I went through a period back in 2006-2007 where I just wanted to collect a tonne of game posters for my walls. You know, to liven the place up a bit, make it seem a little more homely. These aren’t all my posters I have, but some of the others were of games I didn’t really want to support this whole-heartedly or didn’t have room for on the walls simply because they were too damn big. Games like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario Kart Wii.

Most were from magazines, some of which I would pick off the shelf for the free poster advertisement. The Mario Galaxy one on the left was from NGamer, whom I have stopped reading because of a really stupid bias towards Nintendo and the ability to love anything Shigeru throws at his customers. They wrote a four page article on the ignorance of those who couldn’t understand Wii Music. Yeah…

I like Galaxy a lot. GTA4 not as much, but it's still cool

Phantom Hourglass is okay, Wind Waker would be better

Invested oh-so-many hours into this game...

Pretty useless as a Calendar now, but still awesome

Used to be my favourite game, still cool though

Some more posters, Diddy Kong Racing being my favourite

Two new additions, the left being a new favourite game

The following ones aren’t really posters but I thought I’d throw them in anyway, some framed and signed pictures courtesy of Rare. Bottom one is actually my sister’s one from a contest at Spiral Mountain signed by Steve Mayles. Top is mine won from a Banjo-Kazooie Face Off in 2008, where I came second with a time of 3 hours 7 minutes I believe,  signed by Ryan Stevenson. It’s all pretty cool stuff, I’d say.

I'd say these ones are pretty sweet

So there you have it. I may post updates to this blog in the future depending on what I decide to add to my room or take down, but hopefully you’ve enjoyed this little insight into my nerdy life. Feel free to post any posters of your own in the comments, whether that just be a list of their descriptions in text or full on images. Thanks!

Genre: Adventure
Untergenre: Fight

Preis: Halbpreis?
Preisleistung: Gut

Spielspaß: 81%
Sound: 87%
Grafik: 85%
Langzeitmotivation: 86%
Umfang: 88%

Singleplayer: 85%
Multyplayer: 75%
XBox Live: 63%

82% Darkwertung
Empfehlenswertes Spiel

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.

Way back in the deep dark ages of the N64, there existed a little platforming mascot named Banjo. He, like most other anthropomorphic icons of the time (not to mention a pudgy plumber), was obsessed with the collection of useless objects in some half baked attempt at saving the world or some such nonsense. 10 years have passed since this mighty bear vanquished his archrival and forever saved the day….or so he thought.

Yes, it seems Gruntilda has returned – as per standard platformer logic thanks to Bowser inexplicably surviving everything from lava pits to 30,000 foot plummets – but this is precisely where all comparisons to other platformers ends. In fact, ‘Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts’ goes out of its way throughout the game to mock the gaming genre it was once a proud member of, instead embracing that new pesky buzz term of the current console generation: “User-generated Content”, or UGC in medical circles.

You see, UGC used to be a horrid disease that was isolated to the PC Gamer community. It is categorized by a gamer’s tendency to break the very foundation of the game in an attempt to “better” the software package, crash their personal computers, or cheat the online community. Side effects include poor framerate, lackluster physics, sorry movie-to-game adaptations, and an ill-placed feeling of haughty arrogance amongst the PC Gamer community as they looked down upon their lesser console gaming counterparts (Please seek medical attention if you have experienced any of the aforementioned symptoms). Now it seems that, thanks to the current specs of the XBox360/PS3/Wii, UGC has mutated and made its way over to the console realm. However, this form of UGC seems to be an uplifting, sterilized version of its PC big brother, as it actually enhances gameplay for a truly unique experience.

In ‘Banjo: Nuts & Bolts’, UGC is the primary form of gameplay, requiring the gamer – thats you – to create an armada of planes/buses/hovercraft/tanks/flying motorcyles/grenades-on-wheels/batmobiles/etc. to complete the various tasks within the game. Believe it or not, this is actually really freakin’ cool, as the game really forces the creative juices out of you to come up with as many wacky vehicles as possible to complete the 125 challenges present.

Example: You are charged with winning a race in which brick barriers of varying height are layed across the track. You can:

1. Build a lightweight car with springs on the bottom that allow you to bunny hop over the barriers.
2. MONSTER TRUCK MANIA.
3. Who wins the race between the Tortoise and the Hare? Especially when the tortoise is packing more heat than the Punisher. Lay waste to thine enemies than take your grand victory lap.
4. Build phallic-shaped motorcycle to ‘penetrate’ the walls…giggidy.

And that’s just one of the more simple races early on. Other tasks ask you to do the impossible, such as build a vehicle as heavily armored as a tank and as quick as a lightweight fighter jet, or create an airplane with the on-ground manuveurability of a dune buggy. Some challenges will have you playing soccer, some downhill bobsledding, some water polo, and yet still others like pizza delivery man. No two tasks present the exact same conditions, meaning you’ll be constantly tweaking older vehicles or creating entirely new ones as your familiarity game’s physics engine sets in. Nevermind the fact that you’ll have over 100 unique parts gradually unveiled to you for use on your contraptions. You’re only really limited by your own insanity:

In short, this game kicks ass.

Final Verdict: 10 of 10 Peanuts

Game: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Console: Xbox 360
Developer: Rare

Unlike the previous games of the trademark, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts has a very different style of game play. Following 10 years from their initial adventure, Banjo-Kazooie, and 8 years after the sequel, Banjo-Tooie, the duo have grown lazy (and a little wide around the midriff) from lack of activity. Content to rest on their heroic laurels, their idyllic, pizza-filled paradise comes to an abrupt end, when a proud, floating television monitor with a cape appears, declaring that he is the Lord Of Games (otherwise known as L.O.G.) and he has a new adventure for them.

