Video Game Review
Banjo-Kazooie
Nintendo 64
1998
Developer: Rareware
Publisher: Nintendo

When the Nintendo 64 launched, they set the bar of 3D platformers way too high. Super Mario 64 was available from day one and it set everyone’s imagination on fire on the possibilities within a truly 3D landscape. After Mario though, there was a bunch of garbage. Players may have been dreaming up innovation but developers were perplexed on how to move platformers into the 3D dimension. Many were poor copycats of Mario while others were simply gimped copycats of Mario. Then Rare decided to make a game like Mario but bigger and have much more to do. Banjo-Kazooie is one of the biggest adventure games on the Nintendo 64. Sometimes bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better and for a lot that Banjo-Kazooie has going for it, it misses the boat on plenty as well.

The story plays out sort of like every Nintendo adventure game: the hero must save someone who was kidnapped by an evil figure. Banjo and Kazooie are the heroes, Tooty (Banjo’s sister) is the damsel in distress) and Grunty the witch is the evildoer. Banjo and Kazooie head to Grunty’s castle to save Tooty and must traverse through different environments to find items that will unlock paths leading deeper into the castle.

Puzzle pieces are collected after completeing a particular task and accumulating enough will open a new level. Musical notes collected in a level will allow for new paths to be opened in the castle. The last major item to collect in each level are Jinjos. Collecting all five Jinjos will give you a puzzle piece.

The Nintendo 64 controller was built with Mario 64 in mind and Banjo-Kazooie is similar to Mario 64, the controls benefit greatly due to controller. The analog stick moves Banjo around. The A button makes Banjo jump and the B button makes Banjo attack. The C buttons control the camera. As you progress through the game, you learn new techniques which require you to press multiple button combinations at the same time. This is way easier than it sounds and controlling Banjo and Kazooie becomes second nature. The moves are fun too (beak stomping enemies never gets old). The controls feel so natural that you forget that you have a controller in your hands until they cramp up due to the poor ergonomic design of the unit.

This leads to our first problem though; the controls aren’t as responsive as they should be. More than often there is a slight delay after inputting a command. This is more noticeable in the later stages of the game due to the precision needed to complete some tasks. The camera doesn’t help matters as it sometimes has a mind of its own. If this game is supposed to mimic a lot from Mario 64’s design, it doesn’t make sense that they went backwards in controls and camera design. These problems don’t make the game unplayable but they do lead to some frustrating moments.

The game shines on the overall design. The levels are huge worlds with plenty to explore and discover. There are plenty of little things that the game does that you wouldn’t normally expect a game to allow. If you see a window, you probably can break it. Granted, you see that more and more in games nowadays but for the time period, it was innovative. It’s little things like that which make Banjo-Kazooie so much fun. It forces you to explore every little nook and cranny of a level. The levels are so large that some take well over half an hour to complete.

While the game is fun for it’s enormous size, it can also lead to some “controller-throwing” moments. The overworld hub is so large that its easy to get lost and not know where to proceed next. Since the overworld only serves as a way to go from level to level, there’s no reason it needs to be so large or tiresome. Also, the game doesn’t give you much of an option when it comes to saving. If you leave a level, it will only save the amount of puzzle pieces you have found. Note and Jinjo totals are reset back to zero. The problem with this is that some levels are so large, this requires at times an investment of an hour of playing the game to accomplish without stopping. Don’t even think about losing a life because your note totals will reset if you lose a life. Losing a life more than once when you’re a few notes short of completion on a stage will definitely make you want to go nuts.

At least the game is pretty. It does well in areas where the Nintendo 64 normally fails. The game is plenty colourful; levels are not limited to millions of varieties of a limited palette of colours. All the colours can be represented in a level without limitation. The textures can look rather good most of the time. There’s the odd texture that may look blurry or disjointed but overall it looks really good. You’re in for a treat if you make your way to the top of a level’s area (if one is available) where you get to see some of the most impressive vistas in the 64-bit era. Standing on the top of a mountain and looking down gives the sense on just how big and grand the levels are.

There are some graphical issues though. Texture blurring has also been mentioned but a much bigger problem is the draw distance. This problem is unique in that while most N64 games has trouble rendering images beyond a certain point in some instances (which is usually corrected by fogging the area so the distortions can’t be seen), Banjo-Kazooie has viewable area within a vast distance but the objects in those area cannot be seen or are in the wrong place. This means that if you are looking down and towards a distant valley, you may not see anything in terms of items or enemies or you might but they could be displayed in the wrong position relative to their actual position. This happens a bit during the game when you’re trying to collect notes in areas where they are not. One level notorious for this is the level “Clanker’s Cavern” where there are notes that appear as if they are underwater when in fact they are actually on a ledge high above the water. Luckily, these draw distance issues don’t handicap the player’s experience by causing dire problems but they are a source of aggravation. It makes an otherwise fantastic feast for the eyes less enjoyable.

Banjo-Kazooie is a lot of fun if you can get past the glitches in the game. It’s too bad that that Rare didn’t spend more time working the bugs out of the game because this game had so much potential. It’s a good game but it stumbles under the weight of its own ambitious goals. It tried to take over from what Mario 64 started but in the end it dropped the ball.

☆☆☆☆

Not every quality gaming experience comes from a full retail-sized video game these days. The new surprising breed of gameplay fun can actually come from a downloaded smaller and less expensive bite-sized game from Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), Playstation 3’s Playstation Network (PSN), or Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.

While we enjoy these downloadable games from all consoles (Flower is an amazing concept!), we will be looking at our staff’s most loved XBLA games. See if you agree with us, or if you have your own favourites and comment at the bottom of the article.

OXCGN’s Most Loved

Darkmurder

Geometry Wars 2: What’s not to love about seizure-causing graphics, awesome soundtrack and addictive gameplay? I could play this game forever and never get bored with it!

Braid: This game should have been simply titled Awesome- the graphics were so detailed and lovingly created that it was a feast for your eyes and lets not forget the bloody brilliant gameplay mechanics that were incorporated. This much quality from an XBLA game!

Shadow Wave

Braid: The sound track, the artwork, the story and the gameplay all compliment each other in such a way that just makes Braid a joy to play. While it may be on the short side, the game will be remembered for a long time as the most unique XBLA game to date.

Castle Crashers: This game is great fun solo or online with buddies (although it can be a huge downer if you both want to play as the same guy). It’s full of humour for all ages, and generally provides some highly addictive fun that will last many, many hours. Definitely worth the money.

Banjo Kazooie: The N64 classic plays and looks the best on XBLA. It’s a great way for fans to re-experience the classic game, but also lets the next generation of kids experience one of the definitive adventure games to date.

Axis of Reality

Shadow Complex: It’s always a good day when you wake up to a Live Arcade game with production values as high as a top retail game at a fifth the price. Shadow Complex shows the potential for highly polished games that are right at home in the current generation to live in Live Arcade instead of just streams of old ports.

Geometry Wars Series: What Live Arcade list would be complete without it? Geometry Wars is attributed with prompting services like Live Arcade after it appeared in Project Gotham Racing 2 and was an instant hit. Small games for even smaller prices?

Who wouldn’t like that? And we all have Geometry Wars to thank for pushing Microsoft to create a service that I can’t believe I lived without last generation.

Halfbrick Rocket Racing / Echoes / Raskulls: From a studio that was known for licensed handheld games to suddenly break out with some of the best games on Live all at once is a massive achievement. Halfbrick Rocket Racing, Halfbrick Echoes and Raskulls are all amazing independent games that demonstrate small studios don’t have to live under the boots of a big publisher but can free their creativity and experiment with innovative new gameplay concepts on their own with Live Arcade and use the earnings that go directly back to them to make even more.

Sutton Dagger

Braid: Without a doubt, Braid is my favourite XBLA game. Essentially a puzzle platformer, Braid weaves the tale of a flawed man trying to find his ‘princess’, into mind bending puzzle elements based around the manipulation of time. Though some may argue a it’s a short game, the experience you’re rewarded with is priceless.

Banjo Koozie and Tooie: They are another great addition to the XBLA lineup. Classic Nintendo 64 platformers given the HD treatment and missing interconnectivity, what more could you want. This bear and bird duo still have the classic charm we all remember, these two games are a must have for gamers who want to experience the nostalgia of the ‘good old days’ and new players alike.

dkpatriarch

Carcassonne: Having played this tile strategy game in its original corporeal form I was excited to discover that it translated perfectly to video game format on XBLA. It now does the math for you so players can’t argue over how much grass it takes to be able to link up built castles and therefore get more points. Well worth the play and can be very addictive multiplayer game for even casual gamer types.

