Banjo Kazooie... When I first played this game, it was over my cousins house. I'm sorry to say this, but I spent most of my time with this game rather then with my cousin.
Now why would I do that? Because it is an excellent title. I'll start off by telling you what gets your gaming fire into action. You play as Banjo, a bear, and Kazooie, the smart talking red bird in his backpack. The two are on a quest to thwart the evil witch Gruntilda, who has kidnapped Banjo's younger sister and plans on stealing her good looks (Gruntilda herself is what we call a two-bagger. She should wear two paper bags, on the off chance that one rips).
So the story won't win any awards, and isn't the driving force behind this game. What is, and what you will be doing 98% of the time, is collecting items to help you progress through Gruntilda's lair, which is a large area that acts as a hub to the various worlds. The things you collect will range from musical notes, (There are 100 in each world) which will open note doors throughout the lair if you have enough, giving you acess to new areas; golden jigsaw pieces, or Jiggies, which are placed in various half-completed pitures that, when completed, open a new world within the lair; jinjos, 5 small colored things in each level that, when all five are collected, give you a jiggie; etc.
Needless to say you will be doing a lot of collecting. But the good news is that, unlikeother games, these items aren't tedious and boring to collect. I actually ENJOYED collecting every single note and jiggie in the game. Also, you will learn new moves along the way, which will help you do new things and reach new areas to, of course, get more jiggies.
The levels you will go through are diverse, antertaining, and memorable. These range from deserts to snow covered mountains along side a 100 ft tall snowman to an area themed around a haunted house. As are the characters you will meet. Mumbo Jumbo, a witch doctor located in some levels and in the Lair, can turn Banjo and Kazooie into various things for the right number of Mumbo Tokens, be it a Crocodile, Pumpkin, or T-Rex (The last being a funny mess up on Mumbo's part). Gruntilda herself is pretty funny, mainly because everything she says ryhmes, and rather badly.
The graphics in this game are quite good, at least for an N64 game. The worlds and characters are colorful and pleasent to view, and the camera makes traversing the world and the platforming relatively painless.
The sound is also very good, with tunes that fit each world and will stick in your head for years to come.
In the end, Banjo-Kazooie is an exemplary action/adventure game, one which any fan of the genre should check out.
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