In-keeping with tradition, the skeletal form of villainous witch Gruntilda also returns, along with her sorely-missed habit of speaking in rhymes. L.O.G. gives her an artificial body, since she is nothing more than a rolling head following her previous defeats, and after a few amusing cut scene moments between the four of them L.O.G. takes Banjo, Kazooie and Grunty to Showdown Town, his gaming headquarters.

Once there, the heroes are given basic transport and a few extra parts. The premise of the game is to create and modify different vehicles, using them to travel around the various worlds and complete challenges to win the rights to their home from the previous games, Spiral Mountain, and avoid a lifetime of toil in L.O.G.’s factory.

Cameo appearances are made by a number of old characters, including skull-headed shamen Mumbo Jumbo, Indian sorceress Humba Wumba, and short-sighted inventor, Bottles. The various worlds are created in the style of television shows, with characters taking on different roles and setting puzzles to solve. The design of the game is well constructed, including specific details such as grainy backgrounds to reflect the television motif, and set materials such as trees and bushes that can be knocked over like props on a stage.

The game idea is a solid, entertaining experience, with fun challenges and an enticing vehicle design menu. However, hard-core fans of the series may be severely disappointed with the interpretation of the original characters. Grunty’s rhyming may be back, but Banjo’s moves on foot are very basic, and Kazooie’s old moves are none existent. She is supposedly compensated by the awarding of the spanner which allows her to carry almost anything around, but this is a poor consolation for her involvement in previous games. Their previous co-operation is all but lost, and without Kazooie’s infrequently-used wit, it’s easy to forget she’s there at all.

Rare have never failed to create original character ideas, integrating anything from alcoholic squirrel Conker to the vast database of creatures inhabiting Piñata Island. In many ways, this new game would have worked much better with a different cast, a stronger backing story and some new heroes to drive around. If the aim was to hook fans of the old platform-style Banjo-Kazooie games, then too much has been compromised in the new game play to really make this effective.

However, the game still makes for an entertaining play. That is, if you can withstand the pain of losing such iconic traits as Kazooie’s talon trot to get around.

Kirsty Louise Watkinson
klwatkinson@mail.com

Recently I’ve been looking back a lot, considering my old gaming interests and missing the “good old days”, especially with the recent trend among my personal gaming community of playing Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie on the Xbox 360 arcade (I don’t want to hear any arguments for which is best, I’ve only played the second and I adore Mumbo Jumbo’s magic song… But I did see the opening for Banjo-Kazooie last night, where they all play the intruments for the opneing theme song, and was wildly entertained… it’s DEFINITELY on my to-download list…)

Anyway, following this trend, I decided to explore the 360 arcade and look for some other classic games to add to my to-download list. And what did I happen to stumble upon? None other than the spikey, blue-haired crusader himself.

While I do own Sonic on my Sega, the prospects of exploring the achievements and being able to converse with my friends during gameplay was all too tempting. Plus, it was me who initiated the Banjo-Kazooie boom in the first place! Not to mention hooking 5 of my friends on Left 4 Dead when that came out, too…

After some initial gameplay this morning, I found the version to be enhanced pretty well, with leaderboards, a save feature and some challenging achievements, including “complete game without dying”, which should set a high mark for even the most seasoned of Sonic masters.

It’s great to see the new consoles are paying such respects to the older gaming generation. Now all we need is the return of the classic Amiga generation, and everyone will be happy!

Till then… Let’s see how many people I can re-hook on Sonic…

Kirsty Louise Watkinson
klwatkinson@mail.com

Hey Guys, Adam here uploading podcast episode two! Where’s episode 1 you ask, well Nate currently is editing it but is taking a short break to work on his let’s play with 900redyoshi. Jazzy, Me and a special guest talk about one of the greatest video game devolper companies ever, RAREWARE. It’s only in video format right now so bear with us! 27 minutes of AWESOME!

From/De: Xbox Press (US)

Whether you prefer zany cartoon mischief or the carnage of futuristic mech battles, you can find your favorite updated classics on the premier destination for digitally distributed games, Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday.

The bear and bird are back and better than ever, with “Banjo-Tooie,” the second ground-breaking adventure for Banjo and Kazooie. “Banjo-Tooie” on Xbox LIVE Arcade takes one of your favorite cartridge classics to the cutting edge, with full HD graphics and enhanced sound.  Square off against Gruntilda and her sisters in a beautifully revitalized setting and relive the original enchanting storyline, complete with even more Jiggies and Jinjos, mini-games and bosses. Plus, you can share the mini-game fun with up to three of your friends on your couch, and compete across the community with leaderboards and Achievements you’ll only find on Xbox LIVE. There’s even an extra special surprise for fans of the series, who’ll know what we mean when we say…you’ll never see a better use of a washing machine! “Banjo-Tooie” is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, and available for 1200 Microsoft Points worldwide. For more details please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/banjotooiexboxlivearcade/details.page/

And if bears and birds aren’t enough, get ready for robots! “Virtual On,” the classic mech arcade fighting game from SEGA, comes to life on Xbox LIVE Arcade with fresh visuals and an all-new online multiplayer mode. You’ll need a quick trigger finger when you square off against your opponents and attempt to shoot, slice and dash your way to victory in a vivid, futuristic environment. With 15 playable Virtuaroids, 10 arcade levels, and intense one-on-one online battles, “Virtual On” puts the future of competition in your living room exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade. “Virtual On” is rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and over by the ESRB, and available for 1200 Microsoft Points worldwide, excluding India. For more details please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/v/virtualonxboxlivearcade/

*Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.