Zuma: Okay this one is old and relatively simple by XBLA standards these days, but it still is a classic. I hated Tetris and don’t like Bejewelled or other repetitive shape games but this one got me quite addicted for longer than most. Challenging without being too frustratingly so, it really was a clever idea.

Age Of Booty: Everybody loves pirates- well except the game, music and film makers who don’t like the kind that find ways of getting their products for free, and except the cruise passengers off the coast of Africa who see modern pirates in mini-boats waving RPGs at them- but everybody loves the mythical eccentric Johnny Depp-like pirate and pirate ships of legend!

This game is my pick because it is great for the family. Unlike most the bigger releases these days, Age Of Booty allows multiple players on one console and one screen. You all are seeking to battle it out with other ships and conquer fort towns to collect booty and resources to upgrade your ship. Capture enough fort towns on a map, and you win. Even better, the game features a rudimentary map editor so you can construct your own ‘high seas’ to battle on.

GrathiusXR

Shadow Complex: For the price of 1200 MSP and the final Arcade released in this year’s Winter Of Arcade for Australia/Summer of Arcade For America, Shadow Complex takes a twist in the 2D platforming genre and adds a unique 3d perspective to it.

Whilst controls may be a bit annoying at first once coming to grips with them and finding new weapons and power ups the game shows itself at its best. With multiple ways to complete the game on each play through with either being able to finish it in under 2 hour or over 10 hours it’s a gem of an arcade game that not only rivals some full retail games in graphics but also replayability.

Battlefield: 1943: Another gem of a game that goes for only 1200 MSP takes what we all loved about BF: 1943 and makes it better. Now whilst it may be missing the Medic class which many so love to play as it still did offer a heap of fun and value for your points.

Its graphics, again like Shadow Complex, rivals many full retail games and its multiplayer triumphs over many games that struggle to keep a room of 8 people lag free. It was a multiplayer only games that had much to offer and now still keeps on giving.

Please share us around

‘The year 1999, seventh month,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror.
To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.’
~ Nostradamus, 17th Century

When the year 1999 is mentioned, what do you remember about it most? Who topped the music charts? (He really did!) Where you were when the clock struck 12? Scary predictions? The Millennium Bug? Planes falling out of the sky? Your microwave not working in the morning? The end of the world? Or just where you were going to get your next pint from amidst huge queues in a packed venue?

At an age of naive adolescence (13 years old), I have to admit that it was a scary time, personally. As the latter parts of the year drew closer, I stopped using the word ‘end’ in fear that it’d encourage the demise of our planet and felt a constant gloomy atmosphere and tension, as if a Satanic hawk was circling its futile prey, armed and ready to pounce. Reading the above Nostradamus quatrain in TV Quick did not do me any favours either (which now eerily resembles the September 11th atrocities in 2001. Not far off, was he?), to which I remember consulting my brother in panic that eternal death was imminent. In retrospect, my outrageous fears and thoughts were entirely unrealistic and, well, nuts. As soon as the clock hit 12am on New Year’s Eve at my cousins’ (champagne in hand), I fully expected the ground to start shaking, an eternal solar eclipse leaving the world in a perpetual darkness , and Mr. Death to come knocking for us.

Alas, we’re all still here, Death and his three mates didn’t call, planes didn’t fall out of the sky and, thankfully, the microwave survived. Chicago Town pizza consumption would continue well into the next decade without a hitch! Phew.

Rewind slightly more to July 1999 (was Nostradmus simply predicting a videogame, afterall?), and it’s no wonder I was soiling myself. Little more than a month prior, the now defunct Acclaim Teesside had finished polishing up and dusting off their monster apocalyptic action/adventure game ShadowMan, which was none too hesitant in cashing in on the End Of All-Things. Not only did the chaps in Middlesbrough conjure up a sprawling world of prophetic suffering that fools such as myself were fearing, buyers had little more than four months in which to complete it before discovering their Millennium fate. A harsh move by the publishers, given that the game was reported to take around 50-70 hours to complete!

To put into an industry context, ShadowMan was often unfairly compared with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, which needs no introduction unless you’ve been sucking bacteria off rocks in a cave for the last 14 years. Touted as the ‘Dark Zelda’ by N64 Magazine and probably everyone else, the prolific-at-the-time Acclaim were under substantial pressure to deliver, what with titles such as Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, Banjo-Kazooie, Tomb Raider and, er, Sonic Adventure leading the way in the relatively new 3D free-roaming, adventure genre. Having reportedly been in developement for as long as Ocarina of Time, it ought to have been at least ‘good’ for it to justify the care and attention it received from its fathers. And, much like Shigeru Miyamoto and co’s aforementioned pixie-infested masterpiece, it also ought to be just as playable now as it was then.

Unfortunately for the Nintendo 64 version, and no doubt the God-awful PlayStation attempt (read: not ‘version’. It was virtually unplayable, bless), time has not been on ShadowMan’s side. The acceptable jerky framerates and muddy textures of the yesteryear just can’t be tolerated any more, much to my disappointment.* And the less said about highly temperamental third party N64 Memory Paks, the better. Nevertheless, the Dreamcast version still holds up remarkably well, erasing memories of a framerate dodgier than David James and graphics that looked almost as bad as Birmingham’s bus station. Through an RGB cable on a 26″ Samsung LCD TV, it looks exactly how my rosy, fuzz-infected memory serves me, which was not only a relief but also led to a (very) minor celebratory air-punch that getting a Dreamcast and spending extra on the cable wasn’t such a waste of time after all.

Highway to Hell. Praying in that distant church won't help a jot, sorry

Right, the game itself then. If you know what it’s about, feel free to skip the next paragraph; if not, read on:

Mere mortal Mike LeRoi nicked $20k from a bunch of gangsters ‘unknowingly’ (it was left in the back of a taxi), they got angry and shot up his parents and younger brother Luke. Randomly (the explanation is more than sketchy), a half dead LeRoi somehow gets roped into an apocalyptic scenario in which voodoo maestro Mama Nettie insists that it’s up to him to save the world from certain death after having a bad post-sex dream (a rare occurrence, so it must have been serious!). Nettie reports that five invulnerable-to-Liveside blokes are on the rampage, out to deal evil Legion’s dastardly plan of worldwide destruction, pain and suffering before the new Millennium dawns.  For some reason (maybe they’re just angry). Therefore it’s up to LeRoi to travel to Deadside via Luke’s teddy bear (eh?) to gather essential voodoo items and power via Dark Souls in order to prevent the End Of All-Things and kick The Five’s and Legion’s arses.

Does the way that links together sound a bit tenuous to you? Balls to it, you won’t care the moment you shoot some dogs in the face in Nettie’s church’s graveyard and hit Deadside to find a complex and wonderfully sprawling adventure ahead of you. Weak and pathetic as Shadow Man might be initially, it’s fully satisfying towards the end when you realise how far you’ve come, so don’t be put off by the lack of uber graphics and achievements/trophies (depending on which way you swing).

Despite ten years of gaming developments, improvements and failures since the release of ShadowMan, it’s crucial to note that first and foremost the handling of LeRoi feels as unique as it ever did. While previous and future characters in games tend to feel feather-light and unconvincing, the bloke with shades and the Mask Of Shadows implanted in his chest feels as awkward and unpredictable as operating a human surely would be. Although it was frustrating at the time, in the current age’s constant striving for ultimate realism you can easily appreciate what Acclaim Teesside were trying to achieve. There are no double jumps, mad divings or flying here, you can do about as much as, well, you could, albeit without the same voodoo powers and muscular strength. I admit, I doubt I could shimmy as Shadow Man does or hoist myself from a wall in quite the same way (2:18).

Without heaping too much praise on the character physics, let it be known that as you encounter the more tricky sections of Deadside it can get mighty annoying as you misjudge simple jumps, thus often leading Mr. LeRoi to an untimely fiery death. Moreover, particularly during the final Gad Temple, where the platforming aspect of the adventure hots up (heh, cheap pun there), Shadow Man’s ability to run, walk and climb how you want him to takes a turn for the worse, handling no better than a Rolo’s sticky interior (no, not that Rolo). Aside from these minor inconveniences, which in turn ramps up the difficulty, the Lord of the Deadside’s ‘feel’ remains rather unique, and pleasingly so. However, it’s at-the-time revolutionary ‘circle strafe’ combat style, where you could ‘lock-on’ Zelda-stylee up to two enemies at once, while great throughout the minor parts of the game, makes an absolute mockery of The Five’s clumsy AI; sections of the game that are meant to provide climatic, dramatic and somewhat tough moments for the player. In practice, the feature ended up being too good, where circling the ‘mighty’ Lizard King resulted in a somewhat comical event, as opposed to the tension-filled drama it should’ve been.

