Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Encyclopedia
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is an action-adventure
/vehicle construction
/platformer
video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was first announced at the X06 Media Briefing
. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is the third installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series and takes place eight years after Banjo-Tooie
. It is also the first game in the series released for a console unaffiliated with Nintendo
, as it is exclusively available only for the Xbox 360
. The game was released in 2008. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the US. The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits
" status, which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release. The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
.
L.O.G. transports the other characters to Showdown Town, his headquarters, and starts the contest. The winner would be set to own Spiral Mountain; the loser must endure eternal hardship at L.O.G.'s video game factory. While Banjo and Kazooie seek to win by completing the challenges, Gruntilda uses her powers and abilities to try to stop the duo. An army of mechanical Gruntbots also assist the witch in her goal. The game ends with Gruntilda and Banjo attempting to face a final duel when L.O.G. once again comes in to stop them. After L.O.G. sends Gruntilda off to toil away at his video game factory, he rewards Banjo and Kazooie by restoring their moves and giving them the deeds to Spiral Mountain. Gruntilda vows that bringing her to the factory was a mistake and that she will make her own video game.
Various abilities from Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge are unavailable in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. This approach was first mentioned in the December 20 of Rare's Scribes column, which stated, "Banjo and Kazooie haven't got many of the abilities that they used in previous games". The ability introduced in Banjo-Tooie to split up Banjo and Kazooie as separate playable characters is unavailable in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. A previous Scribes mentioned that they "thought about using two different controllers" to account for the new abilities and all the old moves as well, but that a simpler system had been used for the game. It was eventually revealed that the approach involves using vehicles instead of the previous attack moves.
The in-game explanation is that the older abilities were forgotten by the duo; the cinematic sequences in the game show that Banjo and Kazooie lost most of their abilities when they became fat and lazy during their eight years of inactivity. When the Lord of Games sets up the rules for the contest, he refuses to restore Banjo and Kazooie's moves on the grounds that they won't need them. They are given back in the ending sequence, but can't be used in the game.
The player can disembark from a vehicle and explore the environment in a manner similar to that of the previous games. On foot the duo can grab ledges, swim underwater and perform basic jumps. The wrench can also be used as a weapon outside of the vehicle. Banjo and Kazooie have limited attack power and speed on foot at first, but the duo can upgrade their speed, stamina and strength by visiting a local Gym that Boggy earned from Mr. Fit.
to compete in online races and activities. One of the game modes is a variant of King of the Hill
called "Queen of The Knoll". Another is "Sumo", where two players have to knock each other out of the arena.
.
The center of the town houses the Lord of Game's factory, which dispenses "game globes" whenever a certain Jiggy total is reached. Placing the globes onto special stands activates the game's levels. Each level features a set of "acts", which are accessed by specific act doors in Showdown Town. The doors are initially closed and marked by the number of Jiggies required to open them. This method is similar to the note door and Jiggy system in the original Banjo-Kazooie
, as well as the Jiggy system in Banjo-Tooie
; each act door requires more Jiggies than the last. Each Jiggy extracted from the levels appears in "Jig-o-Vend" collection units scattered around Showdown Town. The player must vend the Jiggies and physically carry them over to the central "Jiggy Bank" device to affect the total of Jiggies. The town's police force attempts to stop the player from putting the Jiggies in the bank. If the police are successful, the player has to vend those Jiggies again.
Two images were leaked on May 11, 2008, showing Banjo piloting and driving two mechanical vehicles: a plane and a boat. They also show an artificially created level called Nutty Acres. A sign above Banjo's plane has a drawn picture of Mumbo with a coconut and a metal nut for eyes. A castle-like structure, a cityscape, and a desert beach were also revealed among the set of screenshots. A "volcano with double entendres" and an area with "inflatable sheep and polystyrene buildings" had also been mentioned by Rare. The game consists of 15 different challenges throughout each of the levels, including bonus challenges in Showdown Town for a total of approximately 150 missions. The game was to feature six worlds, but only five exist in the final version. All of the levels are purposefully designed to look artificial and appear to be inside a dome. The walls of the dome change to match the theme of each level. The levels each have their own opening sequences, which parody classic TV shows and play out like opening credits.
It was reported early in development that some of old levels in the previous Banjo-Kazooie games would be remade in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Mayles also said "There will be some levels remade, but not the way you would expect them".
