Banjo-Kazooie
Created | Updated Apr 7, 2004
Released for the Nintendo 64, Banjo-Kazooie is a game produced by Rare Entertainment1. As the name implies, this game features two characters known as Banjo and Kazooie who are, respectively, a honey bear and a bird known as a "breegull."
The Basic Plot
Banjo-Kazooie begins with a character named Gruntilda, one of the world's most powerful and unnatractive witches. Looking into her cauldron one day, she spies a little bear cub named Tooty who is, much to Grunty's displeasure, incredibly cute and incredibly happy. Determined to both cause misery to others and to improve her own looks, Gruntilda hops onto her broom and kidnaps the charming little bear cub! Grunty wastes no time whatsoever in tossing Tooty into a machine that, when activated, will give Gruntilda all of Tooty's good looks, and will give Tooty all of Grunty's ugly features.
The story would end there had Gruntilda's actions not been noticed by Tooty's brother, Banjo, and Banjo's long-time friend Kazooie. The two are determined break into Gruntilda's lair and rescue Tooty before the transformation can take place!
Game Play
As it turns out, getting into Gruntilda's Lair is just a minor task compared to the rest of the game, most of which revolves around making your way through the lair. Not only is the lair incredibly tall and complex, but progress through the lair is block by several doors that have been sealed with musical spells that can only be broken with musical notes.
These notes are located within the game's "worlds." Gruntilda has spent her time creating doorways to different worlds within her lair. Logically, to get the notes one has to get into the worlds. This, however, is made difficult as the world entrances have been sealed shut. The only way to unlock these worlds is to find a corresponding jigsaw puzzle2 and to complete it.
The good news is that there are ten jigsaw pieces scattered throughout Gruntilda's lair, meaning that it's still possible to get into the worlds in the game. The bad news, however, is that there are about 90 other jigsaw pieces within the worlds themselves, and to beat the game you need to find at least 96 puzzle pieces3. Banjo and Kazooie find one puzzle piece almost instantly when they walk into Gruntilda's lair, but the other 99 are ones that they'll have to work for.
The Characters
Banjo is a honey-loving bear that has a cheerful outlook on the world. He's more passive than his friend Kazooie, but is willing to fight the good fight in troubled times.
Kazooie is a red-feathered Breegull who has lived in Banjo's backpack ever since they became friends. She is much more fiesty than her counterpart, and is always willing to go looking for trouble before it can find her.
Mumbo-Jumbo is the best witch doctor in the whole game, as he says when first encountered. A former teacher of Gruntilda's, Mumbo's head was transformed into a hideous skull-shaped mask when his student turned to evil. Mumbo specializes in transformation spells, and he's more than willing to use some of them on Banjo should the need arise. For a price.
Bottles The Mole is a good friend of Tooty's, and is eager to help in her rescue. However, due to his poor eyesight and small stature, taking on Gruntilda head on isn't an option for him. Instead, he teaches new moves to Banjo and Kazooie over the course of the game, ranging from instruction on flying to methods for walking up narrow ledges to how to run really, really fast under the proper circumstances. One has to wonder how his tunnels stretch through all of these different worlds, though.
Gruntilda is the villain of the game, and she's proud of it. She wants to steal Tooty's beauty for herself, even though she knows that beauty is only skin deep. Over the course of the game, her taunts and threats echo through her lair in an attempt to get the two heroes to leave for good.
Brentilda is Grunty's sister, a fairy god-mother who is happy that someone is finally standing up to her grumpy sister. Brentilda enjoys to gossip, which is fortunate for Banjo and Kazooie. After all, you never know when knowing Gruntilda's disturbing secrets (like what she eats for breakfast or where she finds her clothes) will come in useful.
Tooty is Banjo's sister. An almost agravatingly cute bear cub, she began her day thinking that she would be having a fun adventure. As it turns out, the adventure isn't going to be so much fun, and she's not the one who's going to be having it. If Banjo and Kazooie can't save her, then Tooty will end up with Gruntilda's looks for good.
The Worlds
Mumbo's Mountain is the first world encountered, featuring (of all things) a mountain. This is also where Banjo and Kazooie first meet a character named Mumbo Jumbo who will prove to be a valuable ally over the course of the game. This is an odd world, featuring an orange-throwing gorilla, a giant termite hill, and a small village of smaller huts.