Premise and mechanics revision out of the way, how does the gameplay itself hold up with today’s (and the last decade’s) gaming benchmarks? Truly attempting to avoid my affection for the game, I’d say fantastically well. Games nowadays are increasingly forcing a ’sandbox’ (’sandpit’ to us Brits?) format upon us, where the player can toy with the protagonist wherever and however they wish within a limited yet large playing area. ShadowMan however adopted the sprawling, varied, multi-scene format of old, where it was essential to the game’s structure that you collect certain items to help you unlock new areas. While the ‘collect-a-thon’ is better disguised nowadays with the alledged ‘freedom’ (see Crackdown) of the sandbox genre, that old feeling of progression has been lost along the way. In a sense, playing ShadowMan again is refreshing, where the collecting of Dark Souls in order to penetrate Coffin Gates is surprisingly still a rewarding ‘chore’. While you can visit anywhere you fancy in sandbox titles, in ShadowMan you cannot. The game teases you when you stumble upon skin-locked Coffin Gates that you do not have the power, or right, to open on first encounter. It’s as if they’re telling you that you’re not good enough yet, that you’ve left previous areas that require your attention first, before you’re worthy enough to  grace your presence on the next challenge.

While that may sound like Facist linearity in comparison with today’s generous ‘open book’ games, it really isn’t as simple as that. Ultimately, it’s still the same premise of go anywhere, do what you wish, yet it’s hidden within the realms of a dark, claustrophobic and, most importantly, interesting environment. For example, the five serial killers are five out of six of the game’s major bosses and, providing Nettie’s impaled you with a fully-constructed L’Clipser, you can dispatch of the twisted scumbags in any order you wish.

Corpse blimey! This is a Schism, Shadow Man's form of Deadside/Liveside transport when his teddy can't hack it

And it’s this level of arguably truer freedom that’s missing from even today’s most critically acclaimed titles. Ultimately, the requirement for the player’s own initiative has gone. While sometimes frustrating at the lack of clue of where to venture next (I admit to infrequently consulting a guide) after walking into a Coffin Gate that’s ‘lolling its arse off’ at your pithy incompetence, it’s entirely down to you to get the game going again. What’s more is that ShadowMan doesn’t badger you with constant bloody cut-scenes every time you walk round a corner (Metal Gear Solid, Gears of War, Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, I’m looking at the lotta you!) like a nagging mother reminding you your tea’s getting cold, because ShadowMan’s gameplay tells you the story itself, rather than spoon-feeding you with tedious voice ‘acted’ sequences that you couldn’t give a stuff about. Don’t be mistaken, ShadowMan isn’t that old, it does have these cut-scenes, but only when they’re actually required, rather when you’ve achieved something, as opposed to have stumbled across yet another lifeless character or something of that minor ilk. Games of today, probably spearheaded by Hideo Kojima’s filmic ‘influences’, have lost their sole purpose as games rather then movies. Metal Gear Solid 4 being the prime example, with over a football (soccer) match’s-worth of movie. But that’s a separate rant entirely.

Speaking of character (a few lines up), ShadowMan certainly isn’t Verne Troyer of it. Where it may now be lacking on the visual front, it is still strikingly haunting on the audio side. From the subtle distant church bell chimes in the opening sections of Bayou Paradis to the twisted Deutsch-twanged mutterings of Dr. Victor Karl Batrachian (aka The Lizard King) at the possessed Gardelle County Jail. There’s never a dull moment for the ears, which is remarkable for its age, considering ‘blockbuster’ titles of today, whose focus tends to be on fully orchestrated pieces married with true-to-life sound effects.

There’s truly no escape from being on-edge, particularly during the most psychologically offending sections, such as the still-incredibly atmospheric hunt of Avery Marx, also known as the slightly misleadingly titled ‘Home Improvement Killer’. Your pursuit of the dog whistle-toned nutter begins in the depths of some tenements in New York, where only a torch can help prevent you from actually soiling yourself. Shadow Man’s echoing footsteps accompany a screechy and lingering aural atmosphere, creating a potent mix of tension while you apprehensively reinact a game of katze und maus. And every once in a while you’ll receive a ‘pleasant’ surprise, accompanied with a ‘Hereeeee’s Johnny!’ and a few bullets in your face courtesy of one fifth of The Five. Of course, you’re never totally certain when Mr. Marx is going to pounce, and while on the hunt for goodies it’s often unnerving at the very least. To exacerbate matters, our Apocalypse-stopping hero will stumble across some of the ‘work’ of Marx, where rotting corpses ’sit’ in chairs, cradling audio recordings of their deaths. While the graphics cannot convince entirely, the sheer visual imagery of the butchering of these innocent folk conjured up in your mind does all the picture-painting for you. Even at the time ShadowMan was deemed more a psychological scare-fest than an outlandishly violent one and, a decade later it still retains that quality, which has only recently been matched by EA’s excellent Resident Evil-esque Dead Space. A great accomplishment for the Teessider’s there, without a shadow (sorry!) of a doubt. The sheer amount of audio ‘pleasure’ still to be had with ShadowMan means it could dictate a whole feature alone, but with an ever-increasing word count I’ll leave you to enjoy the delights of the Playrooms.

That wallpaper make you think 'Toy Story'? You'll think again when you work out what those cubes spell... Unless that's how you'd describe Pixar's masterpiece

Without wanting to heap more praise on the game’s aural pleasures as northern boys do gravy on their roast dinners, the voice acting simply had to receive some plaudits as well. Yes, plaudits. Even now giving characters voices is still yet to be mastered, but ShadowMan had it well and truly licked from start to finish. From the opening ramblings of Jack The Ripper to the closing jibes of Legion, with the Irish charms of Jaunty inbetween, the work of Guy Miller et al needs to be appreciated beyond the physical realms of the adventure. Quite often nowadays, we’re ‘treated’ to ‘great’ scenes such as the unconvincing rages of Gears of War 2’s Dom. A few dodgy lines, perhaps to save disc space (Jack The Ripper seems too quick to agree to Legion’s plans in the opening sequence, for example), and the visual’s inability to lip-sync aside, it’s entirely convincing the whole journey. The lyrical waxings of LeRoi’s Deadside travels voiced by Red Pepper perfectly fit his character, while the ghostly echoes of brother Luke each time you teddyport (skip to 5:14) to a location of choice haunt without fail. If that doesn’t creep you out a little, then your mind isn’t active enough!

The rich character of ShadowMan stretches even further, owing to the subtle details that otherwise go unnoticed in many games of today. Nettie’s File (apparently based on genuine FBI documents) and Jack’s Journal, both found in your inventory, add rich texture to the already sickly sweet world. Furthermore, where popular culture will often dictate that French is the language of love, Acclaim of 1999 insisted otherwise. French to them, and indeed the Prophecy, is the language of The End Of All-Things, adding a greater sense of believability, for want of a better word. The many life-increasing ‘Cadeux’ dotted around Liveside and Deadside provide a better name for ‘gifts’; the ‘Flambeau’ is instantly more appealing than, er, ‘torch’; and ‘LeRoi’ gives the protagonist some delightful substance, as he on a frankly-delayed realisation, is ‘the king’, and is no ordinary hero after all!

Jack's Journal; providing that spooky authentic attention to detail. Here's how a True Form's made

Admittedly, the following few paragraphs were intended to be filled with criticisms and drawbacks, but truly, there aren’t many to list even after all this time. Firstly, the Dreamcast version’s abrupt and clumsy disc-reading can often take you from immersed space and snap you ‘back in the room’ all too often, where entering different areas, most notably in the Cathedral of Pain, where each of The Five have their own ‘theme’, can end the game’s ambience quicker than a bullet to the brain as the console scrambles around to find the correct level music. Secondly, while the bulk of the game bathes you in a deep and nervy scenario, you can’t help but feel let down once you encounter the ‘important’ bits. Each showdown with The Five is delightfully met with a short cutscene and dialogue, but once the insults and threats are over, each subsequent battle is as anti-climatic as a McDonald’s ‘meal’, where the feeling of being shortchanged and over too quickly is all too familiar, even at the very end with Legion himself. It renders the excellent build-up almost pointless, leaving you feeling as disappointed as you were when leaving the cinema after the final Matrix film. Thirdly, not having a clue. Unless you cling to the game like a starving leech, you will lose track of where you were supposed to go next, leaving you wandering around aimlessly in fading hope that you’ll find that bloody elusive Dark Soul in order to progress to the next area that’s taunted you like Nelson Muntz for about two days! Consulting a guide is your best bet for a push in the right direction, yet even then it’s an effort to match your progress with a guide’s, what with the game’s generously open nature. But that’s hardly a criticism really.