Spiral Mountain, as shown in the teaser trailer, was the first returning level revealed. It makes its fifth appearance in the Banjo-Kazooie series, including Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
and Banjo-Pilot
. It is where the game begins, but is also the sixth and final world. In the teaser trailer, Spiral Mountain is more cartoon-like than the previous games, and has different things added, such as more hills and areas. In the December 20 edition of Scribes a reply stated that the music in Spiral Mountain would be upbeat, like that in Banjo-Kazooie
. Although Gruntilda does not appear in the trailer, Gruntilda's Lair can be seen past a slight fog in the distance. The moat around Spiral Mountain seems to have disappeared. Also there is no bridge connecting from the mountain to Gruntilda's Lair. However, it is revealed in the trailer that Spiral Mountain is a flat image painted onto a wooden set. In the August 30 edition of Scribes, a reply stated that "We've just copied the old level from the previous games and tried to tart it up a bit with some lens flares and lots of blowing grass, hopefully you won't notice."
That edition of Scribes announced that Mad Monster Mansion would return. They also announced the return of Clanker, Mr. Patch, Weldar and the snowman from Freezeezy Peak, which led to the belief that the original levels these characters inhabited would return in some form. It was later revealed that some classic characters like Mr. Patch would be involved in new levels like Nutty Acres, while other characters and elements, such as the snowman, appear in a game world called BanjoLand that is an amalgamation of previous levels in the Banjo-Kazooie series. BanjoLand also features the Rusty Bucket ship of Rusty Bucket Bay.
The development team has stated that in tradition with previous games in the series, Nuts & Bolts would end with a trivia quiz.
."
The game was absent from the E3 2007 show floor. However, Peter Moore, the former Senior Vice President of IEB at Microsoft, stated in an interview that they could have shown games such as Banjo-Kazooie but they decided to focus more on games being released in 2007. Moore stated, however, that it would be included in next year's E3 line-up, implying that the game would be released in the third or fourth quarter of 2008. Phil Spencer wanted to reassure gamers that Banjo's Xbox 360 debut is very much in the right hands. He revealed: "Team sizes are so different now and we have more animators now than the full Banjo 1 team, but the key core team is really the same."
Rare announced in an edition of their website's email-answering column, "Scribes", that they would release trailers and game screenshots when they feel the time is right. The August 30 edition of Scribes at the Rareware website announced that Banjo and Kazooie would both speak in the "gibberish" language the original games have been known for. The announcement stated "You'll be pleased to know that we have gone for the 'last-gen' option – no fancy speech for us!" As of October 17, 2007, the game is still in designing stages.
A podcast of 1UP Yours from the website 1UP.com
stated that "A big Microsoft first-party title that has been in the works for a very long time, that people are very excited for, sounds like it's being canceled." This led to the belief that Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was the canceled title. However, Rare later announced that it had not been canceled. As of December 30, 2007, the game "is more than halfway done."
On February 11, 2008 in an interview with MTV.com's MTV Multiplayer blog, head of Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim said "I’m super-excited about what they’re doing with ‘Banjo’. I think ‘Banjo’ is going to be a big hit for us this holiday". On February 12, 2008 Microsoft UK revealed to ComputerAndVideoGames.com
that the game is "still on target" for a 2008 release. According to Rare's community manager George Kelion, posting on NeoGaf, "The game is scheduled for a holiday 2008 release - barring the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, you should be playing Banjo 3 before the end of the year (providing you buy the game, that is)." Kelion went on to state that Banjo's creator, Gregg Mayles, is the lead designer on the game, and sought to calm the fear that it's going to be one for the kids. "I can assure you that we haven't been focused on four year-olds when creating the new Banjo game," he wrote. "We hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised with what we've cooked up." On October 29, a demo version of the game was released through Xbox Live Marketplace. The development team consists of many Rare people that have previously worked on the Banjo-Kazooie series, including designers Gregg Mayles and Steve Malpass
.
The team stated that they had attempted to make a straightforward sequel to Banjo-Tooie, but felt it was a "stale" method. While the game was in early development, Mayles hinted at the new direction:
Furthermore in a recent interview former Rare musician Grant Kirkhope stated the game was initially a straight platformer that would heavily feature locations from the past games and that's where the idea to re-use the themes from the levels in the new soundtrack came from.
, "[…]I'm going to say nothing yet again, although we are considering revealing the truth somewhere in the third game, as some kind of anniversary treat." Similarly, Chris Sutherland commented, "For reasons I can't explain I doubt if all the details could ever be revealed on this, but in the meantime I guess you'll have to wait for the Xbox 360 game to see…" Rare later announced that the original Banjo-Kazooie
would be released through the Xbox Live Arcade
and feature Stop 'N' Swop connectivity with Nuts & Bolts.