Banjo Kazooie, is just one of those games, you know the ones… the ones that are designed for 8 year olds that you still love playing when your 18, Rare and Nintendo are masters of this genre, with games such as Pokemon, Viva Pinata, and of course the lovable Honey Bear that is Banjo…. or so i’m told, i’ll be honest with you, this was the first Banjo game i had played, and to be honest, for around 30 mins i had no-idea what was going on, Banjo went from fat to thin because of some Robot, and then got a shopping trolley because some witch beat him to the decent looking car…?… I’m sure that the story in this game clearly isnt the main draw. However, after going past the strangeness, that was going on there, this game has a lot more to offer than you might think…

Graphics:

I’m not the kind of person who is blown away by graphics, its just another aesthetical gimmick that will eventually run out, hell the wii proves me right!, but this game is nice, i mean nice, it is like a walking bowl of ice cream… weird analagy, but hey, what floats your boat. The graphics, are nice and while have clearly been influenced by Viva Pinata, they still somehow look unique, which in a era where all games “borrow” a game engine, can only be a good thing… right?

Yes… those trees are from Argos… $13.99

Gameplay:

This game confused me, i thought it was supposed to be a platformer, but then i read a review myself annd found out i could not have been more wrong, no longer are you jumping around grabbing stuff and jumping on heads, the aim of this game is…. vechiles, yep… cars/boats/ planes, although not trains… wait for Spirit tracks if u have a train fetish, this game is unique, you ca built literally anything… provided you have found the parts, although once you have… it is a game unto itself, the only thing ruining this is a physics engine nearly taken from Half life 2, if it is not balanced it will fall, it has to be symetrical, and balaced and have the right engine / fuel cells, but after about a hour, i was getting pretty efficient, planes/helicopters are an absolute hoot by the way, once youve built your vehicle you can use it in the array of different challeges to earn Jiggys, the games curreny which unlocks… blah blah… Mario 64

One of the more original challenges…

Overall:

I’ll wind this up now, because i’m tired.. it’s 4 oclock in the afternoon, and i’m hungry, and you need some sunlight. This game is unique,  amazing visuals, amazing physics, which are still impressing me, the infinite replayability of making helicopters with shootaz, and a solid multiplayer experience to top things of, it might not have the best.. if any story line, but who cares… its like Mario for the 360 and its the closest your ever gonna get.

Overall: 8/10

Additional: Probably not worth full price, i got mine for 15 new in an offer, i guess it wasnt selling to well… ^^, but i wouldnt reccoment paying full price… bye

La sfida tra l’accoppiata Banjo-Kazooie e la perfida strega Gruntilda troverà, a partire dal prossimo 7 aprile, un nuovo terreno di scontro all’interno dei mondi di gioco creati da L.O.G. : a darcene notizia è la stessa Rare, che attraverso una serie di nuove immagini ed un video rilasciato su Xbox Live ha finalmente svelato nel dettaglio il primo contenuto aggiuntivo dedicato a Nuts & Bolts…

Leggi tutto »

I possessori di Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts connessi a Internet potranno acquistare dal 7 aprile tramite Xbox Live il contenuto scaricabile chiamato L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges che potete osservare in foto e video.

Pubblicato per 400 Punti, attorno ai 5 Euro, questo “DLC” inserisce diversi veicoli progettati dai fan e vincitori…

Leggi tutto »

I performed live with the band The 1850 Project last Saturday in West Kirby, Wirral & had a great time. This was the culmination of months of rehearsals & things went really well on the night. We all had an enjoyable & rocking time !!  I’ve actually recorded a video blog of the day which I’m currently editing together but in the mean time you can check out the drummer from the band playing a load of crazy tunes on piano filmed in the rehearsal studio a few weeks back…this guy is talented, enjoy.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Microsoft Xbox 360 has 50 achievements worth a total of 1000 Gamerpoints.
Click here for the full list.

Banjo-Kazooie for the Microsoft Xbox 360 has 12 achievements worth a total of 200 Gamerpoints.
Click here for the full list.

Game: Banjo Kazooie:  Nuts and Bolts

Game Studio: Rare

System: Xbox 360 Exclusive

Players: 1

ESRB Rating E10+

Online Multiplayer: Yes

Achievement Difficulty: Easy – Mild

Reviewer: Chris

iGamer Rating: 8.4/10

What comes to your mind when you think of a bear and and bird in a backpack? Not Mario or Luigi, unless your a crazed fanboy. But if you played the old Banjo Kazooie games, you would think of, well, Banjo Kazooie.

Recently, I have gone to the local Blockbuster numerous times. Last time I picked up (the horrible, in my opinion) Midnight Club Los Angeles. I had cheated myself once again, because every time I went there, I had promised myself that I would rent Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.  And I didn’t. Until now.

From the time I downloaded the demo off Xbox Live, I knew that it was special. I fell in love with the in depth vehicle creator, and the HD cartoon visuals. I had played Rares previous titles, like Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and Viva Pinata, both of which were underated masterpieces.  So that what was the motivation to keep me playing, and I was rewarded.

Banjo Kazooie was a series of classic platforming games for the N64 and some other Nintendo console that I cant remember at the moment. But this is different from its predecessors. The new Banjo Kazooie actually makes fun of its ancestors and their platforming methods.