If you couldn’t be arsed to read the above…

…I wouldn’t blame you. However, in short, ShadowMan, minus its graphical demise, is still as pleasingly sprawling and deep as it ever was. Much of the kudos belongs to the atmosphere created by its audio, thus highlighting how important sound is to creating a convincing playing environment. Without the congratulatory tribal-like item-finding music, the crying babies of the Lavaducts, the religious chanting of the cathedrals or the howling of Deadside’s weakest residents, to name but a few of so, so many; the sheer depth and immersiveness just couldn’t be accomplished without it all today. Yet it still can, and that’s ShadowMan’s greatest accomplishment. Forget the tired graphics and aging controls, ShadowMan is all about pulling you in for 20 hours or so (not the 50-70 Acclaim originally claimed; nay mind), challenging your patience, taking you on a long, rewarding journey and messing with your psychological stability. All that and more, and to be called a pillock at the end, simply isn’t rivalled by even some the best of today!

——————————————————————–

*Which acted as a catalyst for the purchase of my Dreamcast back in June. God bless eBay, as I managed to haggle a boxed console, complete with cables, a Visual Memory Unit, a rumble pack thingy, three controllers and eleven games for a mere SEVEN POUNDS! Plus £12 postage, but that bit’s unimportant right?

• Well shit. I just finished Banjo Kazooie with 100% completion.
• 100 jiggies, 900 notes. All honeycomb upgrades, including red honeycombs. All of Bottles and Cheato’s cheats unlocked.
• And I even went the extra measure and tracked down some of the lame easter-eggs that were supposed to tie into Banjo-Tooie.
• The game show level has always been one of my favourite parts of the game because I remember being extremely good at memorising useless trivia about the game. Some of it was still with me, but I was absolutely terrible at the Gruntilda questions. I generally just chose the answer that thought was the lamest, knowing the Rare writers.
• I skipped most of the insta-death questions and a few of the timed challenge questions. I eventually just wanted to get this game over with.
• You have to hand it to Gruntilda. As shit as she is at poetry, she’s fucking tough. She withstands some MASSIVE damage in her bossfight, and she’s still shouting out taunts all the while. An then she goes and survives a free-fall drop from a peak and being crushed by a boulder. She even held her own against the gigantic Jinjo for a while.
• Speaking of which, is that at dues ex machina or what? Jinjo statues rise out of nowhere and, lo and behold, contain warrior jinjos that happen to be the key to destroying Grunty’s broom. And as for the Giga-Jinjo character, wha? I just went with it at that stage.
• I gotta tell ya, I thought the final act was pretty tough, in an easy sort of way. I guess what I mean is, I classify the game as an easy game, simply because its nowhere near the difficulty level of say, the Contra series. But as far as easy games go, it gets close to being a suitable challenge. Kids would have trouble (and I know this, because I had to get my sister’s friend to finish the game for me once.)
• I had issues with the credits though. Why make me sit through so much shit? I have to sit through two ending cinematics, which is inane banter and a painfully long look at the easter egg Banjo-Tooie tie-in. Not only that, there’s TWO very long cast reels.
• They are just slideshows of the game’s characters and enemies. And guess what, the game has a TON of characters and enemies. They take forever.
• But that aside, I think Rare really captured a cinematic vibe that wasn’t seen in such a solidly performed way before in videogames. That I can appreciate.
• I logged over ten hours into playing this over these ten sessions, and it really has been a joy. There were a lot of times where it was less about playing a game and more about doing chorework, but Rare’s stellar production values (graphical touches, amazing soundtrack and varied gameplay design) provided the perfect distraction from that.
• Oh, and I should probably mention that this game took so long for me to complete because I’ve been unable to pry myself away from Team Fortress 2 since I got my new PC. I decided I had let it slide long enough, and devoted the whole night to finish Banjo Kazooie. Now with that behind me, I think I’ll fire up TF2 again. (I have a serious problem.)

• So I took a bit of a break from updating. My PC raped itself and I was stuck without the net for a while.
• It was a blessing in disguise really. I needed a new PC, and I had a rainy-day moneypile just sitting around getting dusty.
• In the time without a PC, I made a startlingly minute amount of progress in Banjo Kazooie.
• I got most of the collectibles in Click Clock Wood. The Jinjos, notes and the honeycombs are taken care of.
• I now have every note and honeycomb in the game. Would have got some achievements if this were the 360 version.
• There are two jigsaw pieces that I need to get. One in the beehive, which I stupidly forgot to get.
• I have no idea where the other one is.
• Click Clock Wood, despite being amazingly detailed and a real pioneer in complex level design that we’ve become accustomed to in the modern day, just shits the hell out of me.
• Having to climb the same tree four times minimum is really tedious.
• And the whole time element doesn’t really come into play at all. As far as I know, you can only affect time in one way, planting and watering a seed and having the flower be in bloom a full season rotation later.
• It could have been a better gimmick than it is.
• I also have every Jigsaw in Gruntilda’s Lair. But they are pretty pissy, anyway.
• No idea where the last spellbook is. I’ve found the first two, and I don’t remember them being too hard. Maybe I’ll just run into it accidentally like I did the last two.
• So, it looks like next session has some good potential to be my last.
• Omg, I’m on the cusp of 100% completion. How exciting! (not really).

• Fully completed Rusty Bucket Bay.
• When I was around 11 years old, the interior machine-room of the tanker was the pinnacle of gaming difficulty for me.
• It’s hard to believe nowadays. It’s a piece of crap compared to what I would later come to know.
• I did die a few times, simply because the area is very unapologetic to tiny errors of judgement. But really, all you need to do is approach things with patience and some sense, and its not much harder than anything else in the game previously.
• I pity my past self for considering the completion of that level as a giant achievement. I did it pretty quickly and was completely untroubled for the most part.
• The notes collection was probably the most daunting part because you aren’t allowed to die. And I did die in the machine room half way through collecting notes. meaning I had to do all that collecting again.
• It’s a lot wiser to get the notes from the machine room out of the way first.
• The oily, oxygen draining water made the crappy swimming mechanics even crappier. But thankfully, everything you have to do underwater is pretty simple and close to safety.
• The honeycombs were really easy to come across in this level, thank god.
• I was actually surprised at how simple this level is compared to the level after it, Click Clock Woods. It’s just a boat with a bunch of stuff around its perimeter. It’s easy to knock everything off the checklist in under an hour.
• I was kind of disappointed that the legendary difficulty of this level I’d built up in my mind was so unjustified.
• Maybe the next level, which I remember as being very time consuming and daunting, will live up to its memory,

• Hah! I found them. I found them all! Every… last… honeycomb…
• Honeycombs just got owned!

Honeycownage

• I trawled around Bubblegloop Swamp (again!) looking for it. I even found places I don’t think I was even supposed to get access to.
• But after all that effort and disparity, it was INSIDE THE TURTLE. In a very easy to reach, very easy to see location.
• Of course a honeycomb piece would be in a hollow turtle shell/choir chamber suspended in mid-air by unknown gravitational forces. How did I miss that?
• The Gobi’s Valley one was embarrassing as well. It turns out I knew where it was all along, but just forgot that I still had to piss off Gobi one last time.
• And the Mad Monster Mansion one. Well, needless to say I found the flight pad. And I also found out I could kill those ghosts after all. Giving them the wonderwing is damn satisfying.
• So other than that, I just got the Jiggy that appeared in Gruntilda’s Lair after pressing the switch in Mad Monster Mansion.
• Short session today, just getting myself 100% before I start the big daddy levels.
• Rusty Bucket Bay is next, and if I remember correctly, it has the hardest Jiggy challenge in the entire game.
• Yay?

