piece of cheese, a castle made of jelly and plants which have giant eyeballs. The transformation, the comparatively mundane bumblebee, is recycled from Banjo-Kazooie's Click Clock Wood (also the last level). Its abilities, though, have been improved. There are two Mumbo huts in this level, a red one and a blue one. In one lurks the level's boss: an evil robot impersonating Mumbo Jumbo who is named Mingy Jongo. A pool of water has a hole, and destroying the rock plugging it will fill up a bone-dry pool in Terrydactyland, and thus earns Banjo a Jiggy from Terrydactyland.
  • Cauldron Keep. Grunty's hideout is the game's final level, though not a bona fide level like the others, as Jiggies and other items, Mumbo Jumbo, Humba Wumba, and Sgt. Jamjars are all absent. After the player faces off one last time with Klungo, they must survive Grunty's Tower of Terror quiz, which is similar to Grunty's Furnace Fun in Banjo-Kazooie. After that, a cut- scene shows Banjo and Kazooie reversing B.O.B.'s effects to bring King Jingaling and Bottles back to life, followed by a showdown on the roof with Gruntilda in her Hag 1 machine. Interestingly, there is a continuity error involved: the B.O.B. only absorbed Jingaling's life force, yet the heroes are able to resurrect both Jingaling and Bottles. Additionally, although Banjo and Kazooie never ascend any stairs (in fact, they come down a large flight when entering the gun room), they nonetheless emerge at the top of the tower, high above where they entered.

As of now, Gruntilda is reduced to nothing but a mere skull with a missing eyeball. She says that she'll return in Banjo-Threeie, but not for the Nintendo 64.

Cameos

  • Mr. Pants appears on a TV screen in Hailfire Peaks, and in a constellation in Witchyworld's Dogdem Dome arena.
  • The pufferfish enemy in Jolly Roger's Lagoon is identical to the Puftup enemy from Donkey Kong 64. The only difference is the Banjo-Tooie version is reddish, and the Donkey Kong 64 version is purple.
  • The large safe from the original Banjo-Kazooie appears once again and can actually be opened.
  • Inside Bottles' house, there are two posters showing Juno and Vela from Jet Force Gemini.
  • Mario was mentioned in a dialog when Kazooie talked to Loggo, a toilet bowl in the men's bathroom.
  • Sabre Man makes an appearance on the icy side of Hailfire Peaks. He is found frozen and must be revived by Mumbo Jumbo. After that, he asks to be warmed up and brought back to his tent on the lava side of Hailfire Peaks. He rewards Banjo and Kazooie with a jiggy for their efforts. He also mentions Sabrewolf, another Rare character.

Banjo-Threeie

As the end of the game, Grunty's head makes a comment about getting revenge in Banjo-Threeie. So far no news about this game has been announced and after Rare was sold to Microsoft, some people wonder if such a game will ever exist. Nintendo Power Volume 151 stated that no such game exists and any rumors or theories about it were false.

Rareware, which was purchased from Nintendo by Microsoft in 2002 to make games for Microsoft Game Studios, has since admitted it is developing another follow-up in the Banjo-Kazooie series for the Xbox 360.

Some may note that the URL www.banjo-threeie.com links to Rareware's home page.

There is a third Banjo-Kazooie game for the Game Boy Advance titled Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, although in chronological order, it is the second game in the series.

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