The reason why is that BKNB is a vehicle centered game. Running around on foot will get you nowhere fast. Instead, in one of the many game globe worlds, you can use vehicles that YOU created. From the ground up or just modifiying an exisitng vehicle blueprint,  its only limited by your imagination. I happened to make a vehicle that was a jet car, boat, airplane, hovercraft, submarine, and rocket ship, all in one vehicle. This kind of scheming isn’t required, but there are some game mechanics centered around this area. For instance, a challange asks you to lift a physics enabled (this game has a very robust physics system) object a certain distance above the ground. If you don’t have a blueprint for this type of vehicle, you must make one. And there are more than one way to accomplish this, just like everything in BKNB. An example is when I had to take  part in a hurdle race. I didn’t have any vehicles with springs on the bottom to jump over (everyone else used this kind of vehicle), and that made me realize a loop hole. The checkpoints you must pass through are located a few feet above the hurdles, usually to accomadate the ensuing jump. But I decided “screw that” and brought a plane in to fly over all the hurldles and through every checkpoint. Just as my fuel gauge reached empty, I passed the finish line. Minutes before anyone else I might add. This is an example of the open ended mission structure that permeates throughout this game. Its a very cool idea.

The story in Banjo Kazooie isn’t that important, unless your a hardcore fan. LOG, the lord of games (parodies the mechanics and cliches of various games) finds Banjo and Kazooie up near their home. There hahs not been much of a demand for video game heros lately (darn master chief), so the duo have gotten fat and lazy, eating pizza and playing video games all day. They see Grunty, their old nemesis who seems to have lost her head. LOG, disgusted with such incompetance, designs a competition, stating that their current state is in no shape for a full fledged retail game. The rest, is how you play it.

The physics in BKNB are important. Important is an understatment. Their importance out lusters every star in the sky, and the sun. Basically, the game is built on the stuff. If you thought Half Life 2 was the physic heaviest game, think again. You will use them to take items around the hub world, showdown town. You will use them to fly, swim, jump, boat, and drive. You will use them in every challenge. But that doesn’t mean they work that well.

No, in fact sometimes the physics can be quite the hassle. Not that they are whack, no they are realistic alright. Thats where the problem lies. It’s frusturating when you get a physics object halfway across the map in a race, only for it to slip from your grasp, and then having to start over. Much frusturation outside of challenges is narrowly avoided by having Kazooies wrench be able to pick up any physics enabled object. It can be done by getting near an object, waiting till it’s gold highlighted, then pressing the right trigger. This works well, in most cases. However, when trying to load up an item from town into the cart you are given, objects only want to get snapped into the middle by an automatic placement system. Basically everything gets put into the same spot on the cart and the system will not be swayed. This is especially annoying when I tried to put a jiggy (gold puzzle piece) onto the cart with a game globe (sphererical sphere). The jiggy only wanted to go ontop of the game globes exact location. This led to it sliding of the game globe and out of the cart. This is nearly topped only by the fact that when you try to bring a jiggy into town, the cops (oddly enough, are mostly pigs) think its smuggling. Its one of the focuses of the game, so you will be doing it a lot. Therefore, on top of the already wonky cart physics, the cops will ram into your vehicle, sending poor Mr. Jiggy and co. what seems like eons away. But satisfiyingly enough, if you destroy a cop car, you get an achievment appropriately named “Fuzz Off!”.

Physics aside, one of the great things Xbox 360 owners get to enjoy with Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, is just the pure beauty of the game. The rating and art style suggest a  young target audience, but I can’t see anyone younger than 10 getting through even a third of the availible challenges. Anway, it has a very stylized, Viva Pinata esque, HD cartoon look. Its kind of hard to describe. If you have played Viva Pinata, then you would know, just thinker a way larger scale.

Besides looking like that underrated classic, Banjo Kazooie NB offers very stylized, sometimes downright incredible, creative level design. The levels are huge. And the amount of detail in each is enough by itself to justify there only being six of them. One of the most creative ones, is called the LOGbox 720. That right there shows how creative it is. It parodies both the 360 and Rare’s other creations by having spinning Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie game discs inside. Others, such as Nutty Acres, are huge open worlds where you can really put your inventions to the test. It just boggles the mind how Rare managed to spread all this detail into these huge worlds.

The reason which makes this game so accessible is most likely its down to earth vehicle creation system. To create vehicles, you go to Mumbo’s motors. To get vehicle parts, one way is to find hidden vehicle crates all over Showdown Town. The parts range from jet engines to just plain absurd things, like a freezer or an egg gun. Speaking of guns, if you wanna use that “open ended mission structure” in a race against hapless, weaponless, racers, then go ahead. It actually worked pretty well, I beat the first Grunty boss battle in 12 seconds that way.

The online play in Nuts and Bolts, from what I hear, is okay. I didn’t get a chance to try it because my Xbox Live connection wasn’t working straight through my rental period (lucky me). Apparantly, you can race with vehicles you make, invite friends to test vehicles with you, and send vehicle blueprints to said friends. This is as robust as many gamers may have hoped. Racing online can be fun, but the physics problems that are present even in single player races, are even more so online. Its pretty shallow, even if I did have my live then, I would stick to single player.

A problem people have been experiancing with this game is that the text is unreadably small on standard definition tvs. Luckily, I just narowly avoided this, having just got a 720p capable HDTV. But Rare does not plan on releasing a patch, so all the SDTVs are kinda screwed on this one. But I don’t watch the cutscenes anyway.

Overall, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a fun game, that looks like a kiddie game, but its not, and it has lots of depth and creative options. Yeah all that. Also, the replay value is very high, but maybe not from the very beggining. You can try a challenge a different way the second time around.

8.5/10 –

Good:

• Beautiful look
• Large levels
• Many creative options
• High replay value

Bad:

• Shallow multiplayer
• Physics are wonky at times
• Cops get very annoying, very fast

Ugly:

• Still no voice acting! Maybe its tradition, but in this day and age!