In the demo version of Nuts & Bolts Bottles offers a "Stop 'N' Swop Truth" for 6000 music notes. The Rare Witch Project extracted the demo's text string, which revealed that when Bottles is paid 6000 notes he says "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, and we couldn't show that in a game with this rating. Put it out of your mind and think happy thoughts! Thanks for the notes!" The ice key can be seen inside a small alcove in BanjoLand. A picture of Banjo holding the pink egg can also be seen in the level, as well as a yellow egg marking on a rock wall. The level also features large fake Stop 'N' Swop eggs that contain inactive cube-shaped robots.
It was eventually revealed that the eggs and key in the XBLA Banjo-Kazooie unlock novelty vehicle parts in Nuts & Bolts. An indentation in the shape of the ice key and drawings of the eggs appear in Showdown Town. When a Stop 'N' Swop item is collected in Banjo-Kazooie, a corresponding crate appears at the indentation and drawings. Banjo and Kazooie can take the crates to Mumbo to get the special vehicle parts.
, which was released online in September 2006, introduced Banjo and Kazooie with their new looks, trying to get past a mysterious door. The trailer concludes showing a wall that says "Banjo is back!" The teaser trailer features many gameplay elements that were used in the previous games such as Jigsaw pieces, musical notes, and honeycomb pieces. Although Gruntilda does not appear in the trailer her lair can be seen past a slight fog. Also the moat around Spiral Mountain seems to have disappeared.
Rare released a Christmas
card on their website. A lot can be seen in the picture, such as Grunty's portrait on the wall, Banjo holding a crown or a Christmas ornament of some sort, Kazooie holding a wrapped item later revealed to be a magic wrench, a Small Ammo vehicle part, several Burger King
toys for Viva Piñata
, and a stocking that says "KI
3". Another piñata can be seen wearing a wireless headset. The portrait of Gruntilda points to the fireplace containing her burning head.
In late March 2008, Rare updated Banjo-Kazooie.com to a Silverlight-based page showing a spinning golden Jigsaw piece reflecting both a render of Banjo and the words "Coming Soon!" On March 20, Rare changed the image of Banjo to a silhouette of both Banjo and Kazooie. Rare stated that the site would be updated with new information "relatively soon". "I really wouldn't base your ultimate judgements of the final Banjo model from what you've glimpsed on the teaser site if I were you," warned Kelion. "All shall be revealed in due course, not that long to wait now." Rare also stated that the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts teaser site is not a hoax.
On May 11, 2008, supposed screenshots of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts were released. Two days later the screenshots were later confirmed to be real by Rare and feature gameplay as well as character designs. The name of the game and some other details were also revealed.
On October 29, 2008, a demo version of the game was released through Xbox Live Marketplace that includes a portion of Showdown Town and BanjoLand. The player has the ability to create vehicles, but not to paint them. Additionally, the demo allows for online play with pre-made or player-generated vehicles. Rare also held a pre-order promotion: by pre-ordering a copy of Nuts & Bolts, the purchasers would get a code card that allowed them to download the original Banjo-Kazooie from the Xbox Live Arcade free of charge.
On March 6, 2009, Rare posted a news item on their official website discussing downloadable content
to be added to Nuts & Bolts, titled "L.O.G.'s Lost Challenges." The expansion was further detailed in a trailer released by Rare. It includes 6 new challenges, a new arena, more Klungo-related content, seven multiplayer modes and new achievements.
, Grant Kirkhope
and Dave Clynick. The soundtrack is orchestrated, following in suit to Viva Piñata
and Kameo: Elements of Power
, and features both new arrangements of existing music from the series, and new pieces. The guitar version of the Banjo-Kazooie theme featured in Nuts & Bolts was first heard in Kameo.
Rare announced that the game's soundtrack would be released on Amazon.com
on June 30, 2009. The soundtrack was released by the label Sumthing Else, which also released the soundtracks for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero.
The music heard on Banjo's radio in the intro is from Conker's Bad Fur Day
. It can be heard in various areas of Bad Fur Day and its remake Conker: Live and Reloaded.
Some critics pointed out that the game's text is difficult to read without a high definition setup. Rare has since released an update to fix this issue as well as newer copies of the game that already have this problem dealt with.
Other less favorable opinions included that of Andrew Reiner of Game Informer
, who wrote that in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, protagonists "Banjo and Kazooie, who are introduced as lazy, out-of-work, pizza-guzzling fatsos, are also thrown under the bus as archaic characters that no one could possibly love." Ben Reeves of the publication also added, "Banjo and Kazooie weren't even considered relevant icons 10 years ago, so I don't know how much enthusiasm there is for resurrecting this series."
