In honour of the looming Christmas holidays let’s look at at Banjo-Kazooie, a game which features a festive themed area, complete with 100 metre tall fir tree and sentient presents. The game follows the quest of a bear (Banjo) and a bird (Kazooie) to rescue Banjo’s sister from the rhyme-obsessed witch Gruntilda. It’s a charming platforming adventure filled with truly terrible puns and diverse levels, from a Halloween haunted house to a tropical pirate cove. These areas are filled with the sort of cheesy, themed, upbeat music you’d expect. It’s funny in the way a Christmas cracker joke is funny, and the whole game unashamedly embraces the atmosphere of childish fun. It’s only really let down by the relatively poor controls, especially in the infuriating water levels which every old game seems to feel are mandatory.
Overall its an great experience that holds up surprisingly well, especially as part of the recently remastered Rare Replay collection.