Reviewers commentary: iGamer doesn’t usually write its own reviews, it just gives links to the usual IGN or GameSpot ones. So to make up for it, I make these reviews very long. That combined with the fact that we are usually penniless to get new games. That would also account for the fact that my reviews are of games that came out awhile ago. But anyway, assuming I get around to it, I may to a review on Skate 2. But I’d rather not think about it right now. So good night, I’m going to sleep, its almost 1 AM and a school day tomorrow.

- Rock out, Chris

One of my favorite series of all time. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love Banjo-Kazooie. This is the third installment of the series, and the first to be vehicle oriented. In order to complete objectives you need to create vehicles. You are given hundreds of parts to work with and there is always room for experimentation. Although I do enjoy the vehicle  based gameplay,  I  had moments  when I just wanted the old Banjo-Kazooie formula.

Final rating: B-

Jepp, tar meg en liten pause fra andmeldeser og vil si noen ting.

Jeg hadde tenkt til å poste en Super Mario Bros tittel for hver dag helt til det var tomt for spill, men det utsettes til jeg har humøret til å gjøre det.

Dette er spillene jeg er sikker at jeg blir til å andmelde.

1*Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES og VC): 4-6. Januar

2*Super Mario World (SNES og VC): Uke 2  i Januar

3*Super Mario 64 DS (DS): Før New Super Mario Bros. som kommer i Januar

4*New Super Mario Bros.(DS): Januar *Ukjent dato*

Her er en del andre spill jeg blir til å andmelde uten dato eller måned.

5 og 6*Mega Man 2 og 3 (NES, GCN, Xbox, PS2 og VC)

7*Banjo-Kazooie (N64 og Xbox Live Arcade)

8*Kirby’s Adventure (NES og VC)

9*The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES og VC)

10*The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 og VC)

11*Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

12*Super Smash Bros (N64 og kommer til VC senere)

13*Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)

14*Mario Kart 64 (N64 og VC)

15*Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Gamecube)

16*Mario Kart DS (DS)

17*Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

18*Paper Mario (N64 og VC)

19*Super Mario RPG (SNES og VC)

Totalt spill: 19.

Dette kan bli endret i dato.

Hvis du er intresert så er det bare å kommentere og si hvilken spill jeg skal andmelde.

Eller… du kan si hvilken spill jeg skal andmelde som ikke står i listen, men det må være noe jeg syns ser bra ut og at det skal være til Wii eller noe jeg kan bruke Wii points på.

Takk til alle som kommenterer!

No to nadszedł czas na publikacje drugiego tekstu. Teraz wykaże się Syriusz. Myślę, że jego tekst powinien się Wam spodobać, bo wielu starszych graczy uwielbia Rare. Ok, bez przydługich wstępów, zapraszam.

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Zaczynając na wstępie, żeby nie było jakichkolwiek wątpliwości: nie jestem typem gracza, który w szafie ma po jednej konsoli z każdej generacji. Całe moje growe dzieciństwo opierało się na wizytach u kolegów, którzy mieli lepsze maszynki do grania, niż mój wysłużony Pegasus. I taki stan rzeczy trwałby nadal, gdyby nie zakup Xboxa 360 – wtedy to osoba, która do tej pory w domu grała tylko na PC, poznała naprawdę, co to znaczy mieć konsolę. Swoją drogą teraz nie potrafię kompletnie grać na komputerach osobistych i nie chodzi oto, że sterowanie inne, tylko po prostu ochoty jakoś brak, co owocuje tym, że Bioshock do tej pory leży na półce ukończony w połowie, ale nie o tym chciałem pisać… Otóż tak się złożyło, że razem z maszynką od Microsoftu w zestawie znalazłem dwie gry od Rare – nazwa trochę znajoma, ale za bardzo się cieszyłem nowym zakupem, żeby rozmyślać skąd kojarzę ten team…

Rare to ekipa z Wielkiej Brytanii, której pierwsza gra ukazała się w 1983 roku, czyli dość dawno.  W 2002 roku Microsoft wykupił zdolnego developera za sporą sumkę. Od tego momentu powstało wiele tytułów, które kojarzy się do dzisiaj i które doczekały się kontynuacji na białym pudełku giganta z Redmond. Mam na myśli chociażby Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, czy GoldenEye 007 o którym było głośno przy okazji portu na Xbox Live Arcade, który, gwoli ścisłości, nie ukazał się do dnia dzisiejszego i nic z tego raczej nie wyjdzie, chociaż wiele osób by tego chciało. O jednym z wymienionych przed chwilą tytułów będzie trochę niżej, a na razie wróćmy do moich małych wspomnień z zakupu konsoli: otóż, po podłączeniu tego wszystkiego do telewizora, logiczne jest to, że nikogo nie dopuściłem do późnych godzin nocnych, nawet „Fakty” nie miały szans, a w co się tak zagrywałem? Kolorowy świat, bohaterka, która potrafi sterować (tak na dobrą sprawę to się w nie zamieniała) wojownikami żywiołów, każdy miał inne moce – ktoś kojarzy? Mówię o Kameo: Elements of Power, które na samym początku tworzone było z myślą o małej kostce Nintendo, czyli GameCube. Gra była tytułem startowym dla Xboxa 360 i muszę przyznać, że coś w sobie miała. Drugą grę zlekceważyłem, bo widząc okładkę i znaczek „3+” stwierdziłem, że tytuł dla małych dzieci sprawdzę później i jaki to był ogromny błąd! Kolorowe stworzenia, z których wysypywały się cukierki, własny ogródek, nasionka, które trzeba podlewać – Viva Pinata to zdecydowanie tytuł podobny do The Sims, bo wszyscy je lubią, ale np. mężczyźni już tak chętnie do tego faktu się nie przyznają. Sam byłem zdziwiony, jak to może być takie dobre i wtedy wiedziałem już, że muszę sobie przypomnieć skąd znam Rare…