Despite positive reviews, fan reception was mixed, with the main criticism being the focus on vehicles rather than platforming abilities. Gametrailers put it at #9 on their top 10 list of the worst sequels
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the US. The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits
" status, which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release. The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
/vehicle construction
Construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation is a type of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding...
/platformer
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was first announced at the X06 Media Briefing
X (Xbox show)
X is an annually held trade show hosted by Microsoft, showcasing its Xbox - and more recently, Games for Windows - portfolio of hardware, software, and services. The X show has been held every year since 2001 in diverse European cities...
. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is the third installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series and takes place eight years after Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a platform and action-adventure hybrid video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a part of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The game is the successor to Banjo-Kazooie and was one of the most anticipated sequels for the Nintendo 64.The game's story...
. It is also the first game in the series released for a console unaffiliated with Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, as it is exclusively available only for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. The game was released in 2008. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the US. The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits is a term used to refer to a line of select Xbox games that were considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units on the platform in the nine months after release, and have dropped in price from their original MSRP to a newer, lower price, generally that of US$19.99, although...
" status, which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release. The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
Quintessence Editions Ltd.
Quintessence Editions Ltd. is a publishing company based in London which is the originator of the "1001 Before You Die" series. Typically, the titles in this series are intended as reference books. They are illustrated books authored by multiple contributors...
.
Plot
The game takes place following the conclusion of Banjo-Tooie, in which Gruntilda's body is destroyed by Banjo and Kazooie. Eight years have passed since Gruntilda's defeat. While Banjo and Kazooie are eating pizza, playing video games and listening to the radio, they discover Gruntilda's detached head returning to Spiral Mountain. They are about to fight when they are stopped by Lord of Games (L.O.G.). He attempts to settle the conflict between the two by devising a series of worlds and challenges. He uses his powers to give Gruntilda an artificial body and to restore the duo's physical fitness, but not their moves from previous games.L.O.G. transports the other characters to Showdown Town, his headquarters, and starts the contest. The winner would be set to own Spiral Mountain; the loser must endure eternal hardship at L.O.G.'s video game factory. While Banjo and Kazooie seek to win by completing the challenges, Gruntilda uses her powers and abilities to try to stop the duo. An army of mechanical Gruntbots also assist the witch in her goal. The game ends with Gruntilda and Banjo attempting to face a final duel when L.O.G. once again comes in to stop them. After L.O.G. sends Gruntilda off to toil away at his video game factory, he rewards Banjo and Kazooie by restoring their moves and giving them the deeds to Spiral Mountain. Gruntilda vows that bringing her to the factory was a mistake and that she will make her own video game.
Gameplay
The game is much less of a third-person action and platform game than most of the previous entries in the series, as it primarily uses vehicles to transport Banjo and Kazooie around the 6 different worlds. According to game director Gregg Mayles, about 20 percent of the game retains traditional platforming elements, which include ledge grabbing and tightrope walking, while the remaining 80 percent of Nuts & Bolts involves the use of vehicles. There are, however, no conventional "moves" for Banjo and Kazooie to use, apart from attacks Kazooie performs with her wrench.Vehicles
Vehicles play a prominent role in the game, replacing the moves and transformations from the other games. The vehicles can be built freely by the player from over 1,600 different components available, such as body panels, engines, wheels, wings, propellers, fuel and weapons. The physics engine allows the vehicles to behave in relation to how they are built, although the sense of weight is somewhat exaggerated. Mumbo's Motors is where vehicles can be constructed, painted, edited, saved, loaded or tested at the "Test-o-Track" area. Humba Wumba also sells vehicle parts and blueprints of preset vehicles that become available for sale whenever a certain Jiggy total is reached.Items
The original teaser trailer showed several gameplay elements from the previous games that are included in the game, including music notes, honeycombs, and jigsaw puzzle pieces ("Jiggies"). The Jiggies are among several golden objects that are collected to progress in the Banjo-Kazooie games and are once again used in Nuts & Bolts. In an edition of Scribes, Rare said that "the player will determine the difficulty level by how they approach the Jiggy tasks", hinting at what the game would offer. It was eventually revealed that the challenge level of the tasks depends on which vehicle is chosen. The Jiggies are obtained by completing these challenges rather than collected as in previous games. Musical notes can be collected in Banjo-Kazooie in large amounts to unlock note doors, and were used in "Banjo-Tooie" and "Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge" to unlock new moves for Banjo and Kazooie. For Nuts & Bolts the notes are used as currency to buy parts and blueprints for vehicles. These notes can be won as the basic prize for completing each game world challenge. They are also scattered throughout the worlds and are offered as a prize in challenges at Showdown Town. A new item, tentatively called "Mumbo's magic wrench" was also revealed. It plays a significant role, as it is used to build and move objects via a yellow beam fired from the device. It is also used by Kazooie as a primary weapon for on-foot gameplay, and to lift items through use of telekinesis. Honeycombs, however, cannot be collected to increase health and only appear as inert objects in a final challenge at Spiral Mountain. Health is represented by a singular honeycomb that gradually drains to reflect the character's condition and regenerates over time. If the honeycomb is completely emptied during a challenge game, the challenge is forfeited.Abilities
The in-game explanation is that the older abilities were forgotten by the duo; the cinematic sequences in the game show that Banjo and Kazooie lost most of their abilities when they became fat and lazy during their eight years of inactivity. When the Lord of Games sets up the rules for the contest, he refuses to restore Banjo and Kazooie's moves on the grounds that they won't need them. They are given back in the ending sequence, but can't be used in the game.