• Plowed through Mad Monster Mansion today.
• Same old story is getting real old… all jigsaw pieces, all notes but only one fucking honeycomb.
• Dammit Rare, are you just insanely good at hiding these things or are they part of your infernal Stop N’ Swap feature? Do I have to play through Banjo Tooie just to be granted access to these retarded collectibles?
• I also missed the Gruntilda switch in the level, though I do remember where it is.
• It’s definately in the rafters of the church with the organ in it, but I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember how the eff to get up there.
• Is there a flight pad in there somewhere? How the hell are you supposed to get up there? Is the honeycomb up there too? All questions that I couldn’t be bothered figuring out for myself, as I had two green fuckin’ ghosts chasing me all the while.
• Seriously, the ghosts are the only menacing enemies in the entire game. Why? Well they can’t be killed, for starters. Two, they are fast and can really gain on you. And three, when you get hit by them they don’t back away, so you can end up getting hit two or three times just because they are so large and hard to dodge.
• Plus, their laugh is so horrible and mocking. I hate the ghosts!
• The pumpkin transformation pretty much confirms that the transformation gimmick was a HUGE waste of potential gameplay possibilities.
• Save for the final transform, the bee, all the transformations do in this game is grant you access to little holes around the place. They bring nothing to the table as far as changing up the style of play, looking at things from a new perspective. It’s just “Oh, a small hole. I better go transform into something so I can squeeze through.”
• Generally, the tasks in the game are pretty varied, and the levels have enough character and signature charm to give the delusion that you aren’t just pecking, ground-pounding or putting eggs into various things until they regurgitate a jigsaw piece most of the time.
• And the facepalm-worthy juvenile humour award today goes to this quote from Brentilda: “You won’t believe that Gruntilda’s party trick is blowing balloons up with her butt.” You’re right, I don’t believe it.
• At this rate, next week all I’ll be doing is tracking down those goddamn elusive honeycombs. Jesus, every time, there’s just one that slips through. Fuck.
• Hate these honeycombs.

• Fuck. This game is punishing. Both on my thumb, and my sanity.
• I bowled over the majority of inane collecting in Gobi’s Valley. Got the notes, got the jigsaws… everything but one goddamn honeycomb…
• I got one of them really easy. You know, the one in the centre of the retarded looking cactus.
• But I searched for twenty minute for the other one. I revisited every last pyramid, swam the oases, raided the tombs, scoured the skies. Nothing!
• I had one of those ‘Oh! I know where it is! Clever Rare. Clever.” moments. And then your face just drops when it isn’t there at all. And you’re so unprepared for the epic disappointment that follows.
• So, I gave up. I had too much else I wanted to check off my to-do list this play session. Because…
• I UNLOCKED THE RUNNING SHOES!
• *a choir rises up as the running shoes are revealed in a shaft of divine light*
• Yes, the running shoes, meaning a very select few of the unfinished levels of the past are now finishable.
• Like Boggy’s frustrating sled race in Freezezy Peak. My thumb despised me for that one.
• After I won that, I decided to go somewhere a little more temperate.
• In Bubblegloop Swamp, I did beat the crocodile’s insolent mini-game and was awarded the final Jiggy for the stage. But the hard mode reward I had hoped would be a honeycomb piece was… 3 extra lives.
• 3 extra lives!?!?! 3 extra lives!
• Who the hell would even  bother playing through those bonus rounds just for three extra lives? Is it just for people that don’t realise that your bonus life counter resets to 3 every time you turn your game off? What a pointless reward.
• I did end up finding one honeycomb piece inside Mumbo’s skull. The cranial section.
• But I couldn’t find the other one… ANOTHER GODDAMN HONEYCOMB PIECE I CAN’T FIND.
• For fuck’s sake, I searched everywhere. I spent another twenty minutes as a crocodile wading through the various sidecreeks of the marshy bog, and it was just as demoralising as it sounds.
• Fucking elusive honeycombs!
• I’m curious as to whether I actually ever found them when I was younger. With the amount of playtime I gave this game, it wouldn’t surprise me.
• It makes me very uncomfortable to have such a large roster of things left uncompleted. But I really can’t be fucked looking through that swamp AGAIN.
• For the purpose of this blog, I might just have to.
• Oh, and just a random tidbit, I absolutely HATE the target audience of humour in this game. It’s so asinine it transcends charming and adorable, and just become sadistic. My favourite Grunty line today: “That ugly bear, you feathered freak; is nothing but a stupid geek!” Could they lower the bar any more, do you think?

• Finished Freezezy Peak with just a jigsaw piece to spare. All notes and empty honeycombs accounted for.
• Man, I really love the snowman centrepiece of Freezezy Peak. Scaling it has to be my favourite part of the whole game.
• The walrus transformation is so cheap. It has no abilities besides freezing water tolerance. And that ability grants you access to a very small handful of things.
• The walrus is so slow and such a pain in the ass. I couldn’t wait to change back.
• So far, the transformation aspect of the game has been more more gimmicky than I remembered.
• I’m pretty sure this complaint was addressed in Banjo-Tooie, from memory.
• I hate the sled racing. I did when I was a youngster, and I still do. It’s partially the fault of the terrible analog stick and also in part due to the stupid fixed path AI. The course is so freaking narrow that colliding with the AI’s fixed path is inevitable, and God help you if you get stuck behind your opponent. It can become near impossible to overtake him.
• I’m pissed off that I’ll have to return for another race with Boggy once I get the running shoes.
• Those damn running shoes. What a shitty attempt at adding some Metroid-esque encouraged replayability. One or two sidequests that need an unlockable powerup to complete. Lame.
• If swimming is the game’s weakest mechanic, flying is the strongest. I love to fly, because the added plane of movement really delivers a sense of directional freedom. Of course, it’s pretty stiff and primitive by today’s standards, but it trumps Mario 64’s wing cap in terms of ease of use and practicality.
• Anyway, onto Gobi’s Desert (and hopefully the running shoes.)

こんばんは。

私はビデオゲームを遊ぶのが大好きです。

子供の時毎日たくさんビデオゲームを遊びました。　♪

今とてもいそがしからビデオゲームを遊びません。

でも、私は希望を持つ。　♫

だいたい私はビデオゲームを遊べます。

来週私の仕事がたいしょく。

ワクワク

Good evening.

I love playing video games.

When I was a child I played tons of video games everyday!　♪

Now, I’m very busy and I don’t play video games.

But, I have hope!　♫

Soon, I can play video games.

Next week I will be finished with my job!

I’m excited!

I thought I’d post five of my favorite video games that I played when I was a child.

(However, to start things off, even though this is not a video of my younger brother and I, how the boy is reacting in the video, this is how we both reacted when we also received our Nintendo 64. I’m not even kidding)

I spent countless hour, upon hour, upon hour, upon hour playing these games.

My older brother is 10 years older than I am and therefore he was playing video games when he was 13 and I was three.

My “induction” into video games started at an early age and by the time I was 9, I knew that I wanted to work for Nintendo when I was older.

At first I wanted to be a graphic designer, but after many years, and a trip to DigiPen in the 6th grade, I learned that I did not have the stamina to draw so much.

I switched to studying Japanese and learned that Nintendo was from Japan.

I would love to work for Nintendo either in Washington or in Kyoto.

I’m lucky enough to live very close to Nintendo’s main headquarters in the United States so if I did work in Redmond, I already know that I’d be happy with where I would have to live.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: (bought in 1999)

My younger brother and I, along with my dad made a trip to our local pawn shop.

It was my younger brother’s birthday and he wanted to buy something with the $20 he had received from our Uncle in England.

We both spotted the game and as I recall we were both like, “Hey, it’s a Zelda game!”

We had previously only played the Zelda game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

My brother bought it.

When we got home he played it for 20 minutes and then I got to play it.

(My mom had made this rule that year that we would put our kitchen timer on for 20 minutes  so we would both be able to have fair playing time)

However, I ran over my 20 minutes promising my brother to do all of his chores for a week or something like that.

I played this game everyday when I got home from school and all day on the weekends until I beat it.

To this day, Zelda and the Ocarina of time is my all time favorite video game.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (bought in 2001)

I remember that my dad took my younger brother and I to the gas station down the road and in a side store they rented movies and video games.

I saw Majora’s Mask and immediately begged my dad to let me rent it for the five days that rentals were allowed.

He agreed and I was so excited!

However, when I got home and placed the game into my Nintendo 64 system, horror washed over me.

The screen read that I needed an Expansion Pack to play my game.

What the heck was an expansion pack!?

I placed a mental image of what the expansion pack looked like into my head and the next day my mom and I raced to the pawn shop.

Success! There in the counter was an expansion pack.

We hurried home and went about trying to install the expansion pack into the N64.

After about 25 minutes (maybe even longer) and using a table knife to pry the old “expansion pack” out of the system (we even placed the knife in the freezer to get colder for some reason…), I was off to playing Zelda again.

Sadly, I did not have enough time to beat the game in the five day period, but luckily enough the next week I visited the pawn shop again and the game was there!

