Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge
Score: 55% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: THQ Developer: Rare Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Platformer/ Action
Graphics & Sound: The graphics are the best part of Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge. The environments are colorful and very detailed, and the character models are extremely good. They show a great deal of detail and have a humongous amount of animation. I have absolutely no complaints in that department. The sounds in the game range from really good... to alright... to horrible. The sound effects are done great, considering it’s on Game Boy Advance. The music is mediocre and sounds like any other GBA game. The voices, however, sound like the developers took a cat and scraped it against violin strings. Let me explain: when each character speaks, he or she makes a noise. The noises range from beeps to squeaks, and they are all so horrible that it gave me two options - either turn off the sound on my GBA, or hollow out my ear with a rusty spoon. I think you all can guess what I chose.
Gameplay: This game suffers from one fatal flaw: the developers tried to do everything that they had done in 3D in isometric 2D, which doesn’t work. The original Banjo-Kazooie was praised for its inventive platforming elements; but it was in 3D. The isometric 2D perspective causes many problems, like depth perception flaws (Wait, you mean I can’t jump that high?), getting stuck behind obstacles (CRAP! I’ve been behind this rock for two hours now!), and generally bad gameplay decisions. The entire game was basically cut into five different mini-games. One is the obligatory platforming ‘Look for stuff’ stage. There’s also a shooting mini-game, where you dodge incoming fire and shoot back, a sliding game where you dodge some obstacles in an attempt to hit others while sliding down slopes, a fishing game where you cast your line over and over at different strengths hoping to hit something, and finally, the ‘Boss Battles,’ which is the typical ‘dodge the boss and their blasts while the boss is invincible, wait until it’s not and then hit them’ routine. Several gimmicks are thrown in to try and differentiate from these, but they are not enough to add to the overall experience. I’m sure Rare is kicking themselves right now going, ‘OH! That’s why there weren’t any real platforming games until the advent of 3D gaming. That’s why all of the Mario games before 3D were side-scrollers! OHHHHH!’ Different forms and abilities are brought into play, but each of them always leads to one of the same five mini-games. Disappointing Rare. Shame on you!
Difficulty: The difficulty really comes from mastering the five mini-games. Once you’re done, you’ve mastered the whole game. The game can also get confusing with the whole depth perception problem. I got stuck in many a river that way. Other than that, you have unlimited continues, so there is no real challenge here.
Game Mechanics: The controls are done really well, considering the GBA’s limited amount of buttons, and the vast number of moves for Banjo and Kazooie. The L and R buttons can get awkward. In order to jump really high, you have to first duck (L) and then press the jump button (A). In order to do any other special moves, you have to do other various button combinations. These button combinations can make it seem like more of a fighting game than a platforming game. Having to remember this can make the game really tedious. You can save the game at any point and load up from any point. This is an easy way to save, and is really the best way to go for these types of games. Overall Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge is not a good purchase. Only buy it as a gift for someone you hate, or some kid that you know won’t play it, or someone who enjoys pain. A sloppy effort by Rare. Give me Donkey Kong any day.
-Vaxeks, GameVortex Communications AKA Joshua Benedetto
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