The player can disembark from a vehicle and explore the environment in a manner similar to that of the previous games. On foot the duo can grab ledges, swim underwater and perform basic jumps. The wrench can also be used as a weapon outside of the vehicle. Banjo and Kazooie have limited attack power and speed on foot at first, but the duo can upgrade their speed, stamina and strength by visiting a local Gym that Boggy earned from Mr. Fit.
Multiplayer
The idea of multiplayer options was first discussed at the Rare Witch Project, where Mayles said that there would be multiplayer capability in the game unlike that found in Banjo-Tooie. It was later revealed that multiplayer would be purely vehicle-based and that players would be able to take their custom-built vehicles to Xbox LiveXbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
to compete in online races and activities. One of the game modes is a variant of King of the Hill
King of the Hill (game)
King of the Hill , is a children's game, the object of which is to stay on top of a large hill or pile as the "King of the Hill"...
called "Queen of The Knoll". Another is "Sumo", where two players have to knock each other out of the arena.
New hub world
On December 31, 2007, Gregg Mayles said, when asked whether there would be a new hub world, "YES - You've seen Grunty's Lair and Isle o' Hags, now get ready for "Conflagration Violent" (work this out and you'll have the answer to one of richjonny's questions)". richjohnny is a poster on the Rare Witch Project who posted nine questions to Mayles. On May 13, 2008, it was announced by Rare that Showdown Town would be the new hub world for Nuts & Bolts. The "Conflagration Violent" comment made in Scribes is an anagram of "Confrontation Village", which is a synonym for Showdown Town. It is reportedly 16 times larger than any other single area that Rare has created. Showdown Town was designed by Steve MalpassSteve Malpass
Steve Malpass is a former designer and voice actor who has worked for Rare Ltd from 1997 to 2009. He also worked for HAL Laboratory....
.
The center of the town houses the Lord of Game's factory, which dispenses "game globes" whenever a certain Jiggy total is reached. Placing the globes onto special stands activates the game's levels. Each level features a set of "acts", which are accessed by specific act doors in Showdown Town. The doors are initially closed and marked by the number of Jiggies required to open them. This method is similar to the note door and Jiggy system in the original Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
, as well as the Jiggy system in Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a platform and action-adventure hybrid video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a part of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The game is the successor to Banjo-Kazooie and was one of the most anticipated sequels for the Nintendo 64.The game's story...
; each act door requires more Jiggies than the last. Each Jiggy extracted from the levels appears in "Jig-o-Vend" collection units scattered around Showdown Town. The player must vend the Jiggies and physically carry them over to the central "Jiggy Bank" device to affect the total of Jiggies. The town's police force attempts to stop the player from putting the Jiggies in the bank. If the police are successful, the player has to vend those Jiggies again.
New levels
Returning levels
Spiral Mountain, as shown in the teaser trailer, was the first returning level revealed. It makes its fifth appearance in the Banjo-Kazooie series, including Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge is a 2003 handheld action-adventure video game for the Game Boy Advance developed by Rare and published by THQ. It is the third installment in the Banjo-Kazooie series and the second sequel to Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64.Grunty's Revenge is a interquel, taking...
and Banjo-Pilot
Banjo-Pilot
Banjo-Pilot received mixed reviews. IGN gave it an 8, praising it as the second-best GBA racer. It received three out of five stars from GameSpy, who said it "wasn't worth the near half-decade wait." Generally, those who praised the game did so for its addictive multiplayer mode and large replay...
