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Psychomax's Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
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| [January 14, 2008 09:06:45 PM]
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Gameplay:
What I feared for this game has come to pass: the collecting. I ended this last play session able to continue in the game, but unable mentally because there were still things to collect. This is more a fault of my play style, but it's still frustrating.
I played through Treasure Trove Cove, and after getting used to all the new moves I had to complete, went through it fairly quickly. The hippo pirate that spoke in burps was amusing, and solving the puzzle of finding his missing treasure was fun. I still haven't gotten used to swimming, and just navigating the 3D space to pick up the gold bars was a hassle. After a while I got more proficient at it, but it still wasn't enough for some more difficult puzzles in this and later levels.
After finishing the level and opening the next level, I was struck with the challenge of finding the door I opened. At first I thought it was behind another note door, and had to go back into Treasure Trove Cove in order to get more notes. Unfortunately, this wasn't the right place to go, and I explored fruitlessly and found several doors... all right out of my reach. I finally went back to earlier in the castle and discovered the correct path. Having to explore the keep itself hadn't occurred to me, and yes, it was fun.
The next level, Clanker's Cavern, was surprising in it's complexity and it's titular character, Clanker. Finding out how to get past the giant sharp-teeth frogs (and how to kill them >:D) was especially exhilarating. Clanker, the giant metal shark, was really cool, and even touched me with a bit of sympathy for his dead-end role. Unfortunately, Clanker's chamber was filled with water, and very tough to navigate. I must have gotten game overs at least 3 times in that freaking room. Clanker's chain, attached to a plug at the very bottom of his tank, took at least 2 air points to reach, and then even more to unlock. There was a friendly fish swimming around the plug dispensing air bubbles, but they were so hard to reach I'd usually miss it by a few Z-axis points, then get lost and die. After reaching game over twice, I decided to call it quits.
Design:
This game took a 3D platforming concept started by Mario 64 and gave it a few of its own twists, and the end result is an above average experience. The large moveset was fun in and of itself, and it was great to still be learning new moves a few levels into the game. I did have a bit of trouble remembering the buttons for Jump and Attack, but that's my own fault. :P
The giant castle was like a level itself, and had as many puzzles to solve as the mini-worlds. The mood and theme was varied nicely, and the castle just outside the area reflected the area itself. For instance, a beach area just outside the ocean level, and pipes and sewage just outside the sewer level. There was an area I found with a pond and moss, and although I didn't make it to the level, it's pretty easy to guess what it will be.
Its one crippling design flaw, however, is the collecting. There is so much crap to get; while on one hand it does add replay value and gives you some motivation for moving forward, on the other, it's impossible to pass up a puzzle piece just out of your reach, and forcing myself to leave it alone and move on was really tough. It was satisfying, however, to collect many musical notes at once: running through a line of notes felt like jumping into a pool of money. But after a while the thrill is lost, and is replaced with cold 100% instincts.
The other flaw is underwater control. For a game that spends so much time underwater, the camera should have been much smoother in such areas. All this isn't to say that it isn't a fun game, though. The moveset and exploration is a lot of fun, and I can say that I'll probably play it to completion when I have the chance.
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| [January 13, 2008 06:18:03 PM]
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Summary:
Banjo-Kazooie is an old-school platformer for the N64. Banjo and Kazooie, a bear and bird respectively, claw and fly their way through multiple levels to save Banjo's sister, Tootie. She is kidnapped in the opening sequence by the evil witch Gruntilda who plans to steal Tootie's cuteness for herself, leaving Tootie with her old ugliness. (A sequence you get to see if you get game over, or if you want to stop playing.) To progress through the Witch's keep, you must travel to different worlds and collect puzzle pieces, which are in turn used to open more levels.
Gameplay:
I had heard a lot about Banjo-Kazooie from friends, and my neighbor (who I borrowed the game from) told me how much fun they had with it over the years. Not one wanting to be left out, I decided to play it this weekend.
I can definitely see why it's so well liked: the characters speak in a mumble that sounds like it was stitched together, and the personalities are all unique: Kazooie is constantly rude and obnoxious to everyone they meet, Gruntilda speaks in rhyme, etc. The story is limited, but Gruntilda taunts you as you make your way through her den, and every time you turn off the game it shows her winning, to make sure you don't forget about the main task at hand.
The gameplay, almost immediately, reminded me of Mario 64. You travel to different lands from your hub in Gruntilda's keep (the paintings) and collect puzzle pieces (stars) to travel deeper into the keep and open more worlds to explore. The differences are that Banjo-Kazooie has many more moves that focus on the dynamic between Banjo and Kazooie and has some funny dialog interspersed between levels. Also, the gameplay element that may be the game's downfall, is the collecting. Dear god, there are musical notes, puzzle pieces, these colored bird things, witch doctor tokens, feathers; and each item has a set number in the level, so if you want to beat the game completely, you have to go back into levels and get every single collectible there is. This hasn't gotten annoying yet, but I can definitely see it becoming pretty irritating, as I find mass collecting a poor gameplay element.
But so far, yes, it has remained fun. Learning new moves is constantly rewarding, and their implementation entertaining. The only thing that's kind of annoying is flying and swimming, as trying to collect a single underwater puzzle piece once took me a few minutes. The level design is well thought out and (increasingly) complex, making good use of new abilities. So far I have only made it to Treasure Trove Cove, and exploring is still entertaining. One interesting addition to this level is a bear-eating shark that hangs out in the water. While this choice was probably just to keep persistent explorers from reaching the edges of the map, whenever I enter the water anywhere in the level, I get a sudden pang of fear. It's so frustrating to move underwater that I hardly get away from the shark whenever I do meet up with him. In a conversation about an innate fear of water in video games, several people mentioned this level as especially terrifying. Now I'm begining to understand why.
I'll finish when I return from my second play session. Hopefully it stays entertaining.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 20:35:23.
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Psychomax's Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 13 January, 2008
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