I bought it and beat the game shortly after.

3. Banjo Kazooie (2000…still haven’t bought…)

To this day I’m still “borrowing” this game from my neighbors.

I was at my neighbors house and saw them playing it and asked if I could borrow it.

Being the amazing neighbors that they were they said yes.

I was drawn to the game because it had similar graphics to those of my beloved Zelda games.

This game just brings back good memories of coming home after school, sitting down in front of my TV, and playing video games for hours without having to really worry about anything. (Money, school, jobs, etc.)

4. Kingdom Hearts (bought in 2003)

I know that I bought this game in the 6th grade, because one of my friends wouldn’t stop telling me how far he had gotten the night before. (He got the game before me and sought to remind me everyday until I was able to buy it).

This game also marks when I was introduced to Utada Hikaru.

(As well as more Japanese music)

I remember sitting in front of my TV with the cartoon channel on just waiting for the commercial for Kingdom Hearts to come one so I could hear the beautiful song.

I swear that I had butterflies in my stomach.

My dad and mom surprised my brother and I with a PS2 shortly after and I almost cried when I put the game in and saw the opening clip.

It’s a good game.

Go play it.

5. Super Smash Bros. (bought in…)

I remember staying the night at my neighbors house with my younger brother all the time and staying up into the wee hours of the morning playing this game.

We would rotate houses and my neighbors would bring the game over to our house, along with their controllers, so we could play in my room too.

We hadn’t bought our own game because we didn’t really feel that it was necessary since our neighbors would let us borrow it and we would let them borrow ours.

This game keeps improving and improving with Super Smash Brother’s Melee for the GameCube and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii.

Also very good games.

Go play one, they are all worth your time.

Thanks for reading!

おやすみなさい。　[goodnight]

じゃあ　♥

]]> http://averageskilledgamer.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/banjo-kazooie-session-3/ Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:42:02 +0000 nicolascagemage http://averageskilledgamer.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/banjo-kazooie-session-3/

• Damn, Bubblegloop Swamp. We used to get on great together. Why do you have to be such an ass?
• I am no longer confident in my effortless ability to play through this game with also putting in many hours of hard exploring and experimenting.
• Dammit, was my entire childhood with this game a complete waste? Have I learned nothing?
• So basically, I have no idea where the two empty honeycomb pieces in the swamp are.
• I’m thinking one might be awarded after you beat that sonofabitch crocodile at his shitty mini-game. I seem to remember a hard mode that is unlocked after you beat the first two games.
• Evidently, I couldn’t even do that because my thumb was so raw due to the unresponsive and uncomfortable analog stick.
• I gave up, you could say.
• So, I left the level with all 100 notes collected, 9 jigsaw pieces, and zero honeycombs. Fail.
• As a strict completionist, I get a little OCD about matters like that.
• I will return after I unlock the running shoes powerup, to even the playing field in the grub eating minigame. Hopefully then I’ll get a honeycomb.
• As for the second honeycomb… it could be anywhere. Sigh.
• The only silver lining to the fact that I’m going to have to go back to Bubblegloop Swamp to search for ages is the fact that the level music is so damned awesome.

• Found those two empty honeycomb pieces (and an additional Mumbo token) in Treasure Trove Cove. I now have everything in that level.
• I knew exactly where to look. For example, I had a fleeting memory that one of them was on a floating crate. And that another was underwater. I guess I’ve played this game a little too much.
• I also completed Clanker’s Cavern with all the collectibles bagged.
• I remember this being a really annoying level when I was younger. It was a piece of piss for me now.
• Further proof of my skill progression.
• One thing I forgot to mention in my last post: Despite this game and Super Mario 64 being the forefathers of 3D underwater swimming mechanics, both games suck heavily at it. It’s hard to maneuvre correctly underwater. Diving into water forces you to abandon the complete analog freedom of movement you are given on land, and instead replaces it with the freedom of a submarine.
• It’s really difficult trying to get small items like notes underwater. Sometimes you’ll get it no problem, other times you’ll miss it by a hair and have to spend the next 30 seconds turning around and position the camera correctly. And even when you do this, you’re likely to just swim past it again.
• Something else I wanted to include in the first post, but didn’t because it was getting too long and technical, was that this game has some of the best sound design ever.
• I’m a big fan of videogame music, and I strongly believe this game is one of the reasons why. Despite having extremely good music for every single level, it also incorporates a transitional system that allows the music to adapt to a specific context. So if you are in Gruntilda’s Lair and you approah the Treasure Trove Cove level, the overworld theme will take on a pirate-styled flavour. It’s fucking great. Unnecessary, sure. But that’s what puts this game so above par. Attention to detail.
• There isn’t much to mention about Clanker’s Cavern really. It’s a real throwaway level, for me. It’s small, it’s basic and is quick to get through.
• I’m moving through the game at a nice pace. It should be a while before I get to some challenges I’m not totally prepared for. Most of what I’ve done so far is just second-nature.

• Getting into this was really easy for me, after having played through the beginning of the game about 8 times.
• Adapted very well to a control scheme I was rusty on.
• The Nintendo 64 controller is Nintendo’s biggest mainstream-accepted failure in terms of design. It of course is not as bad as the powerglove, but its still bad.
• I can’t believe there was a time where I knew no better and used it every day for hours on end without thinking about it.
• What a hideous analog stick. I would say 25% of motions directional motions I execute with the analog stick fail. Banjo will still run or jump in that direction, but it will do it with much less strength, as if I am only lightly pressing the stick. Frustrating for a platformer that is very unforgiving to missing jumps in later levels. But I’ll face that when I come to it.
• So the cinematics in the game are actually better than I remembered. I remembered they were always daggy and too juvenile, but they are still expertly made.
• Spiral Mountain is the first area, and is basically a training ground. I’ll be honest, I skipped training, which is usually against my rules to do everything that the player is asked, but really, I’ve done the training too many times and I can get all the empty honeycomb pieces in under 5 minutes without Bottles the Mole laboriously teaching me basic moves I’ve mastered ten times over.
• So, as soon as I climb Spiral Mountain and enter Gruntilda’s Lair, the game freezes. It just locked on blackness, and I was like “Oh…. fuck. Don’t tell me my N64 is screwed.” I had to turn it off, blow in the cart (ah, childhood), blow in the system slot (face full of dust!) and turn it back on. Worked a charm. No more freezes since.
• You know what I loved about games on carts. There wasn’t any pressure or anxiety about saving your progress. If there was a freeze or a blackout or something, you knew everything you did was already saved. That meant that despite my freeze, I resumed exactly where I was: Inside Gruntilda’s Lair. Awesome.
• Another thing about carts that I think people took for granted: They had a ton of memory that just isn’t as prolific as it is in disc based games anymore. Disc based games are all about the conservation of memory to make way for better things, but N64 games just didnt care. For example, on the game’s first world, Mumbo Mountain, I killed an enemy and it gave me a honeycomb piece to rejuvenate my life. But I didn’t need it, so I just left it. I spend 13 minutes completing various quests all over the level, I come back to the beginning of the level and the honeybomb piece is still there. That’s something we don’t see a lot of in today’s 5-seconds-until-something-fades-away game environment.
• The levels in the game are fucking enormous and much more impressive than I’ve ever given them credit for. There is a HUGE draw distance for the actual level environments (although pop-in is expectedly terrible for actual items and such). There is no fogging at all, making the highest points of all the levels look amazing.
• The game has framerate problems, however. God I miss the times when I didn’t even notice a bad framerate.
• See, as I said, this is a hit of nostagia for me.
• One question that I’ve always asked about the first level: Why is the first thing you transform into a termite? It’s hardly a good showcase of the awesome transform ability. The termite can do one thing: Not slip down slopes. Lame.
• I knew Mumbo’s Mountain almost too well. I almost got everything in it in ten minutes. I would have gotten everything if I had remembered that there was an empty honeycomb above the spinning totem dudes before I knocked them away. How could I have forgotten that?
• So I unlocked Treasure Trove Cove after that, and did everything I needed to there as well. Only, I couldn’t fucking remember where the two empty honeycomb pieces were, so I’ll have to go search again.
• I actually even went into that useless island where you climb up that motherfucking column by jumping into aperture after aperture until you reach the top and there’s nothing there. That’s just so shit. Why? Why do they tease me?
• So I guess that’s what I’ll be searching for in my next session, among other things.
• I unlocked Clanker’s Cavern and Bubblegloop Swamp as well, so they’ll follow (obviously).