Treasure Trove Cove is located on a sandy island in the middle of an Ocean. Hidden treasure, a pirate ship, and an irritable giant-hermit crab make this a memorable location. Just watch out for the local shark, Snacker. Oh, and don't bother going to read the sign on the tiny island out in the ocean. You'll regret it.
Clanker's Cavern seems to be a part of Gruntilda's water drainage and waste removal facilities in her lair. The most noteable feature of this world is Clanker, the giant mechanical shark/whale thing that acts as Grunty's trash compactor. Fortunately for Banjo and Kazooie, he's not incredibly happy with how his life's going.
Bubblegloop Swamp is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Poisonous frogs abound, giant dragonflies try to ram you, and the water is filled with hungry fish, so keep on your toes. Keep on the lookout for the Tiptup Turtle Choir, and don't be afraid to challenge Mr. Vile the Crocodile to his game of "wumbly munching" (if you can find him).
Freezeezy Peak is a winter wonderland, watched over by a gigantic broom-toting snowman. The smaller snowmen are dangerous, though, so watch out for their snowballs. While here, you can light the peak's Christmas Tree, challenge Boggy the Polar Bear to a few races, and learn some of the finer points of Breegull flying.
Gobi's Desert is a dry stretch of land with mummies, pyramids, a sphynx, and flying scarab-beetles. To get all of the puzzle pieces, Banjo and Kazooie will have to solve many mysteries of the ancients (it seems that the "ancients" were fans of matching games, for some reason). Keep a sharp eye out for Gobi the Camel, as he'll be able to help you out a few times during your stay.
Mad Monster Mansion is everything you need for a scary movie. A decrepit mansion, a creepy church, a hedge maze, bats, ghosts, skeletons, the works! Try not to wake up Napper while exploring the main house, and keep a sharp ear out for Mozhand's melodious organ music. Maybe you can help out with his next song.
Rusty Bucket Bay is the dock where Gruntilda's set up her own ship, The Rusty Bucket. You could spend time heading through the supply sheds and warehouses on the perimeter of the level, but don't forget about the ship that takes up the majority of the middle of the world. In your quest for notes and jiggies, try to find the crew quarters, captain's quarters and main bridge (hidden fairly well). You'll have to head to the engine room to during one of the most dangerous game segments in any of the worlds. Oh, and just a reminder: oily water is more dangerous than normal water.
Click Clock Wood is the final world, though it's really divided into four sub-worlds. Banjo and Kazooie need to go back and forth through time around a gigantic tree, trying to solve all the mysteries offered by Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Explore enough, and you might run into an old friend.
The Endgame: SPOILERS
Grunty's Furnace Fun!
Well, so you've got all 100 jiggies and all 900 notes, do you? Well then, head through the note door nearest Click Clock Wood and prepare yourself for the battle over Tooty's life. Everything you've learned and practiced could potentially come into play for this next stage of the game. Grunty's secret weapon is....
Grunty's Furnace Fun! The game show sensation that tests your knowledge of the game Banjo-Kazooie more than any other! Were you paying attention? Do you remember all the names of all the characters? Can you remember all of the family secrets that Brentilda told you about Grunty? Can you recognize any of the world's based on the most obscure of pictres? Is the following sound the what you hear when you pick up an orange or an acorn? Think you can beat some of the game's bosses in really short amounts of time?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, then come on down! Gruntilda's been watching your quest very carefully, and she's pretty sure that she knows more about it than you do. If you can make it to the end of the game board, then you can save Tooty while the witch runs in terror! But if you get a single question wrong in any of the game squares, it'll cost you some energy. And a few of the squares will instantly make you plunge into the river of molten lava just feet below you!
And so you've reached the end of the game. After all, game's end when the credits end, right?
Well, no, as it turns out. Gruntilda's still in the tower, even higher up than she was before. Climb the extra stairs, open yet another note door, and complete the last necessary jigsaw puzzle to find yourself in a chamber with four more note doors and a Dingpot The Cauldron. Now, behind three of those note doors are more than enough supplies for taking on Gruntilda in the final final battle. But the real treat is behind the fourth door: the last jigsaw puzzle! It only takes four jiggies to finish this puzzle, and your reward will be a huge bonus to your life meter.
