It’s been more than 10 years since the original Banjo-Kazooie arrived in my grubby little 8-year old hands. More than 8 years since the last true sequel to the game. Amidst a few GBA spinoffs I was beginning to wonder when the next true addition to my beloved franchise would be available to quench my nostalgic thirst. Rest assured, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is not the sequel us Banjo fans have been waiting for, but for what it’s worth, it’s a damn fine game on the Xbox 360.

The storyline is classic Banjo with a little different spin on it: LOG, the creator of all video games (including, as Kazooie points out early on, crappy ones like Grabbed by the Ghoulies). He’s sick and tired of Banjo-Kazooie (the collective term for the pair) and Gruntilda constantly battling it out over control of Spiral Mountain, the duo’s home. He’s set up a series of vehicular challenges throughout five wolds (plus the hub world and the location for the final showdown) and once the bear and bird can get enough Jiggies from these challenges, they’re able to face Gruntilda for the showdown of all showdowns, and this decides whom the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain is. It’s as good of a storyline as one can expect from this type of game, but hey, Dan Brown has been pretty busy lately I hear.


Rare's trademark sense of humor makes a wonderful comeback in Nuts and Bolts.

A bit of a departure from previous Banjo outings, Nuts and Bolts focuses on vehicular play. The good Shaman Mumbo Jumbo has opened shop in the main hub -Showdown Town - and allows you to use his facilities free of charge for building your own crazy contraptions. The building mechanics work pretty well, and there’s a genuine sense of progression as you build your parts library to include better and more robust components. A lot of time will be spent in this mode, so it’s a good thing that it works pretty well. It even has a Test-o-Track for testing your vehicles in a variety of conditions. I have to say though, the tweaking your vehicles to the sterile and mostly pristine Test-o-Track can sometimes not be indicative of real game performance. This is especially apparent in the final boss fight, I felt that the game’s physics were being made even more ridiculous to artificially inflate the difficulty at the end.

The series retains Rare’s quirky sense of humor. I wish more games could be like this. It’s practically a parody of videogames, and the industry politics in general. Even to the point of self-parody, the game is hilarious, and fits just right with fans of the series. It’s also gotten rid of (for the most part) the potty humor that was sprinkled in the original games, and this is a good thing. This is easily one of the funniest games I’ve played in a long time.

The gameplay is split about 90/10: Platforming on foot takes a backseat to the vehicle mechanics, and it’s not always a welcome change. The vehicle physics are at once pure and realistic, and at the same time incredibly frustrating. Vehicles feel like their tires are full of helium (even the vehicles without wheels!) and it makes it hard to steer around and over the various obstacles that will inevitably block your path. Overall though, the vehicle mechanics tend to work pretty well since the game worlds give a little bit of leeway to the floaty physics in the way they’re designed.


The main hub Showdown Town has many vehicular and platforming opportunities

Despite all of Kazooie’s moves being taken by LOG, the platforming is very tight, if sparse. The only places any semblance of traditional BK gameplay is present are in the hub world Showdown Town. You’ll have to master the jump, as it’s the only thing Banjo can do. No Flap flip jumps, Talon Trots, Wonderwings, or anything of that nature here. With her trusty wrench (which can pretty much pick up anything), Kazooie can attack foes, though it’s not very accurate or powerful. Showdown town has various places with secret vehicle-parts-filled boxes that will require your adept platforming skills, but for the most part you can get away without much in this regard.

Visually stunning, Nuts and Bolts can be considered among the best looking games available on any platform. It’s rendered in 720p but as with all Xbox 360 games, can be scaled up to 1080p. And you’d better hope you have an HDTV because the game is nigh unplayable without it. The text for the dialogue is almost completely unreadable on a standard def television. This is a pretty important detail because the dialogue is often the only way you know exactly what to do in the challenges. It’s also the only way to experience the amazing sense of humor this game has. The best part, though, is the water rendering. It’s the best of any game I’ve seen to date. The waves rise and fall, affecting any floating crafts you might be racing in the sea. It has a sprawling draw distance that seems limited only by the size of the levels (which is nothing to be ashamed of, the areas are quite large in their own right).


The game's massive draw distance is limited only by the massive worlds it depicts

I’ve always been a fan of music in Rare games. The Donkey Kong Country series on the SNES has arguably the greatest soundtrack of any game series ever. This tradition of great music was transferred into the original Banjo-Kazooie games, and makes a full and remade return to Nuts and Bolts. Most of the series staples are here in full next-gen glory. This is especially evident in the Banjoland level, which has a montage of all the original themes of the worlds featured. Word cannot describe the wave of nostalgia that gripped me in it’s wake. The rest of the sound is up to snuff as well. Even on my crappy two-speaker setup everything was clear and crisp, and sound effects were right on the money.

I have to admit, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was a little bit of a mixed bag when I first heard of the vehicle mechanics being added in. On the one hand, the innovation it promised seemed like a good thing for the industry, but on the other hand I wondered if it could keep the same Banjo feel as the previous games. This seemed nearly impossible, and while Rare didn’t do a perfect job, the game is still a must play. The vehicle aspect is nearly flawless, save for some floaty physics. I feel like this game could have been made on an entirely new IP for Rare, but at the same time I like that they’re testing the waters for another Banjo game. At only $40, it’s worth it just to show Rare that we want a true Banjo sequel. It fits right in with the series trademark humor, right down to the ending trivia quiz. It’s not Banjo-Threeie, but it’s a solid entry into the series, and it’s enough to tide the fans over.

Rating: 7.5/10