![Banjo-Kazooie [Model NUS-NBKE-USA] screenshot](images/game/57594_1.png "Banjo-Kazooie [Model NUS-NBKE-USA]")
Banjo-Kazooie © 1998 Nintendo.
What are you supposed to think about a game that stars a big, goofy honey bear named Banjo who wears tight yellow shorts and carries around a raucous, red-crested breegull in his bright blue backpack? Sounds like a puzzling combination, right? Amazingly, the creative and kooky folks at Rare made all the pieces fit in Banjo-Kazooie, Rare's 3D prequel to Banjo-Tooie.
The action starts when wicked witchy-poo Gruntilda nabs Banjo's cute kid sister, Tooty, to use as a test subject for her beauty-stealing invention. Banjo sets out immediately to the rescue with his inseparable companion Kazooie stashed in his backpack. The bear-and-bird duo must use constant teamwork to overcome the many obstacles in Gruntilda's cavernous lair. Banjo's brute strength comes in handy in beating up on foes, while Kazooie's locomotive versatility enables the pair to scour the world in search of the necessary pieces to solve the puzzles of the place. And if controlling a bizarre bear-bird pair isn't enough, players can seek out witch doctor Mumbo Jumbo to undergo a variety of magical transformations. Banjo and Kazooie can learn more than 20 different moves, and they'll need them all to make it through the nine nightmarish worlds inside Gruntilda's Lair.
Cartridge ID: NUS-NBKE-USA
Released on May 31, 1998 in North America.
Banjo-Kazooie started development on the SNES and was titled 'Project Dream'. The game was going to be an RPG, and the main character would have been a young man named Edison who had caused trouble with a group of pirates lead by a man named Captain Blackeye.
A poster of the beta design of Berri from Conker's Twelve Tales can be found in Rusty Bucket Bay.
An image of Donkey Kong appeared in the prototype build, but was replaced with an image of Banjo's sister, Tooty, in the final build.
There's an unused firefly sprite on the game's code which appears similar to the Beehive's Bee sprite which even uses the same wings. It's possible this was intended to be used for the world Mad Monster Mansion, the only level set during night.
Napper the Ghost and Clanker's voices are both Banjo's voice but slowed down and lowered respectively. This was done due to not enough memory space on the cartridge to add additional voices.
Grant Kirkhope, the composer of the game, provided the voice of the pots in Mad Monster Mansion that say 'Thank You' when the player deposits an egg in them. According to Kirkhope, he had to redo the line several times because Nintendo thought he was saying 'Fuck You'.
The music played inside the Ant Hill of Mumbo's Mountain is a slowed down version of what was originally intended to be the world's main theme. The original theme was partially inspired by the Baby Elephant Walk tune from the film 'Hatari!'.
The theme that was used for the world Treasure Trove Cove was also the second version that the game's composer, Grant Kirkhope, had written due to the change of the game from 'Project Dream' to 'Banjo-Kazooie'.
The xylophone that Mumbo plays in the intro is the same xylophone that appears in Candy Kong's Music Shop in Donkey Kong 64.
Known export releases:
[AU] "Banjo-Kazooie [Model NUS-NBKP-AUS]"
[EU] "Banjo-Kazooie [Model NUS-NBKP-EUR]"
[UK] "Banjo-Kazooie [Model NUS-NBKP-UKV]"
[JP] Banjo to Kazooie no Daibouken [Model NUS-NBKJ-JPN]
