Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts Xbox 360 Review

Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts

Xbox 360 Review
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Rare
Released: November 11, 2008

Rare has answered the call of gamers around the world pushing for the release of a Banjo Kazooie game on the next-generation Xbox 360.  The franchise became highly-popular back on the Nintendo 64 but never saw the light of day again once Microsoft purchased developer Rare.  Things have changed though as the Xbox 360 gamers have received Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts.

When you first hop into the game there are some similarities which will immediately tie it to games of the past.  You start out in the world called Showdown Town, where you basically will be traveling from world to world for challenges.  The whole idea behind the worlds is to complete these challenges, collect jigsaw pieces, etc. in order to keep on progressing.

There are all of the classic Banjo items back with the jigsaw pieces, musical notes, and all of the other collecting.  That is where the similarities end though.

From there, you will quickly realize that this is a very different game from what we have seen in the past.  The whole idea behind the game is to create vehicles that will help you complete challenges in the game.

The whole game is about collecting and purchasing al these different vehicle parts so that you can create all types of cool rides in the game to put together.

The game has some absolutely massive worlds that you can explore all you want and play the game at your own pace, which makes it great for all types of gamers.

The heart of the game is the fantastic vehicle creation tool which allows you to basically put vehicles together as if you were a kid working with toys all over again.  You can create things with all different types of engines, seats, and other parts.  The game has virtually limitless options here and really allows the gamers to go ahead with whatever they want to do.

A lot of the challenges are really going to push your mind as well as they are not about just trying to go fast.  Some of the challenges will have you trying to make a heavy vehicle, one that can be controlled easily, etc.

You deal with the vehicles in the challenges, but in the main world will be doing a lot more of the platforming stuff on foot by climbing things in order to try and collect as much as you can.

The thing that impressed me most about this game though is the sheer amount of content that Rare has added in here.  The game does not have a linear path, nor does it simply have a set of challenges and such.  The game is deep in that there are plenty of little games thrown in here for you to check out, which will appeal to gamers new and old.

Rare did a fantastic job in how they brought Banjo Kazooie over to the Xbox 360 as the game looks beautiful.  The worlds are filled with extremely vibrant colors, animation, and creativity that will have you in awe looking all around at everything.

The same can be said about the audio presentation behind this one as it really goes back to what gamers used to love about Banjo with the cartoon-ish sound effects and presentation.

Once you get beyond all of this single-player stuff, there are some nice multi-player elements here for gamers to check out.  There are a wide variety of things to check out including a set of multi-player stuff for offline play, as well as the ability to hop into lobbies to test out your vehicles and compete against people.

There are nice social aspects to the online aspect of Banjo here as well as you can save the videos from your challenges, upload them online, and share them.  You can even share blueprints with people to check out their vehicles.

Rare went over the top with Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts on the Xbox 360 as they took a risk with the style of the game.  Needless to say, the risk paid off as this is one of the most creative games to hit any next-generation console this year, and in my opinion, is a must-play despite its flaws.

The game may take some time to get into it, but its beauty is the amount of creativity it allows you to showcase, and its incredible depth.  This is not one to miss on the Xbox 360 this year!

Graphics: 9.0 An absolutely gorgeous game with vibrant colors, animations, etc.  Amazing worlds.

Sound: 8.2 The audio presentation is impressive with some great sound effects and tunes to go along with pure.  Pure classic Banjo here.

Gameplay: 8.5 The beauty of this is how creative you can be with the vehicles and stuff.  It’s extremely deep and rewarding!

Replay Value: 8.5 The single-player modes are vast and there is plenty to do online as well.

Final Score: 8.7

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