None of this is technically necessary, though. It's recommended to take all the bonuses that you can get your paws on, but if you're confident that you can take on Gruntilda without the power ups then just jump into Dingpot. He'll shoot you to the very top of the tower where Gruntilda awaits your challenge.
Gruntilda
The final showdown between good and evil will finally answer the age-old question: "In a grudge-match between a witch and an anthropomorphic bear and bird team, who would win?" Unfortunately for Banjo and Kazooie, the programmers at Rare decided to make the final challenge an incredibly difficult one.
When the match begins, it's simple enough. Gruntilda will attempt to run over Banjo and Kazooie with her broomstick. Simply dodge this until her broomstick starts to stall. That's your chance to attack! After you attack, she'll attempt to hit you with a fireball4 before starting her broom again. As soon as you hit her four times, she'll drop a unit of energy5 and attempt to blast you with a Banjo-seeking ball o' magic that is, simply put, impossible to dodge. Use an invincibility feather to survive unscathed.
Deciding to make it more difficult for you, Grunty's next tactic is to fly out of Kazooie's pecking range and just lob fireballs at you from the sky just off the tower's roof. She'll take a short break from trying to fry you every three or four blasts, and that's your chance to shoot her with eggs. Three shots and she'll move to a different side of the tower to repeat the process. Once you've hit her three times at each of those places, she'll once again drop another unit of energy for you and try to blast you with the unavoidable ball o' magic.
Sensing that a two dimensional fight simply isn't going her way, Gruntilda will take to the skies, soaring well above beak and egg range. Fortunately, a Flight Pad is made available for Kazooie during this stage of the fight. Have Kazooie nose-dive Gruntilda four times while avoiding her fireballs, and Grunty will once again drop a honeycomb piece for you.
Still not finished, Grunty will hover in place over the center of the tower and cover herself with a Kazooie-proof shield. She'll gleefully toss fireballs at you, and eventually another one of those magic balls of perfect aiming. As soon as that last ball hits you6, four Jino statues rise from the ground. The Jinos want revenge, and will fight for you if you can activate the four statues for them. All it takes to activate each statue is three eggs, but you still have to dodge Grunty's attacks while activating them, so be very, very careful. Every statue that is activated becomes a Jino that can easily fly through Grunty's shield and give her a nasty peck.7 When the last statue is activated, it'll smash into Grunty and make her drop yet another energy piece (of course), but will also destroy that broom of hers8.
Grunty is now standing at one edge of the tower with her shield still in place. By this point she's understandably a bit nervous so she throws her fireballs much more rapidly and uses her Banjo-seeking spell much more frequently. The fireballs are also aimed very well when thrown, so try to noticeably change direction when you her the fireball coming at you (invincibility feathers are still the only way to avoid the magnet spell).
After a few tense moments of fleeing for your life, a gigantic Jinjno statue will rise from the center of the tower with an activation point on each of its four sides (it also takes longer to activate these points than it took to activate any of the small Jinjo statues). At this point the game basically turns into one of being able to dodge Grunty's frequent fire blasts while still being able to aim at the activation points. It takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it it seems like a less daunting task.
With all of the activation points activated, the giant Jinjo will emerge from the statue and ram into Gruntilda until she finally falls from her perch on the tower. In a last ditch effort to kill Banjo and Kazooie, she throws a final spell. While not effective in hitting either of the two heroes, it does cause a few sizable chunks of the tower to fall with her. Thus, when she falls onto the ground from that incredible height, barely alive, she is buried by a large rock from her former fortress near the entrance to her lair in Banjo's home world. Finally, the cast list can roll and the game can be pronounced over.
1A company known for producing good games, such as the Super Nintendo's "Donkey Kong Country" and more recently the X-Box's "Grabbed By The Ghoulies."2Usually hanging on a wall much like a piece of art.3These puzzle pieces are often called "Jiggies" within the game.4Her aim is really good when you first start, and it only gets better over the course of the fight.5NEVER take the energy that she drops if you have a full lifebar. This sounds like common sense, but it's amazing what temptations will arize.6If you didn't catch it the first time, use the invincibility feathers when she throws those.7Which begs the question of just how Grunty was able to capture these things in the first place if they're so darn powerful.8Hallelujah!