Odpowiedź była dość prosta – Banjo i Kazooie! Powoli coś w mojej głowie świtało, kiedyś widziałem to u znajomego, ale niestety nie było „dłuższego spotkania” z Misialem i jego przyjaciółką, więc gdy tylko nadarzyła się okazja do zagrania w najnowszą część: Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts od razu zgłosiłem się bez chwili zastanowienia. I tutaj dotarliśmy do sedna sprawy i kwestii, jaką chciałem poruszyć, gdy zaczynałem pisać ten tekst. W grze trochę się zmieniło, Rare postawiło na pojazdy i wielu fanów serii, lub ludzi, którzy w niejeden tytuł od tej ekipy grali, rzuciło hasłami: „to już nie to samo Rare, co kiedyś”, „ich gry obecnie są gorsze, niż dawniej” i w moich kilku słowach o Rare, mam zamiar stanąć po drugiej stronie barykady – nie jest gorzej, co więcej! Jest to jeden z lepszych teamów w obecnej generacji! Na samym początku warto zaznaczyć, że ich gry nie schodzą poniżej pewnego poziomu i nie przypominam sobie, żeby któryś ich tytuł miał średnią ocen niższą niż 70/100. Ktoś powie, że Bioshock graficznie miażdży i trudno się z tym nie zgodzić, ale wystarczy popatrzeć na wyróżnione pogrubioną czcionką tytuły i szybko wychodzi fakt, że ekipa z UK zawsze robi śliczne tytuły. Słyszałem głosy, że Kameo wcale takie ładne nie jest, ale chyba każdy przyzna, że gra ma swój urok, Viva Pinata jest tytułem ślicznym i nikt mi nie wmówi, że nie jest, zresztą podobnie sprawa ma się z Nuts & Bolts, które ogląda się z przyjemnością. Kolejnym argumentem „za” Rare jest to, że nie boją się nowych pomysłów,  przy okazji nie zapominają też o fanach. W obecnej generacji ryzyko to coś, czego twórcy unikają, jak ognia, a w najnowszym Banjo dostajemy pojazdy, które praktycznie są w każdym zadaniu i zajmują 80% gry. Dla tych, którym się taka formuła nie podoba ekipa wydała ponownie pierwszą część gry na Xbox Live Arcade, więc można by rzecz: „do wyboru, do koloru”.

I jako ostatni argument podam coś, co trochę nawiązuje do poprzedniego punktu i nowych pomysłów – mianowicie zmierzam do tego, że ekipa ta nie ma problemów z wykorzystaniem możliwości sprzętu, na którym pracuje. Developer ma do dyspozycji narzędzia związane z kamerką Live Vision i w drugiej części Pinat można odblokować bonusy za pomocą kart z kodem, a gdy Cliff i spółka dopiero w drugiej części Gears of War dało radę dorzucić opcję robienia fotek podczas gry, to Rare w Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts zrobili to od razu z możliwością nagrywania filmików, które można pokazać przyjacielowi z Xbox Live. Tak, screeny które dorzuciłem do tekstu są mojego autorstwa i jest to niebywale przydatna opcja, która moim zdaniem powinna być dostępna w każdej grze – i na tym koniec tego tekstu .

syriusz.b

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Blog Syriusza, do którego odwiedzenia serdecznie zapraszamy, znajdziecie tutaj.

Ah, those were the days. Playing my nintendo 64 constantly as a small child. Starting from grade 1 to 4 was around the time I had it I think. Well, my favorite game (Although I didn’t own it but rented it a ton of times) Was Banjo-Tooie, I discovered it way before Kazooie so I remember it a lot more and apparently Kazooie was better. 

It dawned on me to watch some videos on youtube of it so I searched it up and looked at some videos, man. It was a GOOD game. I listened to some music of the hub world. Spiral Mountain. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1cRQRdg62E

It doesn’t sound like much, but you know that feeling you get when a wave of nostalgia hits you? A wave of good memories. Well it all came back to me in one giant tsunami that did not let up. I was taken back by it. It shocked me.

I think I cried a little.

INTRO

Good God, Christmas already? We’d best get started then, quick, load up the sack of games with the biggest titles of 2008 and give it to Santa. Wait, we’ve capitalised the words God and Santa, does that mean that ol’ Chris Cringle is now a deity? He is in the eyes of many gamers who are undeniably spoiled this year with such a fine selection of games, and our mouths are watering at the prospect of tucking into these turkey sized feasts and pulling the cheats out of them like giblets. We wish you a merry Christmas here at CheatMaster, and a happy New Year!

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GREATEST CHEATS EVER!

BANJO-KAZOOIE (N64)

YEAR OF RELEASE – 1998

PUBLISHER – Nintendo

With a brand new Banjo game doing the rounds, we thought we would reminisce on one of the strangest cheats of all. Head into the code menu on Banjo-Kazooie and type in ‘WISHYWASHYBANJO’ to turn the beefy bear into a washing machine, killing all around by firing underpants and socks at them. Rare thought they would be sneaky though and implemented a kind of cheat failsafe device. Use more than two cheats in the game and Grunty would delete all of the saved Banjo files from your memory card, the miserable old cow…

CAPTION: Nice to see you’ve been busy in ten years old chum, swiping picnic baskets and the like…

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YOUTUBE SOLUTION

CALL OF DUTY 4 – 360, PS3, PC

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FbYXV0UivpM

For our first Youtube Solution, we’re going to show you how to get one of the hardest achievements in modern gaming, finishing Mile High Club on Call of Duty 4, Veteran mode. Imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, watch where to use your flash bangs and where to take cover in your quest to save the un-named hostage!