So, I thought I would ease into the concept of the blog by establishing my interest in older games. Sure, I love getting new games, but one of my biggest hates is only appreciating what is current. So while I hope to get into Wii Sports Resort sometime in the near future, I feel more obliged to prove my priorities are set to a somewhat randomised roster system.

Basically, if I feel I’ve been neglecting a specific area of my backlog for a ridiculous amount of time, I make a conscious effort to do something about it, rather than pushing it aside.
Now, I have a craving for some Nintendo 64 nostalgia. And Banjo Kazooie is the absolute best game for that.

For most people, Super Mario 64 is the defining moment for their N64 experience. And yeah, it was the first fully 3D console game I ever saw running with my own eyes. It was beautiful, it was magic, and it was infuriating. I was consumed with jealousy. You see, my cousins got an N64 for Christmas. And I did not. Thus, my first encounter with Super Mario 64 was forever tainted. And it actually wasn’t until the Wii Virtual Console that I actually came to own it, despite having played it a lot with my cousins.

So after I got an N64, I wasn’t interested in getting Super Mario 64. Nor did I even know what Zelda was (wtf!?!). But I did, somehow, know what a Banjo-Kazooie was. I don’t know how, I don’t know why. But I knew I wanted it, and I’ve never looked back. Banjo-Kazooie delivered on Super Mario 64’s basic promise of freedom, only it came with more personality, a richer world, graphics that still hold up in some areas, and dare I say it, a lot more attention to detail.

Now, I would never claim that Banjo-Kazooie is a better game than Super Mario 64 (it isn’t), but I can’t deny that Banjo-Kazooie is MY Super Mario 64. It and Goldeneye made me love the N64, a testament to the once great Rare.In retrospect, I see that the N64 was quite a poor console by today’s standards. But it had some amazing titles within its miniscule library.

It is with this personal affection or the game that I, after 12 years, will attempt a 100% collection run of Banjo-Kazooie. I’ll attempt this in its PAL N64 version on a Nintendo 64 with a regular N64 controller (that is a little imperfect due to use). I have a lot of experience with this game, with countless hours of my youth devoted to it. I’ve never completed the game 100%, but have come very close, before obviously losing interest. Hopefully with the aid of this blog, I will have the motivation to finally achieve this.

NOSTALGIA.

I’ve had a gutful.

Fallout 3’s the game that recently aroused my ire- although it’s not so much the game as the reaction to it. The whiny, unpleasable, fan-dumb reaction to it. Now, I’ve played a bit of the game, and as far as I’m concerned, it can be officially regarded as Pretty Sweet™. It’s got the Joe Bloggs Seal Of Approval. But Jezus, according to the fan base, the whole thing would have had to be a constant 80-hour sidequest-filled blowjob to match up to the INCREDIBLE, LIFE-AFFIRMING Fallout 1 and 2. Reviews of the new contender were filled to the brim with phrases like “It’s good- but can it live up to its legacy?”

I can’t claim to have played either of the (no-doubt fantastic, I’m sure) original fallout games, but the whole debate quickly became moot when I looked through some reviews Namely These Fallout Metacritic ( Fallout 3 Metacritic and noticed that Fallout 3 actually rated higher than the original- an 89 to the newbie’s 93. A poor score for one of the best damn games of all time, I’d think- so, Fallout 1’s obvious brilliance wasn’t immediately recognized by the gaming press? The gaming press overhyped Fallout 3 with dishonest reviews?

Worse, I noticed, starting to laugh, the reviews of the original Fallout were calling it the Spiritual Successor to some now-forgotten RPG called “Wasteland”- wait for it-which they were calling one of the best RPG’s of all time.

In that one moment, I could suddenly see it all, in one big thread stretching back to creation. Wasteland was probably originally compared unfavourably with some even older creation rendered only in ascii art, which was itself called a boring rip-off of some dark-age creation played on the oscilloscope, which reviewers said had none of the spice and originality of freaking PONG, which, itself, had people grousing about the days when all they had was pictures on the cave walls, and that was damn well good enough for them.

And some day, far in the uncharted future, some future space-reviewer will lean back in his chrome-plated hover-chair, have a sip of cyber-wine, look out at a particularly amusing VR simulation thoughtfully and say-

“It’s good.

But is it FALLOUT 3 good?”

For those who need it spelled out to them, I’m not having a go at the Fallout franchise. I’m sure they’re great games. I’m not even having a go at reviewers, or RPGs in general. I’m talking about the fact that, apparently, no game is ever as good as the game released a few years before it. Fallout 3 isn’t as good as Fallout 2, which was a sad misinterpretation of Fallout 1. Deus Ex 3 will not be good enough to kiss Deus Ex’s multiple-pathed boots. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a carbon-copy imitator of Super Smash Bros. Mêlée, with none of the latter’s pizzazz and spunk. Half life 2 sucks when compared to Half Life, which itself was just another Doom clone. Games have just been on a terrible downward slide for the entirety of their existence, getting worse and worse with each game created.

Except, of course, that’s bullshit.

If I can be the one to call us out on this: The technology people use to make games has been getting progressively better and better. No-one’s arguing that, right? And the people who are making games- stay with me here- are not getting any worse. So games, therefore, unless the people who make games have been suffering some sort of mass-brain damage recently, are getting better and better.

There’d probably be a mass outcry to that last sentence, if anyone actually read this blog. Seeing as there’s not, I’m going to continue as if I’ve been suddenly asked a bunch of angry question by a pitchfork-wielding hoard of nostalgia-crazed fans.

“But duuuude, games back then had much better economy of design and the beauty of simpliciiiiityyyy” The shambling creatures would cry. “Modern games are overly influenced by fooocus grooooups and getting the increasingly large amounts of money they pour into the game baaaaack, so that there’s no real innovaaaatioooon. Graphic s should be a secondary conceeeeeeern grah grah grah braains.”

Legitimate arguments all, unwashed masses. But, c’mon guys, let’s be fair- past games were hardly just one incredible innovative gem after another- and the fact that they’re putting huge tons of money into them makes them really good games. Hey, if you want non-graphics intensive Innovation, the Indie games scene( TIGsource ) is still putting it out in spades. Can you honestly look at a page of stuff like this( Cinemassacre ) and say you’d prefer to be living back then?

But, the past is always better than the present, for some reason. Time heals all wounds, and that shitty interface and instant-death platforming that gave you a huge headache in your youth will be fondly remembered as an adult. Nostalgia, folks, clear and simple.

I fall prey to this as well, I have to admit. Adventure Games are my fond memories of choice, and I’m personally terrified about what they’re going to do to Monkey Island over here( Tales of Monkey Island )- Will it ever be able to measure up to the originals, etc. And, of course, there’s a ton of cash-cow farming enterprises that seem to delight in making terrible sequels to games you once loved. I’ll list the childhood-memory raping Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts ( Banjo-Kazooie Nuts n’ Bolts ) and leave it at that.

(VEHICALS, MAN. BANJO DOESN’T RIDE, HE FREAKING JUMPS. AAARGH.)

But, there’s a time when you have to look back at the games you thought you loved- look back at an article like this( OldManMurray ), and realise-

“Hang on.

That game was actually pretty shit.”

So, come on people, let’s not get hung up on the past. It was great. We had some good times. And hey, good old games deserve to be remembered. There’s a reason people obsess about them so much. The past was great fun, while it lasted. But- let’s stop this bloody glorification of it, ok? If I read one more article about how old game X is better than new game Y, or how the demise of adventure games shows how gamers have become morons( Adventure Gamers ), or how gaming these days just isn’t the same( Games suck these days ), I’m going to spew high-definition bloom-lighted vomit all over the place.

Honestly. It’s not the game that you think was better than today- it’s the memories it gives you. So, can we, as a group, try and sort of admit:

New games are pretty cool, actually?

Drowning in Pixelated Nostalgia-
-Joe Bloggs.

An hour really isn’t enough time to review a game or even give detailed impressions of it so I’m quickly (Well, it was originally going to be quickly) going to give my initial thoughts of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts after an hour’s play.