. It is where the game begins, but is also the sixth and final world. In the teaser trailer, Spiral Mountain is more cartoon-like than the previous games, and has different things added, such as more hills and areas. In the December 20 edition of Scribes a reply stated that the music in Spiral Mountain would be upbeat, like that in Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
. Although Gruntilda does not appear in the trailer, Gruntilda's Lair can be seen past a slight fog in the distance. The moat around Spiral Mountain seems to have disappeared. Also there is no bridge connecting from the mountain to Gruntilda's Lair. However, it is revealed in the trailer that Spiral Mountain is a flat image painted onto a wooden set. In the August 30 edition of Scribes, a reply stated that "We've just copied the old level from the previous games and tried to tart it up a bit with some lens flares and lots of blowing grass, hopefully you won't notice."
That edition of Scribes announced that Mad Monster Mansion would return. They also announced the return of Clanker, Mr. Patch, Weldar and the snowman from Freezeezy Peak, which led to the belief that the original levels these characters inhabited would return in some form. It was later revealed that some classic characters like Mr. Patch would be involved in new levels like Nutty Acres, while other characters and elements, such as the snowman, appear in a game world called BanjoLand that is an amalgamation of previous levels in the Banjo-Kazooie series. BanjoLand also features the Rusty Bucket ship of Rusty Bucket Bay.
The development team has stated that in tradition with previous games in the series, Nuts & Bolts would end with a trivia quiz.
Development
Originally Rare had hinted at their intention of making a third Banjo-Kazooie game, referred to in the ending of Banjo-Tooie through character dialogue as Banjo-Threeie. Eurogamer magazine stated that the original team from the earlier Banjo-Kazooie games would be working on the new game. In a video interview, concept artist Ryan Stevenson said, "It's still gonna be the same characters, and it's still gonna be the same thing. It was just so many years ago that Banjo was around and we've got a lot of technology and a lot of new things to pour into that world. It's a game for all the people that appreciated the game years ago, and also for new people coming to the 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
."
The game was absent from the E3 2007 show floor. However, Peter Moore, the former Senior Vice President of IEB at Microsoft, stated in an interview that they could have shown games such as Banjo-Kazooie but they decided to focus more on games being released in 2007. Moore stated, however, that it would be included in next year's E3 line-up, implying that the game would be released in the third or fourth quarter of 2008. Phil Spencer wanted to reassure gamers that Banjo's Xbox 360 debut is very much in the right hands. He revealed: "Team sizes are so different now and we have more animators now than the full Banjo 1 team, but the key core team is really the same."
Rare announced in an edition of their website's email-answering column, "Scribes", that they would release trailers and game screenshots when they feel the time is right. The August 30 edition of Scribes at the Rareware website announced that Banjo and Kazooie would both speak in the "gibberish" language the original games have been known for. The announcement stated "You'll be pleased to know that we have gone for the 'last-gen' option – no fancy speech for us!" As of October 17, 2007, the game is still in designing stages.
A podcast of 1UP Yours from the website 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
stated that "A big Microsoft first-party title that has been in the works for a very long time, that people are very excited for, sounds like it's being canceled." This led to the belief that Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was the canceled title. However, Rare later announced that it had not been canceled. As of December 30, 2007, the game "is more than halfway done."
On February 11, 2008 in an interview with MTV.com's MTV Multiplayer blog, head of Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim said "I’m super-excited about what they’re doing with ‘Banjo’. I think ‘Banjo’ is going to be a big hit for us this holiday". On February 12, 2008 Microsoft UK revealed to ComputerAndVideoGames.com
ComputerAndVideoGames.com
ComputerAndVideoGames.com is the web-based successor to Computer and Video Games magazine, the world's oldest specialist gaming publication.- History :Launched in August 1999, CVG is one of the UK and Europe’s leading gaming web sites...
that the game is "still on target" for a 2008 release. According to Rare's community manager George Kelion, posting on NeoGaf, "The game is scheduled for a holiday 2008 release - barring the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, you should be playing Banjo 3 before the end of the year (providing you buy the game, that is)." Kelion went on to state that Banjo's creator, Gregg Mayles, is the lead designer on the game, and sought to calm the fear that it's going to be one for the kids. "I can assure you that we haven't been focused on four year-olds when creating the new Banjo game," he wrote. "We hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised with what we've cooked up." On October 29, a demo version of the game was released through Xbox Live Marketplace. The development team consists of many Rare people that have previously worked on the Banjo-Kazooie series, including designers Gregg Mayles and Steve Malpass
Steve Malpass
Steve Malpass is a former designer and voice actor who has worked for Rare Ltd from 1997 to 2009. He also worked for HAL Laboratory....