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SPOILER!
GEARS OF WAR 2 – 360

Losing the Light mass bomb is the least of Marcus’ problems as when the helicopter lifts him off the Brumak, it starts to mutate into a huge ugly mess. The team takes it down, realising the monster has the same explosive properties as the Wretches. As it blows, the city above collapses and the mountainside crumbles, forcing a huge tidal wave deep into the Earth killing off the remaining Locust and extinguishing the magma. Marcus tries in vain to contact Anya whilst his friends reminisce on their loved and lost, the Locust Queen’s narrative setting us up for Gears of War 3…

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YOUR TOP 10 CHEATS

Share your top tips with us, the best one wins a game!

10: MABOSHI – Wii

NEW WALLPAPER

To unlock a new space background wallpaper, collect a million points for Mr. Maboshi. Points you’ve already collected for him if you get Game Over are carried over.

Sean Campbell, via email

09: FRACTURE – PS3, 360

NEW CAMPAIGN SKIN

On the main menu, press Up, Right, Left, Down, Up, Left, Right, Down on the Dpad to unlock a brand new skin for Campaign mode.

Tijn Janssen, via email

CAPTION: Jet Brody, solving global warming one grenade at a time.

08: BIOSHOCK – PC, PS3, 360

FREE HEALTH

Running low on health? Hit health stations with your wrench to get free health packs.

James Nixon, Stoke on Trent

CAPTION: Big Daddies have stomped onto PS3!

07: DEAD SPACE –360, PS3, PC

MORE POWER NODES

Press start in the game and press Y, X, X, X, Y. You’ll now have two more power nodes but beware; you can only do this once per game!

Paul Spangler, Devon

CAPTION: We wish there was a cheat to get the stains out of our pants…

06: SPIDER-MAN: WEB OF SHADOWS – DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360

UNLOCKABLE COSTUMES

Type these codes into the Insert Code option to unlock some new costumes!

VENOM COSTUME

Enter ‘IEATYOURBRAINS’.

MOON KNIGHT COSTUME

Enter ‘CRESTWARRIOR’.

RHINO COSTUME

Enter ‘MASSIVEHORN’.

Ralph Cerar, via email

CAPTION: Use our cheats to unlock this hulking behemoth of a… er… Rhino?

05: LITTLEBIGPLANET – PS3

UNLOCKABLE PROPS

GOOGLY-EYED GLASSES

Complete the Sensei’s Lost Castle level.

PIRATE EYE PATCH

Complete the Level First Steps.

RINGMASTER TOP HAT

Complete The Meerkat Kingdom Level

MOUSTACHE

Finish Burning Forest.

Lauren Dombowsky, Winchester

CAPTION: Sackboy’s on top of the world in this PS3 smash hit!

04: LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME – DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360

SECRET CHARACTERS

Enter these codes on the Batcave computer to unlock the corresponding character:

SWAT OFFICER

HTF114

TROPICAL JOKER

CCB199

MAD HATTER

JCA283

MAN BAT

NYU942

Aaron Ferreira, Nottingham

03: FALLOUT 3 – PC, PS3, 360

UNLIMITED HACKING

As computer terminals shut down if you fail a hack after the fourth time, it’s an idea to pull out after the third failed attempt. It will reset the terminal and give you another three chances to get it right.

William Wong, Edinburgh

02: SAINTS ROW 2 – PC, PS3, 360

INFINITE AMMO

Finish the following missions to get infinite weapon ammo:

FUZZ, MISSION SIX (PROJECTS)
Infinite Pistol Ammo

ALL HITMAN LISTS

Infinite Rifle Ammo

SNATCH, LEVEL SIX (DOWNTOWN)

Infinite SMG Ammo

Earnest Vaillencourt, via email

01: FABLE 2 – 360

EASY MONEY

Buy the weapons shop in Bowerstone Old Town and buy a load of weapons from it at a discount. Head to the blacksmith at Bowerstone Market and sell them to him for a tidy profit! Just remember to restock your shop…

Timothy Ham, Greater Manchester

CAPTION: Of course you can’t eat the dog. What kind of cheat request is that?

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CONSOLETATION ZONE

GM – Coming to the aid of stuck gamers since 1993!

OKAMI – Wii, PS2

Dear GamesMaster
I’m very stuck on Okami because I am looking for the last Canine Warrior and when I go into Kamiki Village the Canine Tracker doesn’t pop up. Why is this happening? Please can you help me, I’m really bad at Okami.
From Max Caffyn-Parsons via E-mail

Don’t worry Max; Okami is a spiritual journey in itself, like a long and winding road. As you mentioned Kamiki, we’re going to assume you mean Chuyabusa, but it turns out that this is actually a clever ruse. Find the Ninja dog Hayabusa who is lying around and pester him until he mentions his hole digging record. Then head to the turnip patch and start digging, keeping the old lady away with an inkfinity stone. Grab the last turnip and take it to Mushi and pester Hayabusa until he reveals his true identity and challenges you to a fight.

CAPTION: We wolf whistled when we saw Okami and still give it a play now and then!

POKEMON DIAMOND – DS

Dear GamesMaster

On Pokemon Diamond, I am stuck on getting the Riolu egg and finding other eggs, and where to find other Pokemon. Hope you can help? Thank you.