First of all I should point out that I haven’t played the Nintendo 64 Banjo-Kazooie games so Nuts and Bolts is my first dose of it. I think there have been loads of references to the previous games, but I’m not entirely sure. It should meet the nostalgia requirement of any long term fans though. The game starts out with both Banjo and Kazooie sitting around doing nothing important (Eating and playing 360). They are both out of shape and are definitely not ready for another adventure. It just happens to be though that Gruntilda the witch (The main villain of the previous games) has escaped from the landslide of rocks that I assume trapped her in Banjo-Tooie. However, she is only a skull and is incapable of doing much damage. Both Banjo and Kazooie notice this and head off to stop her. When you get into control you are very slow due to a lack of exercise since they haven’t been in a game for a while. When you meet Grunty (Gruntilda) you almost end up fighting but the fight is paused (Yes, paused) by a mysterious person known as L.O.G. L.O.G. stands for Lord of Games and is in control of all games. He decided that it would be better to have you and Grunty collect as many collectables as possible but shortly after this race starts he changes his mind and decides that this game is too outdated. So he decides to send you and Grunty into a new game. He gives Grunty a new body and puts Banjo and Kazooie back into shape. And thus Nuts and Bolts comes to a start.

You are given a magic wrench which can levitate objects and move them, as well as hit people with. L.O.G. gives you this to start a new game where Grunty is given a mechanical army. Your magic wrench is needed to stop her which will no doubt happen in due time. You can use it to build and customize vehicles which has already been a big focus of the game. From my short experience with the customizing options they are very good and should let me build some very good vehicles in the future. The platforming is also top notch as you would expect. Controlling Banjo feels very good and the controls themselves also work well.

The game has been very funny so far and I have already laughed a few times. The charm filled characters and world is often what makes it so humorous. Some of the characters are really funny.

If any of the information above is incorrect, don’t blame me. Blame the guy who decided to put in very, very small text that can only be read properly on a HDTV. If you have bad eyesight and don’t have a HDTV, you better stay away from this because you won’t be able to see a thing. Since the characters don’t speak it can be very hard to realize what has just happened. Apparently there is an update though that solves this but I don’t have Xbox LIVE yet.

I know I haven’t played Nuts and Bolts a lot yet but so far it is looking like it will be a very enjoyable adventure. As long as the humor and charm continues I’ll be a happy chappy.

These are, obviously, gaming plans.

I plan on making more “What if?” Achievement lists, starting with Zelda: MM, and moving on from there. I want to branch out from Nintendo soon, so that I don’t get stuck in a rut. I’m thinking of either God of War or one of the Final Fantasy’s.

As for my X360 plans, I’m planning on 100% completing a total of five retail games and five XBOX Live Arcade games. Currently I’m at Banjo-Kazooie and Dash of Destruction for XBLA, with The Simpson’s Game, LEGO Indiana Jones, and Assassin’s Creed rounding out my retail completions.

So what will I finish them off with? I’m two Achievements away from finishing Iron Man, and I’m roughly half way through completing them. They’re those two pesky Achievements about beating the game on Normal/Hard mode. Thankfully, they’re stackable, so when I finish this Hard (or Formidable as the game calls it) run I’ll get them both. After that, or maybe it’s more realistic to say during, I’ll be playing Bully: Scholarship Edition. I’m in Chapter 4 of 5 (not counting Chapter 6: Endless Summer) and I have only 15 of the 38 Achievements left to….achieve. Damn that sounds lame, but I needed to get it out of my system. So theoretically I could have both games done by the end of the month if they are the only games I play.

Other options for the two retail completions are LEGO Batman, LEGO Star Wars: TCS, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

As far as the XBox Live Arcade games are concerned…I need three to complete. I need only one more Achievement in UNO and Banjo-Tooie, so those could be knocked off fairly quickly. That leaves one left. The only other games I have on my harddrive are Castle Crashers and Hexic HD, both of which offer nothing but time-consuming Achievements to finish them off. I am planning, however, on picking up Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes when it comes out on July 29th, and while the online-based Achievements will cause some difficulty for me, that at least gives another option for me in filling out that third spot. There’s also the option of grabbing Wallace & Gromit, which I know my wife would love to play, but that’s a very unreal possibility.

That’s all for now, but I’ll update the plans section on the first of August. I’m going to try beating Iron Man now, or at least another level or two before switching to Bully. I don’t want to let this blog go for another eight days without a post, so expect something soonly.

So, after playing Banjo Kazooie on the N64 back in the day, I thought it was time to play it again via the XBLA. 11 hours later and I have finished it 100%, collecting all of the jiggies and all the notes. Despite this, there are a few items in the game that are inaccessible and have been this way since BKs first release. Although unavailable, you can access the eggs and the Ice Key by typing in certain codes into the sandcastle floor in Treasure Trove Cove. Think of my horror and pain after I typed in all of the codes, collected all of the eggs and key and got nothing for my endeavours.

Flash forward a couple of months and Banjo Tooie is released. Now, if you have got both Banjo Tooie and Banjo Kazooie, fire up Banjo Tooie and get past the first cutscene or so. You know, just play the game and get used to inverted flying that you didn’t get in Banjo Kazooie. Now, go back to your 100% completed BK game and you should find that all of the egg locations have already been unlocked, as is the ice key. No typing in codes for you! Also, because you don’t type in any codes it will save your eggs and ice key. The six eggs can be found:

• Pink Egg: In Treasure Trove Cove by the sandcastle there should be a sign in the water that says ‘Shark Food Island’. Behind it is a rock that has found its way out of the sea. Climb up the platforms inside and get your egg.
• Red Egg: Go to Rusty Bucket Bay and climb into the Captain’s cabin. There should be a nice big egg on his bed.
• Yellow Egg: Click Clock Woods in the Winter is where this egg is at. Head to Nabnuts house and smash the window to get in. It’ll be sitting on his table.
• Light Blue Egg: In Mad Monster Mansion, head to the cellar and one of the casks should be open for you to walk into. At the end will be your egg.
• Green Egg: Also in Mad Monster Mansion, this egg will be hovering above the toilet that you once descended into.
• Blue Egg: Head to Gobi’s Valley and it is in an entrance in the cliff face behind the Sphinx. There is a little switch to press and the coffin will open to reveal the egg.

The Ice Key is inside Wozza’s Cave in Freezeezy Peak (the spellchecker has just gone crazy). Once you have these items, turn off BK and fire up Banjo Tooie. Head to Heggy and he’ll (very slowly) open your eggs for you. You’ll unlock Gamer Pictures, an NXE theme and a new move that smashes Kazooie’s head against the ground. The Ice Key is used to open a big safe inside Gutter Gulch Mine. Once you’ve opened the big safe, head to Wumba’s hut outside Grunty World and hop into the pool. She’ll turn Kazooie into a dragon who plays identically to Kazooie except she now has a fire breath that can be used by holding the B button down whilst standing still.

The eggs and ice key can also be used in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to unlock crates for new vehicle parts. I don’t actually have Nuts & Bolts so I can’t be bothered to post about it. Anyways, I have a script to write. Ciou.

Been thinking about getting an Xbox 360?  Well then maybe you should check out Amazon and their current Xbox 360 Arcade sale.  But you better hurry up and decide because this deal will end on July 11 2009.

]]> http://godslayeruk.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/cali-otaku-ss-060709/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:22:57 +0000 Godslayer UK http://godslayeruk.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/cali-otaku-ss-060709/

Cali-Otaku: SS returns for a summer check in!  This week we cover the usual anime, manga and gaming goodness including; Spice and Wolf, Fate Stay Night, Brutal Legend and so much more.  We Also say goodbye to Mark and Dave as they leave us to go on to other things… what are these things?  You’ll have to listen in to find out!  It’s all very Waja.

Length: 2:13:46 (61.2MB)
Direct Download

Banjo & Kazooie much loved duo is back in there biggest adventure yet. Battling against the evil witch Gruntilda Winkybunion and the mysterious Lord of Games.

Banjo & Kazooie are caught up in a quest to save the Spiral Mountain. Part platform game, part construction set and 100% F.U.N. players need to build vehicles from whatever objects they find lying around in order to overcome the challenges set and secure the future of their homeland.

Buy Now with Amazon

For those of you who may not be familiar with them, every day we run an event on Xbox LIVE. We suggest a game in a different theme every day of the week, and set a time. Not sure what to play? Hoping to connect with other Aussie/Kiwi gamers? All you  need to do is hop into the game at the date and time, and host or join a game over Xbox LIVE.  Other local gamers will be doing the same thing. More local gamers means less lag, better gaming, and new friends. And who doesn’t want that?

This Week’s Events:

June 22 – 6PM AET – Music Monday – Guitar Hero World Tour

June 23 – 6PM AET – Family Game Night – Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

June 24 – 3PM AET – Arcade Afternoon – Peggle

June 25 – 9PM AET – Co-op Night – Left 4 Dead

June 26 – 8PM AET – Community Playdate – Red Faction: Guerrilla with OXCGN and That Aussie Game Site

June 27/28 – 9PM AET – Weekend Warriors – Halo 3

- jinx