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| Kazooie or Tooie? Released to open arms in 1997, Banjo Kazooie -� Rare's answer to Mario 64 - became an instant classic. Gamers cried for more, and early in 2000, Banjo Tooie, the sequel to Kazooie, was released. So which game was better? Amongst its legions of fans, it's 50/50. Tooie had the technical brilliance, but Kazooie had the superb gameplay, so, which one was it? Ever since Grunty's head was kicked around for the last time at the end of Banjo Tooie, fans of the franchise have contemplated the inevitable question. The two games certainly had their strong points. Kazooie had the massive hype, which in the end meant everyone who could hold a controller knew the bear and birds name. Hyped as the Mario killer, Banjo Kazooie certainly delivered the goods. Mixing a near perfect gameplay style, and brilliant graphics for its time, Kazooie took gamers by surprise, because yes, it really was up there with Mario 64. It may have fallen just short of the immaculate title of "Beating Mario" but it came damn close. It is still among the greatest 3D platformers available, perhaps because it reinvented the thing we are now missing from the majority of next generation games, that being fun. Whether you were cussing Grunty from atop the witch's castle, or finding that elusive Jiggie hidden in the hull of a ship, you were having among the best fun in a video game for a long, long time. Rare proved that a sticky bear and a loud-mouthed bird could take centre-stage and come out with the coveted title of being a true masterpiece. �� Obviously, Rare had an arduous task when it came to developing the sequel to the hit duo of Banjo and Kazooie. Not only would they have to improve on the near perfect gameplay style, they were set the task of introducing new elements to the series to keep it fresh. Certainly not a walk in the park, but given Rare's past reputation, most had high hopes for the sequel, now known as Banjo Tooie. Released around the world in 2000, Banjo Tooie set the platforming world alight once again, simply for the fact that the general consensus was that Banjo Tooie had done the impossible, and bettered Kazooie. This fact helped Rare, as sales of the game peaked when this title was placed over Tooie. Still, there were always the sceptics, remaining stubborn that Kazooie was indeed still better. Ask a fan of the franchise what was better about each game, and the majority of them will answer the question like this: 'Kazooie had the originality, Tooie had the graphics and gameplay.' Ask those same fans what were the downfalls of each game, and after a long think, it's usually : 'Kazooie had too much collecting, Tooie's framerate was unforgivable.' Concentrating on Kazooie's downfalls is easy. It's system where the notes reset every time you loaded the level was tiresome and very unnecessary, while the occasional situations where Jiggies were left wide out in the open implied that everyone who was playing the game had the intelligence of Homer Simpson, which was certainly untrue. Infact, the kiddie image did not hamper the performance of the title at all. Harping on Tooie's downfalls is a helluva lot harder. In the gameplay department, it really did perfect the art of platform gaming. It fixed the regenerating notes problem from Kazooie, and instead of collecting musical notes 1 by 1, the notes were picked up in groups of 5, reducing the collecting elements considerably. Tooie also excelled in the areas of level design, as the worlds were a lot more fun to explore than Kazooie. Despite all these good aspects, one thing that annoyed absolutely everyone who played Tooie was its jumpy, inconsistent, and downright woeful framerate. Every time Banjo went to take out an enemy, a slight pause before contact was made hampered the overall experience. Contrary to what some say, it did have an unfortunate effect on the overall product. Perhaps this is what separates the two games, and why some remain supportive of the notion that Kazooie was better. Some may see this as a ludicrous statement how in the hell could a slight framerate problem separate a game from a group of platforming masterpieces? Sadly, some see this to be the case. When the two games are stripped down to the bone, it becomes a matter of personal choice. Can you look past framerate to see a brilliant platformer in Tooie. Or perhaps Kazooie is your choice simply because it was more fun? Whatever the case, the two Banjo games will go down in gaming history as among the best ever created. All factors layed aside, my answer to the inevitable question is.Banjo Tooie. Why, you might ask? A certain washing machine armed with a sinkload of wet undies did it for me. By Tim Schaefer |
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| - Editorial - Tim Schaefer - 5/08/02 |
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