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jrboone2's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (360)
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| [October 19, 2009 08:13:13 AM]
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Entry 1:
SUMMARY
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is at its heart a physics based puzzle game. The other major elements consist of platforming and exploration. Through the course of the game the player collects various parts that can be used to build vehicles that allow them to complete the physics based puzzles, explore the worlds, and collect puzzle pieces. Banjo Kazooie is a humorous and "playful" game that creates an exceptional environment for players to experiment and explore.
GAMEPLAY
In the beginning of the game you are introduced back into the original world of Banjo Kazooie, from the first Nintendo 64 game, as well as their original nemesis. The game initially appears similar to the original but is quickly interrupted by a new character who throws everyone into a completely new world. Next, you are put through a few tutorial on how to move objects around in the world, how to construct simple vehicles, and how to collect puzzle pieces.
Once you are finally set free, you get to venture into the first world. When you enter a world you get to choose a vehicle that you want to use. At this point in the game, all you have is your little trolley that you constructed in the tutorial. Learning to control this trolley take some time; the physics in Banjo Kazooie's world is not quite what it is in the real world.
Throughout the world you meet various characters of which all seem to be some sort of animal. Each of these characters has some dialogue which is usually humorous or full of puns, making the interactions between Banjo, Kazooie, and other character quite enjoyable. Each world has its own little story revolving around these characters, though it is not really involved. The main story has something to be desired as well, but this is more than made up for in gameplay. The missions alone seem to add a great variety to the game in terms of the things you get to do while playing.
Entry 2:
GAMEPLAY
There hasn't been much change in game play since the last play period; however, I have gotten more into figuring out how to construct better vehicles. Building your own vehicles is quite fun and satisfying; especially when you are able to use them to efficiently complete a puzzle. At this point in the game, all I have at my disposal are "car" and structural parts. But even with these few pieces you can still create a variety of vehicles.
I have found that some things do tend to hold true when it comes to the in game physics. Building a vehicle low to the ground and somewhat wide seems to make it easy to control; however this does make it heavier reducing the speed. So as you can see there are a fair number of factors that need to be taken into account when designing your next great vehicle. I used to love playing with Legos (and probably still would), so this part of the game is extremely fun for me. You get to build a vehicle and then drive it around and use it to complete tasks.
Much of my second play through was spent experimenting with different vehicle designs to see what worked best. One of the challenging things about this was that for some of the missions, the car needed to be able to push objects effectively. Designing a well balanced car proved to be quite difficult.
DESIGN
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is hub based and can be broken up into two sections: the hub, and the various worlds attached to it. Initially you only have access to a single world. From this world you gain enough puzzle pieces in order to unlock the next world. This seems to be the overarching process throughout the game. Through the first two play throughs I was only able to reach the second world, which happens to actually only be a variation on the first. However this allowed me to become familiar with the level's layout, which seems like a good design decision. I was in no way bored with the levels.
There are many facets to the game that will keep a player interested. The most interesting are the dialogue, the creativity of the levels, and the creation of vehicles. The dialogue is funny and witty, which makes it quite entertaining. Though at first daunting; once you get the hang of it, designing vehicles, becomes a very fun and experimental process. Other than being limited to the number of pieces you can use in a vehicle, there is no other limit to what you can try. As you attempt to complete challenges, you often have to go back and revise your design so that it will be better equipped to complete the task at hand.
Banjo Kazooie has elements of both a game of progression and emergence. There are levels with challenges, and completing these challenges allows you to unlock even more. However, the way in which you solve these challenges is up to you. There are of course some physical guidelines that must be followed (you can't win using a wedge car on a pushing challenge), but other than that, it is up to you to create the solution. The story itself sets up some conflict and a reason to go through each level and its contained challenges, but what really drove me to play the game was to see what parts I would get next, and what the next greatest vehicle i could build was.
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jrboone2's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (360)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 18 October, 2009
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