Sam and Janet Bonner, via E-mail

What a polite young man, of course we can help! The Riolu egg is on Iron Island, and to get there you will need to beat the fifth gym leader to reach Canclave City. Once there, you can get on the boat at the docks to reach Iron Island and meet Riley who you will need to help through a cave. Then you’ll have to beat some Team Galactic members and Riley will give you the egg (make sure you have an empty space in your party). It’ll take 3,000 steps to hatch and then you’ll be the owner of your very on Riolu!

CAPTIONS:

What kind of mum lets their child wander poke-infested streets at 10pm? A bad one, that’s what.If only all births were pedometer related…

I got Rare’s Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts for my 360 as it seems to be lacking any platformers, aside from Kameo (Also by Rare). The game is great fun and takes some ideas from garrys mod and the gravity gun from half life 2. It has fun physics and a Lego like vehicle construction mode. Nuts and Bolts lets you build your own vehicles out of pieces you buy and collect throughout the singleplayer mode. The vehicles you make can be used in singleplayer or online. I cant wait to make a good selection of vehicles to use online against other people. Here are some of my vehicles I have made so far. My favorite vehicle so far is the racing hovercraft, I use it in all the water races and when I want to travel between land and water.

You can see my new photos and everyone elses online at the Banjo Kazooie Showroom here!

And another thing…

In fact I wrote this up immediately after the dentist thing, but I thought I’d save it for a day that would otherwise be postless. Actually my opinion on said topic changed drastically following prolonged exposure to focus of topic, which really exposes previous response for the pathetic purist knee-jerk reaction it was. Put simply, it’s better this way. And now the post will be longer with more reviews of various. Anywho. I admit I’m a little addicted to spilling my guts. Not that anyone is interested in me moping. Fundamentals state that no one pays any attention to whingeing as everyone else to too busy doing same. I believe I’ve said that before. Anywho mk II.
Platforming has come a long way in the past few years. I’ve never seen such a sharp decline. And the sparse few trickling from the teat of gaming are so pathetic I’d rather set myself the galling task of beating Battletoads. I’m sure many can see where this is headed. Oh yes. That’s right. The bear and the bird are back, and I’m a fanboy.
Being something of a gaming purist it takes me some time to accept change, even when it sounds fantastically fun and wonderful. Far be it for me to fork out on a console to play one blasted game, I got my brother to pay for it. And of course got some other good games, shooters and fantastic RPGs. The art overhaul in Banjo was quite confronting, but in game the camera is so far back you can hardly tell they’ve done anything but add polygons and use actual textures so I’m cool with that.

Vehicles are fun and necessary to traverse the absolutely MASSIVE levels. In fact, it could very easily have been made into a fantastic, enormous platform in the vein of the greats it’s predecessors were on such a grand scale reviewers would have no choice but to shower it with perfect 10s. Needless to say they didn’t, and it isn’t. At its core, it’s a sandbox vehicle builder. Not Banjo. It has aesthetic and slight atmospheric similarities to a Banjo game, but change its face to a new franchise and no-one would say “Hey! This is like a rip off of a Banjo game!”

Begin edit.

In fact, now I’m cool with most of the game. The “Acts” for the levels are unnecessary, but bearable (see what I did thar?). The challenges are all timed, evidently what had to replace the lack of platforming, although it’s not so much about the immediate time limit, but the T.T. times you have to get in order to collect every Jiggy in the game. Actually it strikes me as a reference to Diddy King Racing; “T.T.”.

The challenges would be very derivative and generic and tedious and dare I say, and I do, boring, if it weren’t for the games mechanics. You will be faced with an enormous number of fetch quests and races. Of course the ability to play the game by your rules, with your own user created content, makes it very enjoyable. Classic platforming does make a small appearance now and then, most notably in the HUB world, Showdown Town.

Collecting vehicle parts feels very rewarding, and enabling, and platform-y. Rather than everything be handed to you as you complete things, it provides what you provide. I’d like to liken it to RPGs where player stats increase as the player utilises the skills they correspond to, ala Elder Scrolls. The classic Rare humor is still there, and the breaking of the fourth wall is a refreshing addition, though it does make some of the jokes aimed at pop culture and Rare itself a little less…special. Anyway, I could go on, but there’s other subjects to cover and really long posts make people switch off so I’ll wrap up. Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts is fun, but like Super Mario 64 and Mario Tennis, well, you get the idea. I’d be happy to see life breathed into a dying genre, so heres hoping Banjo Fourie will be a playforming title. Onto the next bit! (Oh yeah, seamless.

A little more gaming, then we can move on to TV. You can tell I’ve had a productive holiday can’t you? A quick word about Oblivion. Elder Scrolls IV is huge in ever possible aspect. This means the following. More walking. More getting lost. More stuff. It’s tutorial was way too long, and had me wanting to power down. The first city I went into, I got lost within seconds. The city is massive and corridor like, and all the walls reach high up than I can see. It’s a maze, and everywhere looked the same. Mind you, it is a BEAUTIFUL game. I only played for a few minutes, but I think I’d have more fun replaying Morrowind. Time will tell.

Okay, those of you who know of my Life on Mars obsession, will not be surprised by my seeking out Ashes to Ashes, it’s spin off. Spin offs seem to be popular in the BBC these days. *Looks pointedly at Dr. Who* It was a little less charming, and the actor that portrays Drake is just not as good as John Simm. I don’t care about her character, and the mother daughter thing is tired. It also reuses the same themes, and I’ve seen it before. Only this time it feels like a knock off. Okay, I was going to write more but I’m getting sleepy and have things to do tomorrow so if you don’t mind, I’ll be off. Later.