.
Initial concepts
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was Rare's third idea in their plans to create a sequel to Banjo-Tooie. In an interview with Gregg Mayles, he said that the first idea was to create a remake of Banjo-Kazooie that would purport to be a direct port, but would feature extreme changes unexpectedly. For example, a massive queen termite would emerge from the termite hill in Mumbo's Mountain, causing Banjo to have to get oranges for Conga to throw at it. The second concept involved more traditional platforming, but with Gruntilda trying to follow Banjo and Kazooie around every world and replicating their moves in an effort to better them. The working title for the vehicle idea was Banjo-Buildie, but Mayles stated that it was too similar to the previous titles to have an impact.The team stated that they had attempted to make a straightforward sequel to Banjo-Tooie, but felt it was a "stale" method. While the game was in early development, Mayles hinted at the new direction:
Furthermore in a recent interview former Rare musician Grant Kirkhope stated the game was initially a straight platformer that would heavily feature locations from the past games and that's where the idea to re-use the themes from the levels in the new soundtrack came from.
Stop 'N' Swop
On the subject of the notorious Stop 'N' Swop feature from the original game, Gregg Mayles said in a 2007 interview with Retro GamerRetro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
, "[…]I'm going to say nothing yet again, although we are considering revealing the truth somewhere in the third game, as some kind of anniversary treat." Similarly, Chris Sutherland commented, "For reasons I can't explain I doubt if all the details could ever be revealed on this, but in the meantime I guess you'll have to wait for the Xbox 360 game to see…" Rare later announced that the original Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
would be released through the Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and feature Stop 'N' Swop connectivity with Nuts & Bolts.
In the demo version of Nuts & Bolts Bottles offers a "Stop 'N' Swop Truth" for 6000 music notes. The Rare Witch Project extracted the demo's text string, which revealed that when Bottles is paid 6000 notes he says "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, and we couldn't show that in a game with this rating. Put it out of your mind and think happy thoughts! Thanks for the notes!" The ice key can be seen inside a small alcove in BanjoLand. A picture of Banjo holding the pink egg can also be seen in the level, as well as a yellow egg marking on a rock wall. The level also features large fake Stop 'N' Swop eggs that contain inactive cube-shaped robots.
It was eventually revealed that the eggs and key in the XBLA Banjo-Kazooie unlock novelty vehicle parts in Nuts & Bolts. An indentation in the shape of the ice key and drawings of the eggs appear in Showdown Town. When a Stop 'N' Swop item is collected in Banjo-Kazooie, a corresponding crate appears at the indentation and drawings. Banjo and Kazooie can take the crates to Mumbo to get the special vehicle parts.
Web-related promotion
The Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts teaser trailerTeaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
, which was released online in September 2006, introduced Banjo and Kazooie with their new looks, trying to get past a mysterious door. The trailer concludes showing a wall that says "Banjo is back!" The teaser trailer features many gameplay elements that were used in the previous games such as Jigsaw pieces, musical notes, and honeycomb pieces. Although Gruntilda does not appear in the trailer her lair can be seen past a slight fog. Also the moat around Spiral Mountain seems to have disappeared.
Rare released a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
card on their website. A lot can be seen in the picture, such as Grunty's portrait on the wall, Banjo holding a crown or a Christmas ornament of some sort, Kazooie holding a wrapped item later revealed to be a magic wrench, a Small Ammo vehicle part, several Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
toys for Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata is a life simulation game developed by Rare, for the Xbox 360 video game console. The project was headed by Gregg Mayles and the team behind the Banjo-Kazooie series, based on an idea from Tim Stamper. Although rumors of the title circulated among fans for some time, Viva Piñata was...
, and a stocking that says "KI
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch...
3". Another piñata can be seen wearing a wireless headset. The portrait of Gruntilda points to the fireplace containing her burning head.
In late March 2008, Rare updated Banjo-Kazooie.com to a Silverlight-based page showing a spinning golden Jigsaw piece reflecting both a render of Banjo and the words "Coming Soon!" On March 20, Rare changed the image of Banjo to a silhouette of both Banjo and Kazooie. Rare stated that the site would be updated with new information "relatively soon". "I really wouldn't base your ultimate judgements of the final Banjo model from what you've glimpsed on the teaser site if I were you," warned Kelion. "All shall be revealed in due course, not that long to wait now." Rare also stated that the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts teaser site is not a hoax.
On May 11, 2008, supposed screenshots of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts were released. Two days later the screenshots were later confirmed to be real by Rare and feature gameplay as well as character designs. The name of the game and some other details were also revealed.
On October 29, 2008, a demo version of the game was released through Xbox Live Marketplace that includes a portion of Showdown Town and BanjoLand. The player has the ability to create vehicles, but not to paint them. Additionally, the demo allows for online play with pre-made or player-generated vehicles. Rare also held a pre-order promotion: by pre-ordering a copy of Nuts & Bolts, the purchasers would get a code card that allowed them to download the original Banjo-Kazooie from the Xbox Live Arcade free of charge.
On March 6, 2009, Rare posted a news item on their official website discussing downloadable content
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
to be added to Nuts & Bolts, titled "L.O.G.'s Lost Challenges." The expansion was further detailed in a trailer released by Rare. It includes 6 new challenges, a new arena, more Klungo-related content, seven multiplayer modes and new achievements.
Music
The music is composed by Robin BeanlandRobin Beanland
Robin Beanland , sometimes credited as R. Beanland or simply "The Bean", is a British video game music composer for numerous Rare titles, such as the Killer Instinct franchise, Conker's Bad Fur Day , and many others...
, Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope is a British video game music composer, known for writing the soundtracks for numerous games by Rare, such as Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64.-Biography:...
and Dave Clynick. The soundtrack is orchestrated, following in suit to Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata is a life simulation game developed by Rare, for the Xbox 360 video game console. The project was headed by Gregg Mayles and the team behind the Banjo-Kazooie series, based on an idea from Tim Stamper. Although rumors of the title circulated among fans for some time, Viva Piñata was...
and Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure video game developed by Rare. Under development for 4 years, the game was released as a launch title for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console in late 2005.- Plot :...
, and features both new arrangements of existing music from the series, and new pieces. The guitar version of the Banjo-Kazooie theme featured in Nuts & Bolts was first heard in Kameo.
Rare announced that the game's soundtrack would be released on Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
on June 30, 2009. The soundtrack was released by the label Sumthing Else, which also released the soundtracks for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero.
The music heard on Banjo's radio in the intro is from Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker's Bad Fur Day is an action-platform video game developed and published by Rare. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2001 and was Rare's last game published for the console. The game was in development for four years; it was originally intended for a young audience, but was redesigned and...
. It can be heard in various areas of Bad Fur Day and its remake Conker: Live and Reloaded.
Reception
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts received generally positive to mixed reviews. IGN gave the game a score of 8.3/10, calling it well designed and full of replay value; the publication, however, went on to say that the online multiplayer seemed promising during development but did not deliver the experience they were looking for. IGN UK gave the game a 6.5, and Wired rated it 5/10, claiming the game should have stuck to its platforming roots. GameTrailers scored the game a 6.7/10, commenting on the lack of conventional platforming in the game and expressing that the vehicle creation tool would be too complicated for kids. The same website also criticized the game's lack of mission variety but praised its graphics and visual presentation. GiantBomb scored Nuts & Bolts a perfect 5 out of 5, praising its "enormous, well-rendered environments" and "classic Banjo themes" orchestrated in the musical score. GiantBomb later announced Nuts & Bolts as their pick for the best Xbox 360-exclusive game of the year.Some critics pointed out that the game's text is difficult to read without a high definition setup. Rare has since released an update to fix this issue as well as newer copies of the game that already have this problem dealt with.
Other less favorable opinions included that of Andrew Reiner of Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, who wrote that in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, protagonists "Banjo and Kazooie, who are introduced as lazy, out-of-work, pizza-guzzling fatsos, are also thrown under the bus as archaic characters that no one could possibly love." Ben Reeves of the publication also added, "Banjo and Kazooie weren't even considered relevant icons 10 years ago, so I don't know how much enthusiasm there is for resurrecting this series."
Despite positive reviews, fan reception was mixed, with the main criticism being the focus on vehicles rather than platforming abilities. Gametrailers put it at #9 on their top 10 list of the worst sequels
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sold a total of 140,000 units by the end of 2008 in the US. The game has also achieved "Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits is a term used to refer to a line of select Xbox games that were considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units on the platform in the nine months after release, and have dropped in price from their original MSRP to a newer, lower price, generally that of US$19.99, although...
" status, which means it sold at least 400,000 units during its first nine months of release. The game also surpassed 100,000 units in